Fly By Night: A New Musical
- Written by Will Connolly
- Written by Michael Mitnick
- Written by Kim Rosenstock
- Directed by Carolyn Cantor
MICHAEL MITNICK’s credits include Sex Lives of Our Parents (world premiere Second Stage Uptown), Ed, Downloaded (world premiere Denver Center, W.E.T.), & Spacebar: A Broadway Play by Kyle Sugarman (world premiere City Lights, Studio 42). A sold-out concert of his songs played Joe’s Pub this past fall. He composed the score to the short film Well Fed & Comfortable. Michael wrote the screenplay for The Giver, starring Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges to be released this summer. He is currently writing the book for the Broadway-bound musical of Animal House. Ars Nova and P73 Playgroups. 2012 Visionary Playwright Award. 2013 Variety’s Top 10 Screenwriters to Watch. Commissions from The Roundabout and Manhattan Theatre Club. MFA in Playwriting from The Yale School of Drama. He lives in Brooklyn.
Kim Rosenstock has written several plays including Tigers Be Still which played a sold-out run in its premiere at Roundabout Underground and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award. She is currently working on commissions for Dallas Theater Center, Roundabout Theatre Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Ars Nova, where she was the 2011 Playwright-in-Residence. Awards include the Clauder Prize from Portland Stage Company and Aspen Theater Masters' Visionary Playwright Award. She is a graduate of Amherst College where she first began writing plays under the mentorship of Constance Congdon, and holds an MFA in playwriting from Yale School of Drama. She is originally from Baldwin, Long Island and currently resides in Los Angeles where she writes for the television show, New Girl. (As of March 2013)
Playwrights Horizons: Fly By Night, The Great God Pan, After the Revolution (Callaway Award), and Essential Self-Defense. Other NY Theater: Regrets and Pumpgirl (Manhattan Theatre Club); In A Dark Dark House (MCC Theater); Arlington (Vineyard); Something You Did (Primary Stages); The Talls (Second Stage); Core Values (Ars Nova); Orange Flower Water, Now That's What I Call A Storm, Living Room in Africa, Stone Cold Dead Serious, and Life is a Dream (Edge Theater); EVE-olution (Cherry Lane); and Kitty Kitty Kitty (SPF). Regional: The Violet Hour (Old Globe); Rabbit Hole (Geffen, Garland Award); Diary of Anne Frank (Papermill); Not Waving and King Stag (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Vera Laughed and Get What You Need (NYS&F); After Ashley and Finer Noble Gases (Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference); and Nocturne (Ojai Playwrights Conference). Carolyn is the recipient of the Kanin-Seldes Award from the Theater Hal of Fame, both the Boris Sagal and Bill Foeller Fellowships from the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and a Drama League Directing Fellowship. She was the founding artistic director of the Obie Award—winning Edge Theater and is a graduate of Dartmouth College. (As of 2/2/15)
New York Premiere
In this darkly comic rock-fable, a melancholy sandwich maker's humdrum life is intersected by two entrancing sisters. A sweeping ode to young love set against the backdrop of the northeast blackout of 1965, Fly By Night is a tale about making your way and discovering hope in a world beset by darkness.
Featuring
Allison Case
Adam Chanler-Berat
Peter Friedman
Michael McCormick
Patti Murin
Bryce Ryness
Henry Stram
Playwrights Horizons debut. Broadway: Hair (also London and Off-Broadway), Hands on a Hardbody (also La Jolla), Mamma Mia!. Regional: Nemo in the original cast of Disney’s Little Nemo; The Only Child, Por Quickly, A Christmas Carol, Bliss (South Coast Rep); 45 Minutes from Broadway (Laguna Playhouse). Film/TV: You Don’t Know Jack, Nurse Jackie.
Playwrights Horizons debut. Broadway: Peter and the Starcatcher, Next to Normal. Off-Broadway: Rent (Revival), Peter and the Starcatcher, Next to Normal. Regional: Animal Crackers, Next to Normal, A Civil War Christmas. Film/TV: Delivery Man, The Life Before Her Eyes, VEEP, The Good Wife, Law & Order.
Playwrights Horizons: After the Revolution, The Great God Pan (Amy Herzog); Circle Mirror Transformation (Annie Baker); The Shaggs (Gregory, Lang, Madsen); Fly By Night (Connolly, Mitnick, Rosenstock); The Heidi Chronicles (Wendy Wasserstein). Broadway: Ragtime (Ahrens, Flaherty, McNally), The Heidi Chronicles, Twelve Angry Men, The Tenth Man. Other Off-Broadway: Sundown, Yellow Moon (Bonds); Her Requiem (Pierce); The Nether (Haley); End Days (Laufer); Jacuzzi (The Debate Society); The Open House (Eno); The Hatmaker’s Wife (Yee); Body Awareness (Baker, and her adaptation of) Uncle Vanya; Hamlet (The Public, 2017). Film: The Savages, Safe, Single White Female. TV: “High Maintenance,” “The Muppet Show,” “The Affair,” “The Path.”
(as of 8/24/17)
Playwrights Horizons: Coming Attractions. Broadway: Chaplin, Elf, Curtains, The Grinch, The Pajama Game, Gypsy, Kiss Me Kate, 1776, Kiss of the Spiderwoman (also tour), Marie Christine, La Bête. Other Off-Broadway: Fanny, The Tin Pan Alley Rag, Candide, A Man of No Importance, The Prince and the Pauper, An Empty Plate, Babes in Arms, Arturo Ui, In a Pig’s Valise, Tomfoolery, Half a World Away. National tours: La Cage aux Folles, The Producers, Les Misérables. Film/TV: The Producers, The Good Wife, Orange Is the New Black.
Playwrights Horizons debut. Broadway: Wicked, Lysistrata Jones, Xanadu. Off-Broadway: Love’s Labour’s Lost. Regional: Chicago, The Little Mermaid, Emma, Hairspray, White Noise, High School Musical, Princesses, Beauty & the Beast, Annie Get Your Gun, Crazy For You. TV: Royal Pains, All My Children.
Playwrights Horizons debut. Broadway: First Date, Hair (Drama Desk nomination), Legally Blonde, Leap of Faith. Off-Broadway: Around the World in 80 Days, See Rock City & Other Destinations. National tour: Rent. Regional: title role in the L.A. premiere of Floyd Collins, Emcee in the Reprise/L.A. production of Cabaret.
Playwrights Horizons: Black Sea Follies, Jack’s Holiday. Broadway: Inherit the Wind, The Crucible, Titanic. Other Off-Broadway: Antony and Cleopatra, The Illusion, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, See What I Wanna See, Unwrap Your Candy, The Winter’s Tale, Waste, Timon of Athens, Henry V, The Grey Zone, Troilus and Cressida, On the Open Road, A Bright Room Called Day, The Cradle Will Rock, King Lear, Mother Courage and Her Children. 1996 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance.
Creative Team
David Korins
Scenic DesignPaloma Young
Costume DesignJeff Croiter
Lighting DesignKen Travis and Alex Hawthorn
Sound DesignVadim Feichtner
Musical DirectionKyle Gates
Production Stage ManagerSam Pinkleton
ChoreographerIn two decades of creating omnidirectional experiences, David Korins and his eponymous New York City based creative studio has reached millions of people globally by helping brands, institutions, and artists bring their stories to life. David created the worlds for 25 Broadway shows, including the Tony Award-winning musicals Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, Beetlejuice: The Musical, and in 2023 will open Here Lies Love and The Who’s Tommy. Among numerous TV credits, David recently created the new design of HBO’s “The Big Brunch” with Dan Levy, “Last Week Tonight” hosted by John Oliver, was the Production Designer for the 91st and 94th Annual Academy Awards, and Grease: Live!, for which he received an Emmy Award. Korins is the Director of David Blaine’s newly opened Las Vegas residency, is the Global Creative Director of Lighthouse Immersive for whom he designed Immersive Van Gogh, the highest selling experience nationally in 2021, and in 2023 his work on “Disney Animation: The Immersive Experience” will open in multiple venues around the world. David also continues to hold the title of Theater Designer in Residence for TED's conferences internationally. Collaborators include David Blaine, Bruno Mars, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey, Andrea Bocelli, Sia, Robin Eley and Takashi Murakami. David’s work has been presented at Madison Square Garden, Coachella, Gagosian, Lollapalooza and SXSW. Brand partnerships include the NFL, Disney, Twitter, Google, Spotify, YouTube, Microsoft, Sotheby’s and ESPN.
Playwrights: Fly By Night, The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters. Broadway: Peter and the Starcatcher (Tony Award); Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (Tony nomination); Bandstand (Drama Desk nomination); Time and the Conways; Lobby Hero. Other Off-Broadway: Natasha, Pierre… (Kazino, Lucille Lortel Award); Recall (Colt Coeur); Permission (MCC); BrooklynBabylon (BAM). Regional: ART, Dallas Theatre Center, South Coast Rep, Arena Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, among others. MFA: UC San Diego. @secondpigeon, palomayoung.com
Jeff Croiter is a New York based lighting designer whose experience includes work on Broadway, off-Broadway, dance, opera, special event, regional theatre, touring productions, TV, film, circus, magic, and restaurant design.
He has received Tony, Hewes, and Bass awards and has been nominated for Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Lortel, LA Drama Critics, Ovation, Irne, NAACP, and Audelco awards.
Jeff designed the lighting for Penn & Teller at the Rio in Las Vegas and The Big Apple Circus at Lincoln Center and has been the designer for Jennifer Muller The Works since 1996. He is a producer of the animated series, Light Humor, the hit web comedy Submissions Only, and was the producer and co-host of The Sunday Roundtable.
His work has been seen at New York theatres including Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Roundabout, MTC, MCC, Shakespeare in the Park, Signature Theatre, Second Stage, The Public Theatre, The New Group, Playwrights Horizons, The Atlantic, The Vineyard, Primary Stages, Ars Nova, New World Stages, The Westside Theatre, and The Joyce Theatre. Regional theatre credits include The Guthrie Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Barrington Stage, McCarter Theatre, Kennedy Center, The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Center Theatre Group, The Huntington, The Alliance Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, Trinity Rep, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse, Ford’s Theatre, Goodspeed Opera House, and NY Stage and Film.
Ken is a Broadway sound designer who specializes in musical reinforcement. His system designs and soundscapes have been heard across Europe and the United States. In 2019 Ken won The Helen Hayes Award for the Shakespeare Theater Company’s production of Camelot and in 2013 Ken won the NAACP award for Memphis the Musical. He has been nominated for the Henry Hewes award for Mr Burns a Post Electric Play, the NAACP award for Sister Act, the Lortel Award for Abigail's Party, and the Audelco Award for Fabulation.
Alex Hawthorn (they/them) is an artist whose work flows between performance, installation, object-making, and sound-making. As a non-binary interdisciplinary artist, Hawthorn is most comfortable outside prescriptive boxes, allowing their research and intuition to shape the form and medium of their projects. They use their work as a lens through which to investigate the natural world, specifically focusing on time: how we experience it, how we have codified it, and how we exist within it. Hawthorn’s recent research has focused on timescales beyond human perception: from the geologic to the cosmic.
Vadim Feichtner is a musical director and conductor. Credits include Falsettos, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Most recently Kyle served as Producing Manager for Playwrights Horizons Theater School, an NYU Tisch studio, producing 50+ student theater projects a year. Before working in educational theater Kyle was a stage manager for over 15 years working on and off Broadway. Kyle holds a B.F.A. in Stage Management from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Sam Pinkleton is a Tony Award-winning director, choreographer, and gay person. His work as a director includes Cole Escola's Oh, Mary! (Broadway/Lucille Lortel Theatre), Josh Sharp's Ta-Da! (Greenwich House Theater), Morgan Bassichis’ Can I Be Frank? (Soho Playhouse/La MaMa), Noah Diaz’ You Will Get Sick (Roundabout), The Wizard of Oz (ACT), Elizabeth Swados’ Runaways (Encores/Shakespeare in the Park), Head Over Heels (with Jenny Koons) and La Cage Aux Folles at Pasadena Playhouse, and Untitled DanceShowPartyThing (with Ani Taj - Virgin Voyages). Highlights of his work as a choreographer include Stephen Sondheim’s final musical Here We Are (The Shed/The National Theater), Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang’s Soft Power (The Public/CTG), and eight shows on Broadway including Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (Tony Nomination), Macbeth, and Machinal. Film/TV includes Dying For Sex and the musical The End, starring Tilda Swinton. His upcoming work includes the participatory Scottish dance musical Ceilidh and a revival of Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway at Studio 54.
This project was funded in part with the support of the Stacey & Eric Mindich Fund for New Musicals at Playwrights Horizons.
FLY BY NIGHT will enchant audiences. Off-Broadway’s answer to The Fault in Our Stars. Romance doesn’t come any sweeter than it does in this winsome love triangle set around the time of the 1965 New York blackout. The score is charming and catchy. Its unabashed emotionalism could turn it into more than a hit. It could turn it into a cult phenomenon.
Gracefully directed by Carolyn Cantor, the first-rate cast gleams with professional polish. The score is guaranteed to take up longtime residence in your ear.
Magical. A terrific cast. Adam Chanler-Berat is a gifted comic soul. Patti Murin’s spot-on comic timing is delightful. Allison Case is just swell. Michael McCormick is hysterical. Peter Friedman’s turn is piercing and truthful.
