The New York Music Festival kicks off its annual launch of 30 new musicals on Monday at venues around town. Despite the selection of such shows as “Numbers Nerds” (about an all-girl math team from Wisconsin) and “Backbeard: The Musical” (about the hairiest pirate who ever lived), somehow all of my submissions were rejected.
Here’s what you will miss:
- “You Ain’t Going Nowhere”: A jukebox musical about subway riders who’ve lost jobs, friends and eventually, their minds because of delays. Songs include “Uptown (and Downtown) Funk,” “Stuck in the Middle With You,” and “By the Time I Get to Midtown (I’ll Be Jobless).”
- “OMG, I’m Sick!”: A heart-tugging musical about the American Health Care Act. Songs Include “A Million Reasons (You’re Not Covered)”; “I Don’t Want to Live Forever (but Not Die This Early!)” and “I Took a Pill in Ibiza (Because It Was Too Expensive in NY).”
- “Adios Mr. Met”: A frustrated mascot of a baseball team in freefall loses his job when he flips off booing fans. Songs include “I’m a Loser,” “We Aren’t the Champions” and “That’s What Happens When Your Head Gets Too Big.”
- “A Horse’s Tale”: A mayor pretends to care about the welfare of carriage horses in Central Park until the man behind the reform effort stops giving him money. He then reverses field and uses one of the same horses to take him from his gym in Park Slope to Gracie Mansion each morning. Songs include “Take the Money and Run,” “Horse With No Name” and “Whip It!”
- “Hot Hot Hot!”: A newly appointed EPA director laughs at climate change, then changes his tune when he finds his Florida vacation home 20 feet under water. Songs include “It Will Rain (Really Hard),” “Cake by the Ocean (Now Flooding My Condo)” and “Goodbye Florida!”
- “Can’t Get Uber You”: When a young Uber driver picks up a gorgeous model on Madison Avenue, more than his prices surge. She casually mentions Per Se as her favorite restaurant, and he takes her to dinner at the $500-a-meal food mecca. When she won’t return his texts, Uber guy realizes he’s the one who’s been taken for a ride. Songs: “I Knew You Were Trouble When You Walked In” and “Forget You!”
Playwright Mike Vogel blogs at newyorkgritty.net.
