Let’s Celebrate National Book Lovers Day!
Recent New Publications
One-Act Peter Pan Goes Wrong
Tillie, crowned the Wicked Witch of the South East, was so excited for her coronation partyuntil no one showed up! To get the attention she feels she deserves, she teams up with Paige, a book of spells, and they flip Oz on its head with a magic tornado. With Dorothy and Toto launched back into an unfamiliar Oz, the Scarecrow and Tin Woodsperson stuck in Kansas, and the Lion alone in the forest, our heroes are forced into unlikely partnerships to restore the world to order and find their way back home.
The Mystery of the Missing Letter by Don Zolidis
The letter Z has gone missing. And the cast of the adorable Fluppet show, Meemoo’s Universe, are all suspects. Can hard-boiled detective Jack McCracken determine if it was Reginald the Grump, Zuzu the Little Witch, or even the sugar-addicted Sweets Beast who’s responsible? A hilarious one-act murder mystery parody.
Aesop Live! (full-length) by Tracy Wells
Aesop’s wonderfully colorful fables burst onto the stage in Aesop Live! Two narrators threaten to retell all seven hundred and twenty-five ancient Greek tales in just one show, morals included. But never fear! The cleverly told and entertaining stories they present are packed with fan-favorite characters like the sneaky Wolf, the clever Crow, the sly Fox, and of course, the Tortoise and the Hare. A brisk, action-packed show, Aesop Live! is the most fun you can have while learning the dos and don’ts of ethical living.
Aesop Live! (one-act) by Tracy Wells
Aesop’s wonderfully colorful fables burst onto the stage in Aesop Live! Two narrators threaten to retell all seven hundred and twenty-five ancient Greek tales in just one show, morals included. But never fear! The cleverly told and entertaining stories they present are packed with fan-favorite characters like the sneaky Wolf, the clever Crow, the sly Fox, and of course, the Tortoise and the Hare. A brisk, action-packed show, Aesop Live! is the most fun you can have while learning the dos and don’ts of ethical living.
The Real Inspector Hound by
Moon and Birdboot, two drama critics, arrive to watch the performance of a new detective play, a parody of the conventional stage thriller. However the private lives of the critics become inextricably mixed with those of the play’s characters until Moon is shot dead and the real Inspector Hound proves to be…?
The Suffragette’s Murder by
It’s the morning of July 5, 1857, and the tenants of Mayhew’s Boarding House on New York’s Lower East Side are getting ready for a busy day. They’re an odd bunch, given their surroundings. Among them are a mute, an Irishman, a gay Black man, two Southern Belles, and the Mayhews themselves — a husband and wife team committed to advancing the women’s suffrage movement. As they prepare to host an important gathering, they receive an unexpected visit from a constable. One of the tenants has been murdered.
Hilarious hijinks ensue, amidst the backdrop of a murder mystery, as the tenants band together to conceal their involvement in the suffrage movement and improvise an elaborate ruse to throw the constable off their scent. The investigation, however, reveals much more than murder motives and rabble-rousing. It becomes an examination of human rights, the struggle to define “a woman’s place,” and political systems that have historically sought to snuff out feminist voices.
Plays
Broadway Book Club
Join the Broadway Book Club with a subscription to receive 5 or 7 scripts! Specialty Collections, curated packs of 5 scripts on themes such as Banned Books, Tony Award® Winners and more, are available for delivery at any time.
John Proctor Is the Villain by
2025 Tony Award® Nominee for Best Play. Now in performances on Broadway.
At a high school in a one-stoplight town in Georgia, an English class is studying The Crucible but the students are more preoccupied with navigating young love, sex ed, and a few school scandals. As the students delve into the American classic, they begin to question the play’s perspective and the validity of naming John Proctor the show’s hero. With deep wells of passion and biting humor, this comedy captures a generation mid-transformation, running on pop music, optimism, and fury, discovering that their future is not bound by the past and that they have the power to change it all.
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding by
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding in Harlem is a salon full of funny, whip-smart, talented women ready to make you look and feel nice-nice. On this particularly muggy summer day, Jaja’s rule-following daughter Marie is running the shop while her mother prepares for her courthouse, green-card wedding—to a man no one seems to particularly like. Just like her mother, Dreamer Marie is trying to secure her future; she’s just graduated high school and all she wants to do is go to college. While Marie deals with the customers’ and stylists’ laugh-out-loud drama, news pierces the hearts of the women of the salon, galvanizing their connections and strengthening the community they have longed to make in the United States.
Steel Magnolias by
The action is set in Truvy’s beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, where all the ladies who are “anybody” come to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether or not she is still married), the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town’s rich curmudgeon, Ouiser, (“I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in a bad mood for forty years”); an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee, who has a raging sweet tooth; and the local social leader, M’Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby (the prettiest girl in town), is about to marry a “good ole boy.” Filled with hilarious repartee and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy when, in the second act, the spunky Shelby (who is a diabetic) risks pregnancy and forfeits her life. The sudden realization of their mortality affects the others, but also draws on the underlying strength—and love—which give the play, and its characters, the special quality to make them truly touching, funny and marvelously amiable company in good times and bad.
Kimberly Akimbo by
Set in the wilds of suburban New Jersey, KIMBERLY AKIMBO is a hilarious and heartrending play about a teenager with a rare condition causing her body to age faster than it should. When she and her family flee Secaucus under dubious circumstances, Kimberly is forced to reevaluate her life while contending with a hypochondriac mother, a rarely sober father, a scam-artist aunt, her own mortality and, most terrifying of all, the possibility of first love.
Alabama Story by
As the Civil Rights movement is brewing, a controversial children’s book about a black rabbit marrying a white rabbit stirs the passions of a segregationist State Senator and a no-nonsense State Librarian in 1959 Montgomery, Alabama. A contrasting story of childhood friends—an African American man and a woman of white privilege, reunited in adulthood—provides private counterpoint to the public events swirling in the state capital. Political foes, star-crossed lovers, and one feisty children’s author inhabit the same page in a Deep South of the imagination that brims with humor, heartbreak, and hope. Inspired by true events!
Pride and Prejudice by
Based on the novel by Jane Austen
This isn’t your grandmother’s Austen! Bold, surprising, boisterous, and timely, this P&P for a new era explores the absurdities and thrills of finding your perfect (or imperfect) match in life. The outspoken Lizzy Bennet is determined to never marry, despite mounting pressure from society. But can she resist love, especially when that vaguely handsome, mildly amusing, and impossibly aggravating Mr. Darcy keeps popping up at every turn?! Literature’s greatest tale of latent love has never felt so theatrical, or so full of life than it does in this effervescent adaptation. Because what turns us into greater fools…than the high-stakes game of love?
Sense and Sensibility by
Based on the novel by Jane Austen
A playful new adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel follows the fortunes (and misfortunes) of the Dashwood sisters—sensible Elinor and hypersensitive Marianne—after their father’s sudden death leaves them financially destitute and socially vulnerable. Set in gossipy late 18th-century England, with a fresh female voice, the play is full of humor, emotional depth, and bold theatricality. Sense and Sensibility examines our reactions, both reasonable and ridiculous, to societal pressures. When reputation is everything, how do you follow your heart?
Vanity Fair by
Based on the novel by William Makepeace Thackeray
Becky is “bad.” Amelia is “good.” But in an unfair world, it isn’t always that simple…Two women—one born into privilege, another straight from the streets—attempt to navigate a society that punishes them for every misstep. Clever Becky’s not afraid to break the rules; soft-hearted Amelia’s scared to bend them. Both strive for what they want—but neither can thrive without the other. Through Becky and Amelia’s victories and losses, this thrilling, highly theatrical (im)morality play explores how flexible our morals can become when the wheel of fortune turns…Bold, wickedly funny, and shockingly relevant, VANITY FAIR demands that we face our own hypocrisy. After all…who are we to judge?
All Quiet on the Western Front by
Based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque
In October 1918, a month before the end of World War I, Paul Bäumer is shot and killed by a sniper on the western front. He is the last of his classmates to fall in a war that will destroy many in his generation and disillusion those who remain. All Quiet on the Western Front chronicles Paul’s observations of life and death in the mud of the trenches and the impossibility of returning to civilian life after living in hell. Paul, Müller, Kat, and Kropp are all brought briefly to life in this adaptation of one of the great anti-war classics of the twentieth century.
The Bookstore by Adam Szymkowicz
The future of a whimsical, almost magical bookstore is uncertain after the owner dies and leaves the shop to her niece Rachel. Rachel has a job in New York City that doesn’t pay her enough and a fiancé that won’t stop calling. She doesn’t have the time or patience to run a bookstore, so when real estate magnate Max Brewer offers her more money than she can imagine to turn the store into an apartment complex, her choice seems like a no-brainer. But as the shop works its magic on her and she gets to know the eccentric employees and clientele, she starts to wonder: Can you really put a price on a beloved community bookstore?
Musicals
Little House on the Prairie; Book by Rachel Sheinkin, Music by Rachel Portman, Lyrics by Donna Di Novelli
This heartwarming musical follows the Ingalls family’s journey westward and settlement in De Smet, South Dakota where Ma and Pa Ingalls hope to make a better life for their children. It tells the story of their struggle to keep their land claim. In story, song, and dance, we see the Ingalls weathering the hardships of winter blizzards and prairie fires as well as rejoicing in the settlement of land and town. Most of all, the story follows Laura as she grows from a wild child who loves to run free into a woman who embraces the responsibilities of her own future while struggling to remain true to herself.
A Peter Rabbit Tale; Book by Sarah Brandt, Music and Lyrics by Neal Richardson
Peter Rabbit doesn’t think life as a rabbit is all it’s cracked up to be in this spirited children’s musical. His mother is always making him do chores, and Peter’s had just about all he can take of his goody two-shoes twin sisters. After being picked on for the last time, Peter decides to run away from home and find a better place to live — somewhere he can be in charge, do whatever he wants, and be free of responsibility. But as Peter struggles to live with other animals, from feisty squirrels to sewing mice, he begins to realize his life at home might not have been so bad after all.
Emma! A Pop Musical; Book and Concept by Eric Price
Emma, a senior at Highbury Prep, is certain she knows what’s best for her classmates’ love lives, and is determined to find the perfect boyfriend for shy sophomore Harriet by the end of the school year. But will Emma’s relentless matchmaking get in the way of finding her own happiness? Based on Jane Austen’s classic novel, this sparkling new musical features the hit songs of legendary girl groups and iconic female singers from The Supremes to Katy Perry. Girl power has never sounded so good!
