Cast Set for One Way Reading
[New York, NY, June 9, 2026] — Casting is set for NEW NEXT NOW series new musical ONE WAY, including Britney Coleman (Company, Beetlejuice), Kim Blanck (Suffs, Octet), Jen Sese (Hamilton, Hair), Joe Joseph (Fear of 13, English), Garrett Turner (Tina, Thoughts of a Colored Man) and more, for an invitation-only presentation on June 16th at Open Jar Studios.
ONE WAY, by Ben Bonnema & Christopher Staskel, is a queer, anti-billionaire space musical in which Naomi, a retired astronaut, must choose between going on the first one-way Mars mission or staying on Earth with the woman she loves. ONE WAY will be directed by Jesca Prudencio (Julie Taymor World Theatre Recipient) with music direction by Mona Seyed-Bolorforosh(Heathers, Come From Away)
Casting by The TRC Company: Merri Sugarman (CSA) also features Jennifer Sánchez (Real Women Have Curves), PJ Adzima (Book of Mormon), John El-Jor (Mean Girls, American Idol), Alex Gibson (Pirates!, Spongebob), Amanda Savan (Fancy Nancy), and Ayanna Nicole Thomas (Cursed Child, How To Dance in Ohio).
New Next Now’s mission is to provide emerging writers and creative teams the support and opportunity to focus on the creative process of new and original work at key stages in their development. “This new musical is a true bright light in the pipeline of new original works,” said Jesse Kissel, Co-Founder of the initiative,”and we’re so excited to share this important step in its next steps of development as a featured show in this series.”
The Advisory Board for New Next Now includes Lynn Ahrens, John Kander, Michael Starobin, Sergio Trujillo, Susan Stroman, Christopher Gattelli, Michael John LaChiusa and more, working to shape the NEW NEXT NOW series to help transform the creative industry. The series is made possible, in part, with support from the Fred Ebb Foundation.
For more information about these invitation-only presentations: https://wkf.ms/3RPfVEO