Duncan Sheik & Steven Sater

MCC Theater announces its 2018-2019 season at a new home in Hell's Kitchen

The season will include Alice By Heart - a world premiere musical by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater.

Tom Millward
Tom Millward

MCC Theater has revealed four new productions for its inaugural season at the company's new permanent home in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan. The 2018-2019 off-Broadway season (MCC's 32nd season) is set to include three New York premiere plays and a world premiere musical, based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, that reunites the Tony and Grammy Award-winning creators of Spring Awakening, Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater.

MCC Theater's new complex will open later this year at West 52nd Street and 10th Avenue and will offer two theatre spaces. The Newman Mills Theater will function as the company's mainstage with a seating capacity of 245, whilst The Susan and Ronald Frankel Theater will be a black box theater with a 100-seat capacity. The complex will also be home to MCC's popular PlayLabs reading series and its Education & Outreach Department. The complex is a result of a $35 million project, funded by a public-private partnership between the Theater itself and the City of New York, which has generously contributed $25.7 million to the project.

The four newly announced productions of the 2018-2019 season will be presented in the following order:

From January 9 to February 17, 2019, MCC Theater presents the New York premiere of The Light, written by Loy A. Webb and directed by Logan Vaughn, at The Susan and Ronald Frankel Theater.

Synopsis: "Not every marriage proposal goes as planned. The Light introduces us to Rashad and Genesis on what should be one of the happiest days of their lives, but their joy quickly unravels when ground-shifting accusations from the past resurface in this gripping two character drama. Can their relationship survive the growing divide between them over who - and what - to believe? The Light is a reckoning that unfolds in real-time and peels away the layers of truth, doubt, pain, and ultimately the power of love."

From January 30 to March 10, 2019, MCC Theater presents an eagerly anticipated world premiere musical Alice By Heart, featuring music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Jessie Nelson will direct the production and also serves as co-writer. This will mark MCC's inaugural production at The Newman Mills Theater.

Synopsis: "When the madness of the world is too much to bear, we take refuge in the stories we love. In the rubble of the London Blitz of World War II, Alice Spencer's budding teen life is turned upside down, and she and her dear friend Alfred are forced to take shelter in an underground tube station. When the ailing Alfred is quarantined, Alice encourages him to escape with her into their cherished book and journey down the rabbit hole to wonderland. As they travel through the tale, Alice By Heart explores the poignancy of first love, coming to terms with loss, and finding the courage to move forward. Inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, this world premiere musical encourages us all to celebrate the transformational power of the imagination, even in the harshest of times."

From April 18 to May 26, 2019 at The Newman Mills Theater, MCC Theater presents the New York premiere of BLKS - a playwriting debut by acclaimed poet Aziza Barnes.

Synopsis: "When shit goes down, your girls show up. As sharply funny as it is poignant, BLKS introduces us to Octavia, Imani, and June - three twenty somethings in New York City hunting for intimacy and purpose in a city that doesn't seem to care. They drink a lot. They smoke a lot. They try to have sex. A lot. When they need each other the most, the women rally to "resurrect their fly" in a day full of humorous and painful attempts to be heard through the noise that surrounds them."

Finally, from June 27 to August 4, 2019, MCC Theater presents the New York premiere of Halley Feiffer's Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow, directed by Trip Cullman, at The Susan and Ronald Frankel Theater.

Synopsis: "The struggle is real for Olga, Masha, and Irina: siblings who are NOT super thrilled to be stuck in rural Russia circa 1900 (laaame). In Halley Feiffer's contemporary reimagining of Chekhov's Three Sisters, we follow the joys and heartbreaks of one lovably dysfunctional family over the course of several pivotal years in a world that proves to be eerily similar to the one we live in today. This new black comedy tackles the absurdity of the privileged class and the power of love in a fresh twist on a classic tale that reveals itself to be far more relevant, than like, ever before."

MCC Theater continues its current 31st season at the Lucille Lortel Theatre with the world premiere of Lucy Thurber's Transfers which begins performances on April 5, 2018.

(Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN​)

Originally published on

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