Musical MixFest 2026
September 9-18, 2026
Linda Gross Theater
MixFest is Atlantic’s annual free reading series exploring and celebrating the abundance of diverse stories in the theater! We are delighted to announce the 2026 Musical MixFest, a series of readings of new work co-curated by theater artist Mona Seyed-Bolorforosh, alongside Associate Artistic Director Annie MacRae and Director of New Play Development Kalina Ko.
Atlantic will present readings of full-length musicals by Cheeyang Ng, é boylan, and Natalie Brown. Additionally, Atlantic Theater Company will present a Night of Songs featuring excerpts from new musicals by Ariella Serur & Sav Souza, Tommy Newman & Jaime Lozano, and Lianah Sta. Ana in a one-night-only concert experience. Admission is free!
The Judith Champion Musical MixFest is generously underwritten by Judith Champion, who passed away in July of 2022. She was a fierce advocate for theater, and wanted to leave a legacy of support for new voices so that American theater will thrive for generations to come.
Since 2017 Atlantic has presented our annual free reading series, which has included Asian American MixFest in 2017, Middle Eastern MixFest in 2018, Immigrant MixFest in 2019, African Caribbean MixFest in 2021, First Gen MixFest in 2022, (Writ)ual Mix: Traditions of the Diaspora MixFest in 2023, Caribbean MixFest in 2025, and Multiracial Mixfest last year.
Night of Songs will feature music from 3 new musicals.
Performing Filipina, a new “kind-of” musical by Lianah Sta. Ana, tells stories of “The Filipina Woman” and how she came to be. The show blends original compositions with reimagined Filipino folk songs, traditional book scenes with poetry and spoken word, and follows six Filipinas as they investigate and unravel their culture, history, identity, and memory to reclaim “The Filipina Woman” on their own terms.
Fusing traditional, Mexican folk music and Mestizo folklore, Roja is a new twist on the Little Red Riding Hood story. An enchanting journey of love, loss, and resilience, set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution.
When an unexpected one-night stand tumbles into a cross-country road trip, Jess and Linc find themselves in a month-long crash course on one another as they try to outrun the lives they left behind. We Start In Manhattan is a queer, two-hander rom-com about how 3,000 miles, 30 days, and 1 hatchback can force two strangers to get deep with each other – and ultimately themselves, because sometimes the person who knows you least can change you the most.
Now, in the basement of a small-town parish, a mysterious empty coffin appears. A secret underground society must investigate why; Nightingale hears sounds of the past, while Rook sees visions of the future. Their supervisor, Swallow, needs answers, but the woman who claimed to know everything is missing.
if you bury me is a fantasy for queer imaginations, following a group of mystical storytellers as they learn what grows from the dead and what begins in the end.
for colored girls, by Natalie Brown, is a musical reimagining of Ntozake Shange’s iconic choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf. With a sung-through score that draws from across Black musical traditions, Brown uncovers unexpected dimensions in Shange’s groundbreaking text, marking a bold next chapter for a work that continues to resonate fifty years after its debut. With direction and choreography by Tony nominee Ellenore Scott, for colored girls celebrates the complexities of Black womanhood through a vivid fusion of movement, music, and heart that feels both deeply familiar and urgently new.
Adapted from the play for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange.
This work is performed exclusively through an arrangement with The Ntozake Shange Trust and its Management Trustee, Paul T. Williams, Jr.
Ancient myths. Modern questions. International multi award-winning artist and singer-songwriter Cheeyang Ng blends Chinese mythology, memory and queer legacy in the electrifying solo ritual musical Legendary, a life-affirming tale of queer joy and identity. Through communal song and the retelling of ancient myths, they explore their relationship with family, tradition and the stories that have shaped them, but never reflected them. In the beginning, there was a god named Pan Gu and a ravishing goddess named Nü Wa. A global internet sensation, Legendary doesn’t just tell a story: it invites the audience to create one.
In addition to underwriting from the Judith Champion Estate, Musical MixFest and all of Atlantic’s new play and musical development activities are made possible by leadership support from the Howard Gilman Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, the Venturous Theater Fund, and the SHS Foundation. Programs are also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, as well as the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
As we prepare for another season of storytelling and artistry, we hope you will join as an Atlantic Member! Join for our 2026|2027 Season for the best price on tickets to four exciting new productions. Memberships are on sale now with Early Bird pricing thru Aug. 15!
by Mona Pirnot
music by Jack D. Coen
lyrics by Mona Pirnot and Jack D. Coen
directed by Sarah Benson
October 16 – November 15, 2026
Linda Gross Theater
A first-person monologue performed by a sixteen-person choir about a woman in her mid-thirties wrestling with one of life’s most important decisions. With plainspoken, contemporary language sung in the stylings of classical choral music, comes a new formally-daring, auto-fictional play from the writer of I’m Assuming You Know David Greenspan, Mona Pirnot.
by Clare Barron
directed by Anne Kauffman
January 9 – February 14, 2027
Linda Gross Theater
A compassionate and perverse exploration of a thirty-year affair and its consequences. A play about love, art, and living outside the bounds.
by Lucas Hnath
directed by Les Waters
featuring Deirdre O’Connell
March 18 – April 25, 2027
Linda Gross Theater
A play about learning lines for a play. In the world premiere of Old Actress, acclaimed playwright and director team Lucas Hnath (A Simulacrum) and Les Waters (Grief Camp) reunite with Deirdre O’Connell for the first time since their Tony Award-winning production of Dana H.
