NEW@NAMT: The Next Wave of Musical Theatre Writers – Featuring Karen Hartman, Jenny Giering & Adam Gwon (Alice Bliss)
📖 Book by Karen Hartman | 🎶 Music by Jenny Giering | ✍️ Lyrics by Adam Gwon
Based on the novel by Laura Harrington
What happens when a teenage girl tries to hold her world together while her father is deployed to war? In this episode of NEW@NAMT, host Jean-Paul Yovanoff is joined by co-hosts Elissa Adams and Liz Ulmer to welcome the writers of Alice Bliss, a heart-stopping and surprisingly funny new musical about family, resilience, and growing up on the edge of a war no one asked for.
Set in 2007 in upstate New York, Alice Bliss follows 15-year-old Alice as she juggles school, first love, and deepening family tension after her father is deployed to Iraq. Her quiet rebellion? Trying to be perfect—so maybe, just maybe, she can keep him safe. 💔
🎶 Writers Karen Hartman, Jenny Giering, and Adam Gwon discuss the rich development journey of the piece, from its origins as a cut character in another musical (Crossing Brooklyn) to a one-woman show (Alice Unwrapped), to Laura Harrington’s acclaimed novel, and finally to this hauntingly intimate musical. Together, they explore themes of loss, agency, and the often-unseen toll war takes on women and girls left behind.
With a harmonic score and a cast of characters ranging from a Civil War-obsessed little sister to a trio of women who embody a community forever changed by conflict, Alice Bliss is a story for anyone who has ever waited, wondered, or carried the weight of someone else’s battle.
👀 Developed with support from Playwrights Horizons, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, and more, Alice Bliss is now looking for its world premiere—ideally in a community with strong ties to military families who may see themselves reflected in this deeply human story.
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