Words: Rebecca Hart
Music: David Kornfeld

Originally developed as part of the Civilians R&D Group 2018-2019, Microcosmos is an explosive and lyrical rock odyssey into the hidden galaxies of the mind.

Based partly on our own neurodiverse lives (epilepsy and Tourette's), we are asking questions about creativity, sanity, and what we consider "normal."

Words & Music: Kyle Segar & David Kornfeld

Andy, a gay, black, aspiring-YouTube star, is in his last 2 weeks of high school. The show opens on the morning of Andy’s 17th birthday, a day when everything that can go wrong does. It’s the anniversary of his mother’s death, he breaks his camera, he finds out his dad is dating his teacher, and his mortal enemy/former best friend Freddy crushes his dreams of winning a life-changing video contest. This all leads to Andy making a birthday wish that transforms him into his favorite heartthrob: popstar sensation Christian Kane! As Andy navigates his new world looking like Christian (who happens to be white), the clock is ticking down to the big annual senior party: RAUNCH! Not only has Andy changed in this new Wish World, but so have his friends and family, everyone leading with personality traits that they may have hidden or suppressed in the real world. Andy, now more popular than ever, will host Raunch, where sex, lies and emotions all come to a head. Andy will be forced to come to terms with who he truly is inside and out and help those around him as well to create a new reality.

Whether it’s questions of identity, fears of moving on, or doubts about self-worth, this show asks, “If you could change, would you?”. Infused with a heart pounding pop/punk and contemporary R&B score, YOU WISH! will leave you singing new jams you’ll never forget!

Words: Alex Higgin-Houser
Music: David Kornfeld

The exhilarating true story of Chicago’s infamous Haymarket Affair. Anarchist labor leaders clash with a brutal police force in a battle for survival, and violent rebels armed with dynamite threaten to destroy the labor movement before it starts. The most important untold story in American history, brought to life by a company of twelve stellar actor-musicians, singing and playing through the folk, Americana and bluegrass score.

Words & Music: Laura Stratford, Alex Higgin-Houser & David Kornfeld

Grounds is the world's first indie-folk-rock-hip-hop musical (as far as we know). Actors are musicians, musicians play characters, and the audience is right in the cafe with us. Illuminated by bursts of shadow puppetry, this bittersweet, family-friendly comedy follows the proprietors and regulars of a doomed Minneapolis coffee shop and explores what happens to a community when we lose our home.

Under its former title, “Grind: the (Coffee Shop, Comic Book) Musical,” its first workshop in 2010 was produced by Theatre Undeclared (which later became Chicago's Underscore Theatre Company) and presented at KC Fringe, IndyFringe, Minnesota Fringe, and Chicago Fringe. It's latest incarnation was produced in April 2017 by Actors Training Center in Wilmette, IL, in association with Underscore Theatre Company. It featured a young cast of student actors working on their first new musical, as part of ACT's first new work development course.

Words: Laura Stratford, Alex Higgin-Houser, Brendan Siegfried & David Kornfeld
Music & Orchestrations: David Kornfeld

The darkly comedic Pr0ne: A Hardcore, Amateur Musical explodes the world of a single pornographic video, asking the question, “If we could step into the frame and see that person for who she really is, her hopes, her dreams, her challenges, past, present or future, what would we find?” What happens when we take that person who has been objectified and re-personify her? The plot follows Jessica Harrison, a young woman struggling to find her place in the film industry, as the country discovers her secret: that she is the unnamed, possibly exploited, young woman in an adult “casting couch” video at the heart of a highly sensationalized legal battle. As Jessie struggles to decide how to testify, her brother and his demented college roommate quest to clear her name and reunite their family.

Words: Laura Stratford, Alex Higgin-Houser, Brendan Siegfried & David Kornfeld
Music & Orchestrations: David Kornfeld

freshmen and one senior navigate their way through life, love and deconstruction theory at Secular Liberal Arts College (SLAC), only to find that their expensive education has left them flush with student loans and short on, well, “practical experience.” Meet Kevin, Natalie, Brandon, Neil, Sam and Moxie as they delve into “Bromance,” get “Sexiled” and try, once and for all, to figure out the “Derivative of Love.”

Think of it as a bitter valentine to the liberal arts, by liberal artists, with music you’ll never forget.

Words & Music: Laura Stratford, Alex Higgin-Houser, Brendan Siegfried & David Kornfeld

Earning standing ovations at the Abbie Hoffman Died for our Sins festival, this hilarious one-act musical introduces us to four very well-to-do twenty-somethings...trapped behind a spa...which is on fire. With no smart phones, no clothes and no demonstrable life skills, what's an heir or heiress to do?