Joel B. New wrote his first song for the musical theatre his freshman year in college, backstage in a dog costume for The King and I’s “Small House of Uncle Thomas” ballet. Today, he is an award-winning composer/lyricist. He is the proud recipient of a 2008 American Theatre Wing Jonathan Larson Grant. He has been praised as one of today’s “most exciting contemporary musical theatre writers.” (BroadwayWorld.com)

Mr. New’s song cycle Standalone is being prepped for 2010-11 workshop productions at universities across the country. Standalone has received previous readings at Oklahoma City University and with Demos-Bizar Entertainment.

His other projects include Awakening (music: J. Oconer Navarro), Bus Driver of the Year (book: Mac Rogers), To Hell and Back, and RSVP. His work has been seen and developed at Cutting-Edge Composers, Broadway in South Africa, Primary Stages, Ars Nova, Margo Lion, Ltd., NYMF, Lincoln Center, and many others.

Joel’s other honors include a 2008 NYU-Tisch Alumni Grant made possible by the Frederick Loewe Foundation, 2006 Margo Lion Award, and the 2004 Blevins-Thrower Encouragement Award.

Joel holds a BM in Musical Theatre Performance from OCU’s Bass School of Music, an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and is a member of BMI and the Dramatists Guild of America.

I write for the musical theatre in order to connect with people -- to explore, reveal, question, and even challenge the emotional experiences that make up the human condition. I write to attract, not distract. I believe that musical theatre is at its highest form when the writing is honest and cathartic without sacrificing a sense of form or craft. It is my artistic and personal endeavor to bring audiences work of this caliber while simultaneously pushing musical theatre forward as a collaborative art form.