Gallery Players has often successfully produced new musicals as part of their season, such as Yank (2007) and Like You Like It (2008). To further this idea, Gallery Players has created a new program in order to directly support the development of new musicals. OVERTURES will offer staged readings of new musicals, thereby fostering the creation of new musical theatre and supporting the talented composers and writers as they refine their work. The series is helmed by theatre director and scholar, Barrie Gelles and will feature the talents of a roster of exceptional up-and-coming performers and directors.
Program Director: OVERTURES – Barrie Gelles
The Town That Sucked at Christmas
Music, Book, and Lyrics by David Christensen, Sarah Ziegler, and Luke Holloway
On stage November 17 and 18, 2025
Holly isn’t that nice, but nice doesn’t cut it if you want to be the best. And Holly desperately wants to be the best. She’s a super-talented, go-getter of a gal in PR and marketing, but she keeps coming up against the glass ceiling – probably because it’s the 1890s. Holly’s career hits an all time low when her boss sends her on a mundane, not-at-all-in-line-with-her-career-goals, way out-of-town job. Holly’s assignment? To help some tiny, boring town win a silly Christmas contest.
Holly is devastated and, let’s face it, not very pleasant when she arrives in Little Town. She immediately sees why Little Town needs help, though. They are sweet, simple folk with the worst luck ever, and their neighboring town of Colon (it’s pronounced “Cologne”) is just plain evil. The governor has just declared that Little Town must win this year’s Best Christmas contest against Colon or all of Little Town will be demolished and turned into an overpriced farmer’s market.
Holly gets going instilling her confident, no-nonsense work ethic into Little Town. And slowly but surely, the people of Little Town get to work on her, treating her with a level of kindness and respect that she never received at her big city firm.
Will Little Town win with Holly’s help? Will Holly find what she considers success? Will someone give us a few million dollars to take this show to Broadway?! Come join us and find out!
Creative Team:
David Christensen is a musical theater writer based in both NYC and Connecticut. He is a graduate of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee as well as the Advanced Musical Theater Writing Workshop at BMI. In addition to The Town That Sucked at Christmas, his other current projects with Sarah and Luke include: Candida, 3… 2… 1… Bake Off!, and Just Between the All of Us, an audience-interactive musical comedy which had a production at the Bloomington Playwright’s Project where it won the Reva Shiner Comedy award. His other current projects with Luke include: Echo (conceived with and directed by Jeff Whiting, with choreography by Caterina Rago), Bobby the Blue Beaked Penguin (with David Rosenberg), and Serial Mom. David is also currently working on two new musicals with collaborator Benjamin Doolittle: Galileo’s Daughter, and A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court. David and Sarah co-created and co-write the Between Broadway Variety Hour, which Sarah also hosts. David’s songs have been performed at various theaters and cabarets in NYC (Joe’s Pub, 54 Below, The Laurie Beechman, among others) as well as through the U.S. and internationally. His show Santa Claus: A New Musical (co-written with Luke Holloway and Noah Putterman) is licensed through Broadway Licensing Global.
Sarah Ziegler is a lyricist/librettist and an advanced member of the BMI Workshop. In addition to The Town That Sucked at Christmas, Sarah and Dave collaborated (along with co-writer Kellen Blair and orchestrator Luke Holloway) on Just Between the All of Us, an audience-interactive musical comedy that won the Reva Shiner Comedy award and had a production at the Bloomington Playwright’s Project. Sarah’s other shows include In BeTween, a musical for adolescent performers (available for licensing), The Brontës (production at The Space Theatre in London), and Alex Gold: Stuck on Repeat (production at Constellation Stage and Screen). Sarah’s songs have been performed at cabaret spaces across NYC including 54 Below (Lady Parts, Broadway Babylon, and MuseMatch), The Duplex (In the Works) and the New York Theatre Barn (Sarah vs. Sarah). Sarah is the proud host of a cabaret series (written with David Christensen, produced by Bill DeSimone), The Between Broadway Variety Hour. With Luke Holloway’s orchestration and production, Sarah has released a children’s album of her original tunes available for streaming on all major platforms (“Musical Muffins: Songs for Babies and Big Kids”). Sarah’s “Tweens ‘n Teens Songbook” (written with composer Nicky Phillips) is published by Full Voice Music Inc and for sale on Amazon. Sarah is a graduate of Hamilton College (Bachelors) and The Boston Conservatory (Masters in musical theater). Favorite roles performed include Little Red Riding Hood in Little Red Riding Hood: A Children’s Opera, Jane in Leave it to Jane (Musicals Tonight!), Laurey in Oklahoma! (Tent Theatre, MO), Jane in Pirates! (Huntington Theatre), and Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun (Millbrook Playhouse). Most of all, Sarah loves spending time writing and performing silly songs with her sons, Arlo and Hughie.
March 16 and 17, 2026
Check back for the full lineup in 2026!
“It was clear from my very first encounter with director Barrie Gelles: Gallery Players truly loves theater artists. I was honored to receive a reading in the inaugural year of Overtures, and I am thrilled to be back with Emma this fall. Gallery Players deftly handles all the logistics so the writers can focus on the work. A generosity of spirit abounds, from the directors to the cast, and I am immensely grateful for the time, talent, space, and support to develop this new musical; it is a rare gift.” – Sarah Taylor Ellis, composer – EMMA (2015)
“…having the Gallery Players and the type of support they are giving us allows us to focus entirely on the writing. Gallery Players has been fantastic about building a supportive infrastructure and for simply creating this opportunity. They’ve been so welcoming and fantastic working with all the new writers.” – Jonathon Lynch, composer – LUNACY (2014)
Past Seasons of Overtures
Shows from Overtures have gone on to Off-Off-Broadway productions, New York Musical Theatre Festival, Pittsburgh CLO, regional productions, and additional workshops.
2019
Going South
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Katya Stanislavskaya
The Heartbreak Hotel
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Rebecca Lee Lerman
2017-2018
The Giant Hoax
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Kit Goldstein Grant
Peter and the Pied Piper, a special presentation for young audiences
Music by Jonathon Lynch
Book and Lyrics by Holly Hepp-Galván
Manuel Versus the Statue of Liberty
Music and Lyrics by David Davila
Book and Lyrics by Noemi de la Puente
The Holy Cows of Credence, South Dakota
Music and Lyrics by Paul Rigano and David Rigano
Book by Mark Eugene Garcia
The Turing Test
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jonathon Lynch
2016-2017
Baby Bumps
Music by Jeffrey Lodin
Lyrics by William Squier
Book by William Squier and Dana Hilmer
An American Hero
Music and Lyrics by Cody Cole
Book by Kenneth L. Stilson
We Are The Tigers
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Rebekah M. Allen
Echo
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Anna Jacobs
On the Air
Music By Robert Farruggia
Book and Lyrics by Robert Farruggia and Cristina Farruggia
2015-2016
20/35
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Ben Diskant
Emma
Music by Sarah Taylor Ellis
Book and Lyrics by Meghan Brown
Deployed
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Natalie Lovejoy
‘Til Death Do Us Part
Music and Lyrics by Bobby Cronin
Book by Caroline Prugh
Lobsters Live Forever
Music by Bob Kelly
Book and Lyrics by Sam Chanse
In partnership with the Leviathan Lab
Standby
Music by Amy Baer and Keith Robinson
Book and Lyrics by Mark-Eugene Garcia and Alfred Solis
Based on a Concept by Alfred Solis
2014-2015
Lunacy
Music by Jonathon Lynch
Book and Lyrics by Matt Boresi
The Yellow Wallpaper
Music by Sarah Taylor Ellis
Book and Lyrics by Lane Williamson
Closer Than You Think
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Brett Kristofferson
Based on the film Across the Tracks written and directed by Sandy Tung
Plagued (A musical comedy adventure across disease ravaged 14th century England)
Music by Nick Moore
Book and Lyrics by Daniel John Kelley
Story by Nick Moore & Daniel John Kelley
In Search of the Bandit Queen
Music and Lyrics by Kamala Sankaram
Book and Lyrics by Christine Toy Johnson
Rebuilding
Music by Mark Evans
Book and Lyrics by Andrew Farmer and Max Reuben