Who is behind the scenes?
The New Musicals Lab is brought to you by Christopher Newport University. With its world class facilities and availability of resources, CNU is a dream home to rising musical theater artists. However the resources and the functionality of the program would not be possible without the wonderful people behind the New Musicals Lab.
One of the key individuals behind the New Musicals Lab is Bruce Bronstein, the Executive Director of the Ferguson Center at Christopher Newport University. Bruce Bronstein was the one who came up with the idea of The New Musicals Lab and pushed for its opening 5 years ago. He thought of The New Musicals Lab as a “safe haven” for new musicals to develop outside of the tri-state area. “I know the transformative power of live theater,” said Executive Director Bruce Bronstein. “It is my mission to create opportunities and remove obstacles so everyone can participate in the soul-nourishing experiences that are only possible through the arts.”
Another important individual of the New Musicals Lab would be Colin Ruffer, the NML Artistic Director. Colin Ruffer is an Assistant Professor of Theater at Christopher Newport University and he specializes in Musical Theater. He has multiple roles at the Lab such as directing the students and helping out the visiting artists. This season, Colin Ruffer sang the song, “Pages of You” in the musical Collisions written by Collard and Rosenblatt Collabs.
Although Bruce Bronstein and Colin Ruffer are important people in the New Musicals Lab, the backbone of the program are the many people behind the scenes that help pull it off. The housing staff on campus help provide and prepare the company members and musical artists to live in their living spaces. The facility management keeps the spaces such as the Diamondstein clean and open, the marketing support advertises the lab, and both the marketing and student support help find the shows and company members for the New Musicals Lab.
But most of all we are most thankful to our wonderful donors. Their support makes all of this possible. We are thankful for the hard work, sacrifices and contributions that everyone devotes each year to this program. Without them, the New Musical Labs would not have grown into the significant program it is today.