Written by David Roberts
Theatre Reviews Limited
NEW SEASON, NEW PLAYS: Broadway Bound Theatre Festival -2025 hosts 12 new plays and musicals this summer at AMT Theater in midtown NYC. These new works are by emerging playwrights from across the country, with three full productions. BBTF is a curated festival, founded in 2016, focused on empowering self-producing playwrights by offering a nurturing, supportive environment, professional staff and all the support services they need to create a positive theatrical experience. We invite you to join us July 24-Aug. 17 to support these amazing artists in their off-Broadway premieres. Tickets go on sale now: broadwayboundfest.com.
The 2025 lineup:
BENGAL TO BERLIN: The Scientist Who Reshaped the Universe, MUSICAL Book & Lyrics by Hasan Padamsee, Music by Zlaja Miric. Bengal, 1924: When his quantum theories are rejected by the Western scientific establishment, young Indian physicist Satyendra Bose, in an act of intellectual rebellion, sends his groundbreaking quantum theory directly to Albert Einstein. Against all odds, Einstein responds, and Bose begins his trek across a divided world where imperial rule suffocates Indian intellect. After an eye-opening encounter with Marie Curie in Paris where he rekindles his fight against discrimination, he finally stands before Einstein. But neither fully realize they are about to change our understanding of the universe.
Performances: Thursday, Aug. 7 @ 5:00 PM
Saturday, Aug. 9 @ 8:00 PM
Sunday, Aug. 10 @ 2:00 PM
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BEYOND PERFECTION MUSICAL Book, Music & Lyrics by Kenady Sean, Lyrics and Music by Emily Horton, Book & Lyrics by Kaylee Killingsworth. War hero Ryan and his wife Kate are the flawless faces of Perfection LLC’s government-run marriage program—an algorithmically crafted romance, broadcast to millions. Their love is scripted, their happiness engineered—until a glitch breaks the illusion. As Ryan spirals, he stumbles into the No-See-Ums encampment, a hidden rebel society in Central Park where outcasts unveil a world beyond control. Torn between the rebels and his marriage, Ryan is forced to make a decision: for a future where love, freedom, and imperfection still exist or embrace the manufactured perfection of paradise.
Performances: Thursday, Aug. 14 @ 5:00 PM
Friday, Aug. 15 @ 8:00 PM
Saturday, Aug. 16 @ 8:00 PM
Sunday, Aug. 17 @ 2:00 PM
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MAKING ENDS MEET MUSICAL Book & Lyrics by Laurence Holzman & Felicia Needleman, Music by Ian Brandon. When the 2008 financial crash shatters their high-flying careers, two longtime friends and investment firm execs scramble for ways to keep their suburban lifestyles intact. But one seemingly innocent misunderstanding spirals into an unexpected—and highly lucrative—sideline: discreetly “entertaining” the wealthy, restless wives of Westchester County. As their secret gigolo venture snowballs into a full-fledged operation, balancing suburban domesticity with clandestine affairs becomes increasingly precarious. Can they juggle deception, desire, and dollar signs without their personal lives imploding? Or will the weight of their high-stakes hustle finally catch up with them?
Performances: Thursday, July 24 @ 5:00 PM
Friday, July 25 @ 8:00 PM
Saturday, July 26 @ 2:00 PM
Sunday, July 27 @ 5:00 PM
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ONE NIGHT MUSICAL Book & Lyrics by Laurence Holzman & Felicia Needleman, Music by David Shenton. For years, Julie & Nathan and Danny & Vivian have been inseparable—two married couples bound by decades of friendship, laughter and shared history. But during a long-awaited weekend retreat, a buried secret comes to light: a one-night indiscretion between Julie and Danny, hidden for years beneath the surface of their perfect lives. As the shock ripples through the group, love and loyalty collide with betrayal and regret. Will their marriages withstand the weight of the past, or will old wounds tear apart the friendships they believed were unbreakable?
Performances: Wednesday, July 30 @ 5:00 PM
Thursday, July 31 @ 8:00 PM
Friday, Aug. 1 @ 5:00 PM
Saturday, Aug. 2 @ 8:00 PM
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BY DESIGN by Shelby Fairchild. In a near-apocalyptic world not unlike our own, Ale, determined to find her long-lost mother and escape her controlling father, teams up with Nat, one of a rare breed of “readers” who can divine a person or object’s history with a single touch. But after experimenting on her for years in a desperate attempt to block the readers’ abilities, Ale’s father has no intention of letting her go. As Ale and Nat embark on their search, what their quest for freedom uncovers may not have been what they were looking for, but what they thought they’d never find.
Performances: Friday, Aug. 1 @ 8:00 PM
Saturday, Aug. 2 @ 5:00 PM
Sunday, Aug. 3 @ 5:00 PM
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DOUBLE CROSSED by Glory Kadigan. When a staff member on a luxury cruise ship is accused of theft, a normally unflappable cruise director is thrust into a high-stakes game of class warfare, manipulation and shifting alliances. Her past affair with the accused threatens to unravel her career, reputation, and moral compass, and as she navigates the hidden agendas an ambitious assistant, the wealthy accuser, and her slippery subordinate lover, they all set course for a sudden confrontation on a journey where secrets run deeper than the ocean itself.
Performances: Wednesday, Aug. 6 @ 8:00 PM
Friday, Aug. 8 @ 5:00 PM
Saturday, Aug. 9 @ 2:00 PM
Wednesday, Aug. 13 @ 5:00 PM
Friday, Aug. 15 @ 2:00 PM
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GHOST WRITER by Alicia Foxworth. Human trafficking is alive and well in pre-Civil War Kellington, NY, where it’s just days before Independence Day. However, a duplicitous mayor who has secretly made his fortune in that very industry, has no intention of abiding by the law. As he clandestinely orchestrates a large shipment of human cargo, he banks on a much-ballyhooed visit of a famous author to keep the town distracted. But unseen forces might have other plans. Based in historical context, this play showcases a critical part of American history that is currently being censored and rewritten but is as relevant today as it was hundreds of years ago.
Performances: Wednesday, Aug. 13 @ 2:00 PM
Thursday, Aug. 14 @ 8:00 PM
Saturday, Aug. 16 @ 5:00 PM
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I MADE IT TO THE MOON by Karen Campion. When a college-aged son brings home his fiancé of six months for the first time, his mother is hellbent on breaking off their engagement. Little does she know the reason behind her angst is about to walk out of her secret, well-hidden past (it’s 1996 after all – the last days of privacy) and into her living room in a major way, exposing her son, her husband, and all attending the engagement dinner to her true backstory.
Performances: Wednesday, Aug. 6 @ 5:00 PM
Friday, Aug. 8 @ 8:00 PM
Saturday, Aug. 9 @ 5:00 PM
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RETROSPECTIVE by T.J. Elliott. Renowned artist Rory McGrory wakes up trapped in a mysterious art gallery surrounded by empty frames that house no art. Greeted by his ex-wife Pippa only adds to his confusion. Certainly, this must be a nightmare, the result of a spicy late-night snack! Because Pippa is dead, and she’s hell bent on convincing him he is, too. And that the artless frames actually are his life’s retrospective—all the paintings he’s ever created. But why can’t he see them? As Rory bounces from denial to acceptance, he’s forced to grapple with his unresolved past. But will it be enough to give him one final look at his life’s work before moving on from this afterlife way station?
Performances: Wednesday, Aug. 13 @ 8:00 PM
Friday, Aug. 15 @ 5:00 PM
Saturday, Aug. 16 @ 2:00 PM
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REUNION by Carey Campbell. After 30 years, Suzanne abruptly returns to the small Rust Belt town where she grew up to bury her mother. It’s late on a rainy night when she stops for a quiet cup of coffee at the local diner, a favorite after-school hangout for her younger self. To her chagrin, the two men at the counter want to talk. A shadow of recognition falls over Suzanne’s face, and the conversation turns into a game of cat-and-mouse, as she finds herself confronting the demon from her past.
Performances: Thursday, July 24 @ 8:00 PM
Friday, July 25 @ 5:00 PM
Saturday, July 26 @ 8:00 PM
Sunday, July 27 @ 2:00 PM
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THE RICE EATERS by Yide Cai. In a Chinese factory where workers mass produce Van Gogh replicas, the German and Hong Kong employers exploit their laborers with ruthless efficiency, prioritizing commerce over creativity. One ambitious artist, Fan Gao, claims his son’s work as his own and begins an affair with a German manager, leading to a cycle of betrayal and manipulation. As the once-oppressed rise to power, Fan Gao and his colleagues find that the knife of corruption cuts both ways.
Performances: Thursday, Aug. 7 @ 8:00 PM
Friday, Aug. 8 @ 2:00 PM
Sunday, Aug. 10 @ 5:00 PM
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THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS by Chris Phillips. In this contemporary riff on SEX, LIES & VIDEOTAPE, a married couple from Los Angeles, Stephen and James, invite Stephen’s brash actor friend, Kody, and James’s former fraternity brother, Ellis – once an entitled entrepreneur, now a spiritually-minded, recovering sex addict — for a weekend at their Palm Springs home to celebrate James’s forty-fifth. Unknown to Stephen, James engages in extramarital adventures with anonymous hookups and Kody, while Stephen, increasingly frustrated in his role as ornamental househusband, finds himself first unnerved by Ellis’s blunt honesty, then drawn to his refreshing candor. As the weekend progresses, the walls come down and the gloves come off as the four men bristle under the weight of the roles all of them have played for far too long.