WESLEY – A New Musical Soars to The Theater Center in NYC This June

New Musical- WESLEY: A girl, an owl, and a love story that changed them both forever. By Scott Steidl and Mark Hantoot, directed by Mary Duncan, gets NYC debut

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, May 21, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- This June, prepare to take flight with WESLEY, an original musical making its heartfelt New York debut at The Theater Center (West 50th Street). Inspired by Stacey O’Brien’s beloved, internationally best-selling memoir “Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of a Bird and His Girl,” this new work redefines what it means to love—and be loved in return. Wesley was created by Scott Steidl (music & lyrics) and Mark Hantoot (book, additional lyrics) and directed by Mary Duncan. It will begin performances on June 11, 2025, and will open on June 25, 2025, and will run through July 18, 2025.

WESLEY tells the incredible story of Casey, a gifted young rock musician who steps out of the spotlight and into an extraordinary lifelong bond with an injured barn owl named Wesley. At once wildly unique and profoundly universal, Casey’s journey is one of courage, caretaking, and the kind of unshakeable love that rarely takes flight between people and animals. The new musical follows Casey as she takes in a wing-damaged newborn owl, she anticipates a few tender days of hospice care. What she gets instead is a decades-long relationship that reshapes her entire world. As Wesley grows and thrives, so too does their bond, challenging everything Casey thought she knew about connection, purpose, and devotion. Through soaring music and tender storytelling, WESLEY invites us into a duet of healing, heartbreak, and the many forms love can take.

The cast features Andrianna Ayala (NYC: Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up) as Casey, Daniel Sanchez as Wesley with Christa Lisette Beveridge (Regional: Die Fledermaus), Tara Dougherty (Les Misérables), Ashley Huber (Regional: Die Fledermaus), Jack Kehoe (NYC: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Christopher Kirby Saunders, Nathan Myers (NYC: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), and Maya Pierce (Regional: Hair).

Creative team includes Germán Cárdenas-Alaminos (set design), Bailey Hammett-Colwell (costume design), Camilla Tassi (projection designer), Austin Phillips (puppet design), and Jacob Heacock (assistant director).

“When I saw the first reading of WESLEY in New York,” says Stacey O’Brien, writer of the Best-Selling Memoir “Wesley the Owl” “not only did the story ring true to my book, it profoundly affected the audience, who were laughing out loud and openly crying throughout. It is a stunning stage adaptation that left me and my editor in tears.”

Originally published in 2008, Wesley the Owl spent five weeks on The New York Times Bestseller List and became an international phenomenon, published in multiple languages and countries, including Italy, Brazil, China, Korea, and Germany.

PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Venue: The Theater Center (NYC) is located at 210 W 50th St, New York, NY 10019
Limited Run: June 11 - July 18, 2025
Tickets can be purchased at www.TheTheaterCenter.com - direct ticketing link here.
Performance Schedule: Wednesday at 2 PM and 7:30 PM; Thursday at 2 PM; Friday at 4 PM

For more information, please visit www.wesleymusical.com

Joe Trentacosta
JT Public Relations Corporation
email us here
Visit us on social media:
Instagram
Facebook