FGL'S BRIAN KELLEY / CUZBRO PRODUCTIONS TO PRODUCE MAY WE ALL MUSICAL

Lively McCabe Entertainment announces a partnership with Brian Kelley -- of the multi-platinum, award-winning duo Florida Georgia Line -- via his CuzBro Productions banner, on the recently announced new musical MAY WE ALL. Kelley and partners Stephen Snedden and Justin Halliwell join previously announced producers, Lively McCabe Entertainment President Michael Barra, and Elyse Cogan, Director, Theatrical for BMG. CuzBro will be actively involved in the creative development of the project, and a developmental production will be staged in Memphis, Tennessee at Playhouse on the Square in the fall of 2020 (dates TBA). The producers are simultaneously pursuing a feature film adaptation of the musical.

MAY WE ALL will be published and licensed by Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW), and performance rights will be available following a subsequent yet-to-be announced world premiere production currently being planned as a residency in Nashville for 2021.

Says Brian Kelley, "I love building, love creating, love being surrounded by an amazing team, and have found endless inspiration in the fact that I can use my voice in any interest that I have. Forming CuzBro, and our new partnership with Lively McCabe, gives me a fresh and exciting creative channel. I couldn't be more thrilled to have this musical feature the songs of so many of my buddies and artists who've inspired me. Can't wait to bring this project to the stage and beyond."

MAY WE ALL features a book by Troy Britton Johnson and Todd Johnson, arrangements and orchestrations by Brian Usifer, and treasured country songs written by or originally performed by artists including Florida Georgia Line as well as Jessica Andrews, Brooks & Dunn, Luke Bryan, Johnny Cash, Kenny Chesney, John Denver, Diamond Rio, Dixie Chicks, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Loretta Lynn, Jo Dee Messina, Ashley McBride, Tim McGraw, Jennifer Nettles, Old Dominion, Dolly Parton, Carly Pearce, Rascal Flatts, Chris Stapleton, Shania Twain, Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette and Zac Brown Band.

MAY WE ALL is a story of disappearing small-town America as seen through the hopeful eyes of its youth. Jenna Coates, a fledgling country singer, reluctantly comes home after a rough start in Nashville, ultimately to discover that her roots may take her a lot further than her dreams.

BIOGRAPHIES

Troy Britton Johnson (Co-Book Writer). Current writing projects include a musical adaptation of the award winning novel Drag Teen, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell; Belles, based on the documentary “Southern Belle” in development with the Alliance Theater; Howard, a new musical based on the life of Howard Hughes; and C’mon Get Happy, incorporating the catalogue of music from “The Partridge Family” TV series. He is the writer of The Voice: Neon Dreams, featuring stars of NBC’s “The Voice” slated for residency in Las Vegas, as well as Broadway Bares, the annual fundraiser that has raised over 19 million dollars for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.  Troy is also developing projects for the stage with Atlantic Records and Warner Music Group. Formerly an actor, he created the role of Robert Martin on Broadway in the Tony winning The Drowsy Chaperone, and other Broadway credits include Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees, Elvis in The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public and the original company of The Will Rogers Follies.  He originated the role of Corny Collins in the first national tour and Los Angeles companies of Hairspray, and played Teddy Slaughter in the national tour of The Full Monty. Off-Broadway, he played Craig Prince in Charles Busch’s infamous Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. He attended UNC-Chapel Hill and holds his degree in theater from New York University.

Todd Johnson (Co-Book Writer) began his career as a backup singer in New York City, where he performed with such artists as Garth Brooks, Barry Manilow, Marc Anthony, Celine Dion, Tony Bennett, Al Jarreau, Petula Clark, Natalie Cole, and Sarah Brightman. He received a Tony Award nomination as an original producer of The Color Purple on Broadway. Johnson’s bestselling first novel, The Sweet By and By, won the Connecticut Book Award. A North Carolina native, he is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and Yale.

Brian Usifer (Arranger/Orchestrator) is currently the Music Director of Frozen on Broadway. Credits include Music Director of Kinky Boots as well as Associate Music Supervisor on tour, and in London and Toronto. Associate Music Supervisor of The Book of Mormon on Broadway and on tour. Broadway and off-Broadway orchestras include Spelling Bee, Avenue Q, Altar Boyz, and The Book of Mormon.

Lively McCabe Entertainment (Producer). Led by producer Michael Barra and co-founder Katie Dietz, the company specializes in packaging and adapting iconic intellectual property into new stories for theater, film, television, and book publishing.  Other projects in development include the new stage musical Punk Rock Girl, with a book by Joe Iconis (Be More Chill) and featuring hit songs from artists such as Blondie, Avril Lavigne, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett and Gwen Stefani, and the stage adaptation of Clue, based on the iconic Paramount Pictures film and Hasbro board game. Visit www.livelymccabe.com.

BMG (Producer) is the world’s fourth biggest music company and the first new global player in the recordings business in decades. BMG’s 15 offices across 12 core music markets now represent over 2.5m songs and recordings, including the catalogues of Chrysalis, Bug, Virgin, Mute, Sanctuary, Primary Wave and Talpa Music, as well as literally thousands of artists and songwriters including Aerosmith, Blondie, Richard Marx, Public Enemy, Tears for Fears, Avril Lavigne, and Alice in Chains, among many others. BMG is the new model music company founded by international media, services and education company Bertelsmann in 2008. Bringing together the traditionally separate businesses of music publishing and recordings under one roof, BMG is increasingly building a multimedia presence in music related films (Joan Jett’s Bad Reputation, Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records), television projects (PBS Soundstage, Live From Daryl’s House), and books (Johnny Cash at Folsom & San Quentin, Wanda Jackson: Every Night is Saturday Night, For The Sake of Heaviness: The History of Metal Blade Records).

CuzBro Productions (Producer) is a creative powerhouse emerging in television and film production. Leading as the brainchild of Florida Georgia Line’s Brian Kelley (Co-Founder and Principal) and his cousin, actor Stephen Snedden (Co-Founder and President of Production), writer Justin Halliwell serves as Partner and President of Development, with esteemed artist manager Kevin “Chief” Zaruk as Music Supervisor. Rooted in hard work, passion, and authenticity, CuzBro Productions is dedicated to conveying compelling original stories and creating vivid, authentic worlds, with inspired programming that speaks to the heart and humanity of all viewers. Represented by WME, the newly-launched company has several television and film projects already in the works, with details expected to announce soon.

Playhouse on the Square (Venue for Developmental Production). As the cornerstone of Memphis’s Arts District in the revitalized Historic Overton Square, Playhouse on the Square takes its role as leader in the Memphis Arts community, fostering a new era of performing. Playhouse on the Square, celebrating its 50th season as Memphis’s resident professional theatre company servicing the entire Mid-South, presents 18 productions annually on three stages: Playhouse on the Square (state-of-the-art proscenium stage similar to Steppenwolf), The Circuit Playhouse (proscenium stage formerly The Memphian Theatre – an old Elvis haunt), and TheatreWorks a black box malleable space). Playhouse also produces 13 education and outreach programs reaching nearly 30,000 children, teens, and adults each year. Playhouse is proud of its diverse offerings in the Mid-South, offering literally something for everyone in its season, from family shows to the very edgy, musical and non-musical, staking out its now familiar niche as the city’s innovative and risk-taking theatre. Since the late 1960s with early productions of We Bombed in New Haven, The Boys in the Band, Marat/Sade, an environmental production of The Rocky Horror Show, and most recently as having the first professional license to produce The Jerry Springer Show in the United States, Playhouse has never shied away from challenging material.  Throughout the year, we serve a broad community representing every age, race, gender, sexual orientation, and socio-economic situation. Our mission is to produce a challenging and diverse repertoire of theatrical work that speaks to the intelligence, the soul, and the imagination of the Memphis community.

Theatrical Rights Worldwide / TRW (Publisher and Licensing) opened its doors in October 2006, proudly representing musicals from Broadway, Off-Broadway and the West End, as well as shows originating in regional theatres and elsewhere. Its mission is to cultivate and introduce new work along with extending the production life of musicals to all theatrical marketplaces. The TRW family of musicals includes Jersey Boys, We Will Rock You, Spamalot, Memphis, Million Dollar Quartet, Ghost, The Addams Family, On Your Feet!, The Color Purple and many others. TRW licenses productions to a broad range of customers, including schools or community, civic, amateur and religious organizations; summer stock and dinner theatres; regional and residential theatres youth theatres, cruise ships, casinos, hotels, and producers of touring and Off-Broadway or off-West productions.  Having created and introduced junior and youth editions, alongside small and large cast versions, all using innovative rehearsal and performance products and resources, TRW is committed to fostering the artistic and commercial value of musical theatre presentation. TRW was founded by President/CEO Steve Spiegel. Visit www.theatricalrights.com.