“REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES”
An adaptation of the play by Josepfina López, about immigrant garment workers at a factory in 1980’s Boyle Heights, LA.
Book by Lisa Loomer | Music and Lyrics by Benjamin Velez and Joy Huerta
Directed and Choreographed by Sergio Trujillo
"THE TEMPEST" - Shakespeare in the Park 2023!
In The Public’s decade-long tradition of bringing together a diverse ensemble of both professional and community members from across New York, this Public Works production examines what it means to be isolated and how we find our way back to one another. With music and lyrics by Benjamin Velez and directed by Director of Public Works Laurie Woolery, this ambitious work of participatory theater explores the grief of being cut off from community, the desire for retribution, and the healing power of love.
Music and Lyric by Benjamin Velez | Directed by Laurie Woolery
"KISS MY AZTEC"
A farcical telling of the Spanish attempting to conquer the Aztecs in the New World.
Music by Benjamin Velez | Lyrics by Benjamin Velez, David Kamp & John Leguizamo | Book by John Leguizamo and Tony Taccone
"BORDERLINE"
A musical about a girl living with Borderline Personality Disorder and struggling for normalcy amidst a revolving door of therapists and more prescriptions than she can count.
Music and Lyrics by Benjamin Velez | Book by Aryanna Garber
“BOOMERANGS” (formerly "STARBLASTERS")
What does it mean to be turning 30 and living with your parents? How can you face the future when you’re buried in student debt, can’t find a steady job, or afford health insurance?
Music and Lyrics by Benjamin Velez | Book by Kathryn Hathaway
"AFTERLAND"
Set in the woods outside a decimated Philadelphia, this is the story of two teenagers, Theo and Lu, coming of age in the post-apocalypse.
Music and Lyrics by Benjamin Velez | Book and Lyrics by Kathryn Hathaway
"LOST CITY RADIO"
For ten years, Norma has been the on-air voice of consolation and hope for a country whose people were broken by a failed revolution in which the authoritarian regime prevailed. As the host of Lost City Radio, Norma reads the names of those who have disappeared, and through her efforts, lovers are reunited and the lost are found, at least that’s the fantasy the radio makes her sell. But Norma’s own life is about to forever change thanks to the arrival of a young orphan boy, Victor, who brings with him from the jungle a cryptic clue to the fate of Norma's vanished husband, Rey. Together, they embark on a journey that weaves in and out of their memories to piece together a puzzle of two psyches ripped apart by war.
Music and Lyrics by Benjamin Velez | Book by Joél Perez
---
“WAITING FOR SNOW IN HAVANA”
An adaptation of the memoir by the same name by Carlos Eire, this is the story of a family trying to stick together during the Cuban Revolution.
Music by Benjamin Velez, Lyrics by Benjamin Velez and Richard Blanco, Book by Karen Zacarías
Directed by Sergio Trujillo
---
“UNTITLED ORIGINAL MUSICAL” - La Jolla Playhouse Commission
My first semi-autobiographical musical! An exploration of the relationship between myself and my mother through the lens of Hurricane Irma that destroyed her house in 2017, except in this version, the house gets swept into the fantastical Neverglades and we must embark on an epic adventure to the FEMArald city to get her house back, all while working through our issues.
Music and Lyrics by Benjamin Velez, Book by Benjamin Velez and Harrison David Rivers
"UNTITLED YOUNG EINSTEIN MUSICAL"
A musical about the young Albert Einstein as he rebels against family and authority, finds love, and struggles against the establishment to change how we understand the universe and ourselves.
Music and Lyrics by Benjamin Velez
PAST PROJECTS
"MARS ONE" - 4@15 NYU
A private Dutch venture dubbed "Mars One" claims they can beat NASA to sending the first humans to Mars. The hitch? It's a one-way trip backed by questionable technology, and yet 200,000 people have already applied. But who are they?! Who is doing that!?!
Presented at 4@15, 2015 at NYU Steinhardt
by Benjamin Velez & Kathryn Hathaway
"ANYONE BUT GIO" - 4@15 UCI
A Short Original Musical inspired by the 2016 Republican Primary, but set in a fictional Community College Cafeteria where students are vying for the role of Food Commissioner and the power to determine the cafeteria menu....
Music and Lyrics by Benjamin Velez
Book by Tim Duncheon
"Sirens the Musical"
Based on the hit stage play by Deborah Zoe Laufer, Sirens is a modern hero's journey in the mold of the Odyssey and Orpheus, but at it's heart the story of a middle-aged couple learning how to grow old together.
Music by Benjamin Velez | Book and Lyrics by Deborah Zoe Laufer
"The Earth" - NYMF 2010
This was an exciting piece written over the course of three days, then rehearsed and performed in front of an audience at NYMF that same week. An adaptation of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave."
Music and Lyrics by Benjamin Velez | Book by Jerome A. Parker
114th Annual Varsity Show, "Morningside Hates" - 2008
The longest performing arts tradition at Columbia University, the Varsity Show is an original musical written, directed, produced and performed by a group of Columbia students every year.
Music and Lyrics by Benjamin Velez and Kathryn Hathaway
