The New Yorker - December 2019

In New York City somewhere around 1907 or the nineteen-thirties—historical accuracy is not a primary consideration here—an aspiring fruit farmer teams up with three other guileless dreamers to save his family’s apple orchard through a foolproof get-rich-quick scheme: busking as a barbershop quartet. This new musical comedy is a bushelful of delights: Ben Bonnema’s clever, catchy songs, Jonothon Lyons’s wonderfully silly yet tightly constructed book, and adorable, hilarious performances from the quartet (Jelani Remy, Amanda Ryan Paige, Teddy Yudain, and Lyons). Directed by David Alpert and chock-full of solid gags that get maximum mileage out of old-timey tropes and Coney Island lore, the show is a thoroughly winning tribute to collaboration in all realms, not least the theatre.

-Rollo Romig

”The Apple Boys have managed to reinvent the quartet form for the 21st Century!

They’re HILARIOUS, CLEVER, and, of course, SOUND BEAUTIFUL!”
– Alan Cumming

The Apple Boys on stage with Emma Stone and Alan Cumming at The Box

Apple059 copy.jpg — Like every single great musical before it, THE APPLE BOYS is a wildly fast-paced, heartwarming and optimistic four-person comedy set in turn-of-the-century Coney Island.

Jack, the grandson of Johnny Appleseed, sets out to save his family apple orchard with the help of Nathan (of hot dog fame), Warren (“The World’s Strongest Person”), and Hank (aspiring rollercoaster designer). In pursuit of their dreams, these unlikely friends discover the transformative power of working together, and joining their voices in song.

Jonothon Lyons

BOOKWRITER

Jonothon Lyons is an Independent Theater Award winning writer (Outstanding Original Short Script The Tenement 2010) and a recipient of the Jim Henson Foundation Seed Grant (Ensō 2013). He has performed Off-Broadway in Little Shop of Horrors, Blue Man Group, and Sleep No More. And at The Metropolitan Opera in Simon McBurney’s Die Zauberflöte, Lileana Blain-Cruz’s El Niño, and Anthony Minghella’s Madama Butterfly. He’s received over 2 billion views and 5 million followers for his viral internet creation Buddy the Rat (@jonothonlyons). He is a proud member of Actors’ Equity, AGMA, The Dramatists Guild, and the Barbershop Harmony Society. jonothonlyons.com

**Ben Bonnema**

**COMPOSER/LYRICIST**
Ben Bonnema has received a Jonathan Larson Grant, the Fred Ebb Award, and the Harold Adamson Lyric Award. Theatre: *THE APPLE BOYS* with Jonothon Lyons, *ONE WAY* with Christopher Staskel (NAMT, Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed), *BOYS WHO TRICKED ME* (Musical Theatre Factory, “heart-healing musical theatre" -Joshua Barone of the New York Times) *THE LOST GIRL* with Arianna Rose. New Media: *PETER PANIC* with James Marion (Adult Swim Games, two million downloads). Film: *MARY POPPINS RETURNS* (Music Associate to Marc Shaiman). Ben holds an M.F.A. from NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. www.benbonnema.com @benbonnema

**David Alpert**

**DIRECTOR**
David Alpert is a New York City based director (SDC), most recently represented on Broadway as the Associate Director on *If/Then* written by the Pulitzer Prize winning team of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, directed by Michael Greif. On Broadway he served as the Associate Director for the Tony-Award winning production of *The Trip to Bountiful* (also at the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles), and assisted on *The Best Man* as well as *Guys and Dolls*.
At the Guthrie Theater, Alpert assistant directed the world-premiere of *The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide*… Alpert is the Artistic Director of Headline Programming for BroadwayCon, a convention for thousands of Broadway fans held in New York City (www.broadwaycon.com), and is the proud producer of the “Living for Today” concert series, the main fundraiser for Gilana's Fund (www.gilanasfund.org).

The New Yorker - December 2019

-Rollo Romig

”The Apple Boys have managed to reinvent the quartet form for the 21st Century!

They’re HILARIOUS, CLEVER, and, of course, SOUND BEAUTIFUL!” – Alan Cumming

Join our electrical mailing list for periodic applegrams!

They’re HILARIOUS, CLEVER, and, of course, SOUND BEAUTIFUL!”
– Alan Cumming