Industry presentations of the new musical The Apple Boys, set in Gilded Age Coney Island, will be presented September 23–24 in Manhattan at Ripley Grier Studios.

Directed by David Alpert and featuring music supervision by Rona Siddiqui, the cast will feature Alex Gibson (SpongeBob Squarepants), Jelani Remy (Back to the Future), Tony nominee Emily Skeggs, and Teddy Yudain (Little Shop of Horrors).

With a book by Jono Lyons and music and lyrics by 2017 Jonathan Larson Grant recipient Ben Bonnema, The Apple Boys follows Jack, the grandson of Johnny Appleseed, who sets out to save his family apple orchard through a chance encounter with three new friends: “famous” hotdog purveyor Nathan, champion strongman Warren, and aspiring roller-coaster designer Hank.

“The Apple Boys has been an exciting show to develop because it never fails to elicit audience responses above and beyond what we’re hoping for,” said Lyons in a statement. “People simply go crazy for the show, I think because they’re not used to seeing something truly new, surprising, uplifting, and genuinely hilarious. It’s set in the Gilded Age because we’re living through a new one today and both the music and story revolve around the concept of harmony. We’re working to dispel the myth of the individual hero and show that harmonious collaboration is a far more effective agent of change.”

The upcoming presentations will feature new vocal arrangements by Hamilton’s Matt Gallagher with music direction by Emily Whitaker.