Can a person’s life be reduced to their choices? Which ones count? And who gets to decide?
This is a story about choices –
and the audience gets to choose how the story ends.
Rathskeller : A Musical Elixir follows the story of John Casey, an ambitious young songwriter determined to get his mom out of her abusive marriage to her alcoholic husband. When ambition turns to desperation and confidence turns to pride, John finds himself haunted by the addiction he grew up resenting. On the night of his worst choice, he wakes up in Rathskeller - an eerie dive bar in the basement of the afterlife. The devilish Bartender and her ghostly staff of souls offer him the elixir of a lifetime— but the consequences could be deadly.
With a powerhouse punk rock score and what the Virginian Pilot called “a radically ambiguous stance on mercy and justice,” this bold, immersive new musical will not only have you head-banging but also asking, “If your story was in the spotlight, what would you deserve?”
Rathskeller was conceived & commissioned in February of 2021 by Dame Productions.
Brianna Kothari Barnes (Book, Music & Lyrics) and Collin Kessler (Workshop Script) worked together with support from Dame Productions to create the full-length musical. This first stage of development culminated in a Workshop Production that premiered with a weekend of sold-out shows at the New Ohio Theatre in New York City on September 24-26, 2021. Rathskeller won Best Musical and Best Choreography in BroadwayWorld's 2021 Off-Off Broadway Awards in the spring of 2022.
Brianna Kothari Barnes was awarded The NYC Women's Fund Grant through The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment and New York Foundation For The Arts to record a Concept Album of her original score. The album released in November 2022 on all streaming platforms and features Broadway's Tamika Lawrence, Emily Kristen Morris, and Eric Geil.
Festival premiere in 2023.
In 2023, Rathskeller was accepted and featured in The SheATL Summer Theatre Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. The SheATL Festival is produced by SheNYC Arts - the country’s premier program for showcasing up-and-coming and gender-marginalized writers and composers.
Zeider’s American Dream Theater production in 2024.
Zeiders American Dream Theater ("The Z") in Virginia Beach produced a developmental workshop production of Rathskeller as part of their New Play Series. This was the show’s first fully staged production with a live 5 piece band, exquisitely directed by Patrick Mullins and starring Steve Pacek. This production played 12 performances and received a great review by The Virginian Pilot calling it “a hot purgatorial rock musical” with a “radically ambiguous stand on justice and mercy” and encouraged audiences to “chug down this ambitious, well-mixed elixir of a play.”
Rathskeller is actively seeking a lead producer in 2026.
Further development goals include an NYC Industry Reading and an out of town tryout with the ultimate goal of a Broadway or West End production.
Brianna Kothari Barnes (Book, Music & Lyrics)
Brianna Kothari Barnes is a multi-dimensional artist who works professionally as an actor, singer-songwriter, and playwright/composer/lyricist. She is a 2022 NYC Women's Fund Grant Recipient and 2021 Finalist for The Jonathan Larson Grant. Her debut album, Hierophanies: Manifestations of the Sacred, made the first round on the 2021 GRAMMY Awards® ballot for consideration under Best Contemporary Christian Album. She is the Composer/Lyricist of the award-winning new musical, Walking With Bubbles (Drama Desk Nomination, Outstanding Solo Performance and Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Solo Performance) which completed a 6-month run Off-Broadway at The AMT Theatre. Brianna directed and produced her first original musical, Let There Be Light (Book, Music, and Lyrics) which won Best Musical and Best Score at The New York Theatre Festival in 2018. A graduate of the esteemed Musical Theater Program at The College Conservatory of Music (CCM), she has performed professionally around the country at The Maltz Jupiter Theater, Stages St. Louis, Northern Stage, Theatre Aspen, Florida Studio Theater, The Engeman Theater, The Wick Theater, Capital Repertory Theater, and The Forestburgh Playhouse. Literary Rep: Amy Wagner at Stewart Talent. www.Brianna-Barnes.com. @brianna_barnes_
Dame Productions
Dame Productions is a theatrical company dedicated to helping young women find their voice. Their New Works program seeks to work with female and BIPOC creators and teams to help bring their work to life and foster the development of original concepts in musical theatre. Founded by actor, choreographer, and songwriter, Grace Rudd, Dame Productions aims to share its passion for musical theatre and social justice with the world.
