Civilians' This Beautiful City Headed for the Vineyard

This Beautiful City, the latest work from the theater troupe the Civilians, is headed off-Broadway to the Vineyard Theater in early 2009. A critical hit at the recent Humana Festival in Louisville, the show is described as a play with music about the megachurch movement in Colorado Springs and was directed by Steven Cosson.

Written by Cosson and Jim Lewis, with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, This Beautiful City is based on hundreds of hours of interviews conducted by Emily Ackerman, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Brad Heberlee, Stephen Plunkett, Alison Weller and the authors. Company members spent 10 weeks in Colorado Springs speaking with members of every leading church in the area, as well as interviewees from numerous civic organizations, progressive activists and individuals from all walks of life, according to the company's website.

The Civilians used interviews with New Yorkers as the basis for the musical Gone Missing about losing things which became an off-Broadway hit last summer.

This Beautiful City is now headed to the Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. from June 11-29 and then to the Center Theater Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre in L.A. before arriving at the Vineyard.