In the summer of 1925, the struggling town of Dayton, Tennessee hosted a trial that claimed national headlines and divided the country — the Scopes Monkey Trial, the first major anti-Evolution court case. Nothing to See Here is the story of Frank Robinson, the man who built the trial as a publicity stunt for his town, and May Robinson, his wife who longs to save her family from falling apart in a seemingly Godless town. Of course, notorious reporter H.L. Mencken is there to spin their story — and to uncover what the truth behind the trial really is.
Nothing to See Here was developed at the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Program in New York City and the Rubber City Theatre Musical Incubator in Akron, Ohio. It was a semi-finalist for the prestigious the National Musical Theatre Conference at the O’Neill Center. It was featured in the New York Theatre Barn New Works Series and programed in the NYTB Choreographer Lab.
Nothing to See Here uses a jazz and Appalachian inspired score to explore what happens when two contradictory worlds collide. Set against the backdrop of a Vaudeville bill, the musical turns private matters into public entertainment.