BUILT FOR THIS
A Concert Reading of a New Musical
Music by Kira Stone
Book & Lyrics by Lauren Gunderson
Directed by Megan Bunn
Music Directed by Marika Contouris
An athletic, feminist, all-femme new pop musical centering five fierce young gymnasts confronting inner demons required for top tier competition, as well as a real-life demon preying on their youth, ambition and vulnerability. Set months before the first news story drops about the abuse of Larry Nassar and USA Women's Gymnastics abandonment of his survivors, this musical lets five of those young women sing their truth as they uncover the biggest sexual assault scandal in sports history. Inspired by the incredible true story about the gymnast survivors that took down their former team doctor for decades of sexual abuse within the Olympic, national, collegiate, and community levels of the gymnastics world.
SHOW INFORMATION
Performances
Fri, July 25th, 2025 - 7:30 pm
Sat, July 26th, 2025 - 2:00 pm
Sun, July 27th, 2025 - 2:00 pm
Location
Runtime
TBD
THE CREATIVE TEAM
KIRA STONE (she/her) is a composer, lyricist, songwriter, playwright, performer, and music producer aiming to bridge pop music with theatrical storytelling. Current musicals include SALEM, Built for This, Revival, and WIDOWS. Kira is passionate about telling stories that center the force of the female experience through pop music. Her work has been developed at the Shubert Artistic Circle Fellowship, Playwrights Horizons, ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop, NAMT, The Lucille Lortel Theater, The Orchard Project, Goodspeed, Circle in the Square Theater, The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, New York Stage & Film, Olney Theater Center, New World Stages, New York Musical Festival, New York Theatre Barn, University of Southern California, University of Gothenburg, and 54 Below. Awards include: ASCAP Foundation Cole Porter Award (*first woman to ever win), Vanguard Arts Award, NAMT Frank Young Fund Award. Residencies include: Vineyard Arts Project, The BringAbout, Chateau d’Orquevaux (2x). Finalist for the Kleban Prize (2024). TV/Film: Sesame Street, PBS Kids. Her original pop music is on Spotify (700k streams), Apple Music (iTunes Top 50), and Sirius XM radio. She resides in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters. Proud member of The Dramatists Guild, ASCAP, The Recording Academy, Actor’s Equity, and Maestra. kirabethstone.com // @kirabethstone
Kira Stone
Music + Lyrics
LAUREN GUNDERSON (she/her) is one of the most produced playwrights in America since 2015 topping the list thrice including 2022/23. She is a two-time winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for I and You and The Book of Will, the winner of the William Inge Distinguished Achievement in Theatre Award, the Lanford Wilson Award and the Otis Guernsey New Voices Award; a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Weisberger Award, and John Gassner Award for Playwriting; and a recipient of the Mellon Foundation’s Residency with Marin Theatre Company. She studied Southern Literature and Drama at Emory University, and Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School where she was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. Her play The Catastrophist, about her husband virologist Nathan Wolfe, premiered digitally in January 2021. She co-authored the Miss Bennet plays with Margot Melcon, and The Half-Life of Marie Curie premiered off-Broadway and is now at Audible.com. Her work is published at Bloomsbury (Revolutionary Women: A Lauren Gunderson Anthology, anthropology, I and You), Playscripts (I and You; Exit Pursued By A Bear; The Taming and Toil And Trouble), Dramatists Play Service (The Revolutionists; The Book of Will; Silent Sky; Bauer, Natural Shocks, The Wickhams and Miss Bennet) and Samuel French (Emilie). Her picture book Dr Wonderful: Blast Off to the Moon is available from Two Lions/Amazon. She is the book writer for musicals with Ari Afsar (Jeannette), Dave Stewart and Joss Stone (The Time Traveller’s Wife), Joriah Kwamé (Sinister), Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk (Justice and Earthrise), and Kira Stone (Built for This). She is a board member of The Playwrights Foundation. LaurenGunderson.com
Lauren Gunderson
Book
MEGAN BUNN (she/her) is a multi-hyphenate theatre artist in the DC area. She is the Associate Artistic Director & Casting Director at Monumental Theatre Company, where she has directed several productions including: Spring Awakening (Helen Hayes Nomination for Outstanding Director & Outstanding Production), Songs for a New World, Be More Chill, and Dress Up Day. Other directing credits include: Ride the Cyclone (NextStop Theatre Co. | Helen Hayes Nomination for Outstanding Production), Godspell (Great Lakes Performing Arts Center), Ride the Cyclone (St. Mary’s College), 25th Annual…Spelling Bee, Urinetown, A Little Night Music (Catholic University), The Count of Monte Cristo (Kennedy Center Page to Stage). Megan is a teaching artist across the DMV, and the founding Assistant Director at Bethesda Dance Center. She holds a BM in Musical Theatre from Catholic University.
Megan Bunn
Director
MARIKA COUNTOURIS (she/her) is Monumental's resident Music Supervisor. She holds a BM in Musical Theatre from The Catholic University of America. Marika has led the vocal and music direction for myriad Monumental productions, cabarets, and concerts, including American Psycho (Helen Hayes Nomination for Outstanding Music Direction), Spring Awakening, tick, tick...BOOM!, Songs for a New World, Head Over Heels, Be More Chill, Daddy Long Legs, and Brooklyn. Some of her credits at other theaters include: ARENA STAGE: The Bedwetter (Music Assistant), Ride the Cyclone (Associate Conductor & Keys 2). SIGNATURE THEATRE: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Music Director), Private Jones (Associate Music Director & Conductor), Passing Strange (Music Director | Helen Hayes Nomination for Outstanding Music Direction), The Color Purple (Keys 2). WOOLLY MAMMOTH: A Strange Loop (Associate Conductor). FORD'S: Grace (Keys 2). FLYING V: We’re Gonna Die (Music Director | Helen Hayes Nomination for Outstanding Music Direction). GREAT LAKES CENTER FOR THE ARTS: Godspell. CONSTELLATION: The Last Five Years. NEXTSTOP: Ride the Cyclone, Beehive. LEVINE MUSIC THEATRE: Matilda. CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY: 9 to 5. MONTGOMERY COLLEGE: Urinetown, Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play. @marikanne
Marika Countouris