MacLean’s musical opus, This Will Be Our Year, was named a semi-finalist by the prestigious O’Neill Musical Theater Conference.
This Will Be Our Year was selected from over 400 entries to move forward as the conference selects two shows to workshop.
The O’Neill states:
This piece was championed by our staff and reading teams alike: fewer than 20% of all submissions reach this stage of consideration each year…consider this a full-throated affirmation of the writing, and a reflection of Ali’s continued impact on the American musical theater landscape.
MacLean adapted her original straight play, based on experiences and people she met while working as an on-air DJ and VJ in the late 90s and early 00s. The new version includes original songs performed by a rock band who remain onstage the entirety of the play.
Selections of the play have been published in Smith & Kraus Best Monologues of 2023 and 2024.
THIS WILL BE OUR YEAR is a unique modern, rock and roll drama by Ali MacLean, with original music. The play follows Gen, a struggling New York jewelry designer, and Hugo, a fledgling British rock star, over the span of ten years as they meet, come together, fall apart, and destroy each other’s lives.
We follow these lovers through the 90s to the early aughts as they crisscross through the eras of Grunge Gods and Riot Grrls, Brit-Poppers and Boy Bands, Lilith Fairies, Coffeehouse Crooners, and Rap-Rockers.
Hugo’s 3 piece band, May Day, sits side-stage serving as a musical Greek chorus. Hugo periodically joins them and plays the songs that he has written about Gen which reveal his true feelings. A love story intersected with a rock concert, the play is a funny, raw, and heartbreaking look at love, addiction, fate, and self-destruction.
ALI MacLEAN 