The 2016 New York Musical Festival, which runs July 11 through August 7, will bring audiences four full weeks of new musicals, concerts, readings, and panel discussions. We spoke with Scott Gilmour (book/lyrics) and Claire McKenzie (music), the creators of Forest Boy, about turning news stories into musicals and why they're excited to bring their show to NYMF.

What was the first musical that made you want to make musicals?

Scott Gilmour: Claire and I both saw a production of London Road at the National Theatre in London when we were students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and it sparked something in us both. On paper, the idea of tackling such a complex, contemporary news story through a musical seemed unlikely to work, but in reality it was one of the most exciting, dramatic and eye-opening pieces of theatre either of us had seen. It gave us confidence. Musicals can address all kinds of issues and tell all kinds of stories. So we started writing our own.

Describe the sound of your musical.

Claire McKenzie: It's like Scottish folk music meets epic film score.

What made you want to make a musical about Ray?

Scott Gilmour: We were commissioned to make a new piece for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as part of their season at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. At the time, the story of “Forest Boy Ray” was trending on Facebook and Twitter and we became a bit obsessed with it. A boy who lived in the forest?! It was too good a story not tell. Musically we wanted to write a folky, epic fantasy and play against the mundane reality Ray is brought into. We workshopped some scenes and songs and started to get a feel for how it could work. Later that year we developed the first version of the show which opened at the Fringe Festival in 2013.

What other news stories have prompted you to think they would make good musicals?

Claire McKenzie: There was a brilliant news story recently about three young girls claiming to be witches. They went on tour round America gigging as a magic witchcraft rock group! Definitely feels like a musical waiting to happen… For us it’s always about the way into the story. Why is there music? What do we gain by telling it in this way? Who is it for? If the answers to these questions are clear then, for us, it usually seems to work.

Why is it important to bring your show to NYMF?

Scott Gilmour: Bringing Forest Boy to NYMF is a huge deal for us. And to be chosen as one of the Next Link shows has been a massive support. It’s the first time a Scottish writing team has ever participated in the Festival and we feel passionately that the work we make in the UK should exist elsewhere. Forest Boy is a universal story about growing up, about identity and imagination and there’s no better platform than the heart of New York City to tell it. We can’t wait to share this incredible true story with NYMF audiences!

What's next for the show?

Claire McKenzie: Since we first discovered the story, Scott and I have wanted to take Forest Boy to where it all happened; Berlin. We are in discussion with some theatres in Berlin to develop a translated version of the show which we’ll develop next year. Also, we know being part of NYMF will allow us to hopefully begin new collaborations with American creatives and producers, which is really exciting for us as young artists.