New works of music, theatre, and musical theatre.

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A new solo musical created in collaboration with Director Eva Steinmetz and Performer Grace McLean. An adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey from the point of view of Odysseus’ waiting wife.

Penelope is a theatrical love letter to all those who wait. For someone they love. For something they believe in. And hope that the wait will end well. Hilarious, moving, mysterious, and touching - Penelope is a musical for one actor and a five-piece band unlike any you’ve ever seen.

Penelope had its world premiere at Hudson Valley Shakespeare in 2023, an extended hit run at Signature Theatre in DC in 2024, and acclaimed productions at Theatre Horizon, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and Ancram Center for the Arts in 2025, and was presented in concert at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre, NYC in 2024 and 2025.

A live cast recording of the show, recorded during its 2025 concerts at Joe’s Pub, will be released this spring by Joy Machine Records.

Penelope is now available for licensing through Concord Theatricals / Broadway Licensing Global.

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World Premiere Sept 11-22, 2024 - Philadelphia Fringe Festival Curated Production

RETURN ENGAGEMENT Jan 13-25, 2026 - Produced by The Wilma Theater

A collaboration with Pig Iron Theatre Company and director Eva Steinmetz (Penelope, The Appointment), Poor Judge is an experimental dance-theatre fantasia from the mind of Pig Iron co-founder Dito Van Reigersberg and the music of alt-rock icon Aimee Mann.

Alex Bechtel serves as Arranger/Music Director of Poor Judge — crafting sly and expressive new arrangements of Mann’s masterful pop-rock songs — and is also one of the cast of seven actor-musicians.

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Alex Bechtel is a composer, actor, sound designer, writer, director, teaching artist, and multi-instrumentalist. Recent work includes: Penelope, a collaboration with performer Grace McLean and director Eva Steinmetz, which has received productions at Hudson Valley Shakespeare, Signature Theatre in D.C., Theatre Horizon, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Ancram Center for the Arts, and concert presentations at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre, NYC. Arrangements/Music Direction for Poor Judge, an experimental dance-theatre exploration of the music of singer/songwriter Aimee Mann, with Pig Iron Theatre Company. Music & Lyrics for Lightning Rod Special’s The Appointment (NYTimes, Vulture, TimeOut NY “Best of 2019” lists), People’s Light & Theatre Company’s Alice in Wonderland: A Musical Panto, Shakespeare in Love: the Play and Sleeping Beauty: A Musical Panto, Arden Theatre Company’s The Light Princess and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s Two Gents, Henry V, Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, Midsummer, Much Ado, Merry Wives and Twelfth Night. Workshop productions of his musicals Philadelphia Nocturne (2017) and Cheer Up, Dostoevsky (2018) were presented in Philadelphia. He was the creator/director/composer for the devised musical hall drama The West, which had its world premiere in 2014 at the Off-Broad Street Theatre. Bechtel is a graduate of The Pig Iron School (Inaugural Class, 2013) and The University of the Arts (BFA 2008). He has received 7 Barrymore Awards - representing recognition for Outstanding Original Music, Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Ensemble of a Musical, and Outstanding Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. In 2015, he was awarded an Independence Fellowship in the Arts to engage in creative study with Kentucky-based composer Rachel Grimes on new approaches to the use of music in theatre. In 2026, Bechtel was awarded the Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre for Penelope, alongside co-writers Grace McLean and Eva Steinmetz. He lives in New York City.

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photos: (clockwise from top) Johanna Austin, Kate Raines/Plate 3 Photography, Leigha Kato, Kate Raines/Plate 3 Photography