What happens when the thing that gives your life meaning is suddenly taken away?

On this episode of NEW@NAMT, host Jean-Paul Yovanoff and co-host Skye Cone Ivey sit down with writer Benjamin Emory Larson to talk about How to Play the Cello (Until You Don’t), his one-woman musical loosely inspired by the life of legendary cellist Jacqueline du Pré—and one of eight musicals selected for NAMT’s 38th Annual Festival of New Musicals.

Written for a single singer-actress who can ideally also play the cello, the show follows an artist whose extraordinary career is suddenly interrupted and asks what remains when identity, ambition and art itself are thrown into question. Benjamin talks about what drew him to du Pré’s story and how he set out to create a piece with a tiny stage footprint and a titanic emotional impact—one that moves through loss, anger, humor and ultimately a fight for joy.

The conversation also digs into the musical’s classical-crossover score, performed with piano and cello and built from everything from dramatic original music and cinematic cello rock to classical works du Pré herself played and loved. Benjamin shares how those pieces are adapted and transformed to help tell the story rather than simply accompany it.

He also traces the unlikely origin of the musical back to the pandemic, when the shutdown of live theatre forced him to confront his own relationship to art, loss and creative identity. Those experiences eventually found their way into a musical that asks not simply how an artist survives losing the thing they love—but how they find joy again afterward.

One performer. One cello. A very small stage—and very big questions about who we are when the thing we love changes forever.

How to Play the Cello (Until You Don’t)
Book, Music & Lyrics by Benjamin Emory Larson

The musical was previously developed at Theater Latté Da’s 2025 NEXT Festival, and Benjamin received Amas Musical Theatre’s Eric H. Weinberger Award for Emerging Librettists.

Learn more about the 38th Annual Festival of New Musicals, October 22–23, 2026 at New World Stages, at namt.org/festival.

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More about HOW TO PLAY THE CELLO (UNTIL YOU DON'T):

https://namt.org/musicals/how-to-play-the-cello-until-you-dont/

Find Ben:

https://www.benemorylarson.com/