Appalachian Hanukkah, a new musical with book and lyrics by Joanne Sydney Lessner and music and lyrics by Joshua Rosenblum, will receive a series of industry readings December 4 and 5.

Staged by Cara Reichel, Appalachian Hanukkah will feature Bruce Sabath (Fiddler on the Roof), Leah Hocking (The Last Ship), Jim Stanek (Into the Woods), Emma Diner (Love Life), Michael McCoy (Phantom of the Opera), Gordon Stanley (Cabaret), Joanne Lessner (Cyrano - The Musical), Laura Jean Spineti (Annie), Zachary Anderson, Brendon Michael McCray, Miyuki Miyagi (Allegiance), David Rowen (Bob Marley's Three Little Birds), and Hana Slevin.

The musical combines the sounds of 1970s pop music, down-home country fiddle, and traditional musical theatre to transport an audience to 1979 West Virginia, where a mayor is attempting to tear down the region's only Jewish temple to build a RadioShack. When Rachel Rosenstein, the 17-year-old daughter of one of the town’s eight Jewish families, sets out to save the temple, she discovers what it means to be a leader, inspiring her entire family, best friend, a crew of local juvenile delinquents, and ultimately the whole community to change the mayor’s mind and save the temple in time for Hanukkah.

“There are so few Hanukkah musicals, we felt the need for something funny, inclusive, and uplifting that provides a gentle reminder of how differences make a community stronger, especially in these incredibly divisive times,” said Rosenblum in a statement. “The show was inspired by my experiences growing up in Appalachia in the ‘70s in a town in Southern Ohio with so few Jewish families, we had to go to West Virginia to go to temple.”

Rosenblum will serve as music director for the presentation, which will run 90 minutes with no intermission. Ali Walensky is the stage manager and Jen Sandler is executive producer.

Visit AppalachianHanukkah.com for more information.