Professor of Professional Practice and Dramaturgy Concentration Head Christian Parker '98 is serving as dramaturg for the upcoming world premiere of the country musical Hard Road to Heaven. The musical follows country superstar Jenny Dixon as she navigates her career and her strained relationship with her gospel-singing family.
The musical will premiere on March 8, 2025 at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Jackie Burns, a former replacement for Elphaba on Broadway, will play the leading role. The musical’s creative staff includes Broadway veterans like set designer Riw Rakkulchon (Parade, & Juliet) and wig designer and makeup artist J. Jared Janas (& Juliet, Sweeney Todd, Buena Vista Social Club, Jagged Little Pill).
“I was so happy to have been asked to work on Hard Road to Heaven,” said Parker. “Though I am new to the creative team, the writers of the show have welcomed me and my input with open arms.”
The executive producer of the Bucks County Playhouse, Robyn Goodman, mentored him in the crucial first years after he graduated from Columbia’s MFA program. The musical’s director, Jackson Gay, is also Parker’s dear friend and frequent collaborator.
“In many ways this show feels like a great moment of worlds colliding and reaping the rewards of the work we all must do in the theatre to build strong and lasting creative relationships,” Parker wrote.
Christian Parker was the Associate Artistic Director of Atlantic Theater Company from 2001-2014. Parker has produced, directed or dramaturged over fifty premieres on, off and off-off Broadway. He has worked with Sundance Theatre Institute, The Lark Play Development Center, Bread Loaf and Kenyon Playwrights Conference, where he was Resident Director. He is the former chair of the Theatre department at Columbia University School of the Arts.
