Musicals
Musical Theater Writer · Book & Lyrics
My musicals follow people who refuse the roles their era assigned them, from 1950s Hollywood to Belle Époque Paris to the eve before Troy burns. Scripts and demos for every show are available to producers, agents and development programs.
MARLISE!
When Marlise Mattox, a fading 1950’s Hollywood star, is framed for murder, she must join forces with her obsessive fan, to clear her name and solve the crime. marlisemusical.com
Book & Lyrics: Jesse Ayala | Lyrics & Music: Justino Tesoro
Developed at Berklee, under Adam Gwon, and the BMI Lehman-Engel Musical Theater Workshop.
2026 · Off-Broadway, The Players Theatre, dir. Joe Barros
2026 · New Musical Project, Finalist
2025 · Powerstation NYC AEA Showcase, dir. Stephen Nachamie
MADAME X
When famed painter John Singer Sargent’s hidden romance with his male muse becomes the talk of Paris, he must brush over the scandal in a way only a painter could, or so he thinks…
Book & Lyrics: Jesse Ayala | Lyrics & Music: Brandon Scott Grayson
Developed at Berklee, under Julianne Wick-Davis, and the BMI Lehman-Engel Musical Theater Workshop.
2026 · NAAP Discover New Musicals AEA Showcase, dir. Nina Lam
2025 · Powerstation NYC AEA Showcase, dir. Lee Summers
JUNE MOON
When a sex-addicted tech bro is tasked by his therapist to rewrite his habits in one night, he meets a woman who pushes him toward becoming the one thing he’s never dared to be: emotionally honest.
Book & Lyrics: Jesse Ayala | Lyrics & Music: Justino Tesoro | Additional Lyrics: Isa Peña
Developed at NYPL Lincoln Center.
2026 · TADA Theater, Spark Festival, dir. Eliza Fitch
2025 · Bruno Walter Theater, NYPL Lincoln Center, dir. Eliza Fitch
On view at the Theatre on Film and Tape (ToFT) Archive at Lincoln Center
A CURIOUS SPECTACLE
When Marie, an unassuming young physics student, makes an earth shattering discovery, her suspicious mentor places the spotlight on her gender, not her ideas, causing her to go to war to prove herself.
Book: Jesse Ayala
Script available on request.
BATTLE OF VERSAILLES
When Didi, an hustling aspiring actress, fakes her way into the cutthroat world of high-stakes New York fashion, she must decide to keep up the act, or be herself in a revolutionary moment in fashion history.
Book & Lyrics: Jesse Ayala
Script available on request.
A BIGGER BLOW
When Damien takes shelter in the lavish crypto-mansion of an estranged friend as a hurricane bears down, he finds himself trapped in a moral tempest, caught between effective altruism, digital wealth, and the cold calculus of who deserves to be saved.
Book: Jesse Ayala
Developed at Harvard University, under Bryan Delaney.
Script available on request.
NEW & IN DEVELOPMENT
SALT & PEPPER
A mambo duo’s partnership is tested by two seductresses.
Book & Lyrics: Jesse Ayala · 2026 · Jerry Orbach Theater, Make It Happen Fest, dir. Andres Larrea
TWIN OR LOSE
A twin finds herself by impersonating her beauty-queen sister.
Book: Jesse Ayala · 2026 · TADA Theater, Spark Festival, dir. Ciera Eis · 2026 · Across a Crowded Room (as A Most Immoral Woman) · 2025 · Bruno Walter Theater, NYPL Lincoln Center, dir. Ciera Eis
HORSE PLAY
Two men. One wooden horse. The eve before Troy burns.
Book: Jesse Ayala · In development · Early materials available on request.
IN THE THEATER COMMUNITY
Board Member, Punch-Up! Theatre Co. · Managing Editor, Theater Life · Juror, Arsht Center Susan J. Westfall Short Play Competition · Member: Dramatists Guild, RISE, TRU, CIPA, Velvet Stage, Transport Group Emerging Writers