Schwartz, who is a Carnegie Mellon graduate, and ASCAP will select musicals for this new initiative from those that are part of the ASCAP Foundation/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop. Alive at Ten — by Ryan Scott Oliver and Kirsten A. Guenther — is the first musical selected for further development.

A workshop of Alive at Ten will be held Oct. 15-20 and will culminate in a by-invitation-only staged reading Oct. 20 at 3 PM in Carnegie Mellon's Helen Wayne Rauh Studio Theater. Ryan MeKenian will direct the reading with musical direction by Jason Coll.

Pittsburgh CLO executive producer Van Kaplan said in a statement, "The development of new musicals continues to be an integral part of the CLO mission, and we are thrilled to be working with The ASCAP Foundation and Carnegie Mellon to help ensure the future of this essential art form. . . . We feel this new venture with The ASCAP Foundation and Stephen Schwartz will play an important role in developing new material for the Broadway stage."

Elizabeth Bradley, head of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, added, "We remain committed to finding ways to allow our very gifted music theatre students to contribute to the process of new work creation. Our long standing partnership with CLO is now greatly enhanced by this new collaboration with The ASCAP Foundation and the singular Stephen Schwartz."

And, composer Schwartz said, "The ASCAP Foundation/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop is about much more than how to compose a Broadway score. We look at the entire show, and how to take it to the next level. Alive at Ten is already a terrific musical and we're excited to see it grow and evolve at Carnegie Mellon this fall." Alive at Ten was inspired by the Pamela Smart teacher-student sex scandal. The musical, according to press notes, "explores the life of Kimberly 'Kimmie' Sharp who dreams that she will one day become America's next beloved media personality, but there’s one problem. She's stuck in a dead end job teaching at the local high school, and her discouraging, undermining husband would prefer she stay that way. But once Kimmie sets her mind to something, you can bet her husband's life it will happen. This is the story of a woman, her dream, and her sheer determination to make it come true at all costs-- even if it means manipulation, seduction, and eventually murder."

For more information visit www.ascapfoundation.org.