Connor Russell (world premiere of Aladdin) plays the central role of Paul, a 16-year-old outcast struggling with his sexual identity. Playing his family are Dilly (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Nice Work If You Can Get It), Bolton (A Christmas Story, Curtains, Spamalot) and Zoe Considine (A Christmas Story).

Brandon Ivie, assistant director on Broadway's A Christmas Story and First Date, directs.

"The Hinterlands," according to press notes, "is a seven-part original musical webseries that explores the life of a gay teen named Paul. Living in a conservative rural state (the 'hinterlands'), Paul struggles with bullying and intolerance, and contemplates taking his own life. 'The Hinterlands' is a response to the ongoing wave of young LGBT kids who have committed suicide after relentless bullying."

Rounding out the cast are David Andrew Anderson (Goodspeed's Meet John Doe), Caitlin Kinnunen (Spring Awakening), Daniel Quadrino (Bye Bye Birdie), Andrew Brewer (Off-Broadway's Nymph Errant), Brianne Wylie and actors from the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan.

The webseries was conceived and created by the writing team of Michelle Elliott (script and lyrics) and Danny Larsen (music and lyrics). Alumnae of NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, Elliott and Larsen have collaborated on the celebrated musicals Cloaked, The Yellow Wood and Lost at Sea and are recipients of a Richard Rodgers Development Award, the Kleban Prize, a Jonathan Larson Grant and the Daryl Roth Award. Their shows have had productions, workshops and readings at the New York Musical Theatre Festival (winning the Excellence in Music award), National Alliance for Musical Theatre, CAP21 Theatre Company, Vital Theatre Company and Village Theatre, among others. For more information, visit HinterlandsTheMusical.com.

Watch the first episode below: