Benjamin Halstead has dedicated his career to musical storytelling.
He is a double New York University alum, receiving a BFA from the Film and Television Production department, and an MFA from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.
In the Film and TV department, Benjamin wrote and directed two short musical films (“Homophony” and “Picture Perfect” - Faculty Commendation for Directing, Art Direction, Original Music; Wasserman Award Finalist; National Board of Review Grant Recipient; Marion Carter Green Award), and realized it doesn’t matter which format you use to tell your story, as long as you’re telling the truth.
Benjamin Halstead’s cinematic eye wandered back to the stage, becoming an ever-evolving songwriter and theatrical storyteller. He found so much joy in deconstructing song style and structure in NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. His songs have been performed at Joe’s Pub, 54 Below, Bill Finn’s Cabaret, Barrington Stage, and he is a founding member of the Musical Theatre Factory. Ben is the the co-writer of “Nikola Tesla Drops the Beat” alongside mad-genius, Nikko Benson, currently in development via Alchemation Productions with producers, Lucas McMahon and Kevin McCollum. The show has received a developmental production at the Adirondack Theatre Festival, a developmental reading at the Village Theater Festival of New Musicals, Eugene O’Neill NMTC Finalist (2017), a developmental Production at Pace University, a concert at Joe’s Pub directed by Shakina Nayfack, a developmental Workshop at Playwrights Horizons, Johnny Mercer Musical Colony Fellowship at Goodspeed Opera House, Johnny Mercer Songwriting Project at Northwestern University, and a developmental Reading, at The Musical Theatre Factory.
Assisting the meticulous Michael Greif as he dug into both legendary work (Signature Theatre’s “Angels In America”) and a fresh, new piece (The Public Theatre’s “Giant”) was such a mind-expanding gift. Observing him in the rehearsal room was a masterclass in how to translate the writer’s choices, revealing new, undiscovered angles and unimagined ways to tell these stories.
Benjamin spent four years working at theatrical ad agencies SpotCo and RPM, in their Digital Marketing Departments, selling Broadway one tweet at a time as a Social Media Manager. He conceived, produced, and edited engaging content, including photos, graphics, and videos, to drive web traffic across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, promoting the social media presence of a variety of Broadway productions.