EXCEPTIONAL: A Private School Gala in One Act, Two Arrests, and a Throuple

Set at the annual fundraiser for CEO Academy, Manhattan's premiere private pre-pre-school for 6-month-old-elites, this immersive musical chronicles a Gracie mansion gala gone awry when a murder spins the community into chaos. Can an underpaid faculty, a gay republican mayor, and a washed-up reality show star save the day, or will they be too busy checking twitter and complaining about their kids to notice? 

Co-conceived by Isabel Renner and Emma Ashford

Book by Isabel Renner

Music and lyrics by Emma Ashford

“Follow My Gut” from EXCEPTIONAL

Performed by Julian Manjerico (OH, MARY!)

Presented at A Night of New Works at 54 Below

"Follow My Gut" is sung by Chef Ragout, a passionate and prideful French chef fresh out of culinary school who is giving a presentation to the CEO Academy parents about his cuisine. However, the constraints of feeding such a young clientele (and the subsequent jokes about his lackluster presentation) are literally and figuratively pushing him to the brink.