FOOLPROOF is a brassy, toe-tapping musical comedy that follows close-knit sisters Jo, Mary, and Curly, who work in movie theater in 1930s Brooklyn. Upon learning the beloved theater is about to close, they hatch a screwball scheme to buy it themselves. In a Three Stooges meets I Love Lucy-esque escapade, their sisterhood is tested as they weigh the difference between foolhardy decisions and risks worth taking to achieve their dreams.
Full-length, musical comedy
Cast size: 9 (3M, 6W) + optional flexible-sized ensemble
Audiences: All ages
@foolproofmusical
Sonya: @sonyahayden11
Meg: @meg_loughran
Goodspeed’s Festival of New Musicals Workshop
29-hour reading, Lincoln Center Library
About the Writers
Sonya Hayden is an NYC-based lyricist, composer, librettist, and playwright. Her work is rooted at the intersection of hilarity and heartbreak, the political and the personal. Recipient of the MAC John Wallowitch Songwriting Award, Kurt Weill Foundation Songbook Award, ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition Mentorship Prize, ASCAP Plus Awards. Residencies: Legacy Theatre, Marble House Project, Vermont Studio Center Fellowship. Finalist: Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre, Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF) Fellows. Semi-Finalist: O’Neill National Music Theater Conference. Her musicals include TAKING OFF! (Michigan State University’s New Musical Lab; NAMT Writers Residency Grant), FOOLPROOF (Reading, Lincoln Center Library, featuring Tony Award winner Cady Huffman; Across a Crowded Room Fellowship; upcoming: Goodspeed’s Festival of New Musicals 2026), and WANDA DOES THE WATER CYCLE (licensed by MTI/Theater Now New York; Lincoln Center Festival). Member of the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, Dramatists Guild, and ASCAP. Master’s in Playwriting, University of Edinburgh; B.A. Music, Princeton University. sonyahayden.com @sonyahayden11
Megan Loughran (she/her) is a lyricist, bookwriter, playwright, and performer based in New York City. As a playwright, her comedy F THEORY, co-written with Alex Trow, world premiered at the New Jersey Repertory Theatre. Her comedy, THE SILVERFISH, was developed by Urban Stages New York. Megan was on the writing team for the 2020 Tony Awards, and she was the Executive Producer and Head Writer of “Broadway Does Mother’s Day,” a digitally broadcast comedy & variety show (born of the year 2020) that rallied 400+ members of the Broadway community to raise funds for Covid relief. As an improviser, Megan performed with the Chicago City Limits National Touring Company, is the winner of the Champions' Edition of NYC’s Cabaret Showdown, and has trained with The Upright Citizens Brigade and The Magnet. As a performer: Falsettos (nat’l tour); Sweeney Todd (NY Philharmonic). Megan’s first job was designing elaborate scavenger hunts for clients like Amex, Tiffany & Co., and the Department of Homeland Security. (That’s real.) She is a graduate of Yale University despite having misspelled the word “achievement” on her application. meganloughran.com @meg_loughran
We met through the New York Public Library’s Across a Crowded Room Program and quickly bonded over our love of writing female-centric comedy! We write fun-filled stories about female characters who get to be unabashedly funny, strong, and messy.
FOOLPROOF was inspired by our shared love of slapstick comedy and particularly the Three Stooges. That trio of knuckleheads is foundational to American comedic sensibilities—the Founding Fathers of physical farce, if you will. But like the Founding Fathers, the Stooges represented a limited group of voices, and we became excited to reimagine a world in which women get to land the punches and the punchlines. The goofy energy of the Stooges, coupled with a story about women who work together to lift each other up and succeed as a team, make this sandbox a joy to play in. @foolproofmusical