(NEW YORK, NY) -- The Triad Theater presents Selections from The Rock Musical Soul Searching in concert on Saturday, January 31, 2026 at 9:30pm. This special performance highlights almost twenty numbers from this sung-through show and features a soon-to-be-announced stellar cast from Broadway, Off Broadway and national tours as well as a live rock band.
Now in development for the New York stage, The Rock Musical Soul Searching is the unique burst of pop rock energy that follows a successful attorney living on New York's Upper West Side as she embarks on a comedic and ultimately poignant search for her elusive soulmate with the help of her married friends, all engulfed in relationship challenges of their own.
Soul Searching features Music & Lyrics by Avi Kunstler; Book, Additional Music & Lyrics & Director: Matt Okin; and New Musical & Vocal Arrangements/Guitar: Ben Shanblatt.
The production team includes: Bandleader/Drums: Colllin Couvillion; Co-Director/Producer: Haia R'nana Bchiri; Dramaturg/Producer: Michael Gurin; and Associate Producer: Jon Taub.
Tickets range from $25-$45 (plus fees) and are available for purchase online. The Triad Theater is located at 158 West 72nd Street in New York City. Doors are at 9:00pm. Please note: the venue has a 2-beverage minimum per person.
Selections from The Rock Musical Soul Searching In Concert will be performed next in February at City Winery Loft, with details forthcoming @blackbox_shows.
The Triad Theater is one of NYCs most celebrated venues for over 35 years and was the original home of four of the most successful shows in off Broadway History: Forbidden Broadway, Forever Plaid, Spamilton, and Celebrity Autobiography (which is now in its 9th year at the venue) and a month long workshop production of Seth Rudetsky's show Disaster went on to a Broadway Production at the Nederlander Theater.
Some of the notable performers who have performed on the Triad stage include Martin Short, Kristen Wiig, Kevin Hart, Ryan Reynolds, Matthew Broderick, Bob Weir (Grateful Dead), Vanessa Williams, Jake LaMotta, Brooke Shields, Paul Rudd, David Steinberg, Slash, George Bensen, Greg Allman, Gavin DeGraw, Bebe Neuwirth, Jim Dale, Peter Boyle, Tracey Morgan, Tommy Tune, Ben Vereen, Air Supply, Dion and many others from the worlds of comedy, music & theater. Lady Gaga made her professional debut on our stage as part of the Circle in the Square Cabaret Program.
Creative Team Bios
Avi Kunstler (Music & Lyrics) has composed the music and lyrics to many Black Box productions, including the original Twist of Faith (currently being revived in NYC), Second Chances, Destinations, and A Match Made In Manhattan: The Interactive Jewish Wedding Experience. At times, he has joined the band in performance of select shows. Avi has performed across the United States as well as in London and Israel. He and his wife Mimi split their time between their homes in New York and Jerusalem.
Matt Okin (Book, Additional Music & Lyrics, Director) is currently directing Annabel’s Sister by George Kolber, the writer/producer of the 2023 feature film Miranda's Victim. Recent theatrical directing credits include Sam Shepard's Action, the U.S. Premiere of Little Ocean, and The Unseen Hand, 1+1, by Eric Bogosian; Imaginary Comforts by Daniel Handler a.k.a. Lemony Snicket; The Cleopatra Club, by Paul Schrader; Exposed, by Beth Henley; and Edward Albee’s The Play About the Baby. His original plays showcased in NYC, NJ, and on tours include Cherry Hill; Beltsville/Rockville, Part One: Rise of the Goatman; #OneInnocentWoman; and Walter Liked to Sit in His Big Backyard.
Original musicals include The Rock Musical Soul Searching -- which is currently being redeveloped and revived for NYC – and the long-running A Match Made in Manhattan. Matt received a BFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University's Tisch School of The Arts where he studied with the likes of Maria Irene Fornes, Len Jenkin, Martin Epstein, Jan Hartman, Leslie Lee, Charlie Purpura, and Gary Garrison; he is the founder of Black Box and a long-time Teaching Artist for select theater programs for teens and adults in Bergen County, NJ. Matt's new comedy screenplay, Issues, is in active development.
Ben Shanblatt (New Vocal & Musical Arrangements/Music Supervisor) is a guitarist, composer, arranger, and educator based in NYC. Quickly becoming a sought-after musician in New York, he has served as a sideman, session musician, and bandleader in virtually all styles of contemporary music. Venues Ben has played include Smalls Jazz Club, The Knitting Factory, The Cutting Room, and The Bitter End among many others. In May 2022 Ben graduated with honors from The New School for Jazz with a BFA in jazz guitar. Outside of performing, he has been a music educator in the New York Metro area since 2014, working with students aged 5 up to 70. Ben has also worked frequently as a composer, being nominated for two awards on broadwayworld.com for his work on BBPAC’s productions of 12th Night and Romeo and Juliet.
Ben has composed incidental music for BBPAC productions of Neil Labute’s Woyzeck and Matt Okin’s Cherry Hill. Most recently, Ben’s compositions have been featured on the off-broadway run of Eric Bogosian’s 1+1 at Soho Playhouse. Ben continues to maintain a busy touring, performing, and teaching schedule. To stay connected, follow Ben on Instagram.
Haia R'nana Bchiri (Assistant Director/Producer) is a multi-hyphenate theatre artist and educator. Once a student at Black Box Studios, she subsequently joined the BBS team as the professional theatre branch of the company was established. Selected credits: The Pillowman, Sweeney Todd (AD/fight and SFX), The Curious Savage (Director/Producer) with Black Box; Dramaturg and Associate Fight/Intimacy Director for Cancelina, Romeo and Juliet, The Promise, Boxed, Winter's Tale, Trojan Women, Uncle Vanya at UCSD; Chagall, Variations on Crossing the Alps, and Hereville (Dramaturg) at the Old Globe; These and Those (Ayala/Dramaturg), In Every Generation (Dramaturg/Costume Designer), and Women of Valor (Rabbi Yael Ridberg/Translator) with SD JFest; Jewish Weddings: A Field Guide and Family Therapy (Playwright) at the REGENERATE new playfestival; Eurydice (Director), Fefu and Her Friends (Emma), Circle Mirror Transformation (Theresa), Peer Gynt (Solveig/Aase) at Brandeis; interactive Hamlet (Director), Midsummer (Puck/Director), Taming of the Shrew (Kate), and more with CYSAP. As she develops her dissertation and associated Megillah Cycle of adaptations, she has been engaged to speak in schools and conferences on history, theatre, and the importance of Jewish dramaturgy.
Michael Gurin (Dramaturg) is the author of Twist Of Faith, Second Chances and Destinations, sequels to Twist of Faith, produced by New York's Landmark Theater for the New City; the writer of Black Box's long-running A Match Made In Manhattan. He is currently working with the Isaac Bashevis Singer Literary Trust on an original play based on selected works by the Nobel Laureate entitled Life After Warsaw. Michael's short stories have appeared in Midstream: A Monthly Jewish Journal, The Journal of African Travel Writing, Paris Transcontinental, and The Cimarron Review. He is a Professor of English at Lander College in Queens.
