The musical that wasn't: Neal Herr to speak at SUNY Adirondack

QUEENSBURY, New York (Nov. 3, 2025) — When Neal Herr booked a talk at SUNY Adirondack as part of its Writers Project series, he planned to discuss production of his new musical, “Drag Queen Story Hour: The Musical.” But when Herr speaks at 12:40 p.m. Monday, Nov. 10, he will instead discuss the roadblocks he has since faced getting the script and score off the page and on to the stage.

“There was loads of PR, loads of people interested in seeing it, a staff, rehearsal space, venue, almost $5,000 in contributions, 60 tickets sold six weeks out from production,” Herr said, explaining that no actors auditioned for the show, a church recanted its offer for rehearsal space and the theater changed course and said it could no longer stage the show.

What started as a very real situation — Rockwell Falls Public Library in Lake Luzerne proposed a “Drag Queen Story Hour" event in April 2023, resulting in significant public backlash, resignation of library staff and trustees, and a months-long closure of the library — inspired Herr, a longtime playwright, musician and writer, to create a satire.

“I read about it and got increasingly outraged,” Herr said. “I thought, ‘Since this is topical, I have to get right on it,’ and in one month, I wrote the whole script and music.”

With larger-than-life characters, “Drag Queen Story Hour: The Musical” is a comedic take on a serious topic, Herr said. “It’s not journalistic; it doesn’t re-enact what happened, but puts it up as a social satire that’s fun and light and goofy.”

Herr is well known throughout the area for “Nearby, Faraway,” a musical about artist Georgia O’Keeffe; “Zig Zag,” a romantic comedy; “Oedipus Tex,” a Greek tragedy-Wild West mashup; and countless songs and performances.

He quickly lined up funding for “Drag Queen Story Hour,” hosted panel discussions to get feedback and prepared the show for the stage. The work garnered attention from media across the country, including NPR and The New York Times. So he was surprised to see such a turn of events so close to production. 

“We had so much momentum,” he said. “Then we hit a brick wall.”

He hopes the struggles he faces will inspire good conversation at the Writers Project event, which is free and open to the public. 

“I like that the college can be a place for open debate,” he said, adding he hopes to fuel discussion about concepts including “wokeness,” cancel culture, fear vs. activism and who may tell a story. 

Writers Project is held in the Visual Arts Gallery in Dearlove Hall, and offered live via Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7977212478?pwd=ZXU5WlpJRXZ1YmZoNFNJak1yYVpSUT09.

Remaining events in the series include:

• Nov. 24: Educator and writer Kathy Fish shares insights on “flash” fiction.
• Dec. 8: Novelist Wendy Chin-Tanner reads from her award-winning novel, “King of the Armadillos,” an imagined retelling of her father’s 1950s struggle with leprosy.