The curtain is rising on a new, original musical written by an Iowa State student.

“Holloway” is a new musical written and composed by Joseph Smith, senior in performing arts. The show follows the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway while on a school trip to Aruba and the effect that her disappearance had on her friends and family.

“Back in high school I was aware of the case and of her disappearance, and I was always intrigued and wasn’t quite sure why,” Smith said. “I thought of the case again two years ago. After writing the first song I realized I needed to write this, because I had a voice and a story that I wanted to share, and I had something to give back to the world.”

Smith received a grant through the Focus: Artist Grant Program, which gave him the resources necessary to produce a stage reading of the musical. The reading involves Iowa State students as well as actors from the Ames and Des Moines area.

“I had asked some people in Ames to audition specifically, and I had no idea who would show up in Des Moines,” Smith said. “We had a total of 40 people who auditioned for 20 roles, which is great.”

The cast has been rehearsing once a week and focusing mostly on the music. Performing a new work has brought on its own unique set of challenges and advantages.

“It’s so exciting as a performer to really start from scratch and to allow this process to be really organic and naturally unfold, but it’s also been challenging,” said Rebecca Hunt, a vocal music teacher from Des Moines who plays Natalee’s mother Beth in the show. “There is no one coming before us to show us how it’s supposed to be done. We’re in a situation where we are making decisions from week to week.”

The show will make its premiere at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall. Admission is free, and a talk-back will be held after the performance. Smith will be using the feedback from the performance to edit the show before it is performed in New York City later this summer.

A concert version of the show will be performed on August 14 at Feinstein’s/54 Below, New York’s famous Broadway supper club. The show will feature many Broadway performers, including Chris McCarrell (“Les Miserables”), Analisa Leaming (“The King and I” and “On The Twentieth Century”), Eric Anthony Lopez (“American Idol” and “Phantom of the Opera”), Christina Sajous (“American Idiot”), Kennedy Caughell (“Wicked”), Casey Erin Clark (“Les Miserables”) and Maddie Olsem, a junior in vocal music education.

“I have a friend in New York who told me that 54 Below was doing this new works series and presenting ten musicals. I reached out to them in December, but they had already picked the ten musicals that they were going to do,” Smith said. “They told me that they would still be willing to consider me for their regular programming season.”

Smith hopes that the concert at Feinstein’s/54 Below will create a buzz about the show, which could eventually lead to another reading or workshops of the show in New York. This would be the first step towards an off-Broadway production.

“It’s really exciting and kind of humbling,” Smith said. “It’s just so mind blowing for people to sing your own work. You’re sharing your voice with other people.”