Quick viewing(Text Mode)

NEW SONGS NOW a New Voices/New Works Program

NEW SONGS NOW a New Voices/New Works Program

RATTLESTICK PLAYWRIGHTS THEATER In Partnership with Rosalind Productions, Inc., Presents

NEW SONGS NOW A New Voices/New Works Program

2019 LINEUP June 4th- Andrew R. Butler and Angela Sclafani, with conversation facilitated by ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Rachel Sussman June 5th- Masi Asare and the Bengsons, with conversation facilitated by Mei Ann ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Teo June 6th- Preston Max Allen and Troy Anthony, with conversation facilitated by Anne ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Kauffman June 10th- Rona Siddiqui and Jillian Walker, with conversation facilitated by Natasha ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Sinha June 12th- Michelle Rodriguez and Lila Blue, with conversation facilitated by Leigh ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Silverman

Stage Manager: P. Tyler Britt ​ Sound Engineers: Michael Costagliola, German Martínez, Jack Scaletta ​ ​ ​

ARTIST BIOS

JUNE 4 Andrew R. Butler is a composer, writer, and performer based in , NY and hailing from the ​ Panhandle. In 2018 he received the Grant and his sci-fi folk musical Rags ​ Parkland Sings The Songs Of The Future premiered at (NYTimes Best Theatre of 2018; Lortel ​ and Drama League nominations for Outstanding Musical). Andrew was one-tenth of the composer/lyricist team for Jacklyn Backhaus's Folk Wandering (Pipeline Theatre Co.) Andrew's work has ​ ​ been developed at Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Yale Institute for Music Theatre, , Ars Nova, Dixon Place, Fresh Ground Pepper, American Music Theatre Project, and the Polyphone Festival.andrewrbutler.com

Angela Sclafani is an NYC-based performer and songwriter. She is a resident of the Orchard Project ​ Greenhouse, a two-time alumna of Ars Nova's ANT Fest, a 2018 Jonathan Larson Grant Finalist, and a first place winner of the 2018 Great American Song Contest. Angela was also a 2018 recipient of the Richie Jackson Artist Fellowship and the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust Grant. Favorite performances include appearing in Todd Almond’s Kansas City Choir Boy, starring Courtney Love, and supporting the ​ ​ British-pop band Years & Years as a backup vocalist on the North East leg of their Communion tour. Her ​ ​ recorded music releases, Your Ghost and Blossom, are available to stream and download online. Angela ​ ​ ​ ​ graduated from NYU Tisch with a BFA in Drama. www.angelasclafani.com

Rachel Sussman is an NYC-based creative producer and co-founder of The MITTEN Lab, an emerging ​ theatre artist residency program in her native state of Michigan. From 2016-2018, she served as the Producing Artistic Director for the Musical Festival (NYMF). As an independent producer, she is represented on this spring by Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me. A former ​ ​ Women's Project Lab Time Warner Foundation Fellow, Rachel is a graduate of the Commercial Theater Institute and a University Honors Scholar alumna of NYU Tisch. She is the recipient of the 2019 Geraldine Stutz T. Fellowship in Creative Producing, founded by Hal Prince in conjunction with . www.rachel-sussman.com

JUNE 5 Masi Asare is a composer, lyricist, and playwright. Shows include: THE FAMILY RESEMBLANCE ​ (book/music/lyrics; Theatre Royal Stratford East commission, developed Eugene O’Neill Center); RISHVOR (book/music/lyrics), a new musical about racial passing commissioned by Barbara Whitman/Grove Entertainment; and MONSOON WEDDING (lyrics), the Broadway bound new adaptation of Mira Nair’s film. A past Dramatists Guild Fellow, Masi has received the Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award for a woman composer of musicals; both the Georgia Bogardus Holof Lyricist Award and the Paulette Haupt Composition Prize from the Eugene O’Neill Center; and a 2019 Emerging Artist Grant from the Theater Hall of Fame. She holds degrees from Harvard and NYU Tisch and teaches in the Theatre department at Northwestern University. www.masiasare.com

The Bengsons music has been featured on “So You Think You Can Dance” (FOX) and in Hundred Days ​ (, New Workshop, ), The Lucky Ones (Ars Nova), Sundown, Yellow Moon (Ars Nova/WP), Anything That Gives Off Light (Edinburgh Theatre Festival, Joe’s Pub), Hurricane Diane (New York Theatre Workshop), You’ll Still Call Me By Name (New York Live Arts, Jacob's Pillow), The Place We Built (The Flea), and Iphigenia in Aulis (). They have received the Richard Rogers Award and have been nominated for the Drama Desk, Drama League, and Lucile Lortel awards.

Mei Ann Teo (she/they) is a theatre/film maker who works at the intersection of ​ artistic/civic/contemplative practice towards paradigm shifts. As a director/devisor/dramaturg, she enjoys collaborating. Mei Ann is the Producing Artistic Director of Factory, a Resident Company of .

JUNE 6 Preston Max Allen is a trans masculine writer whose work has been performed at the New Amsterdam ​ Theatre, Signature Theatre, , Joe’s Pub, Musical Theatre Factory, and Feinstein’s/54 Below. He conceived and wrote book, music, and lyrics for WE ARE THE TIGERS (Theatre 80), NEVER BETTER, AGENT 355 (co-book/dramaturgy Jessica Kahkoska), and CARRIE 2: THE RAGE, AN UNAUTHORIZED MUSICAL PARODY (Jeff Nominee, Best Musical). He’s an LA Ovation winner for Best Lyrics/Composition (WE ARE THE TIGERS), member of the Ars Nova Play Group (2019/2020), and alum of the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop. @prestonmaxallen

Troy Anthony is a composer, actor, and director based in NYC. He has presented work at Joe’s Pub, 54 ​ Below, Prospect Theater Company and the Musical Theater Factory (MTF). Commissions include the , The Civilians and The Shed. Troy has been seen in the Public Theater’s Twelfth Night and As You Like It, as as Prospect Theater Company’s Tamar of the River. He leads ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ the Public Theater’s Public Works Community Choir and focuses on the intersection between art and social justice at the DreamYard Art Center. He’s also a 2019-2020 MTF Maker.

Anne Kauffman has worked with Ars Nova, NYTW, Playwrights Horizons, The Public, MCC, ​ Roundabout, WP, P73, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, Yale Rep, The Goodman, Steppenwolf, The Wilma, ZSpace. She is Co-Artistic Director of Encores off-Center, Resident Director at Roundabout Theater, Artistic Associate and Founding Member of The Civilians, a Sundance Program Associate, Clubbed Thumb Associate Artist and co-creator of the CT Directing Fellowship, New Georges Associate Artist, Artistic Council of Soho Rep, SDC Executive Board Member. Awards: Lortel, OBIEs (Directing and Sustained Excellence), the Joan and Joseph Cullman Award for Exceptional Creativity from Lincoln Center, the Alan Schneider Director Award.

JUNE 10 Rona Siddiqui is a NYC-based composer/lyricist. Musicals: Salaam Medina: Tales of a Halfghan, One ​ ​ ​ ​ Good Day,The Tin,Treasure in NYC. Commissions:Atlantic Theater Company, 24-Hour Musicals, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Prospect Theater Company, The Civilians, NYC Gay Men's Chorus, 52nd St Project. Performed at: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Joe's Pub, Feinstein's/54 Below, Center.Awards:ASCAP Foundation Mary Rodgers/Lorenz Hart Award and the ASCAP Foundation/Max ​ ​ Dreyfus Scholarship. Music direction:, Bella: An American Tall Tale, Who's Your ​ ​ ​ Baghdaddy? Or How I Started the War. Orchestration:Broadway Backwards, Gay Men's Chorus, ​ ​ ​ Broadway Records, NAMT gala. www.ronasiddiqui.com ​ ​

Jillian Walker writes plays that create space for healing and liberation; embodying remembrance for our ​ ancestors and legacies. Manifestations include a concert-play, SKiNFoLK: An American Show, Sarah’s ​ Salt. (recognized by the American Playwriting Foundation in 2017), and Songs of Speculation, a ​ ​ ​ lecture-performance work that explores her challenges with the historical archive. Jillian is a member of the groundbreaking cohort of MTF Makers at Musical Theater Factory, the genre-defying artists in Makers Lab at Ars Nova, and is currently under commission with Soho Rep. She holds an MFA in Dramaturgy from Columbia University. www.patreon.com/jillianbwalker ​

Natasha Sinha is a producer and dramaturg, focusing on new plays and new musical work. She is the ​ Associate Director of LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater which exclusively produces premieres (including

Disgraced by , Dave Malloy's Preludes, War by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, 's , and Antoinette Nwandu’s Pass Over). Natasha is a co-founder of Beehive Dramaturgy Studio, which works with individual generative artists as well as organizations such as P73, MTF, APAC and NYMF. Prior to joining LCT3, she was the Associate Producer at Barrington Stage Company. Natasha is on the Advisory Boards of Musical Theatre Factory and SPACE on Ryder Farm. She has served as a judge on award committees, taught classes, and curated events focused on inclusivity.

JUNE 12 Michelle Rodriguez is a singer, songwriter and musical theater composer, currently at work on a new ​ musical commissioned by The Public Theater. She has captivated audiences at Joe's Pub (NYC), the Hideout (Chicago), and Steppenwolf (Chicago) with her stunning vulnerability onstage. Beloved by NPR’s All Songs Considered team, Michelle became a finalist for NPR’s 2018 Tiny Desk Contest with her band MICHA’s song “Nena Nena Nena.” Michelle made her Steppenwolf début in La Havana Madrid and starred in her original bluegrass/folk musical, East o', West o'! at ANTFest at Ars Nova, which earned her a mention in The New Yorker. In 2018, Michelle’s work in theater and music is being supported by residencies at SPACE on Ryder Farm, New York Theater Workshop, and the . Other musicals include Rokera, Bibliophile, Betty White: The Musical!, JIRAN, and So Far Cecile. BA: ​ ​ ​ ​ .

Lila Blue is a singer-songwriter from New York who moved to San Francisco in 2011. At 19 years old, ​ she has proven herself an accomplished recording artist, theatrical composer, and multi-instrumentalist. She has released two full- length albums (Lucille and The Hollows Hold the Healing), an EP (Have a ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Look), and recently completed an LP for release in the fall. Her song "Kill All the Witnesses" was featured ​ in the Lifetime movie Story of a Girl. Blue has played at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, opened for ​ ​ The Bacon Brothers, and worked with Noche Flamenca, and the Joe Goode Performance Group. This past summer, a full-length score for (written by Blue and Phillip Roebuck) was ​ ​ performed in New York with the Lake Lucille Chekhov Project.

Leigh Silverman (Director). BROADWAY: LIFESPAN OF A FACT; ; ; WELL. Recent: ​ HURRICANE DIANE (NYTW); WILD GOOSE DREAMS (PUBLIC); (AHMANSON/CURAN); HARRY CLARKE (VINEYARD/MINETTA LANE); (NEW GROUP); ON THE EXHALE (ROUNDABOUT); THE OUTER SPACE (PUBLIC); NO PLACE TO GO (PUBLIC).

PRODUCER BIOS Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Founded in 1994 by Gary Bonasorte and David Van Asselt, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater is a multi-award winning organization which has developed and produced over 100 World Premieres in the past 23 seasons. Artistic Director Daniella Topol succeeded Founding Artistic Director David Van Asselt in 2016. Topol and her team remain steadfast in Rattlestick’s long-standing commitment to producing ambitious and provocative new works that respond to the complexity of our culture. Rattlestick has produced the first plays and early works of some of today’s leading voices, including Baker (), Sheila Callaghan (That Pretty, Pretty), Martyna Majok (Ironbound), Adam Rapp ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ ​​ (The Hallway Trilogy) , Lucy Thurber (The Hilltown Plays) , Jonathan Tolins (Buyer and Cellar) and Craig ​​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ Wright (The Pavilion). We are also proud to be a place where some of our nation's most celebrated ​​ ​​ playwrights, including Athol Fugard (Hello and Goodbye), Craig Lucas (Ode to Joy), Dael Orlandersmith ​​ ​ ​​ ​ (Until the Flood), and José Rivera (M assacre, Sing to Your Children), feel safe to return to test their ​​ ​ ​​ boldest ideas.

Rosalind Productions Inc. Women-Led. Female Leads. Girl Power since 2005. Founded by Executive Producer Abigail Rose Solomon, ROSALIND PRODUCTIONS INC. is a Tony Award and -nominated ​ ​ producer of new and classic work on and Off-Broadway as well as regionally. Currently, on Broadway, the company is a co-producer of the seven-time Tony-nominated and the revival of , ​ ​ ​ featuring Tony-winner in the title role. Past Broadway shows include ​ and The Miracle Worker. The company was also Producing Associate on War Paint. Off-Broadway, the ​ ​ ​ ​ company Associate Produced the World Premiere of My Lingerie Play with Rattlestick Playwrights ​ ​ Theater, and was lead producer of the New York Premiere of The Last Seder, the New York Premiere of ​ ​ A Splintered Soul, and Shanley’s Savage in . In , the company was lead ​ ​ ​ producer of Misalliance, , the World Premiere of Stages, and co-produced an all-female As You ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Like It with Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company. Rosalind Productions focuses on stories with ​ female-identified characters who drive the main storyline, or with female-identified actors playing cis-male roles. Our goal is to entertain, empower, and enlighten audiences. www.RosalindProductions.com Facebook/Instagram @RosalindProductions Twitter @RosalindProds

Rattlestick Board Jeff Thamkittikasem (Chair), Vincent Alfieri (Vice Chair), Robert Lomison (Vice Chair), Rosalee Lovett (Treasurer), Ray Brunt (Secretary), Vincent Alfieri, Horace Barker, Daryl Boren, Ray Brunt, Nina Darnton, Vered Hankin, Geoffrey Jackson Scott, Robert Lomison, Rosalee Lovett, Zachary Quinto, Mike Skipper, Susan Strickler, Zohar Tirosh-Polk, Daniella Topol, (Artistic Director), Alana Weiss, Peter T. Wilderotter

Advisory Board Nadia Alia, Anastasia Barzee, , Robert Clauser, Sandra Coudert-Graham, Trip Cullman, Ty Defoe, Kathryn Erbe, Adrienne Feiger, Phyllis Goldman, Michael Hirschhorn, Willy Holtzman, Barbara Janowitz, , Brian MacDevitt, Dan Markley, Dael Orlandersmith, Lourdes Perez-Berkeley, Andrew Polk, Adam Rapp, Laura Rebell Gross, Alysia Reiner, Amy Ryan, Jolie Schwab, , Adam Sheer, , Molly Smith, Wendy Vanden Heuvel, Orin Wolf, Anna Ziegler

Staff Artistic Director: Daniella Topol Managing Director: Annie Middleton General Manager: Kathalizsa Pandji Producing Associate: Kevin Hourigan Directing Fellow: Shadi Ghaheri Literary Team: Ngozi Anyanwu, Shadi Ghaheri, Vered Hankin, Jessi D. Hill, David Mendizábal, Daniel Talbott, Cori Thomas New Works/New Voices Partner Rosalind Productions, Inc (Abigail Rose Solomon, Executive Producer; Jennifer Kranz, Director of Creative Development) Management Services Foundation Development Consultant Jennie Greer General Press Representative Matt Ross Public Relations Interns: Charlotte Abell, Brooke Bazarian, Courtney Campbell, Natalie Evans, Kazem Ghouchani, Lauren ​ Mann, Olivia Marr, Brittany Molesworth, Amber Nelson ​ ​ ​ ​

JOIN US NEXT SEASON BECOME A MEMBER and receive one first choice premium seat for our Mainstage and Middle Voice ​ shows, discounted guest tickets, advance notice & discount offers to all of our cool stuff - readings, special events, festivals, workshops, classes - you name it, and you'll know first! Discounted memberships are available if you ACT NOW!

FALL 2019 - World Premiere ​ NOVENAS FOR A LOST HOSPITAL Written by Cusi Cram ​ With Dramaturgy by Guy Lancaster ​ Starring Kathleen Chalfant ​ Directed by Rattlestick Artistic Director Daniella Topol ​ Presented in partnership with Village Preservation, NYC AIDS Memorial Board, St. John's in the ​ ​ ​ Village, and more partners to be announced. ​

SPRING 2019 - World Premiere ​ THE SIBLINGS PLAY By Ren Dara Santiago ​ Directed by Jenna Worsham ​ Produced by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and piece by piece productions, in Association with ​ ​ ​ ​ Rising Phoenix Repertory

MORE INFO AND MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE AT: www.rattlestick.org

Upcoming at Rattlestick… Pride Plays June 20-24; FREE! PRIDE PLAYS is an upcoming festival of play readings at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater to ​ commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. We will be presenting a series of play readings from June 20-24 that capture the prideful spirit of the LGBTQ community, celebrating 50 years of theatrical voices since that turning point.

Directorgy June 26 at 7pm; FREE Rattlestick will be hosting a night to showcase some of the work currently in development by their Directing Fellow, Shadi Ghaheri. The evening will be an informal, fun night, and an opportunity to meet new artists. The evening includes three excerpts of work that Shadi is very excited to share with her new audience in New York City.

We acknowledge our theater is on the traditional land of the Lenape Nation People in Manahatta (Island of Many Hills) or .

Top View