Read on for some recent theatre headlines and videos you may have missed.
Dramatists Guild Foundation Reveals New Fellows for 2020–2021
Ten up-and-coming theatre artists have been selected for the Dramatist Guild Foundation’s 2020–2021 fellowship program. The year-long intensive for playwrights, composers, lyricists, and book writers provides access to professionals who help them develop their creative process. This year’s class is comprised of musical theatre creators Aya Aziz, Christiana Cole, David Gomez, John-Michael Lyles, Dylan MarcAurele, and Mike Ross, and playwrights Calley N. Anderson, Eliana Pipes, Juan Ramirez, Jr., and Regina Velázquez. For more information about the program, click here.
Netflix's Stage Star-Studded COVID Anthology Sets Release
Social Distance, the upcoming Netflix anthology series depicting life during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, will arrive on the streaming service October 15. As previously announced, the eight-part series features such stage veterans as Hamilton alum Okieriete Onaodowan, Tony nominees Daphne Rubin-Vega and Danielle Brooks, and husband-and-wife Dylan and Becky Ann Baker. As performers shot the series while quarantining, family members sharing a household also became co-stars for several episodes.
Kristoyln Lloyd and Cornelius S. Smith Jr. Offer a Preview of New Musical American Prophet
Arena Stage has shared a sneak peek of its upcoming world-premiere musical, American Prophet: Frederick Douglass in His Own Words, which is currently set to play the Washington, D.C., venue May 28–July 3, 2021, in the Kreeger Theater. Featuring a book by Charles Randolph-Wright (Motown), who also directs, and music by Grammy winner Marcus Hummon (who also co-wrote the book), the musical chronicles the life and legacy of human rights leader Frederick Douglass, to be played by Cornelius Smith Jr. (Scandal, All My Children). In the video below, Smith Jr. is joined by Dear Evan Hansen's Kristoyln Lloyd, as Douglass' wife Anna Murray Douglass, for the new song "Let the Storm Come." As an abolitionist, she was instrumental in securing Frederick’s freedom from slavery.
A.R.T./New York Relief Fund for NYC Small Theatres
The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York has created a relief fund in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its impact on small theatres in NYC with annual budgets under $250,000. The Relief Fund for NYC Small Theatres offers unrestricted grants of $2,500-$5,000. Applications are now open through October 5 at 5 PM ET with two additional rolling deadlines. Click here for more information about the program and how to apply.
