Present Perfect, a new musical by Jaime Lozano and Nancy Nachama Cheser, will be exhibited in concert at 54 Below November 8. The concert will be available for in-person audiences and remote via a live stream.

Lozano is a Mexican director, composer, arranger, and orchestrator whose work has received significant acclaim since 2016. He was a part of the 2020-2022 Joe’s Pub Working Group and the 2020-2021 The Civilians’ R&D Group, with his shows Tlatelolco, Myths, and The Yellow Brick Road being staged throughout New York. Cheser, who taught English as a Second Language (ESL) courses for 10 years, was inspired to create Present Perfect through her experiences in the classroom.

Present Perfect follows a young woman who steps outside of her ultra-Orthodox religious community in Brooklyn to teach English to a class of adult immigrants. She struggles to untangle her status as an authority from her life as a cultural outsider, and alongside her students, learns to reimagine her life in more flexible terms. 

The concert will be directed by Rebecca Aparicio. Performers will include Mauricio Martínez (On Your Feet, El Vato), Stephanie Lynne Mason (Fiddler on the Roof), Florencia Cuenca (A Never-Ending Line, Children of Salt), Robi Hager (Spring Awakening, Doctor Zhivago), Henry Gainza (On Your Feet, Mr. Saturday Night) Musa Hitomi (Women on Fire: Stories from the Frontlines), Rodd Cyrus (Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Mamma Mia at The Hollywood Bowl) and more.

For more information, please visit 54Below.com.