Jason Alexander, Tony Danza, William Hurt, Kelli O'Hara, and Kathleen Turner will star in the new dramatic podcast series "Closing the Distance" - a series of ten short pieces that explore the sudden and seemingly uncrossable distance between people caused by the societal issues of our current times: social-distancing, quarantine and isolation.
The series will also feature an original song written and composed by internet sensations Sam Tsui and Casey Breves which was performed by Tsui and Breves with Alex Blue. Co-written by New York Times bestselling authors Tawni O'Dell and Lou Aronica and directed by Tony Award-Winning producer and director Mitchell Maxwell, Closing The Distance was created to be a comfort in these uncertain times - using humor, pathos, wit and hope to spotlight the human condition and our ability to be resilient. Additional casting is soon to be announced, and the first two episodes are now available on Apple Podcasts.
It may seem like there's nothing new left to say on the subject of the coronavirus pandemic, but after wading through the daily barrage of death toll numbers posted with the nonchalance of scoreboard points, saccharine-sweet commercials trying to convince you that lockdown can be so much fun, and contradictory timelines thrown out by warring politicians that seem to be based on random coin tosses, you might decide there is something lacking; and that's honest stories about real people dealing with the reality of how this crisis is affecting them.
Closing the Distance is here to fill some of this void.
Kathleen Turner portrays an aging trophy wife questioning her past priorities and coming to grips with her future in Being Seen.
Tony Danza takes on the role of a regular at a bar who loses the camaraderie of his fellow drinkers and in his isolation is forced to reexamine his life choices in Second Thoughts.
Kelli O'Hara is the mother of a four-year-old with a husband overseas trying to resolve her feelings of anger at the world with the love she feels for her daughter as she finally accepts she can't do everything on her own in Working from Home.
Jason Alexander takes on the dark comedy The Man Who Couldn't Google - a piece about a writer who lives alone and prides himself on his independence until he finds himself helpless when he loses his glasses.
William Hurt tackles the difficult subject matter of reconnecting with an estranged child.
"These stories aren't political, or sensationalized, or overly sentimental. They're about regular people dealing with the fear, frustration, and loneliness we're all feeling right now, and they do it with humor and optimism," says O'Dell.
Maxwell adds that "a portion of the proceeds from Closing the Distance will be donated to
The Actors Fund, which provides essential assistance to those in the entertainment field, and
Save Indie Bookstores, which has been set up to help booksellers. Both of these organizations resonate with us as writers and performers and are an invaluable part of our communities."
The series is produced by The Audio Drama Initiative and features sound design by
Josh Millican. casting by
Robin Carus and the series was directed by
Mitchell Maxwell. General Manager for the series is Carl Vorwerk of Five Points Theatrical.
The Audio Drama Initiative, headed by Lou Aronica and
Mitchell Maxwell, was founded in 2019 to develop and produce audio dramas based on literary works. In the fall of 2019, the company released the audio drama The Thursday Night Club, a Christmas story based on the novella by Steven Manchester, which was published by their sister company, The Story Plant whose current library includes nearly 200 titles. The company's Little Did I Know is the first Broadway-level podcast musical and soared to the #3 position on the U.S. Apple podcast charts soon after its release - making it one of the most successful musical podcasts ever.
