Maulik Pancholy, Natasha Lyonne, Zoe Kazan and More to Appear on The New Group's WHY WE DO IT Series

The New Group continues its newly-launched live online conversation series, "Why We Do It," announcing a new slate of guests including Zoe Kazan (June 17), Nico Santos (June 24), Natasha Lyonne (July 1), Nat Wolff (July 8), Suzanne Vega (July 15), Clint Ramos (July 22) and Maulik Pancholy (July 29). All conversations in the "Why We Do It" series, hosted by Founding Artistic Director of The New Group Scott Elliott, are FREE and publicly available via Facebook Live (facebook.com/TheNewGroupNYC/live) and YouTube Live (youtube.com/TheNewGroupNYC/live), Wednesdays at 4:00PM EST and archived on The New Group's YouTube page (youtube.com/TheNewGroupNYC).

The series which offers insightful conversations with the company's community of noteworthy artists launched on May 6 with award-winning actor and director Cynthia Nixon, and continued with acclaimed actor Bobby Cannavale (May 13) and Tony-winning Scenic Designer Derek McLane (May 20). As previously announced, additional slated guests include award-winning actor Edie Falco (May 27), visionary writer and director Erica Schmidt (June 3), and boundary-breaking playwright Donja R. Love (June 10) with all conversations taking place at 4:00PM EST.

Immediately following the free "Why We Do It" conversations, audiences are invited to keep the insightful conversation going over virtual drinks with these artists via Q&A in "Drinks With," an intimate scale Zoom setting, with a very limited number of participants, moderated by Scott Elliott. Original drink recipes curated by Sammi Katz, creator of A Girl's Guide to Drinking Alone (AGirlsGuidetoDrinkingAlone.com). Please visit TheNewGroup.org/why-we-do-it to register and make a donation for the "Drinks With" events only, available for a $50 tax-deductible donation per participant per talk.

This vital support sustains The New Group and its core programs during these times, as the company continues to work with artists whose new work is in development and provides remote learning for students in Scene 1, the company's free education program for New York City public high school students.

"Crisis asks us why we do what we do and what theater offers to its community. In better times, we meet in the theater to grapple collectively with challenging moments in our communal lives; to see what's really happening under the surface, or equally important, relocate the humor and perspective that allow us to go on. We are keenly missing this kind of hopefulness and clarity right now and imagine that you might be too. Since we've been thinking about "why we do what we do", we've asked some of our immediate community of artists to join us for creative conversations that explore what continues to draw them to the theater, touchstones in their theater careers and what hopes they have going forward," shares Founding Artistic Director Scott Elliott and Executive Director Adam Bernstein.

The New Group marking its 25th Anniversary in the 2019/20 Season, is an award-winning, artist-driven company with a commitment to developing and producing powerful, contemporary theater. The company seeks a theater that is adventurous, stimulating and most importantly "now," a true forum for the present culture. TheNewGroup.org

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos