Musical Adaptation Of THE JUNGLE to Feature In New York Theatre Barn's Choreography Lab

The fifth season of New York Theatre Barn's Choreography Lab continues on Monday, November 5, 2018 at 7pm at Pearl Studios. Funded in part by a generous gift from the Amber Foundation, The Choreography Lab was created to elevate and expand the use of dance in musical theatre. It is also the only curated choreography platform where choreographers and writers collaborate to develop movement for new musicals during incubation.

In the November 5 installment, four choreographers will present four different production numbers from Nathan Dame and Rob Baumgartner's adaptation of The Jungle. The featured choreographers who will explore choreography for the new musical are Kristen Brooks Sandler, Amy Connerley, Daniel Gold, and Brendan Stackhouse. Lab moderators and dancers will be announced at a later date.

Based on Upton Sinclair's notorious novel, The Jungle tells the story of Jurgis and Ona, a young couple who flees their native Lithuania to find their way in America in 1901. Ona is the upper-class, educated daughter of a wealthy magistrate, and Jurgis is the illiterate farmhand who worked her father's land. They fall in love and run away where they can be together, because they heard there is no such thing as "class" in America. Like all immigrants, they dream of a prosperous life but instead encounter the abusive working and living conditions of Chicago's meatpacking industry.

Curated by Avital Asuleen, The Choreography Lab's programming supports choreographer development, fosters collaboration between writers and choreographers earlier in the creative process, and serves as an educational forum where all parties can strengthen and specify how dance can be used to convey story and character. The Choreography Lab is the only curated choreography platform where choreographers and writers collaborate to develop movement for new musicals during incubation. Lab consultants are Adolpho Blaire and Christopher Noffke.

Pearl Studios located at 500 8th Avenue in New York City, and the lab will be in studio 412. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door, and can be purchased on New York Theatre Barn's website: www.nytheatrebarn.org. Seating is limited.

Under the artistic direction of Joe Barros, New York Theatre Barn is a Manhattan-based non-profit theatre company, founded in 2007, dedicated to incubating and producing new musicals that tell untold stories. Our stories are inspired by the lives of real people and actual events that challenge our preconceived ideas, and promote inclusion and positive social change. For more information: www.nytheatrebarn.org.