Oriente Lopez's New Musical OCCASION FOR SIN Begins Tonight at Planet Connections

A Jewish saint battles the Spanish Inquisition over the conquest of Peru in the new musical Occasion for Sin by Grammy Award winning composer Oriente Lopez, coming to The 2017 Planet Connection Theatre Festivity, which runs June 12 - July 9 at The Clemente, Flamboyan Theatre, 107 Suffolk Street, NYC.

A Jewish saint battles the Spanish Inquisition over the conquest of Peru in a new musical by Grammy Award winning composer Oriente Lopez. In war for power, is God the most powerful player, or just a card you play?

This sweeping musical portrait of the quest for gold, God and glory brings the conquest of the New World to life. Filled with swordfights, faith and broken promises, Occasion for Sin weaves together the lives of the royal Incas; the court of Spain, where 13-year old Prince Felipe is torn between a bastard Priest and the corrupt Regent of Spain; and the woman whose determination to demonstrate God's power in the world led her to become the Patron Saint of Spain, Teresa of Avila. Together, these passionate adversaries confront the timeless conflict of waging war for peace.

Script and lyrics by Katherine Brann Fredricks, based on the writings of Teresa of Avila and Garcilaso de la Vega. Music by three-time Grammy-winner, Oriente Lopez. Jessica Bashline directs a cast of twenty. Fights choreographed by Dan O'Driscoll. Dance choreography Shelly Hutchinson. Music director Eli Zoller.

IF YOU GO:

OCCASION FOR SIN
Writer/Producer: Katherine Brann Fredricks
Adapted from St. Teresa of Avila & Garcilaso de la Vega
Director: Jessica Bashline
Composer: Oriente Lopez

Performing June 23 @ 9:30 p.m.; June 25 @ 12:30 p.m.; June 27 @ 9:15 p.m.; July 1 @ 5:45 p.m.; July 2 @ 9:15 p.m.; July 8 @ 3:15 p.m.

For tickets, visit PlanetConnections.org.

Katherine Brann Fredricks (Writer/Producer) NIX (Hamlet adaptation, composer Massimo Malavasi) 8 Outstanding Noms, Planet Connections Fest 2016. Black Hole Wedding (Ramayana adaptation, composer Paul Nelson) Outstanding Music & Lyrics Award, 10 Outstanding Noms, Planet Connections 2015. Walden (Thoreau adaptation, composer Bert Draesel) Planet Connections 2013. Past President, Flagstaff Light Opera, dir. Sound of Music, FLOC's 20th Anniversary Celebration & Brigadoon. Documentaries: The Price of the Pines & The Yavapai Story (aired on Cinemax, Bronze Apple at Nat'l Educational Video & Film Festival, screened NY MOMA.) BA Dance ASU. MA Musical Theatre Writing, NYU. Professional Filmmaking Certificate, NYU SCPS. katherine-b-fredricks.squarespace.com

Oriente Lopez (Composer) was trained in music in Cuba. He collaborated with Afrocuba, Silvio Rodriguez, Chico Buarque, Chucho Valdés, Fito Páez, Pablo Milanés, among others. After moving to the US, Oriente composed, arranged and was musical director for, and performed with artists Paul Simon, Paquito D'Rivera, Marc Anthony, Ruben Blades, Regina Carter, Charlie Haden among others. Awards include 3 GRAMMYS, (2016) Paquito D'Rivera's Quintet "Meet The Classics", (2004) with Charlie Haden, "Land Of The Sun"; and (2001) Paquito D'Rivera's Quintet "Live At The Blue Note", ASCAP plus composers award and several others awards and recognitions in Cuba, US and Mexico. www.orientelopez.com

Jessica Bashline (Director) is the Artistic Director and co-founder of ?Strange Sun Theater?, a theater company in NYC dedicated to creating magical new theater that ignites in audiences and artists, the power of possibility. She is an adjunct professor at NYU. Consulting Artistic Director of the Sheen Center, when it opened in downtown Manhattan, curating a full season for 2 theaters. Before that she served as the Artistic Director of Wingspan Arts, in New York City. Current projects include the workshop of "Life of the Party" a new musical by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin. www.jessicabashline.com

Eli Zoller (Music Director) - Music director, orchestrator, and multi-instrumentalist based in New York, Eli's experience has taken him to Broadway and Off-Broadway pit orchestras as well as multiple theatres and organizations here in New York and around the country. Specializing in music direction from the guitar as well as the piano, recent stops include The York Theatre, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Papermill Playhouse, Geva Theatre, and Weston Playhouse among others. Resident music director and guitar studio director for New York Vocal Coaching in Manhattan. University of Michigan Musical Theatre graduate. Many thanks to Katherine and Oriente. Love always to Mel and Maggie, his Ohana! www.elizoller.com

Dan O'Driscoll (Fight Director) recently choreographed Picnic and Come Back, Little Sheba for the Transport Group. He has worked on 9 Broadway productions and 50 Off-Broadway productions including HIR for Playwrights Horizons and Lost Girls for MCC. A Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors - Dan teaches stage combat at NYU-TSOA and Montclair State University. www.swordandtherose.com

Shelly Hutchinson (Choreographer) is a choreographer, instructor, dancer, actress and producer in New York City. She has been a Contemporary and Musical Theater choreographer for So You Think You Can Dance Ukraine for the last four seasons, also on the creative teams and performed in operas such as Candide, Samson and Delilah, and Aida as associate choreographer and assistant director. TV appearances include MTV, CBS Morning Show, ABC, Saturday Night Live, Law & Order, Lipstick Jungle, Ugly Betty, Kings, HBO Miniseries MildrEd Pierce, The Today Show, David Letterman, The Learning Channel, dancer for Wyclef Jean and in Lou Bega's "Mambo #5". Performing credits include Radio City Music Hall, Warner Brothers Films, Disney, Off- Broadway and Regional Theatre, International Arts Festival in Italy, Care Wave Japan, National and European Tours including Fame, the Musical, Bye Bye Birdie, Irene, and West Side Story, assistant choreographer for Falco, a new multi- media show in Vienna, Austria. Shelly's work has recently been seen at City Center, Merce Cunningham, Manhattan Movement Arts Center, and Salvatore Capezio Theater. She has taught at various studios in the US, Germany, Italy, Austria, Prague, Argentina, Japan, Costa Rica, Cirque du Soleil, Broadway Dance Center, Joffrey Ballet School and Peridance in New York. Shelly is on faculty at Broadway Dance Center and Peridance Capezio Center, currently producing a series of concerts entitled "New York Moves" to benefit various charities. She is also the Director of UNCOVERED CHOREOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS, a series of intensives based in New York City to help young dancers find their identities as choreographers. Demo reel at youtu.be/vNjmlHFx26k.

Emily White (Costume Design) is a New York based freelance costume designer. Originally from Northern Minnesota, she values work that is collaborative and innovative. Recent projects include Waiting, a new play with music with Columbia University and playwright Nora Sørena Casey, and Male Continence, a movement based found text drama produced as part of HERE Arts Sublet Series. Formerly based in San Francisco, she designed the American premiere of Samuel Gallet's Communiqué n° 10 at the Cutting Ball Theater, as well as work for The Breadbox Theater Co and Z Space. She has an M.F.A. in theater design from NYU. emilyelizabethwhite.com

Michelle Tobias (Lighting Designer) is thrilled to be working on this production! An alum of NYU: Tisch's undergrad program, Michelle is a freelance lighting designer, assistant, and master electrician. Some favorite work: The Crucible, The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later (FDU); born bad (NYU); Angel Food Cake, The Cherry Orchard, The Drowning Girls (Strange Sun Theater). She also teaches as an adjunct professor and as an assistant teaching artist, and serves as the resident designer at a NYC private school. mtobiasdesign.com