Out of the Box Theatrics Announces 2021 Season Featuring BABY With Alice Ripley and More

New York City's Out of the Box Theatrics has announced its 2021 Season, including the previously announced virtual production of The Last Five Years and the long-awaited return of the company's site-specific production of Baby, as well as a virtual benefit for Black History Month, a residency in partnership with New Hampshire's Weathervane Theatre, and a new work festival.

"This next year is truly about getting 'out of the box,' as we make a gradual and safe return to live performance," commented Elizabeth Flemming. "The pandemic has been challenging for all theatres. But it has also led us to find new and exciting ways to produce and partner with other companies while remaining true to our commitment to diverse and inclusive casting and supporting emerging voices."

OOTB's 2021 season will include:

VIRTUAL BENEFIT

Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at 7:30 PM

The company's 2021 virtual benefit in honor of Black History Month will donate partial proceeds to the Broadway Advocacy Coalition. Founded in 2016 by members of the Broadway community as a direct response to the nation's pandemic of racism and police brutality, the Broadway Advocacy Coalition has since grown into a multi-disciplinary organization uniting artists with legal experts and community leaders to have a lasting impact on policy issues including criminal justice reform, education equity, and immigration.

The remaining profits will go toward funding OOTB's New Works Festival and residency which is designed to create jobs and tell the stories of BIPOC and other marginalized communities.

The purpose of this event is to unify the OOTB community by creating an event that promotes positive change to elevate and celebrate the BIPOC community through Equitable action. The evening will feature performances by artists that are all written or made famous by BIPOC performers and composers.

THE LAST FIVE YEARS

Virtual co-production with Holmdel Theatre Company
Book, music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Starring Nasia Thomas and Nicholas Edwards
Streaming March 1-15, 2021 (new dates)

Jason Robert Brown's iconic musical will receive a new virtual staging, starring Nasia Thomas (Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations; Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) and Nicholas Edwards (Frozen, Berkshire Theatre Group's Godspell).

The production will be rehearsed and streamed, observing all safety protocols, in a site-specific immersive location. The production will stream for 16 performances from March 1-15, 2021, rather than the originally announced dates of February 11-25, 2021. Ticket information, director and additional creative team will be announced in coming weeks.

RESIDENCY WITH WEATHERVANE THEATRE

June 10-12, 2021
Weathervane Theatre
389 Lancaster Road
Whitefield, NH

OOTB and New Hampshire's Weathervane Theatre will collaborate on a week-long residency program supporting works in development. These emerging plays will receive rehearsals and a fully-staged reading. OOTB and Weathervane are seeking submissions, with transportation, lodging and a stipend provided. Participating artists and works will be announced during the first week of March, 2021.

The 56-year-old Weathervane Theatre (Ethan Paulini, Producing Artistic Director) promotes a message of acceptance, diversity, and inquiry through varied programming designed to reach the diverse, and often underserved, population of New Hampshire's White Mountains region.

BUILDING THE BOX NEW WORK FESTIVAL

Performances: October 18 - October 23, 2021 at 7:00 pm
Panel Discussion: October 24, 2021 at 7:00 pm
Theatre Lab, 357 West 36th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY

OOTB's Building the Box Series is designed for playwrights to hear their work in the early stages of development. The company will select six or seven writers who will participate in a six-day New Work Festival. Participating artists and works will be announced during the first week of March, 2021.

On October 24, the company's Inclusivity Director Kelly Kirkley will host a panel to discuss each playwright's work and personal artist statement.

BABY

Book by Sybille Pearson
Music by David Shire
Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr.

Starring Tony Award winner Alice Ripley
Directed and Choreographed by Ethan Paulini

Previews November 4-10, 2021
Opening Night: Thursday, November 11, 2021
Performances through November 28, 2021
Theatrelab, 357 West 36th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY

The 1983 Broadway musical Baby follows three couples on a university campus dealing with the painful, rewarding and unexpectedly funny consequences of the universal experience of pregnancy and parenthood. The couples include two college students, barely at the beginning of their adult lives; the thirty-somethings, having trouble conceiving but determined not to give up; and middle-aged parents, previously looking forward to an empty nest when an unexpected night of passion lands them back where they started.

Baby played a limited engagement at a midtown loft in December 2019, where the run was extended by popular demand. This return engagement will allow more theatregoers to experience the intimate production as well as continue to examine these relationships through a modern lens.