Quarantine-Inspired Musical, HOW TO SURVIVE THE END OF THE WORLD, Will Air This Week

Hannah Cruz (Hamilton), Dylan Hartwell (Newsical), Greg Sullivan (Naked Boys Singing) and Ellen Winter (36 Questions Podcast) star in quarantine-made web-musical by Dramatists Guild Fellows, Ars Nova Uncharted, & Rhinebeck Writers Retreat alum writing team EllaRose Chary (TL;DR: Thelma Louise; Dyke Remix, The Doll Maker's Gift) & Brandon James Gwinn (TL;DR, Small Town Story, Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts).

How to Survive the End of the World is a short web-musical that has been written, rehearsed, produced and shot in its entirety since quarantine began in March. The piece tells the story of Al (Cruz), a woman who has preserved years of video messages from her older brother (Hartwell) who passed away prior to the quarantine lockdown. She now lives in a world where all of her human interactions happen on screens, which blurs the line between alive and dead, what is real and what is only in the cloud. After Chary and Gwinn were inspired to remotely write a musical that deals with loss when so much of our lives must move online, the cast rehearsed via Zoom and recorded all the material by themselves at home on their own phones and devices.

The web-musical will be available to stream on YouTube and IGTV beginning Wednesday May 20 at 2pm. The piece can be easily accessed at www.brandonandella.com as well as on the writers' queer theatre focused Instagram account @thingsidontsayproject, which also includes conversations with theatre makers like Drama Desk nominated director Taylor Reynolds and additional songs performed by artists like Broadway's Telly Leung.

How to Survive the End of the World stars Hannah Cruz, Dylan Hartwell, Greg Sullivan and Ellen Winter, with a script and lyrics by EllaRose Chary, music, lyrics and audio/video production by Brandon James Gwinn, and production management by Adrianna Lombardi.

Check out a trailer below!