TheatreC & Rhyme Combinator will present CO-FOUNDERS, a new hip hop musical about the two most unlikely partners in Silicon Valley, for a one-night-only concert on Saturday, April 9th at 7:00pm at Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street).
CO-FOUNDERS is the hilariously inspiring story of two unlikely partners chasing impossible entrepreneurial dreams. Esata, a black woman from Oakland, and Conway, a small-town college dropout, take on the most competitive start up accelerator in Silicon Valley - where the privileged make a killing while the people across the bridge grind to survive. CO-FOUNDERS is a vulnerable comedy that will make you laugh out loud, squirm in your seat, and then turn up on your tabletop. Whether you're from the city or the town.
CO-FOUNDERS is written by Ryan Nicole Austin, Adesha Adefela, and Beau Lewis; with music by Josh Karp 'Budo', Will Randolph, Brian 'Deep' Watters, and Cava Menzies.
Carlos Armesto is the Director, Lola Lopez Guardone is the Associate Director, Henry Hanson is Executive Producer, and Lucila Brindisi is Marketing Director. Casting is by Eisenberg/Beans Casting (
Daryl Eisenberg, CSA, Ally Beans, CSA). CO-FOUNDERS is produced by
Anthony Veneziale, Beau Lewis, theatreC, and Rhyme Combinator.
CO-FOUNDERS began in 2016 as part of a weekly freestyle rap session hosted by Beau Lewis, where entrepreneurs come together to vent about their startups. Following live performances at San Francisco's The Lab in 2017 and Folsom Street Foundry in 2018, CO-FOUNDERS received staged readings at ODC and ACT in 2019, and was selected for the 2020 National Alliance for Musical Theatre's (NAMT) Festival of New Works in NYC.
Tickets to the concert, beginning at $25 with an additional 2-drink or $12 food order minimum per person, are now available and can be purchased at
https://publictheater.org/productions/joes-pub/2022/c/co-founders/.
Additional information, including casting, will be announced shortly. For more information, please visit
TheatreC.org/CoFounders.
BIOGRAPHIES
THEATRE C (Producer) was founded in 2009 to move audiences and open minds by creating unique theatrical experiences that mix the seemingly un-mixable. The company creates parties, plays, musicals and special events that meld puppetry and burlesque, video and dance, acrobatics and installations, hip hop rock and salsa, and more. Blurring the line between disciplines and cultures, the company is a part of the next stage in American theatre's evolution.
RHYME COMBINATOR (Producer). Creator of viral media that connects the world through rhyme. From founders and artists who work the hardest for community, startups, and misfits - to create opportunities where none existed.
ADESHA ADEFELA (Writer). Billboard-charted independent singer/songwriter who has starred in musicals and community theater in her Oakland, CA hometown since she was 5.
Carlos Armesto (Director). Founder of theatreC, director and producer on festivals, plays, musicals, concerts, and events around the country. Carlos was an Associate Curator at the inaugural Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts, an Associate Artistic Director at The
Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) and Co-Director for the EST/Sloan Project. He is also a recipient of the Bill Foeller Fellowship at Williamstown Theatre Festival, and a Princess Grace Fellowship. Carlos is currently Creative Director of RETRO FACTORY, theatreC's LGBTQ Party Series, and Co-CEO of PITCHBLACK Immersive Experiences. MFA Carnegie Mellon.
RYAN NICOLE AUSTIN (Writer). Grammy-nominated MC, Poet & Activist from Oakland, CA; Playwright -in-Residence at NYC's Public Theatre BARS workshop with
Daveed Diggs.
LOLA LOPEZ GUARDONE (Associate Director). Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but her soul always belonged in NYC. Various NYC credits: Odd Man Out (NY Times Pick), Rehab, Candy Girls, Next Thing You Know, Silent Movie Dreams, Before the Fall, These Little Ones Perish (2017 Winterfest - Best Director Award),
Neil Simon's I Ought to be in Pictures. She is a consulting artist for
Woodshed Collective and a freelance Creative Director currently contracted by the Vuturo Group. Training: Sergio Lombardo, Ruben Szchumacher, Mikhael Tara Garver, Tim Carol, Seth Barish and the
Tom Todoroff Conservatory.
JOSH KARP 'BUDO' (Music). Multi-platinum Seattle-based producer and songwriter known for his work with Macklemore, Kesha and Lil Yachty.
BEAU LEWIS (Writer/Producer). Emmy-winning writer, producer, viral media expert, and serial entrepreneur; Co-founder of GoldieBlox & Founder of Rhyme Combinator.
CAVA MENZIES (Music). Multidisciplinary artist and educator; founding music faculty member at Oakland School for the Arts, Creative Director of Kingmakers of Oakland, and guest faculty member for Berklee College of Music.
WILL RANDOLPH (Music). Oakland-based producer, composer, singer, and direct descendant from legendary Oakland royalty dance crew, The Black Resurgents. Known as a hitmaker for various Bay Area artists and member of The St. Valentinez.
Anthony Veneziale (Co-Producer). Conceiver and co-creator of the Broadway hit Freestyle Love Supreme, with
Lin-Manuel Miranda and
Thomas Kail.
BRIAN 'DEEP' WATTERS (Music). Bay Area producer known for his work with legendary hip hop artists including Mac Dre, Kodak Black, and
Trey Songz, and his recent original compositions with Grammy Award winner Joey Lopez.
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