VIDEO: Mike Faist and Corey Cott Talk RAPID TRANSIT: An Ohio Arts Benefit

Ohio Artists Gathering, under the direction of Tony Award nominee and Grammy Award winner and Columbus native Mike Faist, (Dear Evan Hansen) will partner with Short North Stage on Friday, March 16th, from 8:00-10:30 PM, for an awareness building and development event titled "Rapid Transit," introducing Ohio natives working on Broadway and beyond, and featuring a performance by Public. A special pre-event reception will be held from 7:00-8:00 for donors and sponsors to meet Mr. Faist and other OAG artists. Broadway leading man and fellow Ohio native Corey Cott will make a special guest appearance.

Ohio Artists Gathering: Summer Creative and Performing Arts Collaborative is a one-week festival coming up in August 2018, bringing together Ohio theatre artists and creatives with New York theatre professionals - playwrights, producers, directors, choreographers, and actors. This week-long gathering will include workshops, master classes, and open-to-public rehearsals, inviting the greater Columbus community into the process of creating new works for the stage, with presentations and talkbacks on the final day.

Columbus artists and theatre lovers will be invited into the creative process - participants and spectators - to experience first-hand the creative collaboration of native Columbus artists who are coming home, and their colleagues working in Columbus theatre. Attendance can be fluid throughout the week to include artists, students and practitioners who attend one session or many, including open rehearsals and workshops, and audience members on hand for the culminating presentations and talkbacks.

Mike Faist, a Columbus area native who debuted on Broadway and in 2017 received a Tony Award nomination for his role as Connor in the Tony and Grammy Award winning "Dear Evan Hansen," envisioned this program as a "gathering in my hometown of Ohio's theatre artists and creatives - including Ohio natives who will travel to Columbus for the program and artists currently working in Columbus theatre - to come together for a week of collaboration and creation."

Columbus' theatre mainstay Short North Stage (SNS) is excited to partner with Mike and OAG, to develop this new initiative for Ohio's theatre people. SNS will be lending its space and expertise - and serve as fiscal sponsor for the project - allowing the Ohio Artists Gathering to exist under its 501(c)(3) non-profit umbrella.

For tickets and information please visit www.ohioartistsgathering.com.