LOVE THE STRUGGLE Concert Featuring Amber Gray, Damon Daunno, and More to Play Joe's Pub Tonight

Damon Daunno (Oklahoma!; Hadestown; The Lucky Ones), Amber Gray (Macbeth, Hadestown, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), Grace McLean (Suffs, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; In The Green) and Margo Seibert (Octet, Rocky, In Transit) are scheduled to perform in a narrated concert of songs from Love The Struggle at Joe's Pub on tonight at 7 pm. The concert is currently sold out, but additional tickets may be released prior to the show.

Love The Struggle is a new original musical co-written by Stacy Kray and Yair Evnine about the French existential philosophers and social activists Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. The writing team hopes to find development partners through the Joe's Pub event.

Writer Kray explained, "The logical next step for a show like ours is an industry reading. But we wanted to offer an experience that felt less like a classroom lecture in a rehearsal studio in midtown and more like cocktail hour at a swanky 1930s Parisian nightclub -- especially since Beauvoir and Sartre were famous (or infamous to some) for taking philosophy out of the ivory tower and into basement cabarets, arguing about the meaning of life over lots of drinks with friends.

"In a picture that seems impossible today, Beauvoir herself is pictured holding a glass of red wine in the poster advertising her first lecture at Yale in the 1940s," Kray noted.

"Of course, the obvious choice for a venue in New York that evokes that sultry yet cerebral Parisian vibe is Joe's Pub," Kray said.

Co-writer Evnine said, "I've played with so many talented artists at Joe's Pub over the years who've inspired my own creativity. Losing that connection to community during the pandemic was rough, so it's especially exciting to plan a return with this group of amazing musicians."

The show will be music directed by Anna Ebbessen. The band includes Yuval Lion on drums/percussion, Daniel Mintseris on accordion/keys, Rachel Gawell on cello, and Evnine himself playing multiple instruments.

Love The Struggle has received recognition and production support from Harvard University, George Washington University, the SheNYC Summer Theater Festival, Apples and Oranges Arts and the National Alliance of Musical Theatres (NAMT) among others.

Love The Struggle will donate 100% of its ticket proceeds for the concert to Maestra (a nonprofit committed to achieving gender equity in theatre).

For tickets, visit http://www.lovethestruggle.org

Love The Struggle Website: http://www.lovethestruggle.org

Maestra Website: https://maestramusic.org

JOE'S PUB, a program of The Public Theater, was named for Public Theater founder Joseph Papp. Since it opened in 1998, Joe's Pub has played a vital role in The Public's mission of supporting artists at all stages of their careers with an intimate space to perform and develop new work. Joe's Pub presents the best in live music and performance nightly, continuing its commitment to diversity, production values, community, and artistic freedom. In addition to one-night-only concerts and multi-night engagements, Joe's Pub is home to the annual Habibi Festival, which hosts artists representing contemporary and traditional musics of the SWANA (Southwest Asia/North Africa) region, and The Vanguard Award & Residency, a yearlong curation series that celebrates the career, and community, of a prolific and influential artist - including Nona Hendryx, Judy Collins, Laurie Anderson, and Barbara Maier Gustern. With its intimate atmosphere and superior acoustics, Joe's Pub presents over 700 shows featuring artists from all over the world and hosts over 100,000 audience members annually. Beyond public performances, Joe's Pub also leads artist development programs like New York Voices, a commissioning program that helps musicians develop new performance projects, and Joe's Pub Working Group, an artist-led development and collaboration cohort. Current commissioned artists include Daniel J. Watts & Nick Blaemire, Liza Paul & Bahia Watson, Sunny Jain, Vuyo Sotashe & Chris Pattishall, and treya lam. Joe's Pub is supported in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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