CHAINING ZERO Will Hold its First Developmental Staging at the Kent State School of Theatre and Dance Next Month

Kent State University's School of Theatre and Dance continues its 2021-2022 season with the first fully staged developmental production of the new musical Chaining Zero, running Nov. 5 - 14 in E. Turner Stump Theatre.

With book by Kent State alumni John Moauro (BFA, Musical Theatre '07) and Griffin Parsons (BFA, Musical Theatre '06), music and lyrics by Jeffrey James and Justin Halpin, and additional book by Alana Rader (BFA, Musical Theatre '05), Chaining Zero is a musical where stories of struggle, hope, desire and pain intersect with everything you thought you knew about the strangers around you. Directed by professor Terri Kent, choreographed by guest artist Martín Céspedes, and music directed by associate professor Jennifer Korecki, the musical follows a diverse group of strangers stranded together on a New York City subway car who, thrust together by circumstance and trying to salvage their daily plans, learn that an unexpected stranger could potentially alter their lives forever.

Kent State's production of Chaining Zero is the first time audiences will see the show as a fully produced work from start to finish and reunites director Terri Kent with her former students Moauro and Parsons. A story of human connection with an Indie pop score, Chaining Zero has had multiple readings across the United States - most recently at New York's Mary Rodgers Room. The musical is a collaboration between its Nashville-based composers/lyricists James and Halpin and its writers Moauro and Parsons who worked remotely throughout the pandemic to further develop and workshop Chaining Zero and share the new musical with the world. Excerpts of Chaining Zero were first shared via YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook as "Chaining Zero Sessions" that featured performers Sasha Allen, Stephen Christopher Anthony, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Jackie Burns, Jeffrey James, Christine Dwyer, Brittnie Price, and Danny Quadrino.

The Chaining Zero production team includes costume design by Keely Rutledge, lighting and projection design by Jaemin Park, scenic design by Travis Daniel Williams, sound design by Brea Lecklikner, props design by Kathalina Thorpe and technical direction by associate professor Steve Pauna. Alexandra Baxter is the production stage manager.

For tickets call 330-672-ARTS (2787), purchase online at www.kent.edu/theatredance or in person at the Performing Arts Box Office located in the Roe Green Center lobby of the Center for the Performing Arts at 1325 Theatre Drive. The box office is open Mon. - Fri., Noon to 5 pm. Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for Kent State University alumni, $14 for faculty and staff, $14 for seniors (60+) and non-Kent State students age 18 and under are $10. Tickets for full-time, Kent campus undergraduates are free of charge. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $12 per person. Flex pass subscriptions are also available. The box office accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, checks, and cash.

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