Live & In Color's 2023 Fall Retreat To Develop Raquel Almazan's, GODDESSES RETURN TO THE TEMPLE And A New Musical

Live & In Color returns to Salem, CT this September celebrating its 9th season of developing new and inclusive works of art. Live & In Color is an innovative theatrical program during which artists spend time in a rural retreat setting creating work that gives voice to underrepresented communities onstage in the beautiful and inspiring setting of the Bingham Camp.

Under the June Bingham New Playwright Commission, Live & In Color will develop the newly commissioned play "GODDESSES RETURN TO THE TEMPLE - FINAL INSTALLMENT OF A SEXTRILOGY" by Raquel Almazan. The reading will be directed by award-winning director, Mei Ann Teo.

This commission opportunity honors the late June Bingham and provides resources and support toward the creation and development of a new play by early-career women/femme and/or non-binary storytellers. Almazan's piece is loosely based on the life of Nina Hartley and inspired by her autobiography. This piece is inspired by the 30,000 BCE Venus of Willendorf statue and is embodied by an asexual, single, Latinx/e middle-aged pregnant womxn who seeks to know the ancient ways of womxn's powers.

Raquel Almazan is an interdisciplinary artist, facilitator, and activist. (M.F.A. - Playwriting, Columbia University). Their work has been featured Off-Broadway, throughout the United States, and internationally in Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Canada, and Sweden. They are a recipient of the Map Fund, Doris Duke Grant, NYFA NYC Women's Fund, NYSCA Grant and National Association of Latino Arts and Culture Grant, Kennedy Center's Latinidad Award, Kate Neal Kinley Playwriting Fellowship and the LGBTQ Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation Playwriting Prize. Almazan has taught playwriting at Marymount Manhattan College and Augsburg University through The Playwrights Center.

Their work has been presented/developed at selected orgs/venues: The Signature Theatre, Chelsea Factory, La Mama, The Lark, INTAR, and LAByrinth Theatre Company. Off-Broadway Theatre Row, Pregones- PRTT, Bric Arts, Reading: Lincoln Center- Classical Theatre of Harlem, Bushwick Starr reading, New Georges - Audrey residency and the Kennedy Center. Almazan is the Co-President of the Board of Directors of Indie Space/The Independent Theatre Fund. Her play La Paloma Prisoner will have its world premiere in the fall of 2023.

The musical selected to be developed at this year's retreat is "WE START IN MANHATTAN" by Ariella Serur and Sav Souza. The piece will be directed by Raja Benz and Ellie Heyman with music direction by Saul M. Nache. This musical blends cheeky humor with sincerity and vulnerability, centering around the queer and gender-expansive experience.

The musical's creators, Ariella Serur and Sav Souza are a real-life couple and writing duo based in Bushwick, NYC. Fresh off their simultaneous Broadway debuts in the revival of 1776, the two are currently on tour with the show around the US. Serur and Souza are dedicated to creating stories that celebrate queer love and intimacy in a nuanced and joyful way, free of queer trauma. "We Start In Manhattan" debuted to a sold-out crowd at GreenRoom 42 in February of 2022. Earlier this year, the couple sold out 54 Below with their musical featuring fellow cast members of 1776 on Broadway, and in July they had their reading debut at Powerhouse at Vassar.

"GODDESSES RETURN TO THE TEMPLE - FINAL INSTALLMENT OF A SEXTRILOGY" will be presented to an invited audience on Wednesday, September 6th, at 7:00 p.m. Staged readings of "WE START IN MANHATTAN" will be free and open to the public on September 9th at 3:00 p.m. and 10th at 2:00 p.m. Both pieces will be presented at The Bingham Camp (490 East Haddam Road, Salem, CT 06420). Seating is very limited, so please reserve a ticket in advance at liveandincolor.org.

Be aware that both pieces, contain frequent adult language and openly explore sexual content. Both pieces are recommended for ages 18+.

Live & In Color's Fall Retreat will be held from September 1st - 10th at the Bingham Camp in Salem, CT.

Live & In Color was founded by Artistic Director, Devanand Janki, whose career spans all facets of the performing arts - theatre, opera, ballet, and corporate entertainment. Janki began as a performer, appearing in numerous productions, including Broadway's "Miss Saigon," "Cats," "The King and I," and "Side Show." For the past 15 years, he has been a freelance director, working regionally and in New York on over 50 shows, including "Aladdin," "Junie B. Jones," "Man of La Mancha," "Rent," "The Full Monty" and Off-Broadway's "Zanna Don't" for which he won the Lucille Lortel Award.

Live & In Color is a creative incubator for new plays and musicals bound for commercial success, with a core mission of diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the theater industry-on and off stage, and at every level of creative and business touchpoint. For more info, visit www.liveandincolor.org.

Support has been provided by The Jack Bingham Family, CT Humanities (CTH), with funding provided by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature.

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