Kuhoo Verma To Lead Industry Reading Of MĀYĀ Presented By Hypokrit Theatre Company

Māyā, a new musical by Cheeyang Ng (book/music) and Eric Sorrels (book/lyrics), will hold industry readings on February 9th and 10th, 2020 at The Growing Studio. The reading will be directed by Arpita Mukherjee (NYTW: Eh Dah?), with music direction by Dan Garmon (Tour: Cruel Intentions). Stage managed by Emma Francis Philipbar and produced by Hypokrit Theatre Company.

The cast is led by Kuhoo Verma (Off-B'way: Octet), featuring Meetu Chilana (Regional: Monsoon Wedding), Jaya Joshi, Vishal Vaidya (B'way: Groundhog Day), Jamen Nanthakumar (Regional: Diana), Daniel Plimpton (Tour: White Christmas), Ben Roseberry (Tour: Gentlemen's Guide) and Amisha Amy Bhandari, with Dan Berkery (Hamilton) on drums.

Readings are open by invitation only. For more information, email rsvp@hypokritnyc.org.

About the Show

Māyā is many things: it's a Hindu philosophy; it's the idea that the world around us is really an illusion; and it can be a girls' name, as is the case of our story. Set in the British Raj in 1930, MĀYĀ is the story of a struggling poet in need of an awakening, not unlike Mother India herself.

When Gandhi's nonviolent Independence Movement arrives on Maya's doorstep, our heroine is thrust into one of the most turbulent political climates in history. When she commits herself to the cause, she begins to shatter the illusions (or māyā) that have been deceiving her: illusions about her dreams as a lauded poet, her affair with a British officer, her privilege, and ultimately, the difference she'll really make.

The story is told with contemporary language and an urgent, rhythmic score that fuses Western pop and Indian classical music.

Originally conceived at NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Developed at Live and In Color, Devanand Jenki (Artistic Director) and at Pace New Musicals, Amy Rogers (Program Director). More information available at www.cheeyang.com/maya.

About the Writers

Cheeyang & Eric are a musical theatre songwriting duo: one from Singapore, the other from Tennessee. They hold MFAs from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU and are the recipients of the 2019 ASCAP Foundation's Lucille and Jack Yellen Award and 2018 Drama League First Stage Residency. Alumni of the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project and Prospect Theatre Musical Theatre Lab, their songs have been performed at New York City Center, the Kennedy Center, Joe's Pub, Feinstein's/54Below, The Duplex and more.

About Hypokrit Theatre Company

Congressional Award-winning Hypokrit Theatre Company is a production company that works to fundamentally disrupt the pedagogy of American theatre, with the purpose to make theatre more equitable and relevant to a wider audience. Founded in 2014, Hypokrit has developed new work by artists including Jacqueline Pereda, Divya Mangwani, Jahn Sood, and Sri Rao. Notable productions include How to Succeed as an Ethnically Ambiguous Actor by Zenobia Shroff (The Big Sick, The Affair), An Evening of Indian Classics, and Eh Dah: Questions for My Father by Aya Aziz. Hypokrit has presented work at The Public Theatre, Lincoln Center, Next Door at New York Theater Workshop, and Playwrights Horizons. Through Tamasha: A Festival of South Asian Performing Arts, Hypokrit has featured work by over 200 artists to date. Hypokrit is currently in residence at WP Theater and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Made up of core team Artistic Director Arpita Mukherjee, Producing Director Annie Middleton, and Associate Producer Chelsea Fryer.

About Arpita Mukherjee

Arpita Mukherjee (she/her/hers) is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Hypokrit Theatre Company and the Festival Chair for Tamasha. Recent: Jump by Charly Evon Simpson (APAC), One Way by Ben Bonnema and Christopher Staskel (NAMT), The Golden Threshold by Cheeyang Ng and Eric Sorrels (Live & In Color), Strange Men by Will Snider (PlayPenn 2019), Citizen Scientist by CQ (Barrington Stage Company Playworks Weekend), Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka (Iowa State University), Vietgone by Qui Nguyen (reading Song Collective), Eh Dah? Questions For My Father by Aya Aziz (Next Door @NYTW), and Elements of Change by Divya Mangwani (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, UNICEF). Upcoming: House of Joy by Madhuri Shekar (San Diego Rep), Tobias by CQ (WP Theater Pipeline Festival), Raisins not Virgins by Sharbari Ahmed (Next Door @NYTW). She is a 2018 - 2020 Women's Project Lab Member, 2018 Eugene O' Neill National Directing Fellow, alumni of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and 2019 Mabou Mines Resident Artist. Arpita is currently the book writer for Monsoon Wedding musical, opening in London summer 2020.

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