Margaret Cho, Amber Ruffin & More to be Featured in New York Stage and Film 2024 Summer Season
The season will run July 18 - August 4, 2024 at Marist College.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Jul. 01, 2024
New York Stage and Film has revealed additional casting for its 2024 Summer Season at Marist College, kicking off this July in Poughkeepsie, NY.
For 39 years, NYSAF has operated as a vital incubator for artists and their work, a catalyst for stories that continue across the country and around the world. This summer, those artists include Jim Dale, Margaret Cho, Leigh Silverman, Seonjae Kim, Leah Nanako Winkler, Amber Ruffin, David Schmoll, Kevin Sciretta, Brant Russell, Jaki Bradley, the band Delta Rae, Logan Vaughn, Kate Walbert, Sheryl Kaller, Shanessa Sweeney, Bongi Duma, Ray Mercer, Rufus Bonds Jr., Ngozi Anyanwu, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Stevie Walker-Webb, Kate Douglas, Kate Whoriskey, Kait Kerrigan, Anne & Ian Eisendrath, Christopher Ashley, Adam Chanler-Berat, Grace McLean, Tyler Thomas, Zack Fine, Bryce Pinkham, Kirya Traber, Rona Siddiqui and many more.
Additional casting for the summer season includes Ngozi Anyanwu, Donovan Louis Bazemore, McKinley Belcher III, Mayaa Boateng, Lisa Brescia, Andrew Bryant, Tanner Calicutt, Damon Daunno, Daniel Gaymon, Lawrence Gilliard Jr, Gabrielle Hamilton, Ghrai DeVore-Stokes, Charlie Hudson III, Taran Killam, L’Oreal Lampley, Naomi Lorrain, Janelle McDermoth, Doron JéPaul Mitchell, Aigner Mizzelle, sandra okuboyejo, Larry Owens, Reynaldo Piniella, Roslyn Ruff, Keith Randolph Smith, Shanessa Sweeney, Fana Minea Tesfagiorgis, Sir Brock Warren, Lachlan Watson, Darnell Isaiah Williams and more.
They join the previously announced Kyle Beltran, Heidi Blickenstaff, Miguel Cervantes, Stephanie Crousillat, Drew Gehling, Justin Guarini, Jessica Hecht, Marin Ireland, Gizel Jimenez, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Taylor Iman Jones, Mark Linn-Baker, Okieriete Onaodowan, Zachary Noah Piser, Wren Rivera and Erica Swindell.
With artist-driven flexibility, NYSAF offers resources and opportunities to meet projects at every step of their development. Its Summer Season supports the nation's leading generative artists and boldest creators of innovative and groundbreaking stories for the stage and the screen. In collaboration with Marist College in New York City and Poughkeepsie, NYSAF serves the needs of theater and film artists today with a rigorous and nurturing environment that centers process, community, education, and audience engagement.
All performances will be held on Marist’s Poughkeepsie, NY campus. Tickets for the presentations are now on sale. For more information and to purchase season bundles, Season Kick-Off VIP Reception access, individual tickets, and access to special events visit www.newyorkstageandfilm.org.
The 2024 Summer Season at Marist will begin with the Season Kick-Off VIP Reception on July 18 preceding the presentation of Jim Dale: Living with Laughter. Attendees will enjoy an exclusive performance by NYSAF artists and raise a glass to NYSAF and Marist College’s shared commitment to development, dialogue, and discovery. The Reception will also acknowledge supporters for impactful programming, including the development of a new Artist-in-Residence initiative during the upcoming school year.
The New York Stage and Film 2024 Summer Season is as follows:
Jim Dale: LIVING WITH LAUGHTER
Written and Performed by Jim Dale
Presentation: Thursday July 18, 7PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
VIP Reception: 5:30 PM in Symphonic Hall
LIVING WITH LAUGHTER will give the audience the gift of time with Jim Dale, who John Simon noted “may just be the most charming farceur to tread the boards, to say nothing of his brilliant recorded readings of the seven Harry Potter novels, in which he manages a different, equally splendid voice for all two hundred plus characters. But let’s get back to charm. This usually comes with high comedy a la Noel Coward or Cary Grant, it almost never comes with unabashedly low or middle-range farce, dazzlingly elevated to the heights attained by Jim, as he holds you in his palms, his feet, his whole body leaving you wallowing in laughter. LIVING WITH LAUGHTER is essentially Dale’s telling and reenacting of his life and stage story, from Britain’s beloved Music Hall and beyond it to every possible medium, including Shakespeare and Molière, displaying terrific timing and those oodles of charm which only inborn talent and hard work lightly worn can attain. It is impossible to impart all this through mere printed words; you must catch and experience the show firsthand. What you see and hear will stay with you as a touchstone for as long as you are capable of joyous remembrance.”
Prior to the presentation, there will be an exclusive VIP Reception with Jim Dale and the NYSAF artistic community, that will raise a glass to NYSAF and Marist College’s shared commitment to development, dialogue, and discovery. The Reception will also acknowledge supporters for impactful programming, including the development of a new Artist-in-Residence initiative during the upcoming school year, early-career Apprenticeships, and Marist College’s Summer Pre-College Program.
MOMMY, A ONE WOMAN CHO
Written & Performed by Margaret Cho
Additional Material by Leah Nanako Winkler
Co-Directed by Leigh Silverman & Seonjae Kim
Presentation: Friday July 19, 7PM | Fusco Recital Hall
In MOMMY, A ONE WOMAN CHO, Grammy and Emmy Award nominated stand-up comedian, actress, and singer-songwriter Margaret Cho depicts all of the things she wishes her mother had actually said. This is a work of fiction.
WELL WELL WELL
By Brant Russell
Directed by Jaki Bradley
Presentation: Saturday July 20, 3PM | Fusco Recital Hall
When Erik crashes Erika’s engagement party, she’s reminded of why she quit drinking in the first place. WELL WELL WELL follows two people who try to live together, try to live apart, and try to live with their changing relationships to the world and substances around them. What’s the difference between love and enabling? What’s the difference between a choice and an addiction?
The cast of WELL WELL WELL will feature Lachlan Watson (“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”) and more.
THE NINTH WOMAN
By Delta Rae
Directed by Logan Vaughn
With a special performance by Delta Rae: Saturday July 20, 7PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
THE NINTH WOMAN is a new musical experience that transports you into the heart of a Puritan witch trial. As mob justice tangles with an all-powerful witch, the vibrant harmonies and pulse-pounding melodies of Delta Rae fuel a night of magic, passion, and twisted karma. Meet us at the bottom of the river.
The cast of THE NINTH WOMAN will feature all six members of the band Delta Rae—Ian Hölljes, Eric Hölljes, Brittany Hölljes, Elizabeth Hopkins, Mike McKee and Grant Emerson; as well as Tanner Calicutt, sandra okuboyejo, and more.
BIGFOOT
Book by Amber Ruffin & Kevin Sciretta
Music by David Schmoll
Lyrics by Amber Ruffin
Directed by Amber Ruffin
Presentation: Sunday July 21, 1PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
You’ve heard the myth and legend, but do you know the man? BIGFOOT is a hilarious musical about a small town whose horrible mayor has them convinced their problems are all the fault of Bigfoot and not his inept leadership. With book and lyrics by New York Times bestseller and Tony Award, WGA, and Emmy nominated writer Amber Ruffin (The Wiz, Some Like It Hot) and Kevin Sciretta (“Mystery Science Theater 3000”) and music by David Schmoll (The Second City), BIGFOOT is the next gut-bustin’, laugh-a-minute New York musical!
The cast of BIGFOOT will include the previously announced Justin Guarini (Once Upon A One More Time), joined by Taran Killam (Spamalot), Janelle McDermoth (We’re Gonna Die), Larry Owens (A Strange Loop), and more.
GENIUS
By Kate Walbert
Directed by Sheryl Kaller
Presentation: Thursday July 25, 7PM | Fusco Recital Hall
New York City. Two artist couples—Sara and Joel, Peter and Charlotte—come together across generations and genres for an intimate dinner party that will reveal the fault lines in their relationships, and the power dynamics through which art and legacy are contested and defined.
The cast of GENIUS will include the previously announced Mark Linn-Baker (The Music Man), joined by Damon Daunno (Oklahoma!) and more.
GAME NIGHT
Co-Created and Written by Shanessa Sweeney
Composed by Bongi Duma
Co-Created and Choreographed by Ray Mercer
Directed by Rufus Bonds Jr.
Presentations: Friday July 26, 7PM and Saturday July 27, 7PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
GAME NIGHT is an exhilarating story of seven friends coming together for their monthly gathering of good times, jokes and most importantly, games. Told through dance and spoken word, they find out things about each other they never knew, some of which challenge the very core of their bond and some that will change the trajectory of the friend group. GAME NIGHT showcases the beauty and complexities of American experiences through the lens of Black American culture and unabashedly highlights the challenges of those experiences. Co-created by choreographer Ray Mercer and actress Shanessa Sweeney, GAME NIGHT is a love letter to the Culture.
GAME NIGHT will feature Andrew Bryant (Revelations), Daniel Gaymon (Cats), Gabrielle Hamilton (Oklahoma!), Ghrai DeVore Stokes (Disney’s The Little Mermaid), Fana Minea Tesfagiorgis (In the Heights), Sir Brock Warren (Paradise Square), and Darnell Isaiah Williams (Made to Dance in Burning Buildings) as dancers; and the recorded voices of Ngozi Anyanwu (Last of the Love Letters), McKinley Belcher III (“Eric”), Charlie Hudson III (A Raisin in the Sun), L’Oreal Lampley (The Tempest), Doron JéPaul Mitchell (July Rising), Reynaldo Piniella (Thoughts of a Colored Man), and Shanessa Sweeney (“The Resident”).
the monsters
Written and Directed by Ngozi Anyanwu
Presentation: Saturday July 27, 3PM | Fusco Recital Hall
the monsters is a sibling love story that follows LIL and BIG as they reconnect Wrestle with their demons Fight with their fists. All through their love of MMA.
The cast of the monsters will include the previously announced Okieriete Onaodowan (A Doll’s House), joined by Aigner Mizzelle (Chicken & Biscuits).
BASEMENT, IL
By Stacy Osei-Kuffour
Directed by Stevie Walker-Webb
Presentation: Sunday July 28, 1PM | Fusco Recital Hall
A Midwestern family comes together one night, only to be shattered by an alleged buried secret; true or not, it swallows the family whole.
The cast of BASEMENT, IL will feature Donovan Louis Bazemore (The Lion King), Mayaa Boateng (Exception to the Rule), Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (“Clipped”), Naomi Lorrain (Behind the Sheet), Roslyn Ruff (The Skin of Our Teeth), Keith Randolph Smith (Tennessee Williams’s The Night of the Iguana), and more.
TULIPA
By Kate Douglas
Directed by Kate Whoriskey
Featuring Jessica Hecht
Presentation: Thursday August 1, 7PM | Fusco Recital Hall
There was a brief moment in history when a flower could ruin your life. Jessica Hecht stars in TULIPA, a riches to rags monologue set against the Dionysian backdrop of Tulipmania in the 17th century. In a world gone mad, TULIPA examines how we can find what truly nourishes us. This sensual and surprising story of self-discovery is the second collaboration between writer Kate Douglas (The Apiary) with director Kate Whoriskey (Clyde's).
The cast of TULIPA will include the previously announced Jessica Hecht (Summer, 1976) and Stephanie Crousillat (The Apiary).
THE HEART
Based on Réparer les Vivants by Maylis deKerangal
Book and additional lyrics by Kait Kerrigan
Music and Lyrics by Anne Eisendrath & Ian Eisendrath
Directed by Christopher Ashley
Presentations: Friday August 2, 7PM and Saturday August 3, 7PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
THE HEART is based on Maylis deKerangal’s novel, Réparer les Vivants, and tells the story of 24 hours in the life of a heart as a young man is leaving this world and a woman making peace with her early death receives a second chance at life. The show is a fast-paced, 9-actor ensemble piece, featuring a through-composed EDM score that takes its inspiration from the world of the high-tech hospital.
The cast of THE HEART will include the previously announced Heidi Blickenstaff (Jagged Little Pill), Miguel Cervantes (Hamilton), Drew Gehling (Almost Famous), Gizel Jimenez (Cornelia Street), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Parade), Taylor Iman Jones (Six: The Musical), Zachary Noah Piser (KPOP), and Wren Rivera (Teeth), joined by Lisa Brescia (Dear Evan Hansen).
AFTER PETER
Play by Adam Chanler-Berat & Grace McLean
Music and Lyrics by Grace McLean
Directed by Tyler Thomas
Presentation: Saturday August 3, 3PM | Fusco Recital Hall
After the sudden death of her collaborator, Jo goes on a quest for answers that may or may not–most likely may not–help finish the piece they were working on together. Generations of artists speak to each other across the chasm of space and time in this living requiem about the intertwining of loss and the creative process, and the ways in which art hides and reveals us.
The cast of AFTER PETER will include the previously announced Kyle Beltran (“American Rust”) and Marin Ireland (Spain), as well as musician Erica Swindell.
DIGNITY, ALWAYS DIGNITY
Co-Created by Zack Fine, Bryce Pinkham, Kirya Traber & Rona Siddiqui
Directed by Zack Fine
Performed by Bryce Pinkham
Presentation: Sunday August 4, 1PM | Fusco Recital Hall
Stranded on a deserted island, a washed-up performer attempts to put on one last show before the rising waters swallow him up.
NYSAF also announced today casting for Artist in Residence projects, as well as additional Artist Residency recipients. These residencies for individual artists, projects, and colleague companies provide tailored access to time, space, and resources, creating bespoke incubators for creative, administrative, and professional development.
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