New Victory Announces 2018-19 Season Including Nine US Premieres

The New Victory Theater, dedicated to bringing high quality international productions to New York kids and families, announces its 2018-2019 season. From September 28, 2018, through June 9, 2019, the New Victory 2018-2019 Season will include nine U.S. Premieres among its 16 productions of theater, circus, dance, puppetry and music from nine different countries around the world.

The new season begins with madcap mayhem when Machine de Cirque opens September 28 and runs through October 7, 2018. Recipients of the Trophée Charlie-Chaplin, Québec's Machine de Cirque boasts performers from Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Eloize and 7 Fingers (Les 7 Doigts), who fly high above the stage, swing by their toes, bicycle upside-down and backwards, and flip and fly with a Guinness World Record-holding count for the most consecutive backflips on a teeterboard.

In dance, Ireland's James Devine (Guinness World Record Holder for "Fastest Feet in the World"), five-time World Irish Dance Champion David Geaney(Britain's Got Talent) and AnneMarie Keaney team up for Velocity (U.S. Premiere November 16 - 25, 2018). A bold and blazing tap performance backed by a rocking Celtic band and a scratch DJ, Velocity celebrates the past, present and future of Irish dance.

Making its U.S. Premiere November 30 - December 30, Circus Abyssinia: Ethiopian Dreams expertly fuses heart-stopping stunts with the irresistible rhythms of African music and song in a production inspired by the success story of the show's producers, famed juggling duo Bibi and Bichu (Tim Burton's Dumbo, BBC's Justin's House, Olivier Award-winning English National Opera production of Akhnetan, Gandini Juggling, Giffords Circus). A troupe of 12 fills the New Vic with agile tumblers who ricochet around the stage, elastic contortionists who twist into unfathomable shapes and expert jugglers who exchange an endless array of objects in a circus spectacle for the holiday season.

Written by Grammy Award winner Ty Defoe (Straight White Men, Come to Me Great Mystery) and featuring music by Kevin Tarrant of The SilverCloud Singers and Grammy nominee Dawn Avery with Grammy winner Larry Mitchell (Totemic Flute Chants), Ajijaak on Turtle Island (March 1 - 10, 2019), based on original storyboards by Heather Henson and featuring puppets from Jim Henson's Creature Shop™, brings together an ensemble of North American First Nations Peoples. A production by IBEX Puppetry, this spectacle of artistry weaves together indigenous songs, languages and dance into an allegory about the dangerous effects of living out of balance with our Mother Earth.

The Grammy-winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus, conducted by Founder & Artistic Director Dianne Berkun Menaker, returns to The New Victory with Silent Voices: Lovestate (May 2 - 5, 2019), the third and culminating installment of their captivating Silent Voices series. Driven by their own personal stories and struggles, Brooklyn Youth Chorus harnesses the power of their voices to confront the challenges of racism, sexism and their own identities and orientations. Silent Voices: Lovestate will feature commissions by Pulitzer Prize winners David Lang and Caroline Shaw, Nico Muhly, Paola Prestini, Toshi Reagon and Bryce Dessner of the band The National, among others.

Brilliantly staged and boggling to the mind, GRUEJARM Production's SNAP (U.S. Premiere, April 13 - 28, 2019) is a wild mix of illusion, mime and media featuring an eclectic ensemble of South Korean artists who will astonish you with dexterous sleight of hand, Chaplin-esque vaudevillian comedy and ingenious visual effects. When three tricksters with strange and unusual abilities stumble through a mysterious door, they meet a variety of mystical characters to play with space, time and the otherworldly in a marvelous, magical cabaret that won Asian Arts Awards' "Best Production" and Broadway World's "Best Magic Show" at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

From New Vic Theatre Staffordshire to The New Victory Theater in New York comes Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days (U.S. Premiere May 10 - 19, 2019), adapted by Emmy-nominated Laura Eason (House of Cards, Sex with Strangers, Blue Night) and directed by Theresa Heskins (Snow Queen, 2017 UK Theatre Award for Best Show for Children and Young People). Featuring a cast of 8 who play over 125 characters, this fast-paced, globe-trotting theatrical romp co-produced with Olivier Award winners Kenny Wax (The Play That Goes Wrong, Once On This Island, Top Hat) and Simon Friend (Douglas Carter Beane's The Closet, Florian Zeller's The Height of the Storm) is jam-packed with slapstick hilarity, six trains, five boats, four fights, three dances, two circus acts and an elephant!

Also from England, New International Encounter brings us Beauty and the Beast (U.S. Premiere October 26 - November 11, 2018), directed by Alex Byrne and produced with Cambridge Junction and Tobacco Factory Theatres. This rowdy and rustic re-telling of the French fable features an ensemble of six actor-musicians who weave spellbinding narration, clever dialogue and a live, Jazz Age score into a ferociously fun show about love, family and the notion that beauty-and beastliness-are only skin-deep.

In the spring, London-based Theatre Re creates a compellingly powerful narrative about a father experiencing early onset dementia in The Nature of Forgetting(March 23 - 31, 2019). Through intricate choreography and a cinematic live musical score, and with consultation from neuroscientist Kate Jeffery, Theatre Re creates an entrancing physical production on the fragility of the human condition that will move you to places where words cannot.

And all the way from Adelaide, Australia, Helpmann-nominated Gravity & Other Myths (Winner of an Australian Dance Award, Best Circus Adelaide Fringe Award and a Green Room Award for Outstanding Circus) brings a bare bones, bared souls performance that is simultaneously raw, frantic and delicate in A Simple Space (February 9 - 24, 2019). With additional limited onstage seating, the audience is brought in close to feel the heat, see the sweat and hear every breath as this talented, tight-knit troupe saturates their stripped-down spectacle with high-energy athleticism.

For the youngest New Yorkers, The New Victory brings two U.S. Premieres and a brand new work for babies by New York's own Spellbound Theatre (developed as part of the theater's new work development program, New Victory LabWorks). Committed to nurturing a love of theater for the littlest theatergoers, The New Victory presents at The Duke on 42nd Street:

Boing! (U.S. Premiere December 7 - 23, 2018) bursts with the holiday spirit in this dance-theater work created for ages 2-5. Recipient of a 2017 OFFIE (Off-West End) Award for Best Production for Children and Young People, Boing!, directed by Sally Cookson (Bristol Old Vic, National Theatre's Jane Eyre and Peter Pan), combines comedy, acrobatics and breakdance to dazzling effect, perfectly capturing the delirious excitement of waiting for Santa to arrive on the most magical night of the year.

The World Inside Me (March 29 - April 7, 2019)
Created by Spellbound Theatre (American Alliance for Theater and Education's 2017 Outstanding New Children's Theater Company), The World Inside Me uses gentle interactive play, live music, dance and visual effects to illustrate the inner life of our growing bodies in an innovative production presented in two iterations: one for ages 0-2 and another for ages 2-4.

Bout à Bout (U.S. Premiere May 31 - June 9, 2019)
For ages 2-4, an ordinary piece of rope transforms into a lovable little hero who sets out on an adventure full of challenges and excitement. Along the way, this intrepid bit of twine encounters curious aquatic creatures, a cranky motorist and some springy, stringy playmates, all brought to life through the wondrous and inventive puppetry of Le Clan des Songes (Cité, New Vic 2016; Fragile, New Vic 2013).

To welcome kids ages 4-7 to the "big theater," The New Victory presents:

Kenya's Tinga Tinga Tales - The Musical (U.S. Premiere October 13 - 20, 2018)
A new musical brimming with African folklore and based on the popular BBC and Disney cartoon series, Tinga Tinga Tales - The Musical is directed by Emmy Award-nominated Tinga Tinga Tales producer and writer Claudia Lloyd (Charlie and Lola), Kenyan celebrity pop singer-songwriter Eric Wainaina(Mo Faya, New York Theatre Festival) and producer Sheba Hirst.

England's Emily Brown and the Thing (U.S. Premiere January 26 - February 3, 2019)
Tall Stories (Gruffalo, New Vic 2015; The Snail and the Whale, New Vic 2014) returns to the New Vic with an imaginative musical adventure based on the much-loved book by Cressida Cowell (How to Train your Dragon) and Neal Layton following sell-out runs on its UK tour and the Sydney Opera House, among other international engagements.

Fiesta con Sonia De Los Santos (World Premiere March 15 - 16, 2019)
Sunny songstress Sonia De Los Santos will play songs in both English and Spanish from Mi Viaje: De Nuevo León to the New York Island (Parents' Choice Gold Award winner) and her newest album, Alegría, when her musical friends from all over Latin America bring instruments from their homelands to celebrate each other's heritage and culture.

Programs, artists and ticket prices are subject to change. Please see attachment for complete show descriptions, profiles and pricing for all New Victory 2018-2019 season programming.

Access & Engagement

The New Victory invites families to explore, experiment and engage with the performing arts in free arts-based activities before and after every show. This thoughtfully designed content, led by New Victory Education staff and Teaching Artists, changes to reflect the current production so that families discover new and exciting hands-on opportunities to learn more about the art forms, artists and themes on stage with every visit.

The New Victory lobbies, recently redesigned with the modern family in mind, boast improved accessibility, energy-efficient restrooms, an updated merchandise stand and a new cafe with kid-friendly food and beverage options, as well as the free lockers, stroller parking and booster seats New Victory patrons know and love.

Additionally, The New Victory continues to provide TXT Marks the Spot, a free text-based scavenger hunt about the Theater and the show on stage, Talk-Backs, an opportunity to ask questions and hear from the show's cast and creative team and online Family Activities, free creative play activities, inspired by the current New Victory show, for families to try at home.

Lastly, in consultation with Autism Friendly Spaces, Inc., select performances of Beauty and the Beast, Circus Abyssinia: Ethiopian Dreams, Emily Brown and the Thing and Ajijaak on Turtle Island will be Autism-Friendly Performances, modified to accommodate and support the sensory, social and emotional needs of individuals with autism spectrum disorder. The New Vic also provides Sign-Interpreted and Audio-Described performances throughout the season.

Ticket & Membership Information

Full price tickets range from $17 - $59 based on seating location and show. Theatergoers who buy tickets to three or more New Victory shows automatically save up to 40% on tickets all year long and qualify for free Membership benefits, including free unlimited exchanges up to 48 hours in advance, early access to New Victory programming, free invitations to New Victory LabWorks events and savings on New Victory Family Workshops.

Tickets are available online (NewVictory.org) and by phone (646.223.3010). For box office window hours, please visit NewVictory.org/BoxOffice. Beginning September 4, The New Victory Theater box office window (209 West 42nd Street) will be open Sunday and Monday from 11am-5pm and Tuesday throughSaturday from 12pm-7pm.

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