TADA! Youth Theater Announces 2024 World Premiere Of Original Musical COMMON GROUND

The Drama Desk award-winning TADA! Youth Theater, Janine Nina Trevens, Producing & Artistic Director, has announced the World Premiere of Common Ground, a new commissioned musical, on April 20, 2024 through May 11, 2024.  Presented by the talented members of the Resident Youth Ensemble of TADA! (RYET), Common Ground, is TADA!'s first full-length two-act musical.

America is a story that we keep telling.  Until it comes true.  It's 2018. Immigration crackdowns.  Family separation. Life is scary for immigrants in the U.S. But 15-year-old Ysabella Martinez hits town with stars in her eyes, ready to conquer New York and win fame and fortune as an influencer. She joins an after school program for fellow immigrants from all over the world, finds a prickly new best friend in NYC-born Emma, and begins to build her new life. But when ICE detains her and her family, she and her new friends discover that America is nothing like they thought it was.

Common Ground Janine Nina Trevens, Producing & Artistic Director; Book and Lyrics by Lisa Diana Shapiro; Music by Julia Jordan Kamanda with Additional Music by Georgia Stitt and Orchestrations by Emmanuel Vidales. Alex Sanchez, Director/Choreographer; Emmanuel Vidales, Music Director; Mengyi Liu, Set Designer; Steve O'Shea, Lighting Designer; Ceanna Bryant, Costume Designer; Ashley Knowles, Production Stage Manager; Jeremiah Dude, Production Supervisor and Megan Hawk, Assistant Stage Manager.

Janine Nina Trevens, TADA! Producing & Artistic Director, said, “I'm so excited that TADA! is finally in rehearsals for the World Premiere of Lisa Diana Shapiro and Julia Jordan Kamanda's Common Ground, TADA!'s first commissioned two-act musical with a cast of teens for older audiences of middle and high schoolers and adults. We've been working on the development of this emotional and thought provoking new musical for over 6 years now, and it's thrilling to watch the RYET actors bring the characters to life under the thoughtful and inspiring direction and choreography of Alex Sanchez and musical direction of Emmanuel Vidales. The stories of the five immigrants are still so relevant and important and emotional. I love exploring what makes America what it is and also how we can all be a part of making it what it should be.”

Alex Sanchez, Director/Choreographer, said, “Common Ground shows us how art can be the common denominator that bonds teenage American and immigrant children. A bond that teaches them to support, be compassionate and feel empathy towards one another. Traits that will test their resilience and help them succeed in freeing two of their friends, who have been detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”

Sanchez continued, “I'm proud to be a part of telling this powerful story that will spark an awareness of the impact ICE has on these undocumented children. For this story is an inspired tale born from the real testimonies of immigrant children.”

Lisa Diana Shapiro, Book and Lyrics, said, “Common Ground was inspired by the young people that I taught and tutored when I was volunteering for Arts Ignite and the International Rescue Committee in 2016-17. I had been teaching film making to middle school and high school students who had just arrived in the U.S. and had very little English. It was originally supposed to be a one-hour children's theatre show about teen immigrants. But when we workshopped the show in 2019, the teens of the Resident Youth Ensemble of TADA! felt strongly that we could not do a show about immigrants without addressing what was actually happening in our country at that time, what was happening at the border, family separation, the Muslim ban, things like that. Nina responded by re-commissioning the project as a full length musical and allowing me to write a new story that reflected the realities of the time period. This show, which is about journeys, has taken me on a real journey as well.”

Tickets and More Information

TADA! Youth Theater is located at 15 West 28th Street between Broadway and 5th Avenue in New York City. Common Ground performances are 7:00 pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and at 2:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Recommended audience age 11 and above, no one under age 5 will be allowed in the theater.

Please visit TADATHEATER.COM for more information and to purchase tickets.  TADA! is committed to making its productions accessible to all and offers a limited number of Pay What You Can Tickets for each performance starting at $1.

Performances are presented by talented members of the Resident Youth Ensemble of TADA! (RYET). The young actors showcase the rich diversity of New York City.  They come from various neighborhoods and boroughs of New York City, encompassing different economic, racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, as well as diverse abilities and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

TADA! is a unique Drama Desk award-winning nonprofit youth theater that produces original musicals for children, teens, and family audiences. TADA! offers a free, year-round, pre-professional training and positive youth development program for members of the Resident Youth Ensemble of TADA! (RYET), talented youth ages 8-18; musical theater classes/camps for the public; as well as musical theater residencies in NYC schools and community centers. TADA!'s high-quality work enhances young people's self-confidence and creativity which develops advanced skills in leadership, communication, responsibility, collaboration, and problem-solving skills that help with growing up and are essential to their success both in school and in life.

Photo: Lisa Diana Shapiro Book and Lyrics TADA! Youth Theater Common Ground

Photo Credit: David Feldman

 

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