Emerging Artists Theatre's Spark Theatre Festival NYC To Return in March

Emerging Artists Theatre will return with its bi-annual Spark Theatre Festival NYC. The 3-week festival runs March 4 -24 and will showcase new musicals, dance, solo shows, and plays in various stages of development. Shows run nightly, with most productions receiving one performance, with shorter shows grouped to form a full evening of entertainment. Short talkbacks with the artists will follow many performances, some of which will be presented as staged readings. All performances run at the 28th Street Theatre in the Flatiron District.

Headlining the festival is the solo show Use Your Words!, written and performed by Karen Eleanor Wight (Screwtape Letters, Off-Broadway and West End) and co-directed with Wight and Zinc Tong. The play was previously workshopped at The EAT New Works Series and will receive nine performances at the Spark Theatre Festival NYC this Spring. Use Your Words! is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature."

Use Your Words! is a one-act comedy-in five wordless scenes-about a new mother struggling with the responsibility of caring for a tiny human. The show is rooted in comic physicality with many props mimed-most importantly, the baby. Performances run March 8 - 24. The full schedule is available here. Running time: 75 minutes.

The Spark Theatre Festival will also include five musicals, including All The Rage (written by Larry Kirwan), Band Boy (written & directed by Sandy McKnight), Letters from Clara (composer/lyricist/book writer Sarah Statler), and Virtually Ours (written by Lisa Ann Grant, Eva Grant Rawiszer, Diana Sussman, and Lisa Yves).

Other festival highlights include the solo shows Fingers Crossed by Vanessa Shealy, Leaving Kiev by Mila Levine, and The Longer MY Mother is Dead,The More I Like Her by Deborah Unger. Numerous plays will be presented at the festival, including Finding Elvis: Elvie by Mindy Pfeffer, Flight of Fight by Allison Furlong, and Landscaping by Curt Strickland.

Over twenty dance pieces will be presented, including Crossing Through (choreographed by Teresa Fellion) that explores gender identity, Ghostbusters (choreographed by Ellie de Waal) a jazzy dance piece inspired by the 1980's hit movie, and Basketballography: A Tribute to Dolph Schayes (choreographed by Hannah Schayes) created by Dolph's granddaughter, the piece pays homage to the player's legacy and contributions to the NBA.

Performances take place at the 28th Street Theater (TADA), 15 West 28th Street (between Broadway and 5th Avenue), 2nd Floor (elevator accessible), New York, NY 10001. Subways: N/R/1/2 to 28th Street, B/D/F/W to 34th Street.

Tickets range between $20 - $35 and are available for purchase at www.emergingartiststheatre.org/spark.

Spark Theatre Festival NYC (formerly called the New Work Series) has presented new work for the stage since 2006. In the Fall of 2023, EAT returned to Off-Broadway by producing three plays that ran in rep: Anne Being Frank by Ron Elisha, Doris Day: My Secret Love by Paul Adams, and Sex Work/Sex Play by Caytha Jentis. Each of these shows was previously presented at the festival.

Since its inception in 2006, numerous musicals, plays, solo shows, and dance pieces workshopped at the series have gone on to have full productions at the Edinburgh Fringe, NYMF, FringeNYC & Encores, Off-Broadway, as well as National and International productions. www.emergingartiststheatre.org

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