book, music and lyrics by
RONA SIDDIQUI
WEDNESDAY
MAY 27, 2020
LIVE STREAM @ 7PM ET
FREE OF CHARGE
Produced by JEN SANDLER + JOE BARROS
NEW WORKS SERIES
PRE-PREMIERES OF NEW MUSICALS *SEASON 13*
SALAAM MEDINA:
tales of a halfghan
Written by Rona Siddiqui (music director of the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Strange Loop), Salaam Medina: Tales of a Halfghan follows "Halfghan" Medina Eskandani who confronts what it means to identify as a person of color (her Middle Eastern side) when she has spent her whole life trying to be white (her Italian side). Salaam Medina: Tales of a Halfghan is a zany, vaudevillian fantasia of bi-ethnic identity exploration with musical styles ranging from vaudeville, folk, rap, pop, country, to middle eastern groove. Siddiqui will present two songs from the show performed remotely.
Salaam Medina: Tales of a Halfghan was developed at the Catwalk Art Residency, had a reading produced by THML Theatre Company (directed by Marshall Pailet), and a reading presented at Playwrights Horizons (directed by Raja Feather Kelly).
A ZANY, VAUDEVILLIAN
FANTASTIA
OF BI-ETHNIC
IDENTITY EXPLORATION
FEATURING
director
RAJA FEATHER KELLY
(a strange loop, the feath3r theory)
dramaturg
JESSICA KAHKOSKA
(agent 355)
WITH PERFORMANCES by
ANGEL DESAI
(company)
JAMEN
NANTHAKUMAR
(hood)
JONATHAN RAVIV
(the band's visit)
SHERZ
ALETAHA
(disaster!)
music and lyrics by
HEATH SAUNDERS
NEWTON'S CRADLE
book and additional lyrics by
KIM SAUNDERS
A HYPNOTIC MIXED
ACOUSTIC/ELECTRONIC SCORE
TO CREATE A MELODIC
PICTURE OF LIFE
SEEN THROUGH THE FILTER
OF A VERY SPECIAL BRAIN
Newton’s Cradle, written by the mother/son writing team of Heath and Kim Saunders, is an experiential new musical about a young man on the Autism spectrum working through the loss of his mother. Newton's Cradle challenges our own expectations about grief and loss with a hypnotic mixed acoustic/electronic score to create a melodic picture of life seen through the filter of a very special brain. The writers will present two songs from the show performed remotely by Heath Saunders (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Alice By Heart).
Newton's Cradle was featured in the 2016 New York Musical Festival where it won 6 festival awards including Best Musical, Best Lyrics, and Best Direction.
LIVE PERFORMANCES by
HEATH SAUNDERS
(the great comet, alice By Heart)
