Miami New Drama

Last updated

Miami New Drama is a nonprofit professional theater company located in Miami Beach, Florida, founded in 2014. [1] Since October 2016 it has been the resident theater company and operator of the historic Colony Theatre on Miami Beach. [2] [3] Since its first production in January 2016, the company has produced work by American, Latin American, and international theater artists. [4]

Contents

Miami New Drama focuses primarily on the development of new plays and musicals, serving as an incubator for new theatrical works. [5] [6] It produces work that is diverse, multicultural, and multilingual with theater artists such as Moisés Kaufman, Gregory Mosher, Christopher Renshaw, and Aurin Squire. [3]

History

Miami New Drama was co-founded in 2014 [1] [2] by Venezuelan-born playwrights and directors Michel Hausmann [7] and Moisés Kaufman. [8] [9] They moved from New York City to Miami to start Miami New Drama, with the intent of creating a regional theater that reflected its community, representing cross-cultural themes, and building cultural and political understanding. [2] [10] Hausmann serves as the company's artistic director. [2]

The company's debut production, The Golem of Havana, directed and with a book written by Hausmann, and music and lyrics by Salomon Lerner and Len Schiff, opened at the Colony Theatre in Miami Beach in January 2016. [11] Hausmann, Lerner, and Shiff, along with their friends and families and the group's board, produced the play with their own money, at a substantial risk. [10] Following the successful production, Miami New Drama took over operations of the Colony Theatre on October 1, 2016. [12]

As of May 2016, 20% of the non-profit company's funding came from Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County, and 80% came from individual donors. [13] By December 2017, Miami New Drama had received two Knights Arts Challenge grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. [14] One of the grants was in support of the company's multilingual production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town , [14] and it is the first theater company to be authorized by the Thornton Wilder Estate to make changes to Wilder's script. [15] Miami New Drama was also a Knight New Work Miami 2018 winner. [16]

On January 23, 2019, PBS broadcast the company's production of Kemp Powers' fact-based 2013 play, One Night in Miami . [17] In June 2019, the company co-hosted the Theatre Communications Group's 29th National Conference, [18] [9] attended by theater professionals from across the nation. [19] [20]

Since its debut production, as of 2020 the company has produced over a dozen plays at the Colony Theatre, nine of them new works. In the span of its first three active years, Miami New Drama went from being a startup company to a theater company with a budget of nearly $3 million per year. [9]

Selected productions

The Golem of Havana (2016)

The Golem of Havana is a musical with music by Salomon Lerner, lyrics by Len Schiff, and a book by Miami New Drama's artistic director, Michel Hausmann, who also directed the company's production. The musical is centered around a Jewish-Hungarian family and their plight in the midst of the Cuban revolution. The play ran at the Colony Theatre from January 14, 2016 to February 14, 2016 [21] after productions at La MaMa in 2013 [22] and Barrington Stage Company in 2014. [23]

Terror (2017)

The American premiere of Ferdinand Von Schirach's Terror was directed by Gregory Mosher. The play puts a military pilot on trial for shooting down a hijacked plane headed towards a large group of people, and asks the audience to act as the jurors on the case. [24]

Our Town (2017)

The company's multilingual adaptation of Thornton Wilder's Our Town was directed by Hausmann. In this re-imagination of the play, still set in New England, the characters speak English, Spanish, and Creole. Translations were written by Nilo Cruz and Jeff Augustin. [25]

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (2018)

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity , written by Kristoffer Diaz, was a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama. It was produced by Miami New Drama in collaboration with Asolo Repertory Theatre. Set in the pro-wrestling world, the play tackles issues of race, politics, and the American Dream. [26]

Queen of Basel (2018)

Queen of Basel is a new play commissioned by the company and written by Hilary Bettis; it was first directed by Hausmann. [27] It is a feminist and bi-lingual re-imagining of August Strindberg's Miss Julie set during Miami's Art Basel in a luxurious South Beach hotel. [28] [27] Hausmann seated 100 audience members on stage to provide an immersive feel for theatergoers. [27]

The new drama sparked interest from a variety of venues, and it was subsequently produced at the Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. [27] The leading actress in the Miami New Drama production, Betsy Graver, won the 2018 Carbonell Award for Best Actress in a Play. [29]

The Album (2018)

The Album, presented by Tectonic Theater Project, was written and first directed by Moisés Kaufman. The play focuses on an album that was delivered to the Holocaust Museum in 2008, with pictures of different Nazi officers, secretaries, and their families on vacation during World War II. The play is a documentary theater piece that uses the album itself, interviews, and personal accounts as source material. [30]

Puras cosas maravillosas (2018)

Puras cosas maravillosas, a Spanish adaptation of Duncan Macmillan's Every Brilliant Thing, was directed by Hausmann and starred Erika de la Vega. This immersive one-woman show followed a young girl's journey into adulthood, marked by her mother's depression and suicide attempts. [31]

One Night in Miami (2018)

One Night in Miami , written by Kemp Powers, was directed for Miami New Drama by Carl Cofield. The play takes place on the night that Cassius Clay won the World Heavyweight Championship, and since he could not celebrate on Miami Beach due to the segregation laws of the time, he heads to Overtown, Miami, with his colleagues: Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown. The play imagines what that night in the Hampton House Motel in Overtown might have looked like. [32] On January 23, 2019, PBS broadcast the production. [17]

The play won the 2018 Carbonell Award for Best Scenic Design (Play or Musical). [29]

Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy (2019)

Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy is a new play based on the documentaries Cocaine Cowboys and Cocaine Cowboys 2 by Billy Corben. This play is a documentary theater piece co-written by Billy Corben and Aurin Squire, using text from depositions, newspaper articles, and other documents from the time. It was directed by Hausmann. The play focuses on the way the city of Miami was shaped by the 1980s illegal drug trade. [33]

The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2019)

Based on Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, The Bridge of San Luis Rey was adapted for the stage and directed for Miami New Drama by David Greenspan, who also appeared in the play. It follows five travelers who lose their life on a bridge in colonial Peru. [34]

A Wonderful World (2020)

A Wonderful World is a new musical with a book by Aurin Squire with music by Louis Armstrong, arranged by Annastasia Victory and Michael O. Mitchell. It was directed for Miami New Drama by Christopher Renshaw. The story follows Armstrong through his life, from his beginnings in New Orleans to his rise to international stardom and eventual role during the Civil Rights era. it is told from the perspective of Armstrong's four wives. The show will transfer to Broadway in 2024. [35] [36]

Related Research Articles

<i>Our Town</i> 1938 three-act play by Thornton Wilder

Our Town is a three-act play written by American playwright Thornton Wilder in 1938. Described by Edward Albee as "the greatest American play ever written", it presents the fictional American town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 through the everyday lives of its citizens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nilo Cruz</span> Cuban-American playwright and pedagogue

Nilo Cruz is a Cuban-American playwright and pedagogue. With his award of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Anna in the Tropics, he became the second Latino so honored, after Nicholas Dante.

The Carbonell Awards recognize excellent theater in the South Florida region of the United States annually. The awards are named after the sculptor Manuel Carbonell, who designed the bronze and marble award that is given to the winners. Voting is conducted by three panels of ten members each. The program additionally awards college scholarships of $1,000 each to deserving high school students in South Florida. In 2020, the Carbonell Awards were cancelled due to COVID-19. Since 2021, the Carbonell Award have been held at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center.

Barbara Walsh is an American musical theatre actress who has appeared in several prominent Broadway productions. Walsh is known for her Drama Desk Award and Tony Award nominated role as Trina in the original Broadway production of Falsettos, as well as her turn as Joanne in the 2006 Broadway Revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Greenspan</span> American actor and playwright (born 1956)

David Greenspan is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of six Obies, including an award in 2010 for Sustained Achievement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarell Alvin McCraney</span> American playwright

Tarell Alvin McCraney is an American playwright. He is the chair of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald McCullouch</span> American actor and filmmaker (born 1967)

Gerald McCullouch is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for playing Bobby Dawson on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Aurin Squire is an African-American playwright, screenwriter, and reporter. He has written numerous plays, while his reporting has appeared in The New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, and ESPN, among other outlets.

The John Gore Organization (JGO), formerly known as Key Brand Entertainment (KBE), is a producer and distributor of live theater in North America, as well as an e-commerce company, focused on theater. KBE was founded in the UK in 2004 by 14-time Tony Award-winning Producer John Gore who is the company's Chairman, CEO and Owner.

Janet Dacal is an American actress, singer, and performer in musical theatre. She received the Drama Desk Award for her performance in the Broadway musical In the Heights.

Michel Hausmann is a Venezuelan-born theater director, writer, and producer. He is the co-founder and artistic director of Miami New Drama, the resident theater company and operator of the Colony Theatre in Miami Beach. Under Hausmann's leadership, the company has produced over a dozen productions - nine of them world premieres. Michel Hausmann also started Miami New Drama's educational program, which serves more than 8,000 students annually and provides online programming for people across the United States and internationally - offering master classes on a variety of different theater topics such as acting, playwriting, directing, and theater management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zev Buffman</span> American theatre director (1930–2020)

Zev Buffman was a Broadway producer who served as president and CEO of Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida. He produced more than 40 Broadway shows. He partnered with Elizabeth Taylor to present her in her Broadway debut, The Little Foxes. Buffman was also the co-founding general partner of the NBA champion basketball team the Miami Heat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Señor Jr.</span> American actor

Andres "Andy" Señor Jr. is an American actor, stage director and filmmaker.

The M Ensemble Company is the oldest operating African American theatre company in Florida and has been serving the Miami-Dade County community for more than 45 years. The company has tackled an eclectic mix of theatre performances including musicals and contemporary, classical and original plays. M Ensemble also consistently facilitates theater workshops for children and adults and presentations for Kwanzaa and Black Music Month.

Victoria Collado is a Cuban–American director. She assistant directed John Leguizamo's Latin History for Morons on Broadway, and has directed for Repertorio Español, MCC Youth Company, Sheen Center, Juggerknot Theatre Company, and Miami New Drama among other institutions. Collado was named a 2018-2020 resident of the WP Lab at WP Theater. Other recent directorial credits include That Rebel That; El Cruce Sobre el Niagara; El Burlador de Sevilla; A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings; The Crocodile's Bite; Amparo; and The Cubans at the Colony Theatre. She holds a B.F.A. in Theatre from Florida International University.

"Slow Burn Theatre Company," is an American non-profit, professional theatre located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. Slow Burn Theatre Company produces a full season of shows and works to further the arts education of students and young adults. Slow Burn Theatre Company works to provide scholarships and intern opportunities to residents of South Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colony Theatre</span> Performing arts venue in Florida, US

The Colony Theatre is a performing arts venue located on Lincoln Road in Miami, Florida. The theatre first opened as a Paramount Pictures movie house in 1935 with a capacity to sit 1,200 people. From the 1950s - 1990s, it functioned back and forth as a movie house and a live performance space. As of 2020, the Colony Theatre is a 417-seat performance venue managed by South Florida theater company, Miami New Drama. It hosts music, dance, and theater performances as well as Miami New Drama's theatrical season.

Adriana Gaviria is an actor, producer, director, writer, and advocate in the United States. She is a founding member and artistic producer of The Sol Project, a national initiative to support Latinx theater, and the founder and producing artistic director for North Star Projects, an arts initiative that supports independent artists and theaters. Her advocacy also includes leadership roles with the Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL).

Deborah Zoe Laufer is an American playwright and theatre director. Her plays have been performed at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the Everyman Theatre in Baltimore, the Humana Festival of New American Plays, and Off-Broadway at The Duke on 42nd Street and the Ensemble Studio Theatre. She won a Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Citation from the American Theatre Critics Association for her play End Days in 2008. Reviewer Patricia Mitchell writes that Laufer is known for "dealing with serious, existential questions in seriously hilarious ways."

A Wonderful World - The Louis Armstrong Musical is a jukebox stage musical with a book by Aurin Squire. The show features a score of music originally performed by Louis Armstrong and others, with orchestrations by Annastasia Victory and Michael O. Mitchell. The show was conceived originally by Christopher Renshaw and Andrew Delaplaine and is directed by Renshaw with choreography by Rickey Tripp.

References

  1. 1 2 "Miami New Drama At Colony Theatre Presents The American Premiere Of Terror" (press release). Miami Style Guide. December 21, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Gordon, David (November 16, 2017). "How Do You Build a Regional Theater From the Ground Up? Michel Hausmann Has an Answer". TheaterMania. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Pla-Guzman, Cristina (June 23, 2020). "Miami New Drama's Marquee, Marching in Place for Black Lives". American Theatre . Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  4. ↑ Dolen, Christine (October 29, 2015). "Miami New Drama will bring multicultural theater to a diverse region". Miami Herald . Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  5. ↑ Pla-Guzman, Cristina (March 4, 2020). "What A Wonderful World Wants to Say About Louis Armstrong". American Theatre . Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Miami New Drama Sets 2 World Premieres for 2019-20 Season". American Theatre . June 17, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  7. ↑ Garcia, Vanessa (April 17, 2019). "What's Miami Is Yours". American Theatre . Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  8. ↑ Peláez, Ana Sofía (March 8, 2018). "Theater that reflects a changing America? Venezuelan Michel Hausmann is doing it in Miami". NBC News . Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 Dolen, Christine (January 5, 2019). "Miami's eclectic theater scene to star in theater conference". Miami Herald . Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  10. 1 2 Levin, Jordan (January 14, 2016). "New Miami musical 'The Golem of Havana' evokes struggle against oppression". Miami Herald . Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  11. ↑ Dolen, Christine (January 18, 2016). "Review: The Golem of Havana". Miami Herald . Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  12. ↑ Joseph, Chris (October 7, 2016). "Miami New Drama Takes Over Historic Colony Theatre in Miami Beach". Miami New Times . Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  13. ↑ Hirschman, Bill (May 3, 2016). "Miami New Drama, A Fledgling Troupe, Has 'Special' Plans". Florida Theater On Stage. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  14. 1 2 Loos, Ted (December 5, 2017). "Knight Foundation Helps Drive Miami Art Scene". The New York Times .
  15. ↑ Hetrick, Adam (November 13, 2017). "Our Town Re-Imagined as Modern-Day Miami in Multi-Language Production". Playbill . Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Support From City of Miami Beach and Major New Funding From Knight Foundation Position Miami New Drama as South Florida's Rising Premiere Regional Theater". BroadwayWorld.com. December 11, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  17. 1 2 "One Night in Miami at the Colony Theatre". PBS. January 23, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Miami Host Committee – 2019 TCG National Conference: Miami". Theatre Communications Group . Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Speakers – 2019 TCG National Conference: Miami". Theatre Communications Group . Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  20. ↑ Weinert-Kendt, Rob (June 28, 2019). "Plenaries of Plenty: Reporting From #TCG19 in Miami". American Theatre . Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  21. ↑ Ghert-Z, Renee (10 February 2016). "The golem rises again, this time in Spanish with a Yiddish lilt". Times of Israel . Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  22. ↑ Blank, Matthew (September 9, 2013). "Photo Call: New Musical The Golem of Havana, With Two-Show Extension, Plays La MaMa". Playbill . Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  23. ↑ Admin, B. S. C. (July 14, 2014). "Barrington Stage Company Musical Theatre Lab presents World Premiere "The Golem of Havana"; July 16-August 10". Barrington Stage Company . Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  24. ↑ Martin, Roger (February 6, 2017). "BWW Review: Terror at Miami New Drama". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  25. ↑ Sherman, Howard (2021). Another Day's Begun: Thornton Wilder's Our Town in the 21st century. Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. ISBN   978-1-350-12344-1. OCLC   1152357241.
  26. ↑ Joseph, Chris (January 29, 2018). "Chad Deity Deftly Puts Trump's America in the Camel Clutch". Miami New Times . Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  27. 1 2 3 4 Dolen, Christine (April 11, 2018). "'Queen of Basel' and the next evolution of compassion, empathy and forgiveness". Miami Herald . Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  28. ↑ Martin, Roger (April 20, 2018). "BWW Review: Queen of Basel at Miami New Drama". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  29. 1 2 "43rd Annual Carbonell Awards Winners". Carbonell Awards . Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  30. ↑ "The Album: Here There are Blueberries". Tectonic Theater Project. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  31. ↑ Civita, Alicia (June 29, 2018). "Erika de la Vega revela su dolor detrás de las cosas maravillosas de la vida". El Nuevo Herald (in Spanish). Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  32. ↑ Martin, Roger (November 20, 2018). "BWW Review: One Night in Miami at Miami New Drama". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  33. ↑ Guerrasio, Jason (March 7, 2019). "'Cocaine Cowboys' is being made into a play after Hollywood failed for almost a decade to adapt it for TV". Business Insider . Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  34. ↑ Dolen, Christine (October 21, 2019). "His play speaks to Miami, a tale of love and loss that's set in Peru". Miami Herald . Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  35. ↑ https://www.thepressroomnyc.com/wonderful-world [ bare URL ]
  36. ↑ Clement, Olivia (March 5, 2020). "Louis Armstrong Musical A Wonderful World Kicks Off World Premiere in Miami". Playbill . Retrieved September 4, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.