SPONSOR OPPORTUNITY
Several Opportunities for Sponsors: Staged ASL Performances, Ground Floor Theater (Austin, TX), Documentary BTS, Broadway OnDemand Livestream
Millennials are Killing Musicals
COMING MAY 2023; OPENING NIGHT MAY 15
Sponsor an ASL Interpreted Performance of the hottest new Off Broadway Original Musical!
Writer: Nico Juber
Director: Ciara Renée
Producer: Out of the Box Theatrics
Nico Juber's new show Millennials Are Killing Musicals will receive a developmental run Off-Broadway at Theatre 71 at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament. Out of the Box Theatrics will produce the limited engagement, running May 9-28, 2023. Opening night is set for May 15.
The musical follows Brenda, a millennial and single mom who wants to become better at "adulting" as she compares herself to a mom of her daughter's classmate, Jake, when her younger sister, Katrina, a social media influencer, turns up on her doorstep pregnant and unprepared to be a mom. The three women must find their own ways, rather than those pushed by social media and the filters it puts on everyone's lives, to finally achieve what they want.
Ciara Renée (Waitress, Frozen) will direct the show, which has been in development since 2018, and was an O’Neill NMTC Semifinalist in 2021 and 2022. The work has previously received a New York City industry reading, a songs showcase through New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series, and sold-out concert presentations at Feinstein’s/Vitellos (mostlyNEWmusicals) and 54 Below.
The creative team will also feature Ted Arthur (Moulin Rouge, Diana) as music supervisor and arranger, and Devyn Rush as vocal arranger. Aaron Grant Theatrical is consulting general manager, with casting by tbd casting co. New York Theatre Barn serves as associate producer. Additional creative team members will be announced in the coming weeks.
Millennials Are Killing Musicals has been in development for four years. The show was an O’Neill NMTC Semifinalist in 2021 and 2022, seen in a recent NYC industry reading, and songs showcased through New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series and sold-out concert presentations at Feinstein’s/Vitellos (mostlyNEWmusicals) and 54 Below.
CAST MEMBERS:
KATHEL GRIFFIN (Cover)
JESSIE ALGANA (Cover)
JAE W.B. (Luna)
MAX CRUMM (Nate/ Atlas)
TIFFANY ENGEN (Jake's mom)
SHERI SANDERS (Nana Marie)
JAKEIM HART (Dyan)
DIANE HUEY (Katrina)
KRISTOLYN LLOYD (Brenda)
SYDNI BEAUDOIN (Pacifica, Brenda Cover)
DEAF AUSTIN THEATRE: THE LARAMIE PROJECT
WINNER! 2023 NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS (NEA) CHALLENGE AMERICA AWARD
COMING FALL 2023
By Moises Kaufmann and members of the Tectonic Theatre Company
Director: Jules Dameron
In 2023, Deaf Austin Theatre will be partnering with Hypernovas Productions to produce the first professional ASL production of this powerful, award winning play. The project will include a live stage production during the fall of 2023 here in Austin.
Our stage production will be filmed and lived streamed through Broadway On Demand on October 12, 2023, in honor of the death of Matthew Shepard.
After our production, a copy of the recording will be included in a full curriculum package for Deaf and hard of hearing students and distributed to all of the Deaf schools in the United States.
SIGNmation is a Lead Producer of the Production
Matthew Shepard
Matthew was 21 years old when he was murdered in October of 1998. He was a student at the University of Wyoming in the small town of Laramie. On the night of October 6, 1998, Matthew went to the Fireside Bar in Laramie where he accepted a ride home from Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney. Instead of driving him home, they drove him to a remote area of countryside, beat and tortured Matthew. They tied him to a fence and left him there to die. He was found sometime the next day by a biker and taken to a hospital in Fort Collins, CO where he died six days later on October 12, 1998.
BROADWAY SIGNS! PRESENTS PRIDE: A BENEFIT FOR DEAF AUSTIN THEATRE
AUGUST 3, 2023 @ 7PM
A stellar cabaret of American Sign Language (ASL) Poetry & Broadway Hits performed by Deaf Artists to benefit Deaf Austin Theatre’s fall production of The Laramie Project written by Moises Kaufman and Tectonic Theater Project. Marking the first professional production of the play ever produced in ASL.
Join Broadway’s Sandra Mae Frank (Spring Awakening, NBC’s New Amsterdam) and CoHost Joey Antonio (Dance Camp, Zoe’s Extraordinary Play List) plus Andrew Morrill (Broadway’s Grey House) and Deaf Austin Theatre’s Artistic Director Dr. Brian Cheslik to celebrate cultural pride and honor the 25th Anniversary and legacy of Matthew Shepard.
Featuring Deaf Broadway’s “Company” at Lincoln Center Joey Caverly (Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building), Dickie Hearts (Public’s Dark Disabled Stories), Heba Toulan (Cinderella), Kailyn Aaron-Lozano (Cinderella) and Jules Dameron (Director The Laramie Project). Additional Special Guests TBA.
Funds raised will be donated to Deaf Austin Theatre to support the first professional production of The Laramie Project in ASL. The financial sponsors in part by The National Endowment for the Arts, Greater Austin Foundation for the Deaf, Matthew Shepard Foundation, BEA Investment Group, Ploeger ASL Interpreting, LLC, Dozanu Innovation, National Disability Theatre, Communication By Hand, Sorenson, True+Way ASL, Hypernovas Productions and SIGNmation.
savage the musical, broadway musical
WITH MUSIC AND LYRICS BY NICOLETTE BLOUNT
COMING SOON, 2023
Savage the Musical is a dramatic musical inspired by the life of 1920s Chickasaw sharpshooter and silent film actress, Wanda Savage, as told by her great granddaughter Nicolette Blount. Savage is a powerful story of redemption about an independent, divorced, indigenous mother who wanted to be accepted. At the heart of this story is a complicated relationship between a mother and her son. In the process of making a name for her self, Wanda faced oppression, racism, sexism, and abuse. She was a modern woman who encountered many issues that women still deal with today. Wanda refused to embrace the stereotype of Native women that was dominant in her day and persists into the 21st Century. This rebel heart fulfilled her dreams in a time when women were just starting to have a voice. Her story and struggles are as relevant now as they were when she experienced them 100 years ago, holding up a mirror to our society to see how far we have come…or not.
Wanda Savage was a tribal member of the Chickasaw Nation, as is her great granddaughter, creative Nicolette Blount. Savage the Musical presents a modern view of Native Americans against a historical backdrop and highlights a culture and people who are underrepresented. The writers hope to bring awareness to this language that only has 40 fluent speaking elders left (all over the age of 60) by including elements of their tribe’s beautiful, but endangered language in some of the script and music, while honoring its significance to the Chickasaw people.
The music for Savage is a fresh take on scoring a musical with pop influenced jazz and blues that harkens back to the days of the old standards. Savage the Musical marries the old sounds of jazz with new, catchy pop music giving it a contemporary feel with some elements of Native American sounds.
What musical is Savage similar too? As a Broadway Producer recently said, “Savage is nothing like anything I have seen to date. It is uniquely and powerfully it‘s own.” If the creatives had to compare it to something, Savage the Musical is Chicago meets Funny Girl meets Sunset Boulevard with a small splash of Annie Oakley.
Book: Nicolette Blount and Lindel Hart
Music and lyrics: Nicolette Blount
Producer: Jo-Ann Dean, SIGNmation
Director: Rachel Klein
PLAY “WARRIOR”
BECOME A SPONSOR
SIGNmation and its productions would not be possible without the support of our sponsors and partners.
Through financial support, our benefactors continuously build and strengthen our platform in giving Deaf Artists a stage to highlight their artistic expression.
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