Miami New Drama Announces 2019-2020 Season

Miami New Drama continues its mission to present innovative theater as diverse and dynamic as Miami itself in 2019-2020. The company's third full season at Miami Beach's Colony Theatre features world premieres by two exciting young Miami playwrights; a poetic adaptation of a great American novel; and a timely comedic drama on clashes and connections between China and the United States.

At the heart of the season are two commissions from Miami-raised playwrights that exemplify Miami New Drama's commitment to presenting original work that speaks to and for a unique city. "These are artists who look and sound like Miami and will define the future narrative of the city,"says Artistic Director Michel Hausmann. "We want to be a catalyst for these new voices. Miami New Drama is the theater for them to call home."

The season opens in October with five time Obie Award winning actor and playwright David Greenspan's adaptation of Thornton Wilder's famed novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey, deepening Miami New Drama's relationship with the Wilder Estate that began with the acclaimed production of Our Town. Greenspan's play transforms Wilder's multi-faceted masterpiece, a story of five travelers in colonial Peru hurled to their deaths by a collapsing bridge, into a wry, lyrical fable of fate, love, and the magical power of theater. Greenspan heads a multicultural cast led by award winning director Ken Rus Schmoll.

Premiering in January is Cuban-American playwright and actor Michael Leon's The Cubans, a poignant, humorous exploration of the fraught generational dynamics of a Cuban-American family and the immigrant quest for identity. When Christy returns home to Miami for a family celebration, she clashes with her overbearing mother Martica over her life choices and family expectations - until a life-shattering event forces them to confront their relationship. The Cubanswill be directed by Victoria Collado, director of the immersive Cuban drama The Amparo Experience.

March brings the unveiling of a world-premiere musical A Wonderful World, the story of jazz legend and singular American icon Louis Armstrong, with songs recorded and made popular by Armstrong, and original book by Aurin Squire, the multi-talented Opalocka-raised playwright and TV writer (This is Us, The Good Fight,)andco-author of last season's hit Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy. A Wonderful World, traces Armstrong's odyssey, the musical genre he helped define, and the complex history of race in America, from the birth of jazz in Armstrong's native New Orleans to international stardom and the Civil Rights era. Squire focuses his musical drama through the prism of the women in Armstrong's life. Directed by Drama Desk winner and Tony nominee Christopher Renshaw.

The season comes to a close in the spring with The Great Leap, acclaimed Bay Area playwright Lauren Yee's comedic drama about a swaggering American basketball coach who brings his university team to Beijing for a 1989 exhibition game against a Chinese former protégé determined to prove himself. But their competition is upended by an ambitious Chinese-American high school star and the tragedy of the Tiananmen Square protests. Yee's story of political conflict, and the intricate, fractured links that immigration forges across cultures and generations, is moving and deeply relevant. The Great Leapis a co-production with Sarasota's Asolo Repertory Theatre, part of an ongoing partnership with one of the leading theaters in the Southeast.

Season memberships are now on sale at colony.org.

Miami New Drama is made possible with the support of the City of Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.