The Orchard Project Announces its 2019 Summer Program Participants and Special Events

The Orchard Project is announcing the artists participating in its thirteenth summer theatre residency program. More than 30 artists and ensembles were selected for residencies this summer from nearly 1000 theatre artists and companies who applied. The artists, teams, and companies will come to Saratoga Springs from across the United States and the world to accelerate projects at various stages of development. Throughout the program, the Orchard Project will also present a series of special events and cabarets for the public by OP residents and associated artists.

"One of the things that makes the Orchard Project unique is the breadth and diversity of work that our artists generate. Our job is to clear the runway for amazing artists to make great work," Orchard Project Artistic Director Ari Edelson said. "I couldn't be more excited about the upcoming season, when we will support a more diverse group of artists than ever before, host exciting events like our first-ever Magic Crawl, and share even more amazing work with our local and national community of supporters."

The artists selected to participate in the Orchard Project program include:

Todd Almond and Kate Douglas will be working on their new musical The Lucky Few;

Kirsten Childs will be working on a new musical;

Stage magician Vinny DePonto will be working with performance artist Elizabeth Carena on an immersive piece entitled Follower;

Ari Edelson, working on a stage adaptation of Alain de Botton's The Course of Love;

Composer Jenny Giering, lyricist Adam Gwon and bookwriter Karen Hartman will work with director Mark Brokawon Alice Bliss, a new musical commissioned by Playwrights Horizons, based on Laura Harrington's acclaimed novel of the same name;

Savion Glover will be working with a cast of 10 on a new show that will premiere at the Joyce this coming year;

Playwright Natasha Gordon, working on her new commission for the National Theatre (UK);

Jason Grote working on Cahuenga Pass, a commission from Soho Rep, as well as another new play, Desire Path;

Philadelphia-based artists Suli Holum and Matteo Scammell and director Matthew Decker will be working on Tennessee Descending, an immersive, musicalized and interactive theatre project;

Daniel Irizarry working on One-Eighth Theater's new project Bring Me the Head of Shahmeran written by Kelly Stuart;

Sound designer Lindsay Jones, working on a one-person show, tentatively titled Get Hot Or Get Out;

Playwright Tim J. Lord will be working with actor Gregg Mozgala to create The Hard Price;

Eduardo Muchado and Molly Smith working on the play Celia/Fidel which is set to open at Arena Stage next year;

Molly Beach Murphy will be working on a new musical with frequent collaborators, composer Jeanna Phillips and director Annie Tippe;

Qui Nguyen and Vampire Cowboys will be working on a new piece, Revenge Song: A Vampire Cowboy Creation, commissioned by The Geffen Playhouse;

Abby Rosebrock, Whitney Mosery and Katie Brayben working on a new musical based on I Await the Devil's Coming by Mary MacLane which was conceived in the 2018 OP Greenhouse;

Dan Safer and Rob Johanson working on a new dance-theatre project;

Dancer and choregrapher Emma Sandall will be working on an adaptation of Motherhood by Sheila Heti;

Angela Sclafani will be working on her song cycle, Passion Project: Love Songs from Women to their Work, which was conceived in the 2018 OP Greenhouse and will be presented in NYC this fall;

Team Sunshine Performance Laboratory working on the early development of three different projects lead by the three co-founders, Oiré Su Yanto Or, I Will Hear Their Weeping, This Is My Trifle, and Nowrightnow;

The 2019 OP Episodic Lab Program supporting the development of 6 new TV pilots by Christopher De Paola, Sanjit De Silva & Craig Weiner, Jay Elias & L.T. Verrastro, Danielle Evenson & Heather Huntington, David Myers, Carrie Schrader; as well as 3 development fellowships awarded to Melis Aker, Lauren Blumenfeld, and the writing team of Josh Schenkkan & Michael Mount;

The 2019 OP Greenhouse will provide generative artistic space to Ae Andreas, Nikko Benson, Mathilde Dratwa, Emma Goidel, Julian Hornik, Ed Iskandar, James Kennedy, Rene Orth, Jeffrey Page, Stav Palti-Negev, Em Weinstein, and Laura Zlatos.

The Orchard Project's summer labs provide opportunities for innovative artists, companies and storytellers to accelerate and refine new projects at any stage of their development. The summer has three major programs for professionals: a Professional Theatre Lab, the OP Greenhouse (providing year-round collaborative support), and an Episodic Lab (providing support, mentorship and guidance to promising episodic/tv projects). The programs run from May 31 - July 8, 2019.

The Orchard Project is also announcing its newest annual residency honoring the late Reg E. Cathey. Reg was widely known and highly regarded for his extraordinary stage work as well as his diverse work in film and TV from The Wire, to Fantastic Four, to his memorable and iconic performance in House of Cards. The quality of his performance was only matched by his excitement to be a part of new work which is what brought him to the Orchard Project in 2012. The annual Reg E. Cathey Residency will be given to a promising new work that mixes Reg's love of classic forms and new ideas. We are proud to announce this year's residency has been awarded to Tim J. Lord for his new play The Hard Price.

Concurrent with the residency programs, the Orchard Project will hold a series of exciting members-only events,including our first ever Magic Crawl, featuring performances by Vinny DePonto and Geoff Kanick; a special preview performance of a new piece by world-renowned tap dancer and artist Savion Glover; and the launch of the our Creative Almanac project hosted by the OP and famed singer-songwriter Ben Folds. Throughout all three sessions of residencies, we will hold Works-In-Progress Cabarets for members, taking place June 7th, June 21st, and July 5th.

Additionally, the Orchard Project will hold a fun, family-friendly public performance by The Story Pirates on July 1st, 2019 at 4pm. Story Pirates is a media company founded in 2004 to celebrate the words and ideas of kids. Since then, they've launched a hit radio show, the #1 podcast for kids and families, a live tour which performs from coast to coast, and a critically acclaimed middle-grade book series from Random House. For more info, visit storypirates.com. Tickets will be $15 and $20and are available to purchase at https://secure.orchardproject.com/civicrm/event/register?id=46&reset=1

Photo Credit: Savion Glover Productions