The 2020 O’Neill Summer Season will take place entirely online.
The mission & values of the O’Neill ﹘ as the Launchpad of American theater ﹘ remain vibrant and vital. Each of our programs continue this summer supporting exciting new artists, voices, and work. We also celebrate that our 56th season is available to artists, audiences, and supporters across the nation. Our support for creatives of all stripes continues through artistic and educational opportunities, facilitating meaningful engagement, advocacy, and direct monetary support.
Over 230 artists are already a part of #ONeillSummer ﹘ join us!
Join each of our six Artistic Directors for in-depth conversations and Q&A’s. Learn about all things puppetry, musicals, plays, cabaret, arts journalism, education, and more! Sundays at 7pm.
“The National Puppetry Conference has always been an evolving and growing forum. As we begin our 30th season, we are happily anticipating a new and exciting format. We are looking forward to seeing new and innovative works of Puppetry take shape with us this summer. Join us online for international master classes and the beloved Pub open-mic nights!”
- Pam Arciero, Artistic Director
MASTER CLASSES
In celebration of the 30th Conference, we are thrilled to offer the public a chance to take part in our five-part master class series featuring world-renowned puppetry artists. Single tickets ($40) and 5-Class Passes ($125) are now on-sale. Each conversation will take place on Zoom from 2:00 - 3:00pm EST.
Hosted by Tyler Bunch and Jonathan Little
Join us for a virtual take on the beloved Puppetry Open Mics. Free, RSVP required, donations will be accepted to support the O'Neill.
Tuesday, June 9 & Thursday, June 11, from 9-10 EST.
Selected from 360 submissions, the following new musicals will receive direct monetary and developmental support, mentorship, and - along with four additional writing teams also in the 2020 finalist round - maintain finalist eligibility to be considered for further development in the 2021 season. There will be no public presentations.
“The two musicals we’ve chosen from 360 submissions serve as a beautiful reminder of how innovative and necessary the art form of music theater can be. I am thrilled that the O’Neill will be supporting these pieces on their journey and cannot wait to welcome these five visionary writers into the NMTC family. I hope you’ll join us this summer for NMTC Happy Hours as we connect with writing teams past and present.”
- Alexander Gemignani, Artistic Director
![Azul Otra Vez [Blue, Revisited] Book by Melis Aker & Tatiana Pandiani, Music by Jacinta Clusellas, Lyrics by Jacinta Cluesllas & Rubén Darío](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/12230b_81d675fefe0240fc966036bb1e3d3dff~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_60,h_16,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/NMTC%2020%20Show%20Titles%20(1).png)
In an epic world of magical realism, Bluebird, a hungry and idealist poet, seeks a better life in a new land. In a mundane post 9/11 and present-day Jackson Heights, Rita, a composer, struggles to forgive her father, understand her roots, and reconnect to a land she has never known. Azul Otra Vez [Blue, Revisited] is a bilingual musical that weaves together these distinct realms to question the place of art in a capitalist society and explore how memory and imagination reshape immigrant identity. The score is a constellation of songs rooted in Latin American folkloric traditions, along with jazz and chamber music. Inspired by Rubén Darío's poetry and short stories, Azul Otra Vez [Blue, Revisited] is a spectacle in the legacy of the American book musical, as well as a psychological deep-dive into the immigrant father-daughter relationship.
En un mundo épico de realismo mágico El Pájaro Azul, un poeta ambicioso e idealista, sale en busca de una vida mejor en una tierra desconocida. En un mundo realista y llevando una vida mundana en Jackson Heights luego del 9/11 y en el presente, una compositora, Rita, intenta perdonar a su padre, comprender sus raíces, y reconectar con una tierra a la que nunca perteneció. Azul Otra Vez [Blue, Revisited] es un musical bilingüe que entrelaza estos universos paralelos, cuestionando el lugar del arte en una sociedad capitalista, y explorando cómo la memoria y la imaginación transforman la identidad inmigrante. La música es una constelación de canciones arraigadas en tradiciones folclóricas Latinoamericanas, fusionadas con jazz y música de cámara. Inspirado en la poesía y cuentos cortos de Rubén Darío, Azul Otra Vez [Blue, Revisited] es un espectáculo dentro del linaje del teatro musical americano, y a la vez, una profunda examinación de la relación padre-hija inmigrante.
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MELIS AKER (Co-Book Writer) is a bilingual writer, actor, and musician from Turkey. Her plays have been commissioned by and developed at Atlantic Theatre, Ars Nova (Play Group member), NYTW (2050 fellow), New Group, Dramatists Guild (DGF fellow), Roundabout Space Jam, LaMaMa, The Lark, The Flea, Noor, Golden Thread Productions, Corkscrew Festival and BRIC in the U.S., as well as the Finborough and Park theatres in London. Melis’ plays include: Field, Awakening (2019 Kilroy’s List, Columbia@Roundabout finalist, Sundance final-round, Berkeley Rep Ground Floor final-round, Playwrights Realm finalist); Dragonflies (2019 Sundance final-round); When My Mama was a Hittite (Columbia@Roundabout finalist), Azul Otra Vez [Blue, Revisited]; Manar (Columbia@Roundabout finalist, Theatre503 Playwriting Award semifinalist); 330 Pegasus: A Love Letter (Jerome NY Fellowship final-round), Scraps and Things (Playing on Air, starring Carol Kane), and Gilded Isle. Her screenplay “ARI” (“Bee”) was at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival as part of Maison des Scenaristes, and her pilot of "MANAR” was accepted to Orchard Project’s Episodic Lab, Trans Atlantic Partners, and IFP week. Selected acting credits include: "The Blacklist: Redemption" (NBC), “Seneca” (HBO’s NYLFF), Love in Afghanistan (Arena Stage & Roundabout), We Live in Cairo (NAMT, New World Stages), Proof (Edinburgh Fringe). Her song “The Unknowing” made it to the final reel of the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk contest. Melis has worked as Ayad Akhtar’s assistant, and given a StoryCorps and TEDx talk. She is a proud member of The Lark’s Middle East America writers room. Upcoming: Melis is developing a screenplay with Revelations Entertainment headed by Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary, and her play Field, Awakening will receive its world premiere at the Finborough Theatre directed by Rory McGregor. Training: Columbia (MFA), Tufts (BA), RADA (Acting). Representation: CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. www.melisaker.com
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TATIANA PANDIANI (Director-Choreographer / Co-Book Writer) is a NYC based director-choreographer and writer who works in English and Spanish. Her work combines live performance, dance, and music to challenge and entertain; it is inspired by the legacy of Fornes, Kahlo, Bausch, Fosse, and Brecht. She serves as the Associate Director for the First National Broadway tour of What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck. Recent: When My Mama was a Hittite By Melis Aker (Park Theatre, London), Christina by Alexis Sheer (Cleveland Playhouse, workshop), Dike by Hannah Benitez (Urbanite), Friends with Guns by Stephanie Alison Walker (NYTW, workshop), Nanas by Leonardo Gonzales (IATI, La Micro). Tatiana directed the international tour of La Negrophilie by Zakiya Markland (Frank Collymore Hall, Bridgetown, Barbados; Ubumuntu Festival, Kigali, Rwanda; Kampala International Festival, Kampala, Uganda). As a choreographer, Tatiana works on concerts & music videos with Latin Indie music artists. She has developed Azul, Otra Vez [Blue, Revisited] at Musical Theater Factory, Tofte Lake, NYTW, BRIC, The Drama League. She is also developing new plays with exceptional writers such as Alexis Scheer, Melis Aker, Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Hannah Benitez, Daria Mikeyo Marinelli, and Whitney White with the support of institutions such as Long Wharf Theater, Cleveland Playhouse, Urbanite Theater, NYTW, Miami New Drama, The Park Theater (UK). These collaborations are her favorite part of the work. Upcoming: Torera by Monet-Hurst Mendoza (Long Wharf Theater), LEMPICKA (Associate Director to Rachel Chavkin, La Jolla Playhouse), Whitewashed by Hannah Benitez (Island City Stage) and many stops of the Constitution tour. Tatiana is an adjunct professor at Hofstra University, a Teaching Artist at the Atlantic Theater Company, and an Associate Artist at Miami New Drama. NYTW 2050 Fellowship Alumna, and recipient of the National Directors Fellowship. MFA: Columbia. Member of SDC. Representation: Paradigm. www.tatianapandiani.com
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JACINTA CLUSELLAS (Composer / Lyricist) is a composer, singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New York City. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jacinta brings together South American folklore, jazz and chamber music, in the context of songs influenced by poems, literature and nature from South America. In New York City, Jacinta has performed at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, The Great Hall at Cooper Union, Americas Society/Council of the Americas, La MaMa Theatre, Le Poisson Rouge, Rockwood Music Hall, Musical Theatre Factory, and Women of Color on Broadway. She has served as music director-composer-arranger for the ongoing development of the bilingual musical Azul, Otra Vez [Blue, Revisited] at New York Theatre Workshop, BRIC, The Drama League, Tofte Lake Center, and the Prelude Festival. Jacinta’s debut album El Pájaro Azul was released in NYC, and published in Japan under the record label Inpartmaint Inc. Her second album A Dónde Llega el Silencio is being produced by West One Music (London, UK) and will be recorded in NYC in the fall of 2020. Jacinta has toured the US as a composer, songwriter, and performer. Selected: South by Southwest [SXSW] (Austin, TX), Lanesboro Arts (Jerome Foundation, MN), Audacious Raw Theatre (MN), Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts (WY). Internationally, she has toured her music throughout Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Canada, Greece and Italy. Jacinta has also worked as an arranger for Grammy award-winning artists Alejandro Sanz (Berklee Performance Center) and A.R. Rahman (Boston Symphony Hall). Jacinta is a Teaching Artist at the New York Philharmonic, where she develops programs and teaches for the Very Young Composers Program, and has served as a mentor at Lincoln Center’s Music Across Borders program. She is a proud member of the Carnegie Hall Music Educators Workshop. Jacinta holds a B.A. in Contemporary Writing and Production from Berklee College of Music. www.jacintaclusellasmusic.com
Two Nights and Three Days is a musical comedy set in the South Korean military. It tells the story of Jowon, a young, female officer who believes that her dreams of becoming a four-star general are dashed when she is placed in command of the “fire battalion,” a group of the laziest, most ragtag soldiers at camp. When the camp announces its first-ever talent show, Jowon and her soldiers finally unite in an effort to win the contest…by writing a musical. However, as they confront a growing conflict with North Korea that threatens their safety as well as the existence of the talent show, Jowon and her soldiers must fight not only to protect their country, but to find joy in the most dire of circumstances.
KIM JINHYOUNG is a storyteller who has co-written book, music, and lyrics for TWO NIGHTS AND THREE DAYS, REFRESH (Without Walls Festival, 2019), which was produced as part of HALL PASS by Blindspot Collective in collaboration with La Jolla Playhouse, and THE EGYPTIAN BABOON (NYU Developmental Reading, 2018); written music for the musicals WHERE IS JESUS’ DICK? (Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture residency) and SHEMAN (Seoul Youth Art Institute residency), each of which premiered in Seoul, South Korea in 2017; and written music for the play WONDERHUMAN, which also premiered in Seoul in 2017. Kim is also currently writing music and lyrics for a song cycle entitled WAIT…ING. Kim’s work has been performed in such venues as Feinstein’s/54 Below, Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, Two River Theater, and Lincoln Center, among others. Kim is a graduate of the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
MARCUS PERKINS is a storyteller who has co-written book, music, and lyrics for TWO NIGHTS AND THREE DAYS and REFRESH (Without Walls Festival, 2019), which was produced as part of HALL PASS by Blindspot Collective in collaboration with La Jolla Playhouse; co-written book and written lyrics for COMING HOME (NYU Developmental Reading, 2018); and contributed lyrics to the annual STANFORD LAW SCHOOL MUSICAL in both 2011 and 2012, which was produced in Stanford, California. Marcus’s work has been performed in such venues as Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, Two River Theater, and Lincoln Center, among others. A graduate of the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, he also has degrees from Princeton University and Stanford Law School.
NMTC ALUMNI HAPPY HOUR
Hosted by Alexander Gemignani
Thursday, June 18 at 6pm - NMTC 2018 Reunion
Anna K. Jacobs & Michael R. Jackson (Teeth), Kate Kilbane & Dan Moses (Eddie the Marvelous, Who Will Save the World).
Thursday, June 25 at 6pm - NMTC 2019 Reunion
Benjamin Velez & Aryanna Garber (Borderline), Ari Afsar & Lauren Gunderson (Jeannette), Hansol Jung & Brian Quijada (Undesirables)
Selected from 1,546 submissions, the following playwrights will receive direct monetary and developmental support, mentorship, and - along with 59 additional writers also in the 2020 finalist round - maintain finalist eligibility to be considered for further development in the 2021 season. There will be no public presentations.
"There’s never been a more important moment to support artists and storytellers. Our four plays were chosen from 1,546 received through the O’Neill’s open submissions process. I am excited to work with these playwrights and our team of collaborators and designers in a virtual development conference. I hope you’ll join us for Happy Hours as we reconnect with prominent O'Neill artists.”
- Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director
All should be going swimmingly for restauranteur Virginia Halloway: three eateries and a new house in the country to show for it should be the answer to all her dreams. But Virginia’s past, and her neighbors' demands in her present threaten to tear all that she’s worked for apart.
KIRSTEN GREENIDGE is an Obie Award winning and Lucille Lortel nominated playwright whose plays place hyper realism on stage as they examine the nexus of race, class, gender, and the black experience. Recently recognized as playwright laureate of Boston she is the author of Our Daughters, Like Pillars; Little Row Boat, or, Conjecture; Feeding Beatrice; For the Greater Good; Baltimore; Bud, Not Buddy (an adaptation of the children’s book by Christopher Paul Curtis); The Luck of the Irish; and Milk Like Sugar. Her plays have been produced at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, New Repertory Theatre, The Huntington Theatre Company, Playwright’s Horizons, La Jolla Playhouse, and Company One Theatre. This summer will mark Kirsten’s third season developing work at the O’Neill. Since that first summer, she has enjoyed development experiences at the Family Residency at the Space at Ryder Farm, the Huntington’s Summer Play Festival, Cleveland Playhouse as the 2016 Roe Green New Play Award recipient, The Goodman, Denver Center, Sundance, Bay Area Playwright’s Festival, Sundance at Ucross, the Pacific Playwright’s Festival among others. Kirsten is currently working on commissions from the Huntington (Common Ground with Melia Bensussen), La Jolla Playhouse (To the Quick), and Oregon Shakespeare American Revolutions Project (Roll, Belinda, Roll). A recent PEN/Laura Pels Playwrighting Award recipient and current Andrew W. Mellon/Howlround Fellow, she is an alum of New Dramatists, and has proudly graced the Kilroys list of New Plays by women and women identified playwrights several years running. She attended the Playwright’s Workshop at the University of Iowa and Wesleyan University and oversees the BFA playwrighting track at Boston University’s School of Theatre.
Four ten-year-olds meet at a wedding. Little do they know, they will become the center of each other's lives for decades to come. Jumping through time, the play uses dance, music, and poetry to explore sexuality, gender, race, and love. You know, the big stuff. Life stuff.
JUCOBY JOHNSON grew up in Jacksonville, FL, moved to the Twin Cities in 2011, and has been creating there ever since. He has been seen onstage at The Guthrie Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Jungle Theater, Theater Latté Da, Theater Mu, Ten Thousand Things Theatre Company and many more. His debut play, How It's Gon Be, had its world premiere in May 2019 with the Underdog Theater. He is a 2020-2021 Many Voices Mentee at the Playwright's Center in Minneapolis.
two families--one black and one white-- each travel to visit a loved one in a medium security prison in rural Kansas. second in a cycle of three plays, visiting hours focuses on what it's like to love someone who is incarcerated. families are separated, messy relationships become messier, and it's all packed into weekend hours between 10am and 3pm.
ARIKA LARSON is a Brooklyn-based playwright from Kansas. Her plays include the shes (Weasel Festival, Public Theater), within tolerance (developed by HMBG playwright retreat, Brooklyn College, The Tank), and birthday boy (Great Plains Theatre Conference, semifinalist NPC). She regularly works with AMiOS Theatre, Reign or Shine Productions, and her long-standing writer’s group: Pooddha. Her work has also been presented or developed by Barrington Collective, Clutch Productions, Colt Coeur, The Davenport Theatre, and Three Act Theatre. She was a finalist for the 2020 SPACE on Ryder Farm’s Working Farm. She studied playwriting at Brooklyn College with Mac Wellman & Erin Courtney where she won the Rona Jaffe, Creative Writing, and Himan Brown awards.
Two friends from The Bronx kidnap their congresswoman and show her the best time of her life.
DAVID ZHENG is a first-generation Chinese American playwright and visual artist from the Bronx. He is the recipient of The Lark’s 2018 Van Lier New Voices Playwriting Fellowship, The 2017 Playwriting Observer Fellowship at Labyrinth Theater Company, and the 2017 inaugural Greenhouse Residency at SPACE on Ryder Farm. Plays include Ching Chong Maka Hiya, Kidnapping Jane Doe, KINGSBRIDGE (O'Neill Semifinalist), Boogie Down Bastards, Ghetto Baptism, and What's In The Tent? (O'Neill Semifinalist). His work has been developed at The Public Theater, MCC Theater, The Labyrinth Theater Company, Cherry Lane Theater Company, The Lark, and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. He is a member of the 2018-2019 Public Theater Emerging Writers Group, Ma-Yi Writers Lab and the Gingold Theatrical Group’s Speakers’ Corner. Zheng is also a founding member of the Middle Voice at Rattlestick.
NPC ALUMNI HAPPY HOUR
Hosted by Wendy C. Goldberg
Tuesday, July 7 at 6pm - Pulitzer Prize-winners
Quiara Alegría Hudes, David Henry Hwang, and Michael R. Jackson
Tuesday, July 14 at 6pm - Design Studio
Rachel Hauck, Arnulfo Maldonado, and Lawrence E. Moten III
The Conference continues to provide valuable development and performance training. The reimagined course of study for our Cabaret Fellows program includes top professionals led by Grammy & Emmy Award-winning artistic director John McDaniel. Master teachers include international singing star Barb Jungr, multi-award winning performer Natalie Douglas, with master classes by Tony Award-winner Betty Buckley and MAC president Lennie Watts.
"We are happy to offer a virtual performance course with an all-star faculty for our Cabaret Fellows and Junior Fellows. There will also be some fun, interactive Pub Happy Hours for us all. I hope you will join us!"
- John McDaniel, Artistic Director
Atlantic Broadband is the premier sponsor of the 2020 Cabaret & Performance Conference.
An Evening with
John McDaniel & Brad Simmons
On Monday, August 3 at 8pm, O'Neill favorites John & Brad team up for a unique Cabaret event which includes some new songs as well as some best-loved tunes. Join us online for the fun which will include a special mystery guest!
CABARET HAPPY HOUR, presented by Blue Gene's Pub
Tuesday, August 4 6pm
Mark Hartman
Wednesday, August 5 6pm
Tracy Stark
Thursday, August 6 6pm
Brian Nash
featuring special guest
Natalie Douglas
America's only boot camp for arts writers, NCI 2020 will offer a 5-day online intensive July 6-10 designed for writers and critics looking to strengthen their skills in an increasingly competitive and fast-paced industry. Including seminars, technique classes, masterclasses, writing workshops, covering the fields of theater, film, television, food, dining, and music. Helmed by Chris Jones, critic and columnist at the Chicago Tribune, NCI has a world-class faculty of journalists, critics, and arts writers. Full-tuition scholarships are provided to each selected fellow. There is no charge for anyone who attends, fellows who complete NCI 2020 online will be offered a position to return for NCI 2021 on-campus, for two weeks, with full financial support.
From the O’Neill’s flagship educational program the NATIONAL THEATER INSTITUTE, the Theatermakers Summer Intensive trains students in a credit-earning curriculum of acting, directing, and playwriting. A modified four-week Theatermakers program will utilize NTI’s unique distance-learning approach, with our core mission remaining the same: constant practice, essential training, mentorship, and collaborative opportunities that yield original work. Transitioning online allows for classes to support work in a variety of mediums, providing additional skills and professional development tuned to virtual theater making, filmmaking, podcasts, and devising.
2020 Faculty includes: David Auburn (Proof), Melia Bensussen (Hartford Stage), Michael Berresse (The Cher Show, {Title of Show}), Susan Blackwell ({Title of Show]), Lileana Blain-Cruz (Fefu & Her Friends), Oliver Butler (What the Constitution Means to Me), Rachel Chavkin (The Great Comet, Hadestown), Jeremy Cohen (Playwrights Center), Donna Di Novelli, Colman Domingo (Selma, If Beale Street Could Talk), Sarah Einspanier (Lunch Bunch), Julie Foh, Alexander Gemignani (Hamilton, West Side Story), Maria Goyanes (Woolly Mammoth), Jennifer Haley (The Nether), Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play, Daddy), Jessi Hill, Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale, A Bright New Boise), Tom Kitt (Next to Normal), Forrest McClendon (Scottsboro Boys, Seven Guitars), Lindsay Mendez (All Rise, Carousel), Dominique Morisseau (Ain’t Too Proud, Pipeline), Matt Newton, Robert O’Hara (Bootycandy, Slave Play), Karen Olivo (Moulin Rouge, In the Heights), Ren Santiago (The Siblings Play), Charly Evon Simpson (Behind The Sheet), Stephen Sondheim (Into the Woods, Company, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George), Josh Wilder, Roy Alexander Weise, Malik Work, The Debate Society (The Light Years, Jacuzzi), and the Artistic Directors of each of the O’Neill’s professional Conferences.
“After talking with all of the incoming students over the past few months, I am really looking forward to working with this particular group of people in July. Already their determination and dedication to the craft of theatermaking is shining through! I’m so excited for them to be in conversation with our stellar faculty and guest artists.”
- Rachel Jett, Artistic Director
summer calendar
Join our mailing list for inside information about the summer season, or become a member for special discounts and summer season perks!
The 2020 Summer Season is made possible by:
The Shubert Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Burry Fredrik Foundation, Connecticut Office for the Arts, Geraldine Stutz Trust, The Jane Henson Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Critical Minded—an initiative to invest in cultural critics of color co-founded by The Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Ford Foundation, The Edward and Mary Lord Foundation, Dramatist Play Service, Foundation of the American Theatre Critics Association, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, Actors' Equity Foundation, The Kitchings Family Foundation, Maximilian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc. and the support of individual O’Neill donors.
#ONeillSummer