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Join artists exploring new works at the Kimmel’s SEI Residency Program
Naomi Orwin
It’s always exciting to see new work in development, especially when you’re part of the process, and summer is a great time to do that in Philadelphia. Theaters open their doors to creators, playwrights, and composers and give them space and support to bring their visions to life.
That is what is happening at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts this week. They’ve expanded their 2015 Theater Residency to collaborate with Joe’s Pub at The Public, a part of the Public Theater founded by Joe Papp in New York City. And they’ve invited five teams of music and theater artists to work together in creating four new works. The artists come from a variety of backgrounds, and include local actor and performer Dito van Reigersberg (cofounder of Pig Iron Theatre Company who also performs as Martha Graham Cracker), working with Dave Sweeny (Johnny Showcase) and Eliza Hardy Jones.
The others include a theater artist working with a composer (Daniel Alexander Jones and Bobby Halvorson), a cabaret performer (Ethan Lipton) and his band, a singer-songwriter (Jamie Leonhart), and a Latin pop singer/songwriter (Migguel Anggelo) collaborating with David Drake and pianist-composer Mau Quiros.
The teams are working under the guidance of Shanta Thake, director of Joe’s Pub, and Jay Wahl, Artistic Director of the Kimmel Center. An eventual goal is to produce the final works, as the Kimmel Center has done with last year’s 8 Stops by Deb Margolin and this year’s Hello! Sadness! by Mary Tuomanen.
The residency will culminate in free public readings so the artists can have their work performed before a live audience with a chance for the audience to ask questions and give feedback.
The Free Public Readings of the Kimmel Center 2015 Residency Program run July 1 and 2 at the SEI Innovation Studio, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia. For more information, call 215-893-1999 or visit online. Advance reservations are required.
To read Naomi Orwin’s review of Hello! Sadness!, click here.
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