News: Emerging Artists Theatre’s Spark Theatre Festival NYC Returns September 9 – 29 at The Chain Theatre

Pray, choreographed by Tina Bararian, featuring Monica Plaza and Lorenzo Guerrini. Photo by Reza Mirjalili.
Vincent Van Gogh’s ghost, dancing subway riders, and Gloria Swansong’s drag follies will converge on stage during Emerging Artists Theatre’s (EAT) bi-annual Spark Theatre Festival NYC. Over the course of 3 weeks, 60 new works will be showcased. The festival features a wide range of programming that is sure to entertain and delight New York City theatergoers, including new musicals, plays, dance, solo shows, drag follies, and sketch comedy in various stages of development. The fall 2024 Spark Theatre Festival NYC runs September 9th - 29th.

Award-winning EAT, now in its 32nd year of presenting exciting and diverse new work, is proud to announce that the festival has moved to its new home at The Chain Theatre, located at 312 W 36th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY, 10018. During the festival, shows run nightly, with multiple shows on the weekend. Most productions receive one performance, with shorter shows grouped together to form a full evening of entertainment. Short talkbacks with the artists will follow some of the performances. Tickets prices range from $20 to $40. The full schedule can be found here.

EAT's Artistic Director and Founder Paul Adams shared his thoughts on the upcoming festival, “We’re thrilled to have our Fall Spark Theatre Festival premiere for the first time at The Chain Theatre, where we hope to have a long and creative life. We’re also excited to be part of the New York Premiere of Pamela Weiler Grayson’s timely new play Observant, which previously had a reading at last year's festival. And lastly, we have 60 new shows taking the stage. The talent, creativity and dedication these artists bring to their productions is inspiring. New York audiences are in for a treat.”

The full-length play Observant, directed by Shellen Lubin, is headlining EAT and will receive 9 performances over the course of the festival. In Observant, three generations of women confront their relationships to their Jewish identities—and to each other. Comedy and tragedy entwine, like a braided challah, when a mass shooting in their community tests the bonds of faith and family. The cast features Yair Ben-Dor, Fady Demian, Arielle Flax, Rebecca Hoodwin, Arielle Beth Klein, and Melissa Wolff. The full schedule and tickets are available here.

Eight new musicals will be presented, including In Justice, about an ambitious prosecutor pursuing a case against a female tech icon. The creative team includes book and lyrics by Sonya Baehr, music by Thomas W Jones, and book, lyrics, and music by Vanessa Baehr-Jones. The musical was inspired by real events; Baehr-Jones was one of the prosecutors on Elizabeth Holmes' (Theranos) trial. In Vincent the Musical, a middle schooler recently diagnosed with ADHD finds his own voice with the help of Vincent Van Gogh’s ghost. Lyrics and book are by Gabi Ammirato, with music by Yen Nien Hsu. The timely musical Olivia O follows a young girl as she tries to maintain hope and strength after she is separated from her mother at the US/Mexican border. The book is by Diane Currie Sam and Jessica Carmona, with lyrics by Jessica Carmona and Diane Currie Sam, and music by Gil Yaron.

A record-breaking thirty-seven dance pieces will be presented, including Subway Windows, choreographed by Beth Jucovy in collaboration with the dancers, which showcases a diverse group of subway riders; The Regret, choreographed by Abby Zeng, where the ancient art of Chinese classical dance meets modern techno; A Lamp in a Dark Room, choreographed by Laura Ardner, an interpretation of the 79 AD eruption of Mt. Vesuvius; and Pray, choreographed by Tina Bararian, where the scarcity of water and the danger it poses to the future of Iran is explored. 

Numerous solo shows will be showcased, including Swan Song for a Starboy, written by Cris Eli Blak, and the return of Elizabeth Alice Murray’s show CON*CUSSED and Billy Hipkins's The Also-Ran, which were previously presented at the festival. Several plays will be featured, including Gloria's Swansong Follies, with special guests including Andy Starling, Phoebe Jeebies, Zelda Garment, and Valentino West; and Burning, written by Rebecca Nyahay. Comedy will be in no short supply, and the popular shows/groups The Ruthless Comedy Hour and Model Majority Masterpiece Theater will be performing.

Spark Theatre Festival NYC (formerly called the New Work Series) has presented new work for the stage since 2006. In the Fall of 2023, EAT returned to Off-Broadway by producing three plays that ran in rep: Anne Being Frank, by Ron Elisha, Doris Day: My Secret Love, by Paul Adams, and Sex Work/Sex Play, by Caytha Jentis. Each of these shows was previously presented at the festival. Since its inception, numerous musicals, plays, solo shows, and dance pieces workshopped at the series have gone on to have full productions at the Edinburgh Fringe, NYMF, FringeNYC & Encores, and Off-Broadway, as well as national and international productions. For more, visit www.emergingartiststheatre.org.

On social media:

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www.twitter.com/EATheatreNYC

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