BLUE GUM, BROOKLYN to Make World Premiere at Matthew Corozine Studio Theater

Blue Gum, Brooklyn, a new play written and directed by Laurie Rose Savage, a finalist in Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope Screenplay Contest, makes its world premiere in a limited Off-Off Broadway engagement Oct 9–25, 2026, at Matthew Corozine Studio Theater in Manhattan.

Running for nine performances, this family drama is set against the economic pressures of a changing Brooklyn, exploring how old resentments, familial obligations and unspoken expectations shape the bonds between sisters. As competing narratives and buried secrets emerge during a family dinner, each woman must face the complicated economies of family: who gives, who takes, who stays, who leaves, what we owe one another, and what we hold for ourselves.

Produced by KMD Productions, a Texas- and New York City-based production company, in association with New York City- and Miami-based Matthew Corozine Studio Theater, the production explores suppressed emotion, family dynamics, avoidance, and the ways people navigate loss when there is no easy resolution.

'I'm interested in the ways the tensions of the outside world inevitably thread into the dynamics of a family—particularly as they play out between siblings who once shared a sense of magic. As the Singer sisters interrogate memories, loss, joys, and failures, I hope audiences will recognize their own unique family relationships, and also be present to a pestering grief: the American Dream has somehow become a term of nostalgia while we were busy attending to other, more pressing matters.' – Laurie Rose Savage, Playwright and Director, Blue Gum, Brooklyn

Event Details

Matthew Corozine Studio Theater, 357 W. 36th St., Suite #202, New York, NY

Preview: Friday, October 9 at 7:00 PM

Opening Night: Saturday, October 10 at 7:00 PM

Additional performances:

Sunday, October 11 at 1:00 PM

Friday, October 16 at 7:00 PM

Saturday, October 17 at 7:00 PM

Sunday, October 18 at 1:00 PM

Friday, October 23 at 7:00 PM

Saturday, October 24 at 7:00 PM

Sunday, October 25 at 1:00 PM

Tickets: www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/blue-gum-brooklyn

Production Information

Blue Gum, Brooklyn

Written and Directed by Laurie Rose Savage

Produced by: KMD Productions LLC in association with Matthew Corozine Studio Theater

Associate Producer: Stephanie Genito

Featuring

Christine Cartell as Jean Willow Singer. Christine Cartell's screen credits include Law & Order: SVU, FBI, Manifest, Billions, Orange Is the New Black, God Friended Me, Person of Interest, and The Blacklist. Her theater work includes The Wizard of Oz. A writer, producer, host, and voiceover artist, Cartell is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and is currently studying Strategic Communications at Western Michigan University. For more information, visit www.christinecartell.com or Instagram @christine.cartell.

Kat Donachie as Melanie Beatrice Singer. Kat Donachie is a New York City-based actress, choreographer, and creative producer. A former classical dancer, she has expanded her work into theater and production, with credits including One..Two.Three, The Dining Room, and Almost Maine. Screen credits include Law & Order: SVU and Critically Ashamed, with film credits including Stuck, Acolyte, and Ophiology. Donachie is also a Festival Producer of the Nordic International Film Festival and works as a choreographer and assistant director for Manhattan Youth. For more information, visit www.katdonachie.com or Instagram @katdonachie.

Maya Mills as Dolly Mirabelle Singer. Maya Mills is a New York City-based actor, director, and creative originally from San Francisco. Her credits include Homefront (A.C.T.), One Way (Fred Ebb Award winner), and Twelfth Night (MCS Theatre). Mills is drawn to stories that cultivate compassion, frame joy as an act of resistance, and nourish the collective imagination. She is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music. For more information, visit Instagram @mayamillls.

Frances Inés Rodríguez as Suzie Diane Cook. Frances Inés Rodríguez's credits include Fandango for Butterflies and Coyotes (La Jolla Playhouse, PILI), Gold Status (JAI), Coriolanus (La MaMa), Street Theater (The Flea), and FrikiNation (HERE Arts). A singer-songwriter, Rodríguez is also an active member of New York City's Son Jarocho community. Rodríguez was named a New York Times 'Scene Stealer' and received a Critics' Pick.

Understudy: Jamie Tincher — Jean and Melanie. Jamie Tincher is a New York City-based actor and writer. Her theater credits include Twilight of the Golds (Out/Play), Sick (Ted Wold Studio), and a workshop of her original piece The Modern Day Hunter S. Thompson (MCS / dir. Haley Rice). Her film work includes Bad Egg, directed by Sayfay Beard and Brittany Porter.

Understudy: Mel Mattos — Dolly and Suzie. Born and raised in Brazil, Mel Mattos is a multi-faceted artist and proud immigrant who has worked professionally as an actress, dancer, and singer for more than 15 years. Her theater credits include Stupid F**ing Bird* (BroadwayWorld-nominated performance), In the Heights (Regional), SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical (Regional), and Eurydice (Off-Broadway). She dedicates her work onstage and onscreen to her family and community in Brazil.

About the Playwright & Director

Laurie Rose Savage writes about family relationships, behaviors surrounding loss, and themes of avoidance and secrecy. Her recent work includes the limited narrative podcast THE RAT KING (The Shrill Collective, directed by Ashley Croce and Chelsea Feltman) and the play SILENT TREATMENT (Haley Rice's New Works Series, directed by Mahina Bowyer). Her screenplay OFF BROADWAY was a finalist in Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope Screenplay Contest.

As a Resident Artist and longtime collaborator at Matthew Corozine Studio Theater, Savage initiated the MCS Resident Writer Program, a dedicated structure for studio artists to cultivate original material on their own terms.

Her previous stage works include WATCH OUT, BLOODFEATHERS, FORMS OF FRACTURE: 4 SHORT WORKS, and DIFFERENT KINDS OF SHADOWS, all written and directed by Savage.

Written from Brooklyn, New York, Blue Gum, Brooklyn is, in part, a love letter to the place Savage calls home.

About KMD Productions

KMD Productions is a Texas- and New York City-based production company working across film and theater. Previous film producing credits include Funky, The Bargain (Jury Award, Portland Horror), Ophiology, and Wendy and the Lost Boy (First Runner-Up, Best Short, MBFF).

About Matthew Corozine Studio Theater

For more than 25 years, Matthew Corozine Studio Theatre (MCS) has provided actors and artists with a rigorous, Meisner-based approach to performance rooted in instinct, authenticity, and creative freedom. Founded by Matthew Corozine, MCS supports artists at every stage of their careers, from emerging performers to Broadway professionals, in developing their individual creative voices.

Based in New York City, MCS is home to an inclusive and collaborative artistic community encompassing theater, television, film, directing, writing, and other creative disciplines. Its work has expanded beyond New York to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Miami, and online, while maintaining its commitment to creating a safe, personalized environment where artists can grow and take creative risks. For more information, visit www.matthewcorozinestudio.com.