Jeff Calhoun will Moderate New York Theatre Barn’s Choreography Lab
The lab will feature Jay Alan Zimmerman's Songs for Hands on a Thursday.
By: Emmy Rice Aug. 23, 2025
Tony-nominated director/choreographer Jeff Calhoun (Newsies, Deaf West’s Big River) will moderate the conclusion of the 12th season of New York Theatre Barn’s Choreography Lab on Thursday, September 18, 2025, at 7PM ET. The lab will be presented at the FiveAngels Theater in NYC (789 Tenth Ave.) and is available for live streaming. Click here to purchase tickets.
The September 18th lab will make space for Songs For Hands On A Thursday, a theatrical song cycle created by the company’s longtime collaborator, Jay Alan Zimmerman, and adapted from award-winning playwright Sarah Ruhl’s 44 Poems for You. With theatrical concepts and music by Jay Alan Zimmerman and words from Sarah Ruhl’s 44 Poems for You, the new song cycle is directed by Evan T. Cummings, and Garrett Zuercher is the Director of Artistic Sign Language.
The work on Songs For Hands On A Thursday will support a Deaf composer, a disabled director, a Director of Artistic Sign Language, 3 choreographers (both Deaf and hearing), a projection designer, a sound engineer, and 8 performers (both Deaf and hearing). The featured choreographers include Chloe O. Davis (Hell’s Kitchen, Gypsy), yannick-robin eike, and Samuel Langshteyn.
Curated by Avital Asuleen and funded in part by a generous gift from the Amber Foundation, the Choreography Lab is the only platform for choreographers and writers to collaborate on movement for original musicals during incubation. New York Theatre Barn will continue to provide Live CART and captioning services, provided in part by NYSCA/TDF TAP Plus. New York Theatre Barn’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The lab’s unique programming supports choreographer development, fosters collaboration between writers and choreographers earlier in the creative process, and serves as an educational forum where all parties can strengthen and specify how dance can be used to convey story and character. For more information, visit New York Theatre Barn’s website: www.nytheatrebarn.org.
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