Photos: What Will The Neighbors Say? Celebrates TRACES With Opening Night Reception

What Will the Neighbors Say? celebrated the opening of their latest world premiere production of "TRACES" at CUNY Queens College's Goldstein Theater last week.

The devised production, researched and written by the students at CUNY Queens College and directed by Co-Artistic Directors James Clements and Sam Hood Adrain, represents the culmination of the Neighbors' three years as Artists-in-Residence at the College. Guest drank champagne and ate from a dessert buffet as students, educators, administrators (including CUNY Queens College President Frank H. Wu) and members of the Neighbors' creative community mingled. For more information on the production, or to purchase tickets, please visit the Neighbors website (www.wwtns.org).

"TRACES" is a new devised documentary theater piece commissioned by CUNY Queens College. It is a story about the complex, interweaving lives lived in one apartment in Queens, on a block built at the turn of the 20th century. The play examines a sample of the residents that have called this apartment home over the last century, focusing specifically on the stories of the immigrant residents who have dwelled there during the great pandemics that swept the United States - Spanish Flu, polio, HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. This production premiered as a CUNY Queens College Mainstage production for the Spring semester.

"TRACES" features lighting design by faculty member Jeffery Greenberg, with sound design and composition by Liam Bellman-Sharpe, props by Jessie Blackman, set design by Jessica Cancino, costumes by Brynne Oster-Bainnson and video by Cosette Pin. The production is stage managed by Ashlei Miller, with Joanny Baez assisting, and production managed by Ralph Carhart. The production is being devised by CUNY Queens College students Celine Bancone, Ayi Bolaji Soares, Skye Bryan, Angie Etwarroo, Rose Gonzales, Anthony Kwan, Soraya Mahieddine, Josiah Rodriguez, Yenilé Rosario, Skye Pallo Ross, Leah Weintraub and Alan Wong. Further writing, from the Neighbors' undergraduate class in Fall 2022, came from Amanda Aulet, Casandra Foy, Gautam Khosla, Aleksandra Miller and Adleen Zia.

For "TRACES," the Neighbors' have collaborated with community partners including the Queens Memory Project, the Queens Public Library and the Queens Historical Society. The project is made possible with funds from the National Endowment of the Arts.

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