WAITING FOR LEFTY Will Host Post-Show Sit-In Series

Classic Stage Company has announced a series of sit-ins following select performances of Clifford Odets' Waiting for Lefty, with original music and arrangements by Yeller Tooth, choreographed by Susan Misner, and directed by Steven Pasquale in his directing debut. Each sit-in will provide a place to sit together to acknowledge the value of the labor movement throughout America's history and in this moment of inflection.

CSC will also bring back the Classic Perspectives Series for the 2026-2027 season. Classic Perspectives is a post-show discussion program at CSC offering audiences the chance to go beyond the performance and engage in meaningful conversation. Following select performances, the series brings together artists, scholars, and creative team members to unpack the themes of the production, explore its connections to both past and present experiences, and dive behind-the-scenes processes.

This season, the Classic Perspectives Series will once again be curated and hosted by James Clements and Sam Hood Adrain, who are Co-Founders and Co-Artistic Directors of Brooklyn-based theater company What Will the Neighbors Say?. With a mission to provoke questions through untold stories, this source-based company has premiered 11 original plays in 6 cities in 4 countries on 2 continents, and co-presented a further 28 new works. Over the course of these projects, the Neighbors have created jobs for over 350 artists - 75% of them non cis-male identifying and 50% of them members of the global majority or immigrants. 

“Metropolis Rising:” A History of Labor Activism in New York

Thursday, October 29th @ 7pm

New York has been an epicenter of labor activism for centuries, entwined with and forwarding both political and social change. With a wildly diverse labor force, this activism has been historically tied to civil rights, women's rights and worker's rights. The state's legislation has been at the forefront of progressive change in an array of areas, from child labor to fair wages to workplace safety. Join WWTNS? for a panel discussion with curators, historians and professors examining the history of labor activism in the city and the state. Guests will include Sarah Seidman, Curator of "Raise Your Voice: New York Activism" at the Museum of the City of New York, Ruth Milkman, Distinguished Professor at CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, and Jacob Remes, a Labor Historian at NYU.

The Art of Labor with Professor Risa L. Lieberwitz

Saturday, November 7th @ 7:00pm | Post-Show Sit-In 

Clifford Odets wrote Waiting for Lefty in 1935 – presaging the enactment of the National Labor Relations Act months later and three years before the Fair Labor Standards Act. Almost a century later, we still see that these laws – including the right to unionize – are as important as ever in today's rapid evolution in technology, workforce, and infrastructure. Immediately following the performance, join Director Steven Pasquale for an exclusive conversation with Risa Lieberwitz, Professor of Labor and Employment Law at the ILR School at Cornell University and Academic Director of the ILR Worker Institute, to discuss the ongoing struggles for labor rights in the 21st century and how they affect each and every one of us.

"Which Side Are You On?:” Folk Music, Protest Songs and Performance

Thursday, November 12 @ 7:00pm

Throughout history, folk music and labour songs have been central tools for building community, surviving hardship and strengthening workers' unity. Join WWTNS? for a panel discussion with Steven Pasquale, Erik Della Penna, guitarist and composer of Dead Outlaw on Broadway and collaborator with Natalie Merchant since 2001, and scholar and Afrofutruist folk performer Jake Blount examining the history of protest music, the powerful traditions of folk music as resistance and music as a tool for political organizing.

Post-Show Sit-In

Friday, November 13 @ 7:00pm

A sit-in conversation with Waiting for Lefty director Steven Pasquale and Tyne Rafaeli, director of Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing! later this season at Manhattan Theatre Club on Broadway. Together, they will explore the history of politically engaged theatre and the particular power of early-20th-century playwrights to reflect their moment, provoke audiences, and inspire social change.

“There is a Future:” The Life and Work of Clifford Odets

Sunday, November 15 @ 2:00pm 

Join WWTNS? for a panel discussion examining the life and work of the legendary playwright Clifford Odets. Featuring guests including contemporary directors of Odet's work and Doug Reside, archivist of the Odets Paper at NYPL Billy Rose Theatre Division, the panel will explore his seminal canon, his life, his politics and his impact on the American theatre.

Post-Show Sit-In

Friday, November 20 @ 7:00pm 

Join in after the performance for a place to sit together to acknowledge the value of the labor movement throughout America's history and in this moment of inflection. Guests to be announced.

About Waiting For Lefty

Clifford Odets' Waiting for Lefty begins previews next Thursday, October 15 and will open on Monday, November 2 at CSC's Lynn F. Angelson Theater (136 East 13th Street). This limited engagement will run through Sunday, November 22.

The company of Clifford Odets' Waiting for Lefty will feature Tony Award nominee Tala Ashe (English), Raffi Barsoumian (CSC's Macbeth, Les Liaisons Dangereuses), Austin Durant (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Greg Hildreth (CSC's I Can Get It For You Wholesale, Chicago), Adam Kantor (The Band's Visit), Doireann Mac Mahon (The Honey Trap), Zach McNally (West Side Story), Sahar Milani (Hound Dog), Cameron Scoggins (The Hills of California), and Henry Stram (Network).

One room. One choice. One movement. Exploited, exhausted, and pushed to the edge, the taxi drivers of Depression-era New York City gather to make a choice that will change their lives forever. But as they wait for their leader, the tension reaches a fever pitch. Marking the directing debut of acclaimed actor Steven Pasquale, this innovative production uses music and movement to breathe fresh life into Clifford Odets' 1935 masterpiece, transforming the theater into a high-stakes union hall. Both then and now, speaking truth to power can come at a deadly cost. Don't miss this visceral collision of classic social protest and contemporary sound. The clock is ticking - are you with us?