ABSOLUTE ZERO Will Receive Developmental Production From Ohio Wesleyan University Next Month

Join Ohio Wesleyan University's Department of Performing Arts for the first fully staged production of “Absolute Zero,” a developing musical that offers “a gleeful reclamation of the patriarchal and often sexist spy genre.”

Absolute Zero is the lowest temperature known to humanity. It's just a theoretical construct that's never actually been reached – until now. By terrorists. But when the CIA's top agent – sexy lesbian lothario Sam Knight - is called in to investigate, she never expected that in order to save humanity, she'd have to excavate her own past. Fueled by a contemporary pop-rock and jazz score, Absolute Zero is a taut, funny musical thriller written for a cast of all female and gender non-conforming performers.

Absolute Zero has been developed in part with the help of the York Theatre Company, the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, NMI, MusicalWriters.com, New York Theatre Barn, and the Apples and Oranges Arts THEatre ACCELERATOR. The work was a semi-finalist for the 2023 O'Neill National Music Theatre Conference; 2nd prize for the 2022 NMI Search For New Musicals; and a winner of the Spring 2022 MusicalWriters.com Pitch Night. The writers were Top 25 finalists for the 2023-2024 Dramatists Guild Foundation National Fellowship.

Lusie Cuskey, Ph.D., assistant professor of theatre, is the director and fight choreographer for “Absolute Zero,” and Jason Hiester, D.M.A., associate professor of music, is the music director. Mhairi Kerr is the intimacy choreographer. The show features a set design by Carrie Hurst, technical director for the OWU theatre program; costume design by Jaylene Jennings; and lighting design by Rowan Winterwood.

“Most of the stories of classic spies were about men, so [‘Absolute Zero' is] really painting the world we want to see,” says lyricist and librettist Dorie Clark about the musical written for a cast of nine women, trans, and nonbinary performers. And composer Marie Incontrera adds, “We get to fill every role, from the heroes to the villains and everybody in between. People who aren't often represented in theatre are completely centered.”

The OWU Department of Performing Arts will present five performances of “Absolute Zero” at 7:30 p.m. April 11, 12, 13, 19, and 20 on the Main Stage of Chappelear Drama Center, 45 Rowland Ave., Delaware. The April 13 performance will be followed by a talkback with the musical's writers and members of the cast and production team. Tickets are free but should be reserved in advance by visiting https://bit.ly/AZatOWU.

Nine Ohio Wesleyan students are performing in “Absolute Zero”:

• Dyna Bresson, Lauren.
• Emily Clausing, ensemble and Lauren understudy.
• Katie Davis, as ensemble and Sam and Elsa understudy.
• Kaya Ferrell, as Edith.
• Emerson Freas, as Elsa Von Braun.
• Morgan Gioffredo, as ensemble and Chief understudy.
• Callie Staley, as the Chief.
• Haleigh Stover, as ensemble and Edith understudy.
• Maja Todorović, as Sam Knight.

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