Live & In Color Reveals 2025 June Bingham New Playwright Commission Recipient and New Musical In Development

Live & In Color has announced two highlights for 2025. Vaibu Mohan is the recipient of the 2025 June Bingham New Playwright Commission (JBNPC). The June Bingham New Playwright Commission honors the legacy of the late artist and playwright, June Bingham, by providing support to a new generation of early-career women/femme and/or non-binary storytellers as they seek to create work that manifests change in the world. Director and Arts Leader, Abigail Grubb, serves as the Program's Director and Co-Founder alongside Live & In Color's Artistic Director and June Bingham's nephew, Devanand Janki. After a highly competitive national call for applications and three rounds of panel review conducted entirely by femme and/or non-binary industry professionals, the panel selected Laura Neill, Tidtaya Sinutoke, Charlene Adhiambo, and Vaibu Mohan as the 2025 Finalists.

There is a devil that lives on your shoulders, and it's telling you to let go of yourself and your inhibitions.Vaibu's commissioned play, Bound To You (Working Title), is inspired by the tales of Vikramaditya and the Vetala, is a surrealist exploration of what it means to be a woman, the pressures placed on us and that we place on ourselves, and how unleashing inhibitions can ultimately free us to make friends (or make love) with the demon on your shoulders.

"It's an honor to welcome Vaibu as our fifth recipient of the JBNPC. Her reimagining of South Asian myth in The Capture of the Vetala is both haunting and urgent. Vaibu's work bridges the traditional and the experimental with striking clarity, offering audiences a powerful feminist lens and a deeply original theatrical voice. Her vision is exactly what American theatre needs right now." - Abigail Grubb, Program Director

"I am deeply honored to be commissioned by Live & In Color to write this piece. I am excited to explore the intimacy that comes with writing a two-person play, and I am especially eager to bring my movement background to create a surreal world where we can all hopefully confront and make friends with the demon on our shoulders." - Vaibu Mohan

Vaibu Mohan (she/her) is an Indian-American creative based in New York. She is a professional Bharatanatyam dancer, musical theater writer, playwright, director, and producer specializing in the intersection of South Asian storytelling methodologies and Western theater practices. She was the 2024 winner of Atlanta Opera's 96 Hour Opera Project and her one act opera, Jala Smriti, is set to premiere in 2026. She is also a 2025 Playwright in Residence at the New Harmony Project. She is the bookwriter and lyricist of Sati: Goddess Incarnate in association with Silambam Phoenix which is currently in development. Vaibu is the Associate Artistic Director of Silambam Phoenix.
Bound To You will be developed over the next several months and workshopped during Live & In Color's annual fall retreat in September, culminating in a staged reading of a 60-90 minute two-person play.

In addition, Live & In Color is thrilled to announce the new musical selected for development this year:

Jesse J. Sanchez's Zapata: A Folklorico Superhero Musical will receive focused development and workshop opportunities through Live & In Color's annual retreat. Set in the present day, the musical follows sixteen-year-old Xochitl Fernandez, who dreams of becoming a folklorico dancer. Her mother, Ofelia, vehemently opposes the idea, urging Xochitl to focus on college, pursue a well-paying job for stability, and assimilate as the best possible American. Constantly on the move from city to city, the duo finally finds a semblance of home in Tejas. However, their stability is shattered when Ofelia, on the brink of a promotion at her energy drink company, is abducted by the villainous HELADO and his gatito army. Xochitl is left in the dark about her mother's whereabouts until her pet chihuahua, Chicalinga, reveals a family secret (yes, a talking perro). To her amazement, Xochitl discovers that she shares a special power with her mother and grandmother - the power of Zapata! In a quest to rescue her ama from Helado, Xochitl embarks on a journey down El Camino De Las Estrellas to find Mazatepa, Mexico, essential for fully unlocking the power of Zapata. She will be tested along the way and will need to call on specific traditional Ballet Folklorico dance moves to pass tests. Along the way, she receives assistance from her trusty sidekick, Chicalinga. ¡Ajua!

"As we head into our 11th season, I'm reflecting on how far we've come-and how much heart it takes to do this work. Live & In Color began as a dream, and every year at the Bingham Camp we make space-on a shoestring and with so much love-for artists to feel seen, heard, and celebrated. I'm thrilled to welcome Jesse J. Sanchez and Zapata into our growing canon. I've long admired Jesse's vibrant, culturally rich storytelling, and this bold, joyful, deeply human musical is exactly the kind of work we're here to champion." - Devanand Janki, Artistic Director

"I'm incredibly honored and grateful for the opportunity to develop my new musical with Live & In Color, an organization that is deeply committed to uplifting stories from underrepresented communities. I have so much respect and admiration for Dev, Abigail, and the entire team for their tireless dedication to supporting new musicals." - Jesse J. Sanchez

Jesse J. Sanchez is an award-winning composer-lyricist, writer, and music director whose work has reached audiences nationwide. He is a 2024 James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation Spark Artist Award winner, VCCA Fellow, a two-time recipient of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Frank Young Grant, a recipient of the Milagro Latino Artist Fund Grant, and a finalist for the Opera America Digital Excellence in Opera Award. He is currently under commission or has received commissions from Zach Theatre, Boston Lyric Opera, Oregon Cabaret, Portland Opera, TYA/USA, The 24 Hour Plays, Camelot Theatre, and more. Jesse is an alumnus of Musical Theatre West New Works Festival, NAMT, The Orchard Project, The Johnny Mercer Writers Grove at Goodspeed, Austin Latinx New Play Festival, Prospect Theatre's Musical Theatre Lab, Oregon Shakespeare Festival's BLACK SWAN Lab, and New York Theatre Barn Core Programs, including the Barn On Fire Festival of New Musicals (mentored by Jerry Mitchell). His works include Sueños: Our American Musical, Zapata: A Folklorico Superhero Musical, desert in, Exhaustion Arroyo, and many more. His work has been showcased at major regional theaters, off-Broadway, opera houses, and other performing venues, including the Playbill Songwriter Series, a sold-out concert of his music at The Green Room 42 in NYC, Songwriter Showcase at NAMT, Broadway League's The Jimmy Awards (2023-2025), the Broadway Housing Committee Gala hosted by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Jesse's music is available for streaming on all major platforms and is featured regularly on Sirius XM Broadway and Musical Theatre Radio.

Founded by director and choreographer Devanand Janki, Live & In Color is a creative incubator dedicated to advancing diversity and inclusion in the American theatre. The organization develops new plays and musicals with the potential for commercial success, while centering underrepresented voices and stories. With a strong emphasis on non-traditional casting, multicultural collaboration, and bold theatricality, Live & In Color provides artists with a safe and inspiring environment to create. Its annual development retreat takes place at the historic Bingham Camp in Salem, CT, offering a uniquely immersive space for collaboration and growth.

Recognized by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) as one of its "Top Standout Moments for Diversity and Inclusion," Live & In Color envisions a theatre landscape where artists of color and queer artists-both established and emerging-are empowered with meaningful opportunities to practice their craft and bring powerful new stories to life.