Photo Flash: THE AVIATRIX: A New Musical Wraps Filming

This week, filming has ended for the new virtual theatre/film hybrid The Aviatrix: A New Musical, with book and lyrics by Lily Dwoskin, music by Casey O'Neil, and direction by Ellie Handel.

The Aviatrix will be among the first fully created, staged, filmed, and edited movie musicals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pre-production meetings began in September 2020, recording began in October, and post-production begins now for a release date of January 28, 2021.

"Filming this musical has been challenging, humbling, and so thrilling," said director Ellie Handel. "When Casey and Lily approached me about doing The Aviatrix as a virtual musical, my initial reaction was 'YES!' and then I thought...wait. How are we going to make Harriet fly in an airplane while rehearsing over Zoom and filming with an iPhone? Six months and a lot of trial and error later, I'm excited to say we've figured it out."

Using green screens, multiple kinds of microphones, ring lights, and iPhones, the cast of The Aviatrix ended up turning their homes into fully-functioning sound stages. "With a team of both film and theater professionals, we were able to record the cast's vocals remotely, mix and master each of the tracks individually, and produce a cast album like you'd get from a studio," remarked Casey O'Neil, the show's composer and co-producer.

"This process was at the same time crazy, wonderful, frustrating, and incredibly artistically fulfilling," said Lily Dwoskin, librettist and co-producer. "Every single person wanted this show to succeed from day one. While we may not have had a shared language or vocabulary, we did have a shared passion for storytelling and wanting this show to be the best it could be."

The cast of The Aviatrix stars Tanisha Moore* (Emojiland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) as Harriet Quimby, Holly Gould* (The Ferryman) as Matilde Moisant, Ana Lovric as John Moisant, Sarah Anne Fuller Hogewood* as John Foster and Arielle Crosby, Lauren Baez, and Emily van Vliet Perea* as the featured ensemble.

The Aviatrix features Direction by Ellie Handel, Choreography by Tara Forseth, Music Supervision by Matthew Berzon, Lighting Design and Dramaturgy by Charlotte Seelig, Sound by Fadi Magdi, Virtual Backgrounds by Marieke Bauer, Costume Design by Chanel Morehead, Cinematography by Matthew Cody. Leading the editing process will be Eli Krauss and Tuânminh Albert ?? will be the sound assist and social media manager. The Production Stage Manager is Caroline Ragland. Associate Produced by Becky Abramowitz.

STREAMING DATES: January 28th, 29th, 30th, and 31st.

TICKET INFORMATION: $20 for 72 hours of streaming on any device. You may pre-order your spot online at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/theaviatrixmusical.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PRODUCTION: Visit https://www.theaviatrixmusical.com/ or email theaviatrixmusical@gmail.com.

*Actors appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association