REBEL VERSES 2023 to Showcase The Door, Girl Be Heard, and More

Developing Artists has revealed their featured and guest performers for three days of programming for REBEL VERSES 2023 at Vineyard Theatre (108 East 15th Street). This year will feature The Door, Girl Be Heard, Hi-ARTS' and Urban Word's Journal 2 Journey and MCC Theater. Performances will take place August 3 at 7pm, August 4 at 7pm and August 5 at 2pm and 7pm and additional guests will include Kevin Powell (“The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy's Journey into Manhood”), La Bruja (Nuyorican Poets lo Cafe), Lemon Andersen (“Ready Made Real: Poems”), Bonafide Rojas (“Pelo Bueno: A Day in the Life of a Nuyorican Poet”)  and Kara Young (Clyde’s).
 
With a mission to nurture the unapologetic, unrestrained creativity of the next generation, REBEL VERSES provides an opportunity for young artists ages 13-19 to perform their own original work and to collaborate and network with their peers and prominent guest artists. Founded 22 years ago by Developing Artists, and previously co-produced by Vineyard Theatre, REBEL VERSES celebrates the work these young artists create in an environment that champions the legitimacy of all stories and backgrounds. 
 
Julian Elijah Martinez, an alumni and Board Member of Developing Artists, recently appeared on The Vineyard Theatre stage in This Land Was Made says, “To say Developing Artists changed my life would be an understatement. Jill’s (Artistic Director) radical pedagogy had a profound effect on my understanding of myself as an artist. It wasn’t just learning to be a performer, it was learning how to be an activist, a citizen, and a person. Fundamentally Developing Artists is about empowering students to shape their own voices and charges them to use those voices to make the social and political change they want to see. With this intention, Developing Artists is quickly becoming vanguard of a new generation of leaders in the arts community: locally, nationally, and globally.”
 
Sarah Stern, Artistic Director for Vineyard Theatre adds, “Developing Artists' REBEL VERSES has made its home at Vineyard Theatre for five seasons pre-pandemic and we are thrilled to welcome them back into The Vineyard's Dimson Theatre. As many Vineyard members can attest, the work of these young artists is always inspiring and professional in its quality. Vineyard Theatre is proud to continue to support Developing Artists and REBEL VERSES through its Good Neighbor program to ensure the continued success of this extraordinary festival." 
 
Tickets can be purchased at developingartists.org.
 
REBEL VERSES is supported by a Good Neighbor rental subsidy provided by Vineyard Theatre.
 
Each night will include a prominent Guest Artist joining the festival for a special performance. 

August 3 @7PM:
Kevin Powell & La Bruja

August 4 @7PM:
Lemon Andersen

August 5 @2PM:
Bonafide Rojas

August 5 @7PM:
Kara Young

As a home for young artists and an incubator for new voices in theatre, both Developing Artists and REBEL VERSES boast a roster of alumni who are now working professionals in the performing arts. Among these artists are Michael R. Jackson whose Tony Award winning A Strange Loop began as a single monologue at REBEL VERSES, Raul Castillo (“Looking”), Sean Carvajal(Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train), Alex Flores (The Maze Runner), Lexi Lawson (Hamilton), Dominique Morisseau (Tony Award nominee for Best Book of a Musical for Ain’t Too Proud, author of The Detroit Projects trilogy), Angela Lewis (“Snowfalls”) and Nicco Annan (“P-Valley”). In 2007, The Vineyard produced History of the Word by Developing Artists alumnus Ben Snyder, in collaboration with students at Washington Irving High School and director and Vineyard board member Joe Morton.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
ABOUT DEVELOPING ARTISTS
 
Developing Artists (DA) teaches undervalued teens to relentlessly fight for positive social change through practical application of the performing arts. We help diverse students to proclaim themselves as artists and activists, to find their place and their connection in their community, and to bring about positive social change through participation in the arts.
 
Established in 1999, Developing Artists (DA) provides youth, who attend High Schools (13-19 years old) in the New York metropolitan area, the opportunity to study performing arts at the highest level and combat the disparity of arts education for students from under-served communities. We impact students by creating a forum to navigate life's increasing challenges (e.g. age discrimination, social injustices, gender inequality, institutional racism, economic disparity, sexism); to use their voice in dealing with these issues; and channel that energy into self­-expression and self­ confidence. DA has a track record of engaging positively with those who face significant barriers in their daily lives.  We strive to create a supportive young artist community through our REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival (RV).
 
Developing Artists is led by Artistic Director Jill DeArmon, Executive Director Jinn S. Kim and Managing Director Chris Bell. 
 

ABOUT REBEL VERSES

 
Since 2001, REBEL VERSES is where the next generation of theater artists in New York City showcase their unapologetic and unrelenting creativity. It’s where collaboration and connections between youth companies and prominent artists are fostered promoting the development of new works in theater. It’s a curated collection of performances by some of the best youth companies in NYC & beyond who are committed to nurturing and elevating diverse voices, championing artistic excellence, and creating a vibrant community of young artists who are challenging the status quo and shaping the future of theater.
 

ABOUT Vineyard Theatre
 

Under the artistic leadership of Sarah Stern and Douglas Aibel, Vineyard Theatre develops and produces new plays and musicals that push the boundaries of what theatre can be and do. For nearly 40 years, The Vineyard has nurtured a community of fearless theatre makers whose work has expanded the form, the field, and the larger culture. Vineyard Theatre has transferred eleven shows to Broadway, seven directly after their acclaimed Vineyard premieres: Lucas Hnath’s Dana H. and Tina Satter’s Is This A Room (both New York Times Best Theatre of 2021); Paula Vogel’s Indecent; Nicky Silver’s The Lyons; Kander, Ebb and Thompson’s The Scottsboro Boys; Bell and Bowen’s [title of show]; and Avenue Q by Marx, Lopez and Whitty (Tony Award, Best Musical). In recent years, four additional shows launched at The Vineyard have been revived in their first Broadway productions: Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive; Lanie Robertson’s Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar And Grill; Becky Mode’s Fully Committed; and Edward Albee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Three Tall Women.
 
From our home in NYC’s Union Square, The Vineyard develops and premieres new plays and musicals which go on to be seen around the country and the world. Recently, Jeremy O. Harris’ play “Daddy” (2019) received its London premiere at the Almeida; Ngozi Anyanwu’s Good Grief (2018) and David Cale’s Harry Clarke (2017) were recorded by Audible; Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Gloria (2014), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, transferred to Chicago’s Goodman Theatre; Paula Vogel’s Tony Award-winning Indecent (2016) aired on PBS’s “Great Performances” and was one of the most-produced plays nationwide in 2019; and Colman Domingo’s Dot (2016) is being adapted into an AMC series. The Vineyard’s first major digital work, Lessons in Survival, was named one of the top theatrical experiences of 2020 by the New York Timesand has been viewed by audiences in more than 40 countries.
 
The Vineyard’s Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, Susan Stroman Directing Award, and Colman Domingo Award provide residencies to early-career artists and our education programs serve over 700 New York City public high school students annually, culminating in Developing Artists’ REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival.  The Roth-Vogel New Play Commission is awarded annually to a mid- to late-career playwright to create and develop a new play with The Vineyard. Our work and artists have been honored with numerous awards including Pulitzer Prizes and Tony Awards, and the company is proud to be the recipient of special Drama Desk, Obie, and Lucille Lortel Awards for artistic excellence and support of artists.
 
Vineyard Theatre’s leadership includes Artistic Directors Sarah Stern and Douglas Aibel and Managing Director Suzanne Appel.
 

BIOGRAPHIES

Lemon Andersen is an American poet, spoken word artist and actor. He is sometimes credited as Lemon. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he still resides there. He is the son of Milagros "Mili" Quiñones, from Puerto Rico, and Peter Andersen, a Norwegian-American from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Growing up in poverty, as a teenager Lemon experienced the successive deaths of his stepfather, father, and mother from complications of heroin abuse and AIDS, leaving him and his older brother orphaned and forced to fend for themselves. Lemon became involved in serious crime, but his growing passion first for hip hop and then acting, and a succession of gifted mentors who recognized and nurtured his theatrical talent, resulted in his development into the powerful artist portrayed in County of Kings and Lemon. Today a much-lauded "wordsmith who thinks deeply about the sounds of syllables," Lemon Andersen's writing and live performances have received widespread popular and critical acclaim. In his November 2011 TEDYouth talk “Please don't take my Air Jordans,” Lemon's performance of the title poem by Reg E. Gaines is followed by his own spoken-word riff on the influence of Gaines, Etheridge Knight, and other poets on his creative growth as a poet and spoken word artist.

Caridad De La Luz (La Bruja) won an Emmy in 2022 soon after becoming the Executive Director of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe where she began her career in 1996. Winner of the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship and David Prize finalist, Caridad balances a career of activism, education and entertainment. She has been one of America's leading spoken word poets for over 20 years and has received The Edgar Allan Poe Award from The Bronx Historical Society. She was honored as a Bronx Living Legend by The Bronx Music Heritage Center and was named “Top 20 Puerto Rican Women Everyone Should Know.”

Kevin Powell is a poet, human and civil rights activist, journalist, filmmaker, former 2-time candidate for United States Congress in Brooklyn, NY, hip-hop historian, author of 16 books, writer of upcoming biography of Tupac Shakur.

Bonafide Rojas Poet and musician, Bonafide Rojas was born and raised in the Bronx. He is the author of four collections “Pelo Bueno: A Day in the Life of a Nuyorican Poet” (Dark Souls Press, 2004), “When the City Sleeps (Grand Concourse Press, 2012)”, “Renovatio” (Grand Concourse Press, 2012), and “Notes on the Return to the Island” (Grand Concourse Press, 2017). He founded Grand Concourse Press, named after the thoroughfare he grew up on, in 2012. Rojas identifies as one of the “next generation” of Nuyorican poets. Rojas is the 2002 slam this! champion and has performed on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam as well as in numerous venues in New York City and internationally. His writing appears in journals and anthologies that include “Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam” (Three Rivers Press, 2001) and “Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social & Political Black Literature & Art” (Third World Press, 2002). He is a guitar player and leader of the rock group Mona Passage. He lives in New York City and travels frequently to Puerto Rico, where he lectures on poetry.
 
Kara Young made her Broadway debut in Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s for which she received a Tony and a Drama Desk Nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play. This year, Young received her second Tony and Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play in the Pulitzer Prize winner, Cost of Living. Her other accolades include: an Obie Award, an Audelco Award and a Drama Desk nomination for her portrayal of Viola in Classical Theatre of Harlem's Twelfth Night; the inaugural Florence Mills Rising Star Award from Black Women on Broadway and a Theatre World Award. Her other stage credits include All The Natalie Portmans, Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven, The New Englanders, The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll’d, Syncing Ink, and Pretty Hunger.  She will next appear as a series regular in the highly anticipated Amazon series, “I’m a Virgo,” created by Boots Riley.  Previous TV credits include: HBO Max’s “The Staircase,"  Amazon’s feature “Chemical Hearts,” HBO's “Random Acts of Flyness,” and Netflix's “The Punisher.”

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