New Queer Musical CATCHING FIREFLIES Holds First Workshop Concert Premiere This November

The first workshop concert of Catching Fireflies: A New Queer Musical, is premiering this fall on November 12 @7pm at Don't Tell Mama's Cabaret.

Written by Bella Faye, arranged by Adam Gloc, directed by Kristen Penner, and music directed by John Arlan Banes, Catching Fireflies is a show of 13 musical theater vignettes that explore the queer experience in relationship to the human mind and body. It focuses on five Philly friends stuck at a Waffle House pre-pandemic, and each of their journeys through the year, only to arrive back where they started - but with a slightly new outlook on life.

Bella Faye, most recently featured for her song cycle, San Francisco Daydream, and former student of Broadway composer Drew Gasparini, is a new queer composer who aspires to create work that explores the limits of human emotion and normalizes the exploration of sexuality and attraction. In regards to Catching Fireflies, she states, "I aim to spark essential conversations regarding the queer experience in this modern society and how that affects our development as people and artists. Over the quarantine, so many of us started out with a different identity, and I think that journey of discovery and reflection we all went through is a shared experience and worth talking about."

Director Kristen Penner, who most recently directed The Whimsical World of Sherlock Holmes (Broadway Bound Theater Festival 2021), also highlights the importance of a show like this: "As a lesbian, Catching Fireflies is a show that speaks to me personally, but it's importance goes deeper than that. This is a story of self discovery, transformation, and hope that is universal and unifying in divisive times. It has been a joy to enter this world, and I look forward to sharing it's message with audiences." The piece asks important questions regarding sexuality, identity and gender, all through the metaphor of fireflies, brilliantly described by music director John Arlan Banes: "Fireflies sometimes flash to defend, sometimes to attract....How do you use your own light? What reactions, skin-deep and urgent, reveal your own brilliant bioluminescence?"

The workshop cast includes: Elena Faverio, Kiana Douglas, Gabbi McCarren, Lorelei MacKenzie, and Shelby Gillespie. You can currently make reservations at https://donttellmamanyc.com/component/eventbooking/main/6259-catching-fireflies-a-new-queer-song-cycle-11-12-21 for this one-night only showing and learn more about the show @catchingfirefliesnyc on Instagram. Doors open @6:15pm, show @7pm with a $20 cover charge and two drink minimum (Cash Only) at Don't Tell Mama's (343 West 46th St NYC 10036).

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