Rave Theater Festival Adds Reading Series

The brand-new Rave Theater Festival has announced a reading series bringing an additional three shows to the inaugural festival's slate of twenty. Beginning tomorrow, August 9, through August 25, 2019 at Clemente Soto Veléz Cultural and Educational Center (107 Suffolk Street) on the Lower East Side, Rave Theater Festival has selected a diverse roster of plays, musicals, family-friendly shows, and cross-disciplinary projects. Several performances are already sold out.

The reading series will include:

• The Piper, Book and Lyrics by Roger Griffin, Music by Roseann Hammil

Ten-year-old Kurt believes his clubfoot is a sign that he's meant for greater things than a life at the blacksmith's forge. Determined to become the Hero of Hamelin, he sets out for the big city to find a rat catcher that can save the town from its infamous plague of rats. But when a chance encounter with a magical Piper leads him down a road less traveled, Kurt discovers what believes not only about himself, but how he sees the rest of the world as well. The show is led by director Benjamin Viertel.

• The First Black President, Written by Ofem Ajah

Through his fixer and aide, President Warren Harding begins a sexual, extramarital affair with Nan Britton, the teenage daughter of his late best friend. When Ms. Britton becomes pregnant and bears the president's daughter, he pays her hush money to keep the scandal under wraps before his re-election in 1924. In many respects, the more we appear to have made progress, the more we appear to be stuck.

• Mahler's Elusive Muse, Written by Amy Drake

Conductor/composer Gustav Mahler consults psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud in order to help him save his marriage to Alma Schindler, who struggled against the patriarchy to become a composer in her own right.

For more information on all of the shows, and to RSVP for the readings please visit RaveTheaterFestival.com/Shows