PRISM: A Festival of New Queer Musicals at The Makers' Ensemble

THE MAKERS’ ENSEMBLE X THE BRICK THEATER X

JUDSON ARTS PRESENTS

THE 2ND ANNUAL PRISM FESTIVAL OF

NEW QUEER MUSICALS

The Makers’ Ensemble in Association with The Brick Theater & Judson Arts to

present four new musicals in New York City this Pride Month

The 2nd Annual PRISM Festival of New Queer Musicals is an innovative

platform dedicated to celebrating and nurturing emerging Queer theater talent. Housed

in the historic walls of Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village and the "essential

experimental venue for compelling, new, high-quality work," The Brick Theater in

Williamsburg, this unique theatrical event is poised to ignite the stage with fresh

perspectives and electrifying premiere performances. Dedicated to amplifying the voices

of emerging Queer theater artists, the festival invites audiences to witness the birth of

four audacious new musicals. Four creative teams will embark on a paid developmental

process spanning a minimum of 29 hours of rehearsal, culminating in two captivating

weeks of concert-style performances. At its essence, the PRISM Festival celebrates the

transformative power of Queer artists and the musical theater form. Much like a prism

dispersing light into a spectrum of hues, Queer artists imbue the stage with a

kaleidoscope of perspectives, creating a mosaic of stories that reflect the richness and

depth of human experience. Join us as we initiate a thrilling odyssey of creativity and

self-discovery, where Queer voices shine brightly, illuminating the path towards a more

inclusive and vibrant artistic landscape.

be Like BONE

Book, Music, & Lyrics & Music Directed by Storm Thomas

Directed by nicHi douglas

Music Supervision by Rose Van Dyne

be Like BONE is a neo-expressionist dissertation on early Black musical theater history.

Told through eclectic rhythm, music and poetry, this musical details the lives of almost

forgotten figures while pushing the boundaries of what musical theater can be. be Like

BONE is a haunting work of gestural dance theater and an abstract look into our past.

See/Unsee

Book, Music, & Lyrics by Lila Blue

Additional Book & Dramaturgy by Ren Dara Santiago

Directed & Developed by Jillian Jetton

Music Directed by Noga Cabo

Lila Blue and their ten-piece band conjure a grief ritual from the work and imagined life

of artist Hilma af Klint. Surfacing where Blue’s life overlaps with that of the pioneering

painter and mystic – in queerness, in love, and in loss – SEE/UNSEE invites you (and

any ghosts who might tag along) into a ferocious song cycle séance.I Saw Them

Book, Music, Lyrics, & Music Directed by Laura Galindo

Directed by Alex Bush

Graham, June, Peter and Reiko know well what it is to be wandering through the

kaleidoscopic intensity of queer friendship. Suddenly, they encounter the unknown.

Graham reveals they have three days to decide if they're ready to leave this all behind;

a prophecy from another world delivered to their Bushwick bedroom window. So, the

weight of the universe is invoked and the value of life here on Earth comes into

question. The colors, shapes, patterns of this quartet's shared life pours out.

Hong Kong After Midnight: The Disco Disco Musical

Book & Lyrics by Trevor K. Band

Music Amos Wong

Directed by Dante Green

Music Directed by Yan Li

In 1970s British Hong Kong, Gordon Huthart opened the legendary gay club Disco

Disco—at the height of police crackdowns on gay men. Based on firsthand accounts,

Hong Kong After Midnight follows Gordon’s battle against police, triad gangs, and

addiction as he and his community fight for a place to get together and dance in the city

they call home. With a rollicking disco score that will send you dancing into tomorrow,

Hong Kong After Midnight captures the highs and lows of parties and progress in a

colonial city fast approaching its handover to China.

The Makers’ Ensemble is a Brooklyn-based resident ensemble of multi-hyphenates.

We create and cultivate Live Arts. We celebrate and value the differences in our

cultural, educational, social, and identity backgrounds. We provide programming and

support for emerging artists to realize their creative dreams in collaboration with the

resident ensemble. It’s important to us that the rooms we create are diverse, the work

that we make excites us, and the collaboration we build is balanced. We use communal

live arts to inspire the next generation of artists and audiences, ignite new passions,

foster new relationships, and reimagine the future of Ensemble Practice.

Judson Arts continues the long tradition of arts ministry at Judson Memorial Church, a

spiritual force in Greenwich Village for over 120 years, devoted to creative freedom,

social justice, and progressive faith. From the acclaimed Judson Poets’ Theater and

Judson Dance Theater to today’s Judson Arts programming, Judson embraces the

necessity of art in our lives and nurtures an uncensored environment for innovative

expression, considering all artists potential modern-day prophets who show us where

we’ve been, who we are, and what we can become.The Brick Theater is a not-for-profit dedicated to developing and presenting the work of

pioneering emerging artists and career experimenters in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We are

the artistic home for work that pushes boundaries and spans the ever-evolving

spectrum of performing arts, theatre, dance, video, virtual reality, and visual arts. By

nurturing emerging artists, sustaining ongoing relationships with frequent collaborators,

and removing financial barriers for artists to create work, we create a diverse,

accessible, and inclusive artistic community for the city’s most daring artists. We

welcome adventurous audiences with low-cost and sliding-scale ticket prices to make

performances accessible to all.

The Makers’ Ensemble Founding Artistic Director: Dante Green

The Makers’ Ensemble Managing Director: Julie Cai

Judson Arts Artistic Director: Micah Bucey

Judson Arts Production Manager: Gregg Bellón

The Brick Theater Interim Managing Artistic Director: Jaclyn Biskup

The Brick Theater Interim Producing Artistic Director: Peter Mills Weiss

Runs

June 18-22, 2025

The Brick Theater

579 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn NY 11385

June 22-29, 2025

The Gym at Judson Memorial Church

55 Washington Square S, New York, NY 10012