Elena Araoz News

SWELL, a music-theatre work weaving together ten original avant-garde/new music compositions, opened on July 13th at Here Arts Center. Swell was conceived by lyricist, librettist, and playwright Melisa Tien (Yellow Card Red Card, New Ohio Theatre) and was directed by Elena Araoz (Original Sound, Cherry Lane Theatre).

SWELL is a music-theatre work that weaves together ten original avant-gardenew music compositions written by ten richly inventive composers drawing from their personal histories as immigrants and children of immigrants. Their unique, surprising, and deeply human stories are told through voice, piano, cello, and violin in this music-based contribution to the global immigration narrative. Their stories range from the first time a Mexican man steps foot on U.S. soil at the airport to navigating a new language in a new country and to what it means to go 'home' when home isn't home anymore.

SWELL is a music-theatre work that weaves together ten original avant-garde/new music compositions written by ten richly inventive composers drawing from their personal histories as immigrants and children of immigrants. Their unique, surprising, and deeply human stories are told through voice, piano, cello, and violin in this music-based contribution to the global immigration narrative.

Boundless Theatre Company will present a production of Migdalia Cruz's Fur, directed by Elena Araoz. The production will run from November 1st to November 24th as part of the Next Door Series at NYTW, located at 83 East 4th Street.

To ensure a separation of powers, the U.S. Federal Government is made up of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. When authority runs amok, the ultimate check is the American citizen. 

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) announces the 2019/20 season of Next Door at NYTW in the Fourth Street Theatre, NYTW's 65-seat black box space.

Play On Shakespeare today announces an expansive list of compelling actors and dynamic directors confirmed to participate in the Play on! Festival, presented in association with Classic Stage Company (CSC) and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF). Play on! features 39 readings of new, work-in-progress translations of Shakespeare's plays into contemporary modern English by some of today's most exciting playwrights-May 29-June 30 at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater at CSC (136 E. 13th Street). In 2015, Oregon Shakespeare Festival launched an ambitious 39-play, three-year commissioning project, Play on!, tasking 36 playwrights-more than half of whom were women and playwrights of color, each paired with a dramaturg-to translate Shakespeare's canon in celebration of the enduring impact of the Bard's work. Supported by a generous grant from the Hitz Foundation and inspired by long-time patron Dave Hitz's passion for Shakespeare, the project was and continues to be led by Lue Morgan Douthit. For more information, visit playonfestival.org.

Tickets go on sale today, May 15, for White Snake Projects' I Am a Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams, the newest opera from creator and librettist Cerise Jacobs, premiering September 20-22 on the Robert J. Orchard Stage of Boston's Emerson Paramount Theater. Composed by Jorge Sosa, the opera explores immigration, dislocation, and transformation in America. In conjunction with the premiere, White Snake Projects has launched the new multi-year community engagement initiative SING OUT STRONG, designed to foster the creation of new songs on themes arising from the company's mainstage operas. Also in the works is a collaboration between White Snake Projects and Juventas New Music Ensemble, a Boston-based incubator for promising musical pioneers that has had a season-long focus on American voices, perfectly dovetailing with the opera and the SING OUT STRONG initiative. The two organizations partnered earlier this month on Juventas's "Voices of America" concert, an evening of new music that shared stories of immigrants and refugees and included a special preview of excerpts from the opera. Tickets for I Am a Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams can be purchased here.

The turntables spin gold in 'Original Sound,' a fresh and frenetic take on the promise and perils of guarding intellectual content in the music industry. Sebastian Chacon kills as Danny Solis, a talented amateur Nuyorican beat maker whose primary instruments are his computer, his confidence, and his affable charm.

Cherry Lane Theatre concludes their season with the World Premiere of ORIGINAL SOUND, by Adam Seidel, directed by Elena Araoz with music direction by Daniel Ocanto. ORIGINAL SOUND will begin performances on Tuesday, April 30 run through June 8, 2019, and will celebrate its opening night tonight, May 9, 2019

Cherry Lane Theatre will conclude their season with the World Premiere of ORIGINAL SOUND, by Adam Seidel, directed by Elena Araoz with music direction by Daniel Ocanto. ORIGINAL SOUND will begin performances on Tuesday, April 30 run through June 8, 2019, and will celebrate its opening night on May 9, 2019, at Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce St. in Manhattan). Tickets are $55 ($45 during previews) - $85 and are available by visiting CherryLaneTheatre.org, by calling 866-811-4111 or by visiting the Cherry Lane Theatre Box Office.

Continuing McCarter's tradition of producing timely, socially relevant work that engages with the central questions of our culture, McCarter has partnered with Princeton University's Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS) on The Migration Plays: a new initiative focusing on the nature of migration, how it is represented culturally, and the ways in which it shapes the world around us.

American Blues Theater, Chicago's second oldest Equity Ensemble, under the continued leadership of Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside, has named Benjamin Benne, was selected from a pool 752 submissions. As part of the award, Benne receives a $1,250 cash prize and the opportunity to further develop his script with American Blues Theater.

ALLOND[R]A by Gina Femia, the recipient of the 2018 Leah Ryan Prize for Emerging Women Writers, will have a public reading, directed by Elena Araoz on Monday January 28, 2019, 7pm, at New Ohio Theatre

On January 10th, A.R.T./NY named Boundless Theatre Company (Maria-Cristina Fuste, Executive Artistic Director) one of the 2019 recipients of the Edith Lutyens and Norman Bel Geddes Design Enhancement Fund Grant! This grant was awarded to enhance the design of Boundless' upcoming production of Fur by Migdalia Cruz, directed by Elena Araoz. Three women designers of color - costume designer Sarita Fellows, scenic designer Regina Garcia, and lighting designer Maria-Cristina Fuste - will use the grant funding to more fully realize their artistic vision for the production.

People's Light presents Lynn Nottage's Sweat, winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and nominee for the 2017 Tony Award for Best Play. Currently the second-most produced play in the country, Sweat is an extensively researched portrait of early 2000s Reading, PA and an incisive examination of deindustrialized America.

The Sol Project (Jacob G. Padron, Artistic Director), the national theater initiative dedicated to amplifying Latinx voices and building a body of work for the new American theater, is proud to announce that founding member and artistic producer David Mendizabal will become the Associate Artistic Director, beginning immediately. Rebecca Martinez and Julian Ramirez will also join the company as members of the artistic collective.

The Drama League (Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Artistic Director) has announced the theater directors chosen to develop new plays and musicals as part of the 2019 Drama League Artist Residency Program. Public work-in-progress presentations of each residency will be held periodically throughout the year at The Drama League Theater Center, 32 Avenue of the Americas, in Tribeca. Schedules for the presentations, which are open to the public, will be available throughout 2019 at www.dramaleague.org or by calling (212) 244-9494.

The Muse Project, in association with The Tank, presents Musings: a collection of Mini Muse presentations at The Flea Theater as a part of their Anchor Partnership. Musings runs from Monday, October 15th - Sunday October, 21st at The Flea's new home at 20 Thomas Street in Tribeca.

The Muse Project, in association with The Tank, will present Musings: a collection of Mini Muse presentations at The Flea Theater as a part of their Anchor Partnership. The Muse Project gives women performers the time, space, and opportunity to experiment with and explore their fantasy projects. Musings will showcase the exciting, fresh, paradigm-shifting storytelling that 5 of New York's leading stage actresses have developed through intensive workshops, called Mini Muses. The week will culminate in a party on October 19th, the 'Mini Gala' - a wine and cheese event to celebrate the week's presentations; and 'Tea Time,' a one-of-a-kind Muse pilot program, where a veteran stage actress discusses her experiences building her career. Actress Florencia Lozano is set to partake as the Tea Time guest.