Read on for more theatre news you may have missed in today's headlines.
New Series From Brian Yorkey Greenlit at Netflix
Pulitzer and Tony-winning writer Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal) will develop a seven-episode psychological thriller for Netflix. Echoes is a mystery centering on identical twins who continually swap lives, sharing two homes, two husbands, and a child—until one of them goes missing. Yorkey co-produces and co-showruns the series with Quinton Peeples, with Vanessa Gazy on board to produce and write. Echoes is the first series greenlit in a new multi-year partnership between Yorkey and Netflix following the success of his Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. Imogen Banks and Endemol Shine Banks Australia will executive produce.
ArtsEmerson Announces 2021–2022 Season
Boston's ArtsEmerson has announced the mix of in-person and digital events that will make up the 2021–2022 season. The season launches with an on-demand streaming piece by circus troupe The 7 Fingers titled Out of Order. ArtsEmerson will welcome in-person audiences in November for the world premiere of Iphigenia, a contemporary opera created by jazz legend Wayne Shorter, Grammy-winning musician esperanza spalding, director Lileana Blain Cruz, and architect Frank Gehry. Thaddeus Phillips' made-for-digital theatre piece Zoo Motel will also run in November, followed by a live-virtual hybrid production of Nassim Soleimanpour's White Rabbit Red Rabbit in December. February will see Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon’s musical stage adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower. ArtsEmerson will host visiting productions of Sleeping Weazel's Everyday Life and Other Odds and Ends in March, Travis Alabanza's Burgerz in April, and The Theatre Centre’s Sea Sick in May. For more information, visit ArtsEmerson.org.
Hugh Dancy and Kathleen Chalfant Among Performers for The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues
The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues returns June 29 with a new lineup of actors performing monologues written specifically for them. From 6–10 PM ET, new monologues will publish every 15 minutes on IGTV @24hourplays and on 24HourPlays.com. Performers for this series include Abraham Makany, Cedric Leiba Jr., Corey Brill, David Hull, Emily Pendergast, Genevieve Angelson, Haskiri Velazquez, Hugh Dancy, John Doman, Joy Osmanski, Julian Elijah Martinez, Kathleen Chalfant, Noah Galvin, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Serena Berman, Tara Summers, Willa Fitzgerald and Willie Garson. The lineup of playwrights features Anna Ouyang Moench, Daniel Tejera, Gabe McKinley, Heidi Armbruster, J. Holtham, Jane Drinkard, Jesse Jae Hoon, Jonathan Caren, Jonathan Payne, Justin Sherin, Mario Correa, Meghan Kennedy, Melis Aker, Michael Mitnick, Rachel Sklar, Shara Feit and Talene Monahon. Since launching in March 2020, The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues has created over 400 new theatre works.
Choreographer Dana Tai Soon Burgess Launches Slant Podcast
The founder and artistic director of Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company hosts his own new podcast, Slant, a discussion series with Asian-American luminaries from the arts, academia, journalism, and other sectors about identity, belonging, and creating in America. Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang guests on the first episode in conversation about the role microaggression has had on his work, family, and his own well-being. The first season of Slant will also feature guests such as Grammy nominee Priya Darshini, theatre director Ping Chong, novelist Susan Choi, and arts writer Diep Tran, with more to be announced. For more information, visit SlantPodcast.com.
Plus: Get those applications in for Black Theatre Coalition's paid fellowship program, created to increase representation and inclusivity in the American theatre. Applications are being accepted through July 16 for two fellows in each of the following categories: writing, composition, directing, choreography, set design, lighting design, costume design, sound design, video design, wig and hair design, stage management, theatre management, musical direction, casting, marketing and advertising, public relations, digital media, and talent representation. Six fellows each will join the program in the fields of producing and general management. To apply, visit BlackTheatreCoalition.org.
