The Spark Theatre Festival NYC gives artists the rare opportunity to present their work-in-progress before an audience, afterwards engaging in a meaningful talkback session with audience, director, cast and curator. The resulting insights are invaluable to the process, providing the playwright with the tools necessary to take the work to the next level.
Emerging Artists has always been about new works, emerging talents, and diverse voices. That’s never been more evident than now. And you, the audience, are the vital ingredient to making this a success. Your participation in the unique talkback with the artists provides the insight they need to move their work forward.
Nearly 60 performances will be presented across three weeks, including plays, musicals, solo shows, dance and more.
Selections from this fall’s festival include:
Observant
By Pamela Weiler Grayson
Directed by Shellen Lubin
Three generations of women confront their relationships to their Jewish identities—and to each other. Comedy and tragedy entwine, like braided challah, when a mass shooting in their community tests the bonds of faith and family.
In Justice
Book & lyrics by Sonya Baehr & Vanessa Baehr-Jones
Music by Thomas W Jones & Vanessa Baehr-Jones
Inspired by real events, In Justice follows an ambitious prosecutor as she pursues the case of her career against a female tech icon. But when her boss in the Justice Department turns on her key witness, the tech company’s young, Black CFO, she must decide whether to resign in protest.
The Schmidt Sisters
Book by Rebecca Farley, lyrics by Margo Hera & music by Blake Dylan Pilger
In a bid to earn a few thousand rubles, Lenin sends two of his most trusted comrades to seduce and marry two heiresses: the Schmidt sisters. The Schmidt Sisters: A Revolutionary Situation follows the paths of these two sisters as they collide with history's most meme-able leftist and his plans.
Swan Song for a Starboy
By Cris Eli Blak with music by Ronvé O'Daniel
Directed by Lawrence Floyd
After overdosing and passing away in his hotel room on Christmas Eve, the spirit of a successful young hip-hop artist tells his life story, tracing the threads of how he went from abuse survivor to rich and famous through the use of traditional storytelling, spoken word and rap lyricism.
Vincent the Musical
Book, music & lyrics by Gabi Ammirato & Yen Nien Hsu
Directed by Lauren Stock
Vinnie, a middle schooler recently diagnosed with ADHD, struggles to cope in a school, family and society not built for his success. Along the way, he finds confidence through the arts and learns the importance of using his voice with the help of a very famous ghost, Vincent Van Gogh.
