The Hermitage Artist Retreat recently formed a new partnership with one of New York’s preeminent nonprofit theaters, the Manhattan Theatre Club, designed to support the development of new musicals commissioned by MTC by providing space, time, and inspiration at the Hermitage.
The collaboration will provide an opportunity for some of the leading voices in musical theater to take the next step in advancing their creative process and vision. The first two musicals commissioned through this initiative are "The Orange Grove" by Lindsey Ferrentino and Sam Beam and "It’s All Relative" by Sofya Levitsky-Weitz and Benjamin Velez.
"The Orange Grove" is a modern retelling of Anton Chekhov’s "The Cherry Orchard." The new musical centers on a Florida orange
grove on the brink of collapse. As one family fights over land, legacy, and the price of survival, the musical examines a century of American history through the lens of a changing nation and the people struggling to preserve what they hold dear. As part of their inaugural Hermitage-MTC Fellowship, Ferrentino and Beam recently presented a free program on the Hermitage Beach.
"It’s All Relative" is an original musical spanning time and space and asks what parts of ourselves we surrender, and what we discover, in pursuit of love. Einstein and his first wife and collaborator, Mileva Mari – a brilliant scientist in her own right – gather friends for a series of jam sessions exploring the nature of the universe and humanity’s place within it. Levitsky-Weitz and Velez’s Hermitage-MTC Fellowship and program will be scheduled for a future date.
“We are excited to be launching this collaboration with Manhattan Theatre Club,” Hermitage Artistic Director Andy Sandberg said. “We are proud to be an incubator for new works across all artistic disciplines, with many notable musicals being developed right here on Manasota Key. As our friends at MTC deepen their commitment to commissioning new musicals, this partnership provides a meaningful development step on this journey for some of the leading composer, lyricists, and librettists of our time.”
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Hermitage to provide meaningful development opportunities to our commissioned musicals,” said MTC Artistic Director Nicki Hunter. “One of my hopes for MTC’s future is that we can continue to build upon our rich legacy as a home for new plays by also developing exciting world-premiere musicals. Being able to offer this group of talented artists the opportunity to develop these works at the Hermitage is particularly meaningful.”
MTC and the Hermitage share many notable alumni, including two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright David Auburn, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies, Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel, Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph, and Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Lackawanna Blues).
A leading national arts incubator, the Hermitage is the only major arts organization in Florida’s Gulf Coast exclusively committed to supporting the development and creation of new work across all artistic disciplines. For more information on the Hermitage and upcoming programs, visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org.
Submitted by The Hermitage
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Hermitage and Manhattan Theatre Club partner on musicals
