Tony Award-nominated director Michael Arden (Once On This Island, Spring Awakening) has convened a company for the development of an entirely new immersive, part-walking/part drive-through theatrical experience, taking place next week in New York’s Hudson River Valley.
American Dream Study is a collaboration with a group of actors, dancers, musicians, filmmakers, stage managers, designers, choreographers, and medical professionals. This site-specific theatrical experiment will provide a first-of-its-kind socially-distanced communal experience for the age of COVID-19.
The company-devised piece will be staged throughout the Columbia County towns of Philmont, Claverack, and Harlemville, with audience members receiving instructions on when and where to drive, park and walk via several smart technologies. American Dream Study will benefit small, local businesses in the communities in which this invite-only premiere will be explored.
Michael Arden, center. (Photo: Emilio Madrid)
In a statement, Mr. Arden said, “I constantly endeavor to create new opportunities for people to come together in a common space and share experiences. In this new era, that has taken a great deal of imagination and, most importantly, bold collaboration with this remarkable group of artists. It has been said that art should be dangerous, but it’s also vitally important that we make it safe. This exploration of our dreams and the American Dream strikes that balance perfectly. We will be testing new methods of theater-making to forge a way forward for this ancient and vital art form.”
The Forest of Arden Company includes Tony-winner Nikki M. James, Krysta Rodriguez, Justin Scribner, Andy Mientus, Nick Adams, Cathy Ang, Kyle Brown, McCaleb Burnett, Andrei Chagas, Maxwell Dunham, Claybourne Elder, Leigh-Ann Esty, Sara Esty, Eamon Foley, Chris Grant, Sarah Harris, Daniel Hartman, Robert Hartwell, Van Hughes, TJ Kearney, Jeff Kuperman, Jesse Kovarsky, Jodi McFadden, Connor Norton, Davon Rainey, Shea Renne, Samantha Soule, Matthew Vincent Taylor, Peter Westervelt, Lauren Yalango-Grant, Zachary Berger, Tommy Kurzman, Dane Laffrey, Jean Mientus, Ryan Park, Peter Sachon, and producer Stephen Mack.
