Scenes, Monologues, & Teasers

When months include a collection of different freelance work, it’s interesting to see what common themes emerge. My spring full of fun new work for young audiences has continued, and June will also offer several projects that make the most of short formats. Keep reading for more about a festival of scenes, a book of monologues, and more!

New Work @ The Growing Stage 

A Week in the Hundred Acre Wood

It’s always a highlight to keep up with The Growing Stage remotely through work on their Student Activity Guides or at one-day readings, but in May it was a treat to visit for a whole week of new musical workshopping. TGS will present a new musical adaptation of Tigger to culminate their 2026-27 season, and we were delighted to welcome playwright Janet Stanford and composer Deborah Wicks La Puma to test drive and develop the piece with actors and a staged reading audience. I loved joining this process as a stage manager and dramaturg, and I look forward to catching up with the fully-realized production next spring. 

NPRF Round 2 returns in June

Back in April TGS presented Round 1 of this year’s New Play-Reading Festival, which spotlights a dynamic selection of four finalist plays for young audiences and their families. It’s always exciting to hear new works and characters on their feet for the first time, and this year I directed the first staged reading of the elementary-grade adventure Timmon and the Magic Shoes, in which a young giraffe with a shorter neck learns about making new friends and embracing differences. Playwrights have now had a chance to receive feedback and revise, and all four finalists will be back to present selections at a “festival of scenes” at June’s Round 2 event. Come join us to see what’s next for Timmon and friends! 

Meet Your Favorite New Old Monologues THIS MONTH! 

Our Expand the Canon team has been hard at work on a monologue book spotlighting incredible speeches from many of our featured plays, penned by women and gender-expansive writers across history, and it will be headed out into the world This Month! I am tremendously proud to be part of this publication, which we hope will improve the visibility and accessibility of these texts for use in auditions as well as classrooms. (And if you’re curious about my specific role in this project, I tracked down all manner of rights and permissions information for our more modern texts, as well as lots of copy editing.)  

Fresh Old Monologues from New-to-You Classics! Whether you’re an actor or an educator, this is the monologue book you need in your arsenal. With 110 options to refresh any actor's repertoire or expand the canon in the classroom, actors can stand out amongst the crowd in audition rooms, and educators can show more students that the classic canon is and always has been for all of us.

There are Two Ways to support our book release in June:

• Come join our NYC Book Launch event, included in the calendar below…

• Or, pre-order your copy today!

June: Upcoming Calendar

Mondays @ 8pm - Take Root with Forager Theatre Company 

Weekly dance classes with Forager continue this spring! Take Root is a pay-what-you-can, all-levels dance class, and our Monday evening classes offer a rotation of instructors and teaching varied styles. Each class includes a warmup, technique primer, and fun choreographed combo. 

Monday, June 8 @ 6:30pm - Monologue Book Launch with Expand the Canon

Toast ETC’s publication debut with us, and be among the very first to peruse our favorite underutilized gems from across the canon. 

Saturday, June 13 @ 4pm - “Festival of Scenes” Showcase at The Growing Stage

Come join us for a sampler of selections from this year’s New Play-Reading Festival finalists, featuring new revisions and additions from the Round 1 readings. 

Recent Highlights & Recommendations

Some favorite media and performances from the past month!

Reading The Ides of March by Thornton Wilder

On (the Big) Screen The Sheep Detectives dir. Kyle Balda

On Stage I saw some wonderful Off-Broadway performances in May; catch them before they’re gone! 

Mexodus, through June 14 at the Daryl Roth Theatre (followed by other touring locations!)

See it for: Tour-de-force musical performances, incredible innovations in live-looping, and a fascinating exploration of the Underground Railroad that ran South

The Emporium, through June 7 at Classic Stage

See it for: A wonderfully theatrical ensemble piece, and a new perspective on the more experimental side of Thornton Wilder’s work