NATIONAL MUSIC THEATER INSTITUTE

Nicole Powell (Spring ‘15) is currently working on JOY: A New True Musical – book by Ken Davenport, music and lyrics by Annmarie Milazzo – as the Marketing Associate and VIP Concierge. The musical will be premiering Off Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre this summer starting June 21st! Starring: Betsy Wolfe (NMTC ‘09, ‘12) as Joy Jill Abramovitz (NMTC ‘12) as Toots, Joy’s mother Honor Blue Savage (NMTC ‘23) as Christie, Joy's daughter JOY tells the story of Long Island native Joy Mangano and her journey from single motherhood and financial struggles to building a business empire. The musical is a celebration of a woman who never gave up and her determination to help her family. For more information, visit www.joythemusical.com

Frank Deming II (Fall ’13) has been touring as a Company Manager since 2021. He has worked on Pretty Woman starring Adam Pascal, To Kill A Mockingbird starring Richard Thomas, Mean Girls , and he is currently on the Life of Pi tour for the next year as the Associate Company Manager.

Emily Bergl (Spring ‘96) was just announced to join Jonathan Groff in Broadway’s musical Just In Time, book by Warren Light and Issac Oliver. Bergl is set to play Nina Cassotto - Darin’s mother - and Mary Douvon - Darin’s mother in law. Performances will start at the end March this year, before the opening night at the Circle in the Square Theatre in April.

Samori Etienne (Spring '20), Max Johngren (Spring '20), Nadiya Atkinson (Spring '20), and Grace Ward (Spring '20) in Spring 2020 began plotting over Zoom to create a multidisciplinary theatre company, once gathering was possible. Now, Fishmarket Theatre Co. is celebrating its first season, with everything from a site-specific production of Museum by Tina Howe to a new play around genesis of fanfiction. Fishmarket Theatre Co. is a NYC-based, circus-raised, physical theater group, celebrating innovative storytelling. From installation art Shakespeare to dark comedies in ceramic studios, Fishmarket focuses on multi-dimensional, interdisciplinary work, bringing shows to nontraditional venues and reveling in the playful, the imaginative, and the embodied. Up next, Fishmarket will be making its international debut with their show CRINGE (OR #NO BETA WE DIE LIKE MEN) at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. If you're in New York, you can catch it at 59E59 Theaters on July 26th and 27th.

This summer Natalie Kane (Summer ‘17) is directing two festival projects in NYC under the banner of Ladies & Fools, both shows are classically-inspired with a contemporary twist. All the Daughters of Viola's House (So Many Shakespeares Festival) brings together monologues and scenes exploring the "breeches roles" created by Shakespeare as well as several classical female playwrights, and Fools in the Forest (The Little Shakespeare Festival) is a one-hour comedy bringing together the female and fool characters for a reimagined riff on As You Like It . Fellow NTI alum Rebecca-Anne Whittaker (Summer '17, Fall '17) is also part of the cast for Fools in the Forest . Find out more about Ladies & Fools at www.nataliekanedirector.com/ladies-fools Buy tickets to All the Daughters of Viola's House at sourgrapesproductions.com/tickets Buy tickets for Fools in the Forest at www.frigid.nyc/event/6897:725/

Sara Freedland (NTI Summer '16) played the role of Annie in The Strangers franchise. Chapter One was in theaters and is now available on streaming on Amazon! Be on the lookout for The Strangers Chapter Two in theaters!

The Gospel of Joan (Crawford) is heading to Edinburgh Fringe! Written by Sydney Green (Summer '21), directed by Sofi Lopez Arredondo, and produced by teatrito and Reyna Carrillo, this chaotic queer take on the afterlife will play at theSpace @ Venue45 from August 12th-August 17th. The Gospel of Joan (Crawford) follows five would-be somebodies who now find themselves united in Hell, part of a trial run to solve Hell’s overpopulation problem. Faced with a poker match with the one and only Joan Crawford—these women must vie against each other for a spot in Heaven, while contending sins, histories, sexual identity, and their own dispensability. Because winning is more than eternity—it is fame. teatrito is a mexican-led emerging theatre collective based out of New York championing new work development by young theatre artists. Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com/what.../gospel-of-joan-crawford Article: https://playbill.com/.../20-shows-to-see-at-the-2024 ...

Daniel Dae Kim (Spring ‘89) is starring in Roundabout Theatre Company's upcoming Broadway production of Yellow Face ! The play was written by David Henry Hwang (O'Neill NPC '79), a Tony Award Winner and three-time Pulitzer finalist. “Inspired by real events, the playwright’s fictionalized doppelgänger protests yellowface casting in Miss Saigon, only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play. This Obie Award-winning and Pulitzer finalist play is a laugh-out-loud farce about the complexities of race.” - Roundabout Theatre Company The play is in production from September 13th - November 24th at the Todd Haimes Theatre! For more information and tickets visit www.roundabouttheatre.org Also check out the New York Times article on Kim and Yellow Face : http://www.nytimes.com/.../daniel-dae-kim-yellow-face ...

Hannah Bos (Fall ‘98) and Paul Thureen (Fall '98) are the creators of a Peabody winning HBO comedy series, Somebody Somewhere ! They recently talked about their third and final season of the show. Paul: “I think the way you contextualize it as not just being about having friends, or the number of friends, connects to the growth of Sam and Joel’s relationship. It’s about letting yourself be vulnerable or showing parts of yourself that maybe you are ashamed of or that you don’t think you are worthy of sharing.” - The Queer Review Bos and Thureen also formed The Debate Society in NYC with Oliver Butler! Through this organization, they create new plays and teach workshops at colleges and high schools. To learn more about The Debate Society, visit thedebatesociety.org !

Annie Girard (NTI Fall ‘99) & Diana Wright (NTI Fall ‘05) met at a NTI reunion and are now collaborators! They have a short film called 1 IN THE CHAMBER and it's been going around the festival circuit. They won Best Short at the Broad Humor Festival and the Audience Award at the Valley Film Festival. Girard and Wright have a screening coming up for 1 IN THE CHAMBER in New York on Friday, December 6 at 5:30pm at Regal Union Square in NYC (Shorts Block 4). To buy tickets: https://danceswithfilms.com/schedule/ To learn more about the film: https://linktr.ee/1inthechamberfilm

Molly Bernard (MATS ‘08) is making her Broadway debut as Rachel in Cult of Love by Leslye Headland, directed by Trip Cullman.  Bernard sees her debut as a “gift from her grandfather”.  “It's funny making my Broadway debut,” says Molly. “I worked so hard to get here. I trained in theater and I'm very precious about it, but it's a lot of mental gymnastics to be like, ‘No, I'm good enough to go be in this cast of all-stars and do this play every night and just beast it.’” - Broadway.com