The Hermitage Artist Retreat announces the newest program in its “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” series, an ongoing partnership with Marie Selby Botanical Gardens that was established six years ago. This new program, “An Evening of Scenes & Songs,” is scheduled for Thursday, November 20th at 5:30pm, at Historic Spanish Point in Osprey. “An Evening of Scenes & Songs” features two stand-out theater dynamos – Migdalia Cruz, honored as a “legacy” by the DGF Legacy Playwrights Initiative, and Lauren Marcus, hailed as a “rock star” by BroadwayWorld. Join us as these artists share excerpts from their original work in this memorable sunset program.
This newly announced event features original work from the latest Hermitage-Roundabout Fellow, Migdalia Cruz. Tony Award-winning Roundabout Theatre Company is the nation’s largest not-for-profit theater with a celebrated history of producing iconic works for nearly 60 years. The Hermitage-Roundabout partnership is designed to further the Hermitage’s mission to inspire and foster the most influential and culturally consequential art and artists of our time. This collaboration provides an opportunity for some of the theater world’s most exciting new voices to explore their work at the Hermitage before a potential production at one of the country’s most prestigious theatrical institutions.
In addition to being a Hermitage-Roundabout Fellow and a DGF Legacy Playwright, Migdalia Cruz is a Bronx-born writer, lyricist, translator, and librettist with over 60 works performed in 150 venues in 12 countries. Her awards include the NEA, McKnight, NYSCA, TCG/Pew, and the 2013 Helen Merrill Distinguished Playwright. Cruz’s voice was nurtured by her mentor María Irene Fornés at INTAR and her eight-year residency at Latino Chicago Theater Company. She co-chairs the DGF Playwriting Fellows, mentors the Latinx Playwrights’ Circle, and has taught at Princeton, NYU, IU and as founding member of the Fornés Institute’s Playwriting Workshop. Migdalia is an alumna of New Dramatists, a member of the Tent Theater for “Vintage” playwrights, and she is recognized in Analola Santana’s book as one of the Fifty Key Figures in Latinx and Latin American Theater.
Hermitage Fellow Lauren Marcus is a multihyphenate actor-singer-writer whose work has been seen on stage, screen, and across acclaimed music venues throughout New York City. She is known for her Broadway run in the original cast of Be More Chill and recently brought the house down every night in the Off-Broadway premiere of The Jonathan Larson Project. Lauren is currently co-writing the book for a new musical adaptation of the 1985 film Girls Just Want to Have Fun (based on the 1985 Sarah Jessica Parker film) for Lively McCabe Entertainment. She is a recipient of the Penn State New Musical Theatre Initiative Commission, a two-time finalist for the Jonathan Larson Grant, and developed her original television pilot at New York Stage & Film. Lauren’s original musical, Lauren and The Case of The Missing Hair(book/music/lyrics), is a Relentless Award semifinalist and has received readings from Two River Theater and NYC’s legendary Power Station. As a singer-songwriter, Lauren released her debut EP, Never Really Done With You, in 2016. She recently held two sold-out residencies at Rockwood Music Hall, and is currently finishing her first full-length album. Lauren is an alumnus of the Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project. She holds a Bachelor of Music from New York University and a Master of Arts from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
All Hermitage programs are free and open to the public (with a $5/person registration fee), offering Gulf Coast audiences a rare chance to engage and interact with some of the world’s leading talent. Due to capacity limitations, registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org.