Holiday Cabaret Under the Stars

IAMA'S HOLIDAY CABARET UNDER THE STARS
DECEMBER 12, 2022 @ 6:30PM

Join us for an evening of holiday merriment sung by Broadway and Hollywood’s biggest stars! Your generous support will help IAMA continue its mission to produce new work and cultivate a new generation of inclusive, risk taking artists.

Can't attend, but love IAMA? Make a tax deductible "Wish I Was There" donation here!

When: Monday, December 12, 2022
Doors: 6:30pm
Cocktails & Holiday Nosh: 7-8pm
Singing & Merriment: 8-9pm
DJ, Dancing & Mingling till late!

Performers include:
KAT MCPHEE FOSTER
JOEY MCINTYRE
JENNA USHKOWITZ
CHRIS MANN
ADAM SHAPIRO
JONAH PLATT
JACKIE SEIDEN
TRACIE THOMS
DEBBIE ALLEN
NICOLETTE ROBINSON
SHARON LAWRENCE
ERICH BERGEN

AND MC MATTHEW HOFFMAN AND ACCOMPANIST RACHAEL LAWRENCE

*Talent lineup subject to availability

Fly on the Wall Series

Invisible by Douglas Lyons tells the story of lifelong best friends, Eemani and Jade, who decompress one afternoon over a good blunt. Unbeknownst to them the blunt is laced with much more than weed, spiraling the duo into a wild hallucination that allows them to confront the oppressors of the past, dead on.

FROM BLANK PAGE TO FIRST DRAFT, WE'RE PARTNERING WITH QUEENS THEATRE TO GIVE YOU A PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN.

“The Fly on the Wall” Series, created to inspire community engagement amidst the Coronavirus shutdown, will afford all three Theatres’ patrons an opportunity to watch Invisible develop from blank page to first draft. Along the way, each Theatre will host a virtual reading of the play in process with actors from their respective communities; culminating in a first draft read with actors from all three companies.

Previous “Fly on the Wall” Series events included:

• “Fly on the Wall” Series osted by QueensTheatre
  Saturday May 29th at 8pm EST/5pm PST.

• “Meet The Playwright”, hosted by QueensTheatre Saturday February 13th at 8pm EST/5pm PST,

• “The First 20 Pages”, hosted by IAMA Theatre Company Saturday March 13th at 8pm EST/5pm PST.

I Hate New York + Hot Dogs & Tears

Pre-Edinburgh Festival Sneak Peek of I HATE NEW YORK and HOT DOGS AND TEARS

IAMA will present a special pre-festival engagement of two solo shows, both written and performed by IAMA ensemble members, before they head out to the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August. Drew Droege will again direct I HATE NEW YORK, a “gaytastic” comic solo play written and performed by quick-witted and self professed rage-a-holic Tom DeTrinis; I Hate New York received its virtual premiere courtesy of IAMA last season, with the Los Angeles Times calling the actor “a gifted, fearless, bawdy raconteur in the choleric model.” HOT DOGS & TEARS is a darkly hilarious, autobiographical snapshot of the American South, written and performed by reformed redneck and stand up comedian Melissa Stephens and directed by Deanna Cheng; The Moveable Fest says that “Stephens shows off a sharp comedic mind.”

Hi, Are You Single?

SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT IN D.C.: IN ASSOCIATION WITH IAMA THEATRE COMPANY, Woolly Mammoth premieres ‘Hi, Are You Single?’ by Ryan J. Haddad

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has announced the world premiere of writer/performer Ryan J. Haddad’s Hi, Are You Single on its Washington D.C. stage, where it is being presented in association with L.A.’s IAMA Theatre Company.
The two companies banded together in 2021, during the height of the pandemic, to stream Haddad’s exploration of the complicated world of dating from his unique perspective as a gay man living with cerebral palsy.

The digital production resulted in universal accolades from theater reviewers across the U.S., including The Washington Post, which called it “wryly poignant,,, fearless… recounted with wit and admirable, self-effacing candor”; the Los Angeles Times, which found it “cute, funny, sweet, brave and vulnerable… anybody watching [Haddad’s] performance would be hard-pressed not to fall in love with him”; and This Week in New York, which enthused, “highly entertaining… engagingly open and honest, which can be both shocking and hysterically funny… a wholly satisfying show that will yet leave you aching for more.”

In Hi, Are You Single? Haddad asks us to examine sexuality through the lens of a gay man with a disability who is struggling to make meaning out of intimate interactions. From encounters with drag queens to platonic lap dances, Ryan guides the audience through the gay dating scene with his provocative take on intimacy, rejection and judgment. His one request? Please bring an attractive male friend with you.

Haddad was the recipient of IAMA’s 2020 Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission. Hi, Are You Single? was developed by Dixon Place, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and The Public Theater/Under the Radar, and originally developed with Laura Savia. 

Directed by Savia, Hi, Are You Single? will receive its world premiere staging with an in-person audience on the Woolly Mammoth stage from March 28 through April 10. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to woollymammoth.net.

Pass The Mic: A Play Festival Amplifying Black Voices

PASS THE MIC FESTIVAL

A virtual play festival intended to "Pass the Mic" and amplify voices of the Global Majority consisting of an evening of short plays, live monologues, musical guests, and video montages of various diverse theatres across the country. This annual festival includes a town-hall like discussion with artists and special guests to discuss what actions we all can take to continue supporting the movement beyond the evening. A portion of all proceeds go to an organization of choice.

PASS THE MIC FESTIVAL 2021

This year, we’re amplifying voices within the Asian American and Pacific Islander community with five 10-minute pieces initially inspired by #StopAsianHate but expanding to any topic the playwrights choose, all written and directed by AAPI artists. 

IAMA Company member Parvesh Cheena and D’Lo host a hybrid live/pre-recorded event that also includes live monologues, musical guests and video montages. 

IAMA Theatre Company’s Pass the Mic festival amplifies Asian American and Pacific Islander voices with five 10-minute short plays, each written and directed by AAPI artists. Company member Parvesh Cheena (Outsourced, My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and queer/transgender Tamil-Sri Lankan-American actor/writer/comic D’Lo co-host a hybrid live/pre-recorded online festival that features live monologues, musical guests and video montages streaming live on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET, then remain available to view on demand through Sunday, Oct. 24.

Five 10-minute short plays, each written and directed by AAPI artists, make up the heart of the event. The plays include: …I’ve No Regrets, written by Nicholas Pilapil and directed by IAMA associate artistic director Rodney To; Long by Charlie Oh, directed by Jully Lee; Hindi by Nandita Shenoy, directed by Nelson T. Eusebio III; Broken English by Nina Ki, directed by Gaven Trinidad; and For Us All by Jeanne Sakata, directed by Jennifer Chang.

The hybrid live/pre-recorded festival will also feature monologues, musical guests and video montages. A sampling of interludes includes Calm, a song written by Adam Gwon and performed by IAMA ensemble member Deborah S. Craig; Dishwasher Dreams, a monologue written and performed by Allaudin Ullah and directed by Chay Yew; Transfusion, a monologue written by Kit Yan, performed by Futaba Shioda and directed by Kat Yen; a song performed by Po’ai Lincoln; and a series of poems written and performed by Noa Gardner.

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PASS THE MIC FESTIVAL 2020

A Virtual Play Festival amplifying Black Voices.

Live-streamed via Facebook and YouTube

Hosted by IAMA and AMMO members Brandon Scott and Courtney Sauls

5 new plays written and directed by Black artists, inspired by the current iteration of the movement for racial justice and equity.

Written by: Malika Oyetimein, Donnetta Lavinia Grays, Carolyn Ratteray, Larry Powell, and D.G. Watson

Directed by: Cheyenne Barboza, Keith Powell, Valerie Curtis-Newton, Larry Powell, and Keiana Richárd

Stay with us for the post-show discussion with all playwrights and directors. They will be discussing how their creative process has shifted in the midst of this movement.

While the event is free and open to the public, please join us for this call to action by making a donation. All donations will be split between BLD PWR and Color of Change.

IAMA and AMMO are matching the first $500 in donations for a total of $1000.

The Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project

We’re doing our 4th virtual reading of the IAMA At Home series. This time, IAMA is joining Playground-SF, as well as over 20 theatres from around the country, for The Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project. 

Friday June 19 @ 6pm PST
POLAR BEARS, BLACK BOYS & PRAIRIE FRINGED ORCHIDS by Vincent Terrell Durham
IAMA’s Reading is Directed by Andi Chapman

Starring: Christine Woods*, Todd Grinnell, Brandon Scott, Garrett Mercer, Tesiana Elie, Kacie Rogers, & Sheldon White

Co-Presented By: Skylight Theatre Company, Echo Theater Company, Highways, Lower Depth Theatre, The Inkwell Theater, Celebration Theatre, LA Stage Alliance, & DOMA Theatre Company
via Zoom Live Stream