New Works Virtual Festival Announces New Plays And Dates

The first ever New Works Virtual Festival will stream video readings of 20 new non-musical scripts (19 plays, 1 teleplay) featuring the work of a diverse group of writers and all-star cast members. Now set to debut in November of 2020, NWVF will be streamed on YouTube, donations encouraged, all of which will benefit the Actors Fund. The event received roughly 700 script submissions and all selections will be announced leading up to the festival.

The Festival's lineup of 20 plays in 7 days will consist of non-musical pieces both plays and one television pilot. 5 new play scripts have been announced by the team.

"Four Horses." a play by Mary Beringer is a dark comedy about the four horsemen of the apocalypse facing the end of the world. When Pestilence accidentally kills Death, humans become immortal, and it is up to the remaining three horsemen to track down a replacement Death. Matthew Arkin, Eddie Cooper, Lee Curreri, Rodney Hicks, Zach Infante, and Ray Shell will star.

John Morogiello's play "In the Gutter" is a noir comedy about America starring Brittany Baratz, Larry Joe Campbell, Jeff McCarthy, and Mary Stout.

"March 9, 1965," a play written by Stanley Hathaway is set during the Civil Rights Movement in Selma Alabama, exploring the relationship between a Black woman and White officer of the law. The cast will include Tony nominee Robert Cuccioli and three-time Emmy nominee Mia Moravis as well as Taylor Blackman, Carrie Compere, Samson Dube, Ellis Gage, Tyler Hardwick, Rachel Elise Johnson, David Josefsburg, Oyoyo Joi, Luka Kain, Jamie LaVerdiere, Lindsay I. Ryan, Laura Schein, Miles Phillips, Michael Tourek, and Nik Walker.

Mike Gingerella's "Now You See It, Now You Don't" follows a 10-year old aspiring magician. The play will feature Tony winner Anthony Crivello, Emmy nominee Jackie Hoffman, Patrick Oliver Jones, Connor Mills, Thom Sesma, and Adrienne Walker.

The play "Oscar & Walt" by Donald Olson celebrates the enduring literary legacies of Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman by re-creating an actual encounter that took place in 1882 between the 62-year-old Whitman and a 28-year-old Oscar Wilde. Four-time Tony nominee Judy Kuhn will star with Tony winner John Rubinstein and Sam Underwood portraying Whitman and Wilde, respectively.

"Secret Hour," a play by Jenny Stafford, follows a professor of Ethics, with only one rule for her students; that they never lie to her - though when she and her husband struggle to have a baby, she finds herself in an ethical dilemma of her own. The cast will include Kate Loprest, Vincent Rodriguez III, and Kevin Pollack.

The 9 previously announced pieces are teleplay "Bloomer Girls" by Emily Brauer Rogers as well as plays "Family Game Night" by Peter Kennedy, "Happy Couples" by Connie Dinkler, "A Man with No Opinion" by Kevin Wiczer, "A Mighty Road To Heaven" by Andre Zucker, "Otherwise Engayged" by Hal Katkov, "So When Are You Leaving?" by Sheila Rinear, "Til Jason Comes" by Dan Lauria, and "We the People" by Harrison Zeiberg.

The festival will also feature theatrical talent such as Tony Award winners Santino Fontana, Shuler Hensley, Tonya Pinkins, Tony nominees Kevin Chamberlin, Daniel Jenkins, Richard Kind, Liz Larsen, Eva Noblezada, and Robert Torti, three-time nominees Marc Kudisch and Mary Testa, as well as internet and radio personality Seth Rudetsky. Stars of the screen such as Oscar Winner Marlee Matlin, Emmy winners Ted Louis Levy, Robert Wuhl, and six-time winner Bruce Vilanch, nominees Christy Carlson Romano and George Wendt, Golden Globe winners Marsha Manson and Kathleen Turner, and nominee Joely Fisher. NWVF is produced by Kevin Pollack, Jim Auld, Mia Moravis, and Bart Shatto, and is executive produced by Chaz Ebert.

The festival's mission statement reads; "Our goal is to create a diverse team supporting diverse works from many perspectives, cultures, religions, and voices. We strive for inclusivity in all areas. We are committed to works that connect us as human beings and bring us closer to a better understanding of who we are."

The team is proud to be working with their official media sponsor, Broadway World, Robin Carus Casting, and raising money for the Actors Fund, the national human services organization dedicated to meeting the needs of the entertainment community, providing services like emergency financial assistance, affordable housing, health care and insurance counseling, senior care, secondary career development and more. Learn more about them at www.actorsfund.org.

Additional talent to be featured in the 16 other readings will be Krystina Alabado, Amir Arison, Christina Bianco, Ron Bohmer, Megan Cavanagh, Miguel Cervantes, Mary Cheiffo, Bryan Terrell Clark, Katherine Damisch, Eden Espinosa, Ali Ewoldt, Tricia Leigh Fisher, Madeline Franklin, Alan H. Green, Jenna Leigh Green, Tyce Green, Elaine Hendrix, Philip Hernández, Jawan M. Jackson, Adam Jacobs, Mykal Kilgore, Keith Byron Kirk, Leigh Ann Larkin, Dan Lauria, L Morgan Lee, Mateo Lizcano, Kate Loprest, Glen Macken, Mehret Marsh. Meecah, Joseph Melendez, Connor Mills, Joseph Morales, Stuart Pankin, Jon Rua, Drew Sarich, Sharone Sayegh, Thom Sesma, Adam B. Shapiro, Bart Shatto, Ray Shell, Tracie Thoms, Zo Tipp, Vishal Vaidya, Sal Viviano, Jon Patrick Walker, Richard White, Jason SweetTooth Williams, Brynn Williams, Michael-Leon Wooley, Michael Yeshion, and Necar Zadegan.

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