It’s already getting late in the initial planning process, but by May of this year we hope to have six things to announce about the Off Broadway premiere for the play, Three Testaments: Shalom, Peace, Salam, scheduled to open on May 15, 2015. This is just an update for your interest.
According to the texts this neophyte is reading, there are six items which need to be in place and announced a year before the opening. None of them are ready for announcement yet, and it is getting late, but as I plod along through April, I will take refuge in the saying, “it will never be this early again.”
The Backing is actually in place, and we will announce Jewish, Christian and Muslim sponsorship, with gratitude, as soon as banking procedures are in position.
The Venue was not supposed to be a problem, and we have three excellent alternatives in New York. Riverside had tied the play to a major interfaith conference to which it cannot now commit until its next senior minister arrives, possibly not until next fall or winter ... too late for the planning of this play. Our alternatives are in Greenwich Village, Brooklyn and Upstate New York, each with its own unique appeal.
The Cast is our strength, depending largely on the Judson Players at the core, and negotiating with one possible headliner persona at present. A final rewrite is reducing the number of actors required to eight.
The Crew is up in the air, since we were relying on Riverside’s professional theatre staff after their theatre manager announced publicly in January that this was “99% in the bag.” Depending on the venue decision, we will be looking for local help on this one.
The Director search is guided by Ellen Frankel, former CEO and editor-in-chief at the Jewish Publication Society, who knows everybody. We may have that sewn up later this week.
The Script is receiving final editing, also in Ellen’s capable hands, and will be ready by the end of April or early May. By summer it will become available online from Stagescripts Inc. and in book form from Amazon.
Stay tuned!