David James Boyd/Chad Kessler

March 26- April 1 2013/December 16 2014

3B Development Series | ASL Creative

IN RESIDENCE:March 26- April 1 2013/December 16 2014

In this sweeping musical tale, Orella is born deaf at the brink of the Italian Renaissance. Her journey takes her through a childhood of poverty, an adolescence in hiding, and a young adulthood at an asylum for the “cursed”. However, her drive to learn and her courage to communicate with Sign Language unites a broken kingdom, and Orella is ultimately crowned the world’s first proud Deaf queen.

May Adrales​ (Director)May is a freelance theatre director based in New York City and has helmed several world premieres including JC Lee’s Luce (LCT3); Katori Hall’s Whaddabloodclot!!! (Williamstown Theater Festival); In This House at Two River Theatre Company; A. Rey Pamatmat’s Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them (Actors Theatre of Louisville) and after all the terrible things I do (Milwaukee Rep); Thomas Bradshaw’s Mary (The Goodman Theatre) and The Bereaved (Partial Comfort Productions); Tommy Smith’s The Wife (Access Theatre). She recently directed David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and the Railroad at Signature Theatre and the Wuzhen International Theatre Festival in China, and Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. She is a Drama League Directing Fellow, Women’s Project Lab Director, SoHo Rep Writers/Directors Lab and NYTW directing fellow, and a recipient of the TCG New Generations Grant, Denham Fellowship and Paul Green Directing Award. She proudly serves as an Associate Artist at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. She is a former Director of On-Site Programs at the Lark Play Development Center and Artistic Associate at The Public Theatre. MFA, Yale School of Drama. She has directed and taught at NYU, Bard College, Juilliard and Fordham University. She is currently on faculty at the Yale School of Drama. www.mayadrales.net

David James Boyd ​(Composer, Lyricist, Co-Book Writer) After studying at the University of California/Los Angles School of Theater, Film and Television, David spent much of his early career as a Broadway singer/dancer appearing in Miss Saigon and Kiss Of The Spider Woman (with the legendary Chita Rivera). Upon receiving a generous award from Career Transition for Dancers, David became co-founder of BetBoyz Productions and has produced and composed for multiple top 50 Billboard Dance Chart-toppers. David has served as composer/musical director of numerous Off-Broadway theatrical productions that include: Zanna Don’t (John Houseman Theatre, Dir. Devanand Janki), Carnival Round The Central Figure (IRT ,Dir Karen Kohlhaas), and the popular national touring children’s show, Roots Of Rap Poetry. Audiences continue to enjoy David’s original music and lyrics in the long running Off-Broadway smash, My Big Gay Italian Wedding (St. Luke’s Theatre, Dir Sonia Blangiardo), which has received subsequent productions all over the world. In 2012, the original electronic dance musical The Groove Factory was a sold out hit at the New York Musical Theater Festival, for which David wrote the music, lyrics, book and produced all tracks. Recent projects include “Pride Is The Word”, his own dance single, which was featured in the documentary, “Raid On The Rainbow Lounge”, narrated by Meredith Baxter, and the full original score for the ethnic fusion food & culture pilot “The United Plates of America.” Most recently, David wrote and produced the theme song for the 2014 Emmy nominated dramedy “Tainted Dreams.”

Chad Kessler, (​Co-Book Writer) Serving as both librettist and producer, Chad’s work include The Groove Factory (New York Musical Theater Festival) Vicarious (NY Fringe) and is currently workshopping the musical comedy, Fancy Lady. On camera Chad is a host on NBC’s Open House NY and is Creator,Producer and Host of United Plates of America and Woofmeister Inc, both currently in final stages of development. As an actor, he can currently be seen playing a multitude of roles he created in the long running Off-Broadway hits “My Big Gay Italian Wedding” & “My Big Gay Italian Funeral (St Luke’s Theater) and appears as Lance Shapiro on the Emmy Nominated show “Tainted Dreams”. Other NY acting work has been seen at Second Stage, Ensemble Studio Theater, Chashama, Actors Playhouse, West End Theater and is a regualr featured voice on Nickelodeon and The Cartoon Network. He currently serves as Associate Producer at IRT Theater who has commissioned works by artists such as Mike Daisey, Reggie Watts, Tommy Smith, Young Jean Lee, Thomas Bradshaw and many other acclaimed new voices. Chad holds a BFA in Theater Arts from NYU/Tisch.

Photo Credit- Olga Filippova