Michael R. Jackson's White Girl in Danger Set for New York Stage and Film Summer Season

New York Stage and Film has announced a return to live performances for its 2021 season. Shows will be performed at three Poughkeepsie venues: the Outdoor Amphitheater at Vassar College, the Cornell Boathouse Outdoor Tent at Marist College, and Revel 32, an event space downtown.

The season kicks off at Vassar on July 17 at 7pm with Mexodus, a concept album written and performed by Nygel D. Robinson and Brian Quijada (Where Did We Sit on the Bus?). It's about the estimated 4,000-10,000 enslaved people in the old South who, rather than taking the Underground Railroad up North, looked the other way and sought refuge in Mexico. An additional performance will take place at Marist on July 24 at 3pm.

On July 23 and 24 at 8pm, Revel 32 will host Florencia Iriondo's one-woman musical South, about finding one's roots and home as a Latina living in the United States. Additional music and arrangements are by Luis D'Elias.

A performance of Melissa Li and Kit Yan's Interstate will take place at Marist College on July 25 at 3pm. The musical tells the story of a transgender Asian slam poet named Dash who goes on a cross-country tour with his best friend Adrian, a lesbian singer-songwriter. In his review of an earlier production in the New York Musical Festival, Kenji Fujishima praised the "catchy erotic ostinato" of Yan and Li's songwriting. Jesca Prudencio directs.

The grand finale of the season will be White Girl in Danger, with book, music, and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop). According to a press statement, "[It tells] the story of Keesha Gibbs, a young woman who lives in the 'Blackground' of a melodramatic soap opera town called Allwhite. Tired of repetitive Blackground stories of enslavement and police violence, Keesha sets out to become Allwhite's leading heroine by appropriating the storylines of her three main rivals, Meagan, Maegan and
Megan. But as she gains power for herself, she also attracts the attention of the Allwhite Killer, putting her story and her life in more danger than ever." Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, it will perform at Marist College on July 31 at 7pm and August 1 at 3pm.

Click here for more information about the shows and venues in New York Stage and Film's 2021 Summer Season.