Airline Highway
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Produced by Fordham Theatre Program
February 20-22 & 26-28, 2020 By: Lisa D'Amour Directed by: Nehprii Amenii Choreography by: Meg Bush Production Stage Manager: Nat Kelley DiMario Scenic Design by: Ao Li Costume Design by: Angela M. Fludd Lighting Design by: Joshua Langman Sound Design by: Joe DiBernardo On the eve of beloved matriarchal burlesque dancer Miss Ruby's death, friends and family gather in the parking lot of the Hummingbird Hotel for a party that doubles as a funeral and a celebration of life. As tensions build and memories best forgotten resurface, they must ask themselves: "How do you revel in this moment while letting go of what once was? How do you own who you are without destroying who you are? How do you defend your right to be YOU? To be AUTHENTIC? To be here?"
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In the final scene of the play, Zoe reports on her experience visiting the Hummingbird Hotel. "Since then," she writes, "I've been trying to embrace the incoherence of it all. Celebrate it, actually." In many ways, this process felt very much the same as the party in the show. It was my senior thesis project, my final Fordham production. It was a challenge in every way, from the complex technical elements and rigging, the large cast that included five ensemble actors added just before tech, down to the emotional drain of telling this story every night. There is nothing quite like those moments of perfect collaboration, when everyone is on the same page, with the same vision. This was a show I could not ever sit still for. Always on my feet, checking in, having my hands in everything because when it comes down to it, the work needs to get done. And it was so special to guide these artists' visions to create something rugged and beautiful. "We were all in the room WITH each other," recalls Miss Ruby. "Open and unafraid, reveling in the present moment together." And we were.
You can view pages of the calling script and a video of a scene below:
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