Transport Group Inc
Mission
TRANSPORT GROUP STAGES NEW WORKS AND RE-IMAGINES REVIVALS BY AMERICAN WRITERS. OUR VISUALLY PROGRESSIVE PRODUCTIONS OF EMOTIONALLY CLASSIC STORIES EXPLORE THECHALLENGES OF RELATIONSHIP AND IDENTITY IN MODERN AMERICA. FOUNDED IN 2001, WE HAVE PRODUCED THIRTY-THREE MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS COMPOSED OF FOURTEEN NEW WORKS AND SEVENTEEN REVIVALS, INCLUDING EIGHTEEN PLAYS AND FOURTEEN MUSICALS. EACH PRODUCTION IS THE RESULT OF AN AMBITIOUS COLLABORATION OF DESIGNERS, WRITERS, ACTORS AND MUSICIANS. OUR REVIVALS ARE SIGNIFICANT RE-IMAGININGS OF CLASSIC YET INFREQUENTLY PRODUCED MATERIAL; OUR NEW PIECES TACKLE CHALLENGING SUBJECT MATTER. EMPLOYING TEXT, DESIGN, PERFORMANCE, MUSIC AND SPACE AS EQUALLY AND MUTUALLY DEPENDENT ELEMENTS, WE STRIVE TO CREATE A SYNERGY THAT ELEVATES EACH PIECE AND MOVES AUDIENCES TO BECOME INTIMATELY, EMOTIONALLY AND INTELLECTUALLY ENGAGED. PRODUCTIONS ARE ATTENDED BY 4,000-8,000 PEOPLE ANNUALLY AND OTHER ONE-NIGHT CONCERTS, EVENTS AND WORKSHOPS ATTRACT AN ADDITIONAL 500-800 PEOPLE ANNUALLY. OUR AUDIENCES ARE THEATERGOERS IN THE NEW YORK TRI-STATE AREA.OUR CURRENT SEASON (2019-2020) BEGAN WITH THE WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF BROADBEND, ARKANSAS, WITH A BOOK BY ELLEN FITZHUGH AND HARRISON RIVERS AND MUSIC BY TED SHEN. FEATURING TWO MUSICAL MONOLOGUES, BROADBEND, ARKANSAS FOCUSES ON THREE GENERATIONS OF AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILY OVER THIRTY YEARS AS THEY GRAPPLE WITH DECADES OF INEQUALITY, VIOLENCE AND SUPPRESSION IN AMERICA. DIRECTED BY JACK CUMMINGS, III, BROADBEND, ARKANSAS PLAYED FOR TWENTY-NINE PERFORMANCES AT THE DUKE ON 42ND STREET FROM OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 23, 2019. OUR SECOND MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION THIS SEASON WAS THE NEWLY REVISED THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN, BASED ON THE REAL-LIFE STORY OF MARGARET MOLLY BROWN, WITH MUSIC BY MEREDITH WILLSON AND NEW BOOK AND NEW LYRICS BY DICK SCANLAN. OUR RE-WORKED VERSION OF THIS CLASSIC MUSICAL MAINTAINS MANY OF WILLSONS ORIGINAL SONGS BUT ALSO ADDS NEW SONGS FROM HIS UN-PUBLISHED CANNON. THIS RE-WRITTEN BOOK FOCUSES ON A MORE ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF MOLLYS LIFE, CELEBRATING A REMARKABLE WOMAN AHEAD OF HER TIME WHO ADVOCATED FOR WOMEN'S, CHILDREN'S, AND WORKERS' RIGHTS. DIRECTED BY KATHLEEN MARSHALL, PERFORMANCES BEGAN ON FEBRUARY 8, 2020 WITH A SCHEDULED RUN THROUGH APRIL 5, 2020 AT ABRONS ARTS CENTER. DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, WE CLOSED OUR PRODUCTION OF THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN FOUR AND A HALF WEEKS EARLIER THAN ANTICIPATED. ADDITIONALLY, TRANSPORT GROUP CANCELLED OUR FUNDRAISER, A TOAST TO THE ARTIST, ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 6, 2020. FINALLY, WE POSTPONED OUR ANNUAL ONE-NIGHT CONCERT EVENT, SOUTH PACIFIC, SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 22, 2020 TO JUNE OF 2021. TRANSPORT GROUPS 2020/2021 SEASON WILL MARK THE COMPANYS 20TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON AND WILL INCLUDE ONE PRODUCTION: A NEW YORK PREMIERE OF CHRISTOPHER SHINNS AGAINST, A DEVELOPMENTAL WORKSHOP FOR A NEW MUSICAL SPLIT, BOOK AND LYRICS BY MICHELE LOWE AND MUSIC AND LYRICS BY ZOE SARNAK AND THE ANNE L. BERNSTEIN CONCERT SERIES. WRITTEN BY CHRISTOPHER SHINN (PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST) AGAINST IS A PLAY OF EPIC PROPORTIONS AS CHARACTERS WORK THROUGH THE STRUGGLES OF AN INCREASINGLY VIOLENT WORLD WHERE THERE IS NO RELIEF IN SIGHT. TRANSPORT GROUPS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JACK CUMMINGS III WILL DIRECT AT THE LUCILLE LORTEL THEATRE IN THE SPRING OF 2021. WITH BOOK AND LYRICS BY MICHELE LOWE AND MUSIC AND LYRICS BY ZOE SARNAK, SPLIT EXPLORES WOMENS IDENTITY POST-WORLD WAR II. OUR NEXT CONCERT, RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEINS BELOVED CLASSIC SOUTH PACIFIC, IS SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 2021 AT MERKIN CONCERT HALL. WE UNDERSTAND THE LIMITATIONS OF OUR CURRENT CLIMATE AND WE BELIEVE THAT AGAINST, SPLIT, AND OUR CONCERT SERIES IS REASONABLY ACHIEVABLE WHILE PRESERVING OUR STANDARD OF ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE. OVER THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS, WE AIM TO CONTINUE CREATING PROGRESSIVE STORIES THAT EXPLORE THE CHALLENGES OF RELATIONSHIP AND IDENTITY IN AMERICA.
