New Musical: SHE REACHED FOR HEAVEN

Participate in a talkback after the reading on Saturday, June 1 at 3PM and share your thoughts on the show with the creative team!

On the outside, high school junior Jes Holt is doing everything she’s supposed to. On the inside, she’s never felt more alone and longs for something she can’t name. But when Jes meets Cody, Jes’s world comes alive. Set against the backdrop of the greatest drug crisis in our country’s history, She Reached for Heaven is an original coming-of-age story about the devastations of addiction, and one woman’s journey to choose life rather than escape it.

About the Creative Team

Oliver Houser (music & lyrics)

Winner of the inaugural Stephen Schwartz Award, the ASCAP Foundation Sammy Cahn Award and a Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship, Oliver Houser (he/him) is an intersex musical theater artist who is passionate about creating original life-affirming work that facilitates healing and connection. Houser has headlined at the Kennedy Center and presented his musicals at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Village Theater, London’s Other Palace Theatre, the NAMT Festival and beyond. Houser’s original musical, XY, inspired by his journey to embrace his identity as an intersex man, was one of three finalists for the 2022 Relentless Award, the largest prize presented to an unproduced musical.  For more information about Houser, explore www.oliverhouser.com.

Hunter Bird (book)

Hunter Bird is a director, writer, and maker of new work. Book writer: She Reached for Heaven (Oliver Houser), The Golden Record (Angela Sclafani), and The Pansy Craze (Mason Alexander Park). Directing credits include London’s Charing Cross Theater, Ars Nova, Roundabout Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, 5th Avenue Theater, McKittrick Hotel, Signature Theatre, Village Theatre, Getty Villa, 59E59, NAMT Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Skylight Theater. Developer credits include XY (Oliver Houser, Relentless Award Finalist), Crashlight (Celeste Makoff), The Other Side of Paradise (Angela Sclafani), and Elsewhere (Nikko Benson). Associate/assistant director credits include Broadway, Manhattan Theatre Club, Center Theater Group, La Jolla Playhouse, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Geffen Playhouse, National Theater of Scotland, and the National Tours. Jonathan Alper Directing Fellow (MTC, 2017 & 2019), Civilians R&D Group (18/19), Samuel J. Friedman Assistantship (MTC, 2015), SDCF Observership, UCLA Emerging Director Award, and the Gilbert Cates Fellowship, Line Producer ANT Fest 2018 at Ars Nova.  For more information about Bird, explore www.hunter-bird.com.

Meet the Cast

The cast for this production will include Broadway talent and teens played by local high school or college students.

Check back here for the cast announcement!

Audition Information for High School & College Students

If you are interested, please email a recent photo and theater resume (if you have one) to soma@ebcastingco.com, with the subject line SOMA backStage [ROLE].

SEEKING

• JES HOLT (female; 17 years old, mezzo). Sensitive, empathetic, and introverted.  Jes feels isolated from the people in her life and longs for connection
• CODY (male; 19 years old, tenor). Charming, affable, and the most exciting person Jes has ever met.
• HEATHER (female; 17 years old; mezzo). Jes’s talkative best friend.  Conflicted between her longing to show up for her bestie and her desire to belong.  Great comic actor.
• RUBY (female; 18 years old; soprano). The imperious, judgmental, and insecure captain of the Dunbar High cheer team.  Also to play SARAH, Jes’s fellow rehab patient.  Great comic actor.
• GUY (male; 18 years old; tenor).  Plays various roled including the shady dealer, DYLAN, and Heather’s jerk boyfriend, GABRIEL.  Also to play MARK, Jes’s fellow rehab patient.

For more information on the auditions, please visit ebcastingco.com.

About SOMA backStage Reading Series

The SOMA backStage Reading Series emerged from SOPAC’s Creative Community Brain Trust contributor Dana Spialter and her local theater company SOMA Stage. Throughout the series, creatives will present readings of new plays and musicals written by or starring South Orange and Maplewood’s (SOMA’s) theater professionals in the Loft at SOPAC. Audience members can join in on the creative process at talkbacks following the matinee readings and share their thoughts on the new works with the creative teams.

About SOMA Stage at SOPAC

Creative Community Brain Trust contributor Dana Spialter and her local theater company SOMA Stage proudly support and partner with SOPAC.  SOMA Stage is a new non-profit theater company based in the South Orange/Maplewood (SOMA), NJ area that provides our many local professional theater artists with a creative home in their backyard and allows our community to support and enjoy the talent of their neighbors.

Accessibility & Accommodation

If you or a member of your party needs assistance, please notify SOPAC at the time your tickets are purchased. Contact the SOPAC Box Office at (973) 313-2787 or boxoffice@SOPACnow.org.