NEW YORK – Trinidadian-born, Emmy nominated tv and movie producer- director Randy Simon will make his New York stage directing debut with the World Premiere manufacturing of The Duchess Of LES: An AI Musical From Little Ukraine by Denis Woychuk.
The manufacturing runs from November 16 by December 3 at The Kraine Theatre within the East Village and options music course by Dana “Che” Belmond and choreography by Sarah Shah. Simon co-produces the manufacturing with fellow Trinidadian Lisa Franklyn-Zaidi and Govt Producer Lori Schwarz.
Musical About Love and Betrayal
Set in Little Ukraine, New York Metropolis within the Eighties, The Duchess of LES is a musical about love, betrayal of the Code and the ability of temptation. It follows the story of Simon Vinnitskiy, a younger breakdancer, who falls in love together with her psychotic brother’s spouse. Manufacturing notes state that the musical encapsulates “all of the damaged desires and grand hopes that make America the nation it’s,” and that “from the synth arpeggios to the driving drum beats, the music will transport you again to the dance sounds of the 80s, as imagined by AI.”
For Simon – a 2018 Emmy Award nominee as Assistant Director for the general public service announcement marketing campaign Would You Know If Somebody Was Following Your Youngster On-line? – his New York stage debut as producer and director is one other step in his journey of inventive exploration that started years in the past in his native Trinidad and Tobago.
Profession in Movie
As a baby in Trinidad after which later within the USA after emigrating as a younger youngster, Simon was obsessed with comedian books, storytelling and complicated graphic arts. That curiosity would subsequently result in a images class in highschool and ultimately, whereas at Fordham College, a deeper curiosity in movie.
Electing to pursue a profession within the movie business, he was employed as a manufacturing assistant on the arthouse thriller The Golden Boat and was promoted to 2nd Unit Location Supervisor halfway by the shoot after impressing the manufacturing group along with his dedication and effectivity. That auspicious starting was adopted by Randy’s involvement in a spread of initiatives throughout all genres over the subsequent few years, from commercials to PSA’s to actuality reveals. He has labored and/or collaborated with extremely revered business names equivalent to Oscar-winner Casey Affleck, Joe Brewster, Giancarlo Esposito, Madison Davis Lacy, Mos Def and James Schamus.
Forming his personal firm, RFSWolf Leisure LLC in 2004, he has gone on to work with New York Yankees Joe Torre and Jorge Posada’s Foundations, The Nationwide Park Service, The Youngsters’s Help Society, The Board of Training, Sesame Road and plenty of different entities to develop and ship initiatives addressing gun violence, voting rights, youngster abuse, HIV, stroke consciousness and school-related well being points.
He’s particularly happy with his work on the “African Burial Floor” set up. It commemorated the greater than 50,000 slaves buried within the Wall Road space in New York Metropolis. In addition to serving as producer for the movie Third Week. An city drama directed by his longtime good friend and collaborator Jordi Torrent. The movie shall be screened at Rome’s MIA (Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo) Competition in 2024.
As he tells it, “Going into theatre at this level in my profession is only a pure evolution for me as an artist. I’ve all the time been involved in increasing my horizons in my artistic course of, beginning with images, then movie, then producing and directing for visible media– and now theatre, a brand new medium for me. I’m particularly enthusiastic about directing The Duchess of LES as a result of it offers me the possibility to deliver characters to life earlier than a reside viewers for the very first time. I’m additionally a giant advocate and supporter of the LGBTQIA neighborhood. The present addresses gender norms and pushes some boundaries, which for me is all the time a really optimistic factor. I couldn’t consider a greater approach to begin my theatrical profession on this planet’s foremost theatrical metropolis.”
The Duchess of LES Solid
Photograph Credit score – Randy Simon
The all-female solid of The Duchess of LES contains Allison Brooke Clark, Stalinada “Stalina”Gurbechenko, Sarah Shah, Marion Stenfort and Amanda Vazquez, together with understudy Romy Turner.
Performances run Thursdays by Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 3pm from November 16 by December 3. The Kraine Theatre is situated at 85 East 4th Road, between 2nd Avenue and Bowery Road.
Tickets are additionally out there at www.duchess.nyc.