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We Start in manhattan
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ARIELLA SERUR

Ariella Serur (they/she) is a composer, writer, and Broadway performer. We Start In Manhattan: A New Queer Musical, co-written partner Sav Souza, sold-out GreenRoom 42 in Feb 2022, and 54 Below in Feb 2023.  

In the summer of 2023,  WSIM was developed with Powerhouse Theater at Vassar College, and Live and In Color which garnered a NAMT 2024 Frank Young Fund award For New Musicals Writers Residency Grant. Powerhouse Theater presented the first NYC reading of WSIM in Nov 2023.  Select performance credits: Broadway: 1776. Regional: 1776, A.R.T.; RENT, The RedHouse.  Pre-1776, Ariella was in high demand as a Queer Dating Coach, helping queer folks date more joyfully and authentically, appearing on dozens of podcasts and talk shows. Highlights include: NPR’s All Things Considered, Coffee Meets Bagel, Curious Fox Podcast.

@ariellaserur, ariellaserur.com

Sav Souza

Sav Souza is a queer and trans performer and writer living in Brooklyn. Their musical Retrograde was produced in the 2018 Polyphone Festival and their play Father//Daughter was developed at Fresh Ground Pepper’s 2021 BRB Artists Retreat. We Start In Manhattan, a musical written with their writing & life partner Ariella Serur, was a semifinalist for the 2023 National Musical Theater Conference, has had two sold out concerts at 54 Below and GreenRoom 42, and received a workshop presentation at Powerhouse at Vassar, who presented a private industry presentation in NYC in 2023. The musical was selected for the Fall Musical Retreat at Live & In Color and, which was awarded a NAMT 2024 Frank Young Fund award For New Musicals Writers Residency Grant. Select performance credits include: 1776 (Broadway, A.R.T., Nat'l Tour); Other World (World premiere, Delaware Theatre Company), Lempicka (World Premiere, Williamstown Theatre Festival)

@saaaavv, www.savsouza.com

ELLIE HEYMAN

(she/her) Ellie is a director of theater and film. Recent credits: The Great Work Begins, featuring Glenn Close, Paul Dano, and Brian Tyree Henry (Drama League Award; NYT Best of 2020); Space Dogs (MCC); Eschaton (PGA Award Nomination); ((Still) Asking For It (The Public Theater); The Tattooed Lady (Philadelphia Theater Company); Beardo (Drama Desk Nomination; Pipeline Theater), They, Themself, and Schmerm (Under the Radar); This (Bessie Nomination for Outstanding Production; NYLA), The Traveling Imaginary with Julian Koster (Neutral Milk Hotel) rated "Top 5 shows of the year" by NPR. Ellie is a graduate of Northwestern University and Boston University. She is a former WP Theater and Drama League Directing Fellow. Ellieheyman.com