Together Apart, 10 mini-musicals about connecting on Zoom at the beginning of the pandemic—written, directed, and starring Brown University alumni—stream on Broadway on Demand beginning August 6 to benefit The Actors Fund.
Conceived by and featuring Grammy winner Lisa Loeb, the cast also includes Emmy winner Julie Bowen (Modern Family), Emmy winner Josh Hamilton (13 Reasons Why), Ann Harada (Avenue Q), and JoBeth Williams (Kramer vs. Kramer).
Together Apart evolved out of a Brown Musical Theatre class reunion on Zoom held during the pandemic attended by graduates from the early ’80s through the late ’90s. The seven-minute musicals are interspersed with short pieces by Eric Kirchberger, who plays Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Loeb says, “As I sat in the Zoom reunion, listening to everyone talk about their current lives, connecting with friends, and reflecting on all of our vivid musical theatre memories from Brown, I realized that we shouldn’t just talk about what happened in the past, but we should write a Zoom musical about what’s going on, and it should happen all in the world of Zoom. And by sharing our storytelling and our passion and love for theatre, we can work together to provide an outlet for our shared creativity while giving back to this incredible cause.”
The mini-musicals include How Can I Connect?, It’s Okay Mom, The New Normal, Find The Music, Red State/Blue State, Teaching Online, Breathe, Care and Feeding, Family Game Night, and La Dolce Jersey.
Danny Ursetti serves as copyist with post-production video/audio by Kevin Surace. The recording engineer/coordinator is Tye Hunt Fitzgerald, the streaming coordinator is Joe Porter, and the musical director is David Lai.
Together Apart is executive produced by Loeb and produced by Beth Wishnie. It is co-produced by Carl Belfatti, Leslie Buxbaum, Matt Hoverman, Maria Seigenthaler, and The 24 Hour Plays.
Tickets are free of charge with a suggested donation to The Actors Fund. For further information click here.
(Updated August 6, 2021)