A Letter to Harvey Milk Opens Off-Broadway
(© Russ Rowland)
A Letter to Harvey Milk opened off-Broadway at Theatre Row's Acorn Theatre on Wednesday, March 6. Performances are set to continue through May 13.
Based on the short story by Lesléa Newman, the musical has lyrics by Ellen M. Schwartz, with additional lyrics by Cheryl Stern, music by Laura I. Kramer, book by Jerry James, Ellen M. Schwartz, Cheryl Stern, and Laura I. Kramer. Evan Pappas directs.
A Letter to Harvey Milk stars Adam Heller and Julia Knitel, along with Michael Bartoli, Jeremy Greenbaum, Aury Krebs, C.J. Pawlikowski, and Cheryl Stern. On the creative team are Jeffrey Lodin (musical director), Ned Ginsburg (orchestrator), David Arsenault (set design), Debbi Hobson (costume design), Christopher Akerlind (lighting design), and David Margolin Lawsin (sound design).
(© Russ Rowland)
Set in San Francisco in 1986, A Letter to Harvey Milk is described as follows: "What could Harry, an amiable but lonely retired kosher butcher have in common with Barbara, his young lesbian writing teacher at the senior center? Is it enough to bridge the divide? When Harry fulfills a writing assignment to compose a letter to someone from his past who's dead, he writes not to his late wife Frannie, but to Harvey Milk, the first openly gay political leader in California. Barbara is stunned. Harry's letter evokes life-changing revelations that neither could have foreseen."
