Michael Arden Enlists Nikki M. James & More for American Dream Study

From Andrew Lloyd Webber's testing process at the London Palladium to a socially distant but still immersive Great Gatsby, theater makers are continuing to explore the possibilities of staying creative in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Director and performer Michael Arden has convened a company for the development of a new immersive, part walking/part drive-through theatrical experience in New York’s Hudson River Valley. The piece is called American Dream Study.

Created by Arden and his Forest of Arden company, the site-specific theatrical experiment is a collaboration with a group of actors, dancers, musicians, filmmakers, stage managers, designers, choreographers and medical professionals and will provide a socially-distanced communal experience. American Dream Study will be staged throughout the Columbia County towns of Philmont, Claverack and Harlemville with audience members receiving instructions on when and where to drive, park and walk via several smart technologies. It will benefit small, local businesses in the communities in which this invite-only premiere will be explored.

"I constantly endeavor to create new opportunities for people to come together in a common space and share experiences. In this new era, that has taken a great deal of imagination and, most importantly, bold collaboration with this remarkable group of artists," Arden said in a statement. "We will be testing new methods of theater-making in order to forge a way forward for this ancient and vital art form.”

The Forest of Arden Company includes Tony winner Nikki M. James, Krysta Rodriguez, Justin Scribner, Andy Mientus, Nick Adams, Cathy Ang, Kyle Brown, McCaleb Burnett, Andrei Chagas, Maxwell Dunham, Claybourne Elder, Leigh-Ann Esty, Sara Esty, Eamon Foley, Chris Grant, Sarah Harris, Daniel Hartman, Robert Hartwell, Van Hughes, TJ Kearney, Jeff Kuperman, Jesse Kovarsky, Jodi McFadden, Connor Norton, Davon Rainey, Shea Renne, Samantha Soule, Matthew Vincent Taylor, Peter Westervelt, Lauren Yalango-Grant, Zachary Berger, Tommy Kurzman, Dane Laffrey, Jean Mientus, Ryan Park, Peter Sachon and producer Stephen Mack.

Arden has appeared on Broadway in the 2003 revival of Big River, The Times They Are A-Changin' and the 2019 production of King Lear, starring Glenda Jackson. He earned 2016 and 2018 Tony nominations for directing the revivals of Spring Awakening and Once On This Island.