Dear Everything: A Musical Uprising for the Earth

Description

On the heels of its sold-out, one-night-only show at Terminal 5 earlier this year, Dear Everything, a musical uprising for the Earth, is coming to three U.S. cities this Fall: Miami Beach, FL; Los Angeles, CA; and Salt Lake City, UT. Dear Everything tells an urgent story driven by galvanizing and emotional pop and folk music, that speaks to the dialectic of our times—adults focused on surviving the now as youth hold a fierce eye on the future. With empathy and outrage, it addresses the most pressing issue of our day—the climate crisis.

The U.S. tour is produced by V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women, gender expansive people and the Earth, in association with the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University. Dear Everything was born through the collective synergy of Tony Award-winning playwright V (formerly Eve Ensler); the Tony-winning director/Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the A.R.T., Diane Paulus; Grammy and Golden Globe-nominated songwriter Justin Tranter; singer and songwriter Caroline Pennell; songwriter and music producer Eren Cannata; and orchestrator Daniel Crean; with contributions by Tony Award winner, Idina Menzel. Dear Everything, formerly known as WILD, premiered as a concert production at American Repertory Theater in 2021.

The cast of Dear Everything includes Crystal Monee Hall, YDE, Paravi, Luke Ferrari, Michael Williams, Brittany Campbell, Javier Muñoz, and Terence Archie. The production also includes a narrator. On September 28 in Miami, the narrator will be played by V (formerly Eve Ensler). On October 3 in Salt Lake City the narrator will be played by writer, educator, conservationist, and activist Terry Tempest Williams. The narrator for September 30 in Los Angeles will be confirmed at a later date. Casting is by Whitley Theatrical.

Bringing new activists into climate efforts and amplifying youth voices are integral to Dear Everything’s content and message. Dear Everything will incorporate local youth choirs (early teens to 18 years old) into each performance in the central role of “Earth Choir.” The Los Angeles Children’s Chorus is confirmed for LA and Rise Up Children’s Choir and Youth Theatre at the U in Salt Lake City, with others to be announced. Members of the choirs from previous productions at A.R.T in Cambridge, MA and New York, the Boston Children’s Choir and the Broadway for Arts Education Choir, have reported back that their lives have been changed by the piece and many of them have become climate activists.

Youth are at the heart of Dear Everything. Filmmaker, Entrepreneur, V-Day Board member, and climate activist Maya Penn has created a Dear Everything Youth Council, inviting youth activists in each city on the tour to get involved, table about their respective climate efforts, and contribute to a youth art exhibition on site. Maya also designed the poster art for the show.

Dear Everything marks the first artistic piece centering around climate from V-Day, long known for its vast survivor-led, grassroots, anti-violence work on college campuses and in communities. Its work began with founder V (formerly Eve Ensler’s) play The Vagina Monologues, which revealed the power of art and activism to change culture and systems.

“It is an urgent and thrilling time to be on the road in America with Dear Everything coming together with audiences in dialogue, community, and action. With rousing music and wild story telling, this piece is an homage to youth activists fighting for our futures.” – V (formerly Eve Ensler)

“From its very first moments at A.R.T., Dear Everything has embodied the power of theater to build community. I am thrilled that audiences across the country will experience the galvanizing energy of this musical to connect with one another and with our planet. Dear Everything is more than a show—it’s a passionate cry for protecting our future.” – Diane Paulus

“Since I was a kid, I’ve always been drawn to art that was trying to start larger conversations. Political folk singers, feminist songwriters, and radical playwrights. Getting to create something speaking to climate catastrophe with such amazing artists like V, Diane Paulus, Caroline Pennell and Eren Cannata has been an honor.” – Justin Tranter

Dates and locations are as follows:
September 28, Miami Beach, FL: Miami Beach Bandshell. Narrator: V (formerly Eve Ensler)
September 30, Los Angeles, CA: El Rey Theater. Narrator: TBA
October 3, Salt Lake City, UT: Union Events Center. Narrator: Terry Tempest Williams

Tickets are available at deareverythingonstage.org. For more information on the production, please follow Dear Everything on Instagram at @deareverythingonstage and @vdayorg. 

Dear Everything is an artistic tool to amplify, spread, and deepen the movement throughout the country and eventually the world, breaking through people’s denial and feelings of powerlessness.  

This is a transformational project, one that will take a global, non-traditional path in order to engage the millions of new audiences who long to be an active part of change, and who will be energized by seeing themselves and their stories represented.