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Lead performer stands with her arms crossed above her face while wearing red suit and headphones amidst a yellow background.

October 3-5, 2024 at 7:30PM

This performance is 75 minutes with no intermission.

Production Advisory: This production contains loud sounds, some flashing lights, and moments of darkness.

Is It Thursday Yet? is a stunning tapestry of dance, live music and home video footage that invites you into the unique complexities of dancer and choreographer Jenn Freeman’s life following her Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis at age 33. Since then, she has navigated an endless sea of epiphanies, examining childhood memories through this new lens.

Scored with original live music from composer and vocalist Holland Andrews with a set by Rachel Hauck (Tony Award® winner, Hadestown), this engrossing new work is co-created and co-choreographed by Freeman and the electrifying Sonya Tayeh (Tony Award winner, Moulin Rouge!) on as Director.

Showtimes & Tickets

“A moving, cathartic journey of the mind. Is It Thursday Yet? is a testament to the liberating and life-affirming power of dance.”

— The San Diego Union-Tribune

To watch the video with audio descriptions click here.

In Association with La Jolla Playhouse

IS IT THURSDAY YET?

 

Co-created, Co-choreographed and Performed by 

Jenn Freeman

 

Co-created, Co-choreographed and Performed by 

Sonya Tayeh

 

Composed and Performed by 

Holland Andrews

 

Scenic Design by Rachel Hauck

Costume Design by Márion Talán de la Rosa

Lighting Design by Cha See

Sound Design by Melanie Chen Cole

Media and Projection Design by Joseph Digiovanna

Drum Score and Performer: Price McGuffey

Stage Manager: Jenna Hanlon

Creative Consultant: Alexander Hammer

Bookings: Barbara Frum, outer/most

General Manager: Suffolk Street Creative

 

Produced By: Ian Stuart 

 

Originally Produced by La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla California

Originally Commissioned by the Ronald O. Perelman Performing  Arts Center at World Trade Center New York, NY,

Created in Residency with Jacob’s Pillow, Becket, MA, GIbney Dance Company, New York, NY, The Theatre at the 14th Street Y, New York, NY, The Church at Sag Harbor, Sag Harbor, NY

Jenn Freeman is a 2023 NDP Grant Award recipient. Support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Mellon Foundation in support of Is It Thursday Yet?.

Is It Thursday Yet? has been made possible by additional commissioning funds provided by the O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance foundation.

Jenn Freeman is a 2023 New York State Council on the Arts grant award recipient. 

Jenn Freeman (they/she) is an Autistic American choreographer, dance performer, and educator based in New York City. Freeman is a 2023 New England Foundation for the Arts Recipient, O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance foundation recipient, and a New York State Council on the Arts grant award recipient. Earlier this year Freeman was commissioned to create a new work for Complexions Contemporary Ballet with a world premier at The Joyce Theater. In 2022 Freeman was commissioned to create a solo for American Ballet Theatre principal dancer, Cassandra Trenary, that premiered at Festival des arts de Saint-Sauveur. In 2021 Freeman created new work for the Martha Graham Dance Company. In 2018 Freeman produced, directed, and choreographed her evening-length world premiere debut: …it’s time… at the Theater at The 14th St Y in New York City. After a sold-out run the show was presented for a second engagement in 2019. Freeman's choreography has been commissioned by Marymount Manhattan College, Wayne State University, BYU, and The University of Texas at Austin.For over a decade Jenn has worked as Sonya Tayeh’s associate and resident choreographer in the development of pieces for: The Gibney Company, American Ballet Theater, The Martha Graham Dance Company, Unveiling with Moses Sumney and dancers, Florence + the Machine, LA Ballet, The Juilliard School and Cirque du Soleil. Freeman is a graduate of TISCH School of the Arts, NYU. @jfreemover www.jennfreemandance.com

Sonya Tayeh (she/ her) is a New York City based TONY® Award winning choreographer and director. Since paving her professional career, her work has been characterized as a blend of powerful versatility and theatrical range. Selected credits include: Moulin Rouge! (Broadway, Australia, UK, Tour—Hirschfeld Theatre/Dir Alex Timbers), UP HERE (Hulu musical series), The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (Broadway, James Earl Jones Theatre), Is It Thursday Yet? (La Jolla Playhouse), Sing Street Broadway (Huntington Theatre, Boston/Dir Rebecca Taichman), Martha Graham Dance Company (Joyce Theatre/Tour), American Ballet Theatre/What Becomes of Love Film, Unveiling with Moses and dancers (Fall For Dance/City Center), Rent Live! (Fox Network/Dir Michael Grief and Alex Rudzinski), The Lucky Ones (Ars Nova/ Dir. Anne Kauffman), Face the Torrent for Malpaso Dance Co. (commissioned by The Music Center/LA), You’ll Still Call Me By Name (commissioned by New York Live Arts and Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival), Martha Graham Dance Company’s Lamentation Variation Series (Joyce Theatre), Hundred Days (New York Theatre Workshop/Dir. Anne Kauffman), The Skin Of Our Teeth (Theatre for a New Audience/Dir. Arin Arbus), Andrew Lippas’ The Wild Party (City Center Encores!/Dir. Leigh Silverman), Kung Fu (Signature Theatre/Dir. Leigh Silverman). Tayeh has directed and choreographed for world renowned music artists including Miley Cyrus (directed and choreographed The Gypsy Heart Tour), Florence and the Machine (choreographed performances for The Brit Awards, The Voice, and American Idol), and Kyle Minogue (Aphrodite Tour). She has gleaned many accolades for her versatile work, including a Tony Award, two Emmy nominations, one Drama Desk Award, an Obie Award, and two Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Choreography.

Holland Andrews (they/them) is a vocalist, composer, and performance artist whose work focuses on the abstraction of operatic and extended-technique voice to build soundscapes encompassing both catharsis and dissonance. Andrews develops and performs soundscapes for dance, theater, and film. Notable collaborations include Bill T. Jones, Dorothee Munyaneza, Will Rawls, poet Demian Dinéyazhi, Son Lux, Christina Vantzou, William Brittelle, Methods Body, West Thordson, Peter Broderick, Darian Donovan Thomas, and Nils Frahm.

Price McGuffey (he/him) is a multi-disciplinary percussionist based in NYC working in live and studio applications as an instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and educator. He has studied and worked with artists such as Ndugu Chancler, Don Braden, Wycliffe Gordon, Alan Broadbent, Amina Figarova, Ben Sollee, Carly Johnson, Jenn Freeman, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet and has over 20 years of performance experience.

The presentation of Is It Thursday Yet? in association with La Jolla Playhouse was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation.

Theatre Sponsor:

Laurie and Bill Benensen