Dear Supporters of The Scale,
It is with great excitement that we write to share with you that The Smallest Sound, in the Smallest Space, an original play by Bryce McClendon directed by Katy Early, will premiere at Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theatre in Manhattan on March 3, 2023. Part of The Why Collective’s inaugural festival-in-residence, this production will be the culmination of years of diligent creative and administrative work. We are so eager to enter into the most rewarding part of the creative process: collaboration between artists.
The Smallest Sound, in the Smallest Space follows four graduate-level students of classical singing. Their teacher, Professor Kent Randall, is under investigation by the University for sexually inappropriate conduct, and each student has agreed to provide an anonymous witness statement. The play’s scenes move back and forth through time, interweaving reality, memory, and imagination. As a representative from the University Office of Institutional Compliance interviews each student, their private lessons with Kent overlay their testimonies, interlocking with one another to play out as real-time illustrations of their experiences.
A voice teacher’s explicit role is to guide students to use their bodies and voices for expressive purposes, often as a means of constructing identity in pursuit of personal and professional success. The Smallest Sound… boldly considers the potential for vocal instruction to be co-opted as a tool of suppression and coercion. It investigates this particular vulnerability, exposing individual and industrial practices that protect, insulate, and amplify abusive behavior while (sometimes quite literally) stifling the voices of those most susceptible to abuse. Finally, the play considers the power of making noise to reclaim sovereignty over the body and creative spirit in pursuit of healing.
This play will be a landmark event for the community of young opera professionals, particularly those who live and work in New York City. It provides an unprecedented opportunity for singers and collaborative pianists to both act and perform music in a context that explicitly and honestly represents the experience of the student of singing. It is intended as a gift of hope to all who have experienced any form of coercion at the hands of a mentor.
Supporters like you are essential to the success of this project. Your financial contributions will enable us to develop this production at a standard of excellence that will ensure its lasting impact on those who need it most.
To date, we have secured over $13,000 in in-kind donations, and are pursuing and receiving grants, individual donations, sponsorships, and crowdfunding. Such support has already helped us secure rehearsal and performance space at the cell theatre and The National Opera Center, technical and administrative staff, props, costumes, and much more. But to complete this project, we need you!
With your help, we are confident we will hit our fundraising goal of $10,000 by the end of the year. Reaching this goal will allow us to cover artist fees for a cast of nine performers, ensuring their exceptional work is appropriately compensated.
Your contribution to this project can be made directly to the cell theatre via check or online using this link. Checks should be made payable to the cell theatre with "TWC - Smallest Sound" in the memo line. Nancy Manocherian's the cell theatre (Artistic Director Kira Simring) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, and all donations are tax deductible. If you work for a company who uses Benevity for donation-matching to non-profits or charitable causes, please consider donating to the cell theatre using EIN #: 20-5899131. When doing so, you will have the option to select The Smallest Sound, in the Smallest Space as the Cause Project.
We also have sponsorships available, and invite you, if able, to consider fully sponsoring or co-sponsoring an artist fee. Outlined below are our sponsorship tiers. Sponsors will be listed in the program alongside their tier unless requested otherwise.
Platinum Sponsor: I want to fully sponsor a principal artist fee for $1,000
Gold Sponsor: I want to fully sponsor a supporting artist fee $600
Silver Sponsor: I want to co-sponsor an artist’s fee $300
As our way of indicating gratitude for your tremendous support, we are pleased to offer these small tokens of our appreciation for donors at various levels:
- Those who donate any amount will receive exclusive access to a collection of four original short stories by Bryce McClendon, published as a series on their blog The Scale beginning in December.
- Those who give $25 or more will receive access to an advance reading copy of the script before its opening performance.
- Those who give $50 or more will receive limited-time access to a recording of the play after its closing performance.
Thank you for making this work possible, and we look forward to celebrating the premiere together. We cannot wait for you to join us in the theater or virtually for our premiere in March. We also hope that the performance will be made more meaningful through the certain knowledge that your gifts contributed directly to its success.
Sincerely,
Sydney Anderson (she/her)
Founder & Creative Director, The Why Collective
Bryce McClendon (they/them)
Playwright, The Smallest Sound, in the Smallest Space
About the cell theatre
Nancy Manocherian's the cell theatre (Artistic Director Kira Simring) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit dedicated to the incubation and presentation of new work across all artistic disciplines that mine the mind, pierce and awaken the soul. Founded in 2006, the cell has provided a developmental home in the heart of Chelsea for works in progress by artists ranging from early career to established staples of the New York community. Originally established as a theatre space, the cell has gradually restructured into a cultural hub for food artists, cyborg theatre artists, musicians, installation artists, choreographers and more. www.thecelltheatre.org
About The Why Collective
The Why Collective was established in 2021 by Creative Director, Sydney Anderson, as a rotating roster of artists and thinkers dedicated to a roundtable-style of artistic inception and creation. Collective artists are invited to work together collaboratively without the traditional hierarchy of leadership roles. It is the collective’s mission to create nuanced and layered works of interdisciplinary theater, which encourage artists and audiences to seek deeper truths together through the art of questioning. www.thewhycollective.art | www.sydneyandersonoprano.com
About Katy Early, director
Equally at home in theatre and opera, Katy is a stage director and current MFA candidate at Brooklyn College. She makes politically relevant and personally resonant work that endeavors to shift our communities away from violence towards care. She is thrilled to be working with collaborators in New York, New England, and beyond. Recent directing credits include a site-specific production of La Traviata (MassOpera, 2021), a staged workshop production of Omar Najmi's new operatic setting of En la ardiente oscuridad (Mosesian Center for the Arts, 2019), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (her very own backyard in Queens, 2018). With a particular interest in how folk music can be blended with theatre, she has trained with several European theater companies in France and Poland (Pantheatre, Teatr Zar, Song of the Goat) in recent years. She holds bachelor's degrees in both theatre and vocal performance from Oberlin College & Conservatory.
www.katyearly.com