Abingdon Virtual was created in 2020 by Abingdon Theatre Company as a new creative outlet in a time where live theatre was not possible. It is led by Executive Producer, Chad Austin who has extensive experience in both stage and screen and was recently part of the producing team for the Emmy Award winning, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert on NBC. Abingdon Virtual’s first project, It Cries Too Loudly, was a huge success winning the 1st Place Award at the Wild Dogs International Screendance Festival, Best Cinematography at the Eastern European Film Festival, Honorable Mention at the London International Monthly Film Festival, and Finalist at both the Prague International Film Awards and SHORT to the Point Festival. The piece has also been selected for consideration at several other festivals.
SHORT FILMS
APART
After many years apart, two siblings, now strangers, take a road trip and navigate what it means to share the same blood.
Written & Directed by Pierre Marais
Executive Producer Chad Austin
Starring Nasia Thomas (Caroline, or Change, Six) and De’Lon Grant (Come from Away, Jersey Boys)
Cinematography by Matthew Tompkins
AS APPLE PIE
Written and directed by South African born Pierre Marais, ‘As Apple Pie’ is an immigrant’s observation of an American conversation. There seem to be fewer cultivated spaces to have an honest conversation with differing opinions and the result is that no one is really talking to each other. Not communicating seems to be as American as apple pie.
Written & Directed by Pierre Marais
Starring Josh Breckenridge (Come From Away, The Scottsboro Boys), Ilda Mason (Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story) and Justin Sargent (Rock of Ages, Spider–Man Turn Off The Dark)
Cinematography by Matthew Tompkins
It Cries Too Loudly
Devastated and powerless as she watched the 2020 Beirut explosion and its aftermath from afar, Lebanese American choreographer Dolly Sfeir set about creating a work to express her delicate state of mind. It Cries Too Loudly, is a dance film exploring the overlap between joy and tragedy in her tumultuous home country and the experience of being an emigre.
Directed & Choreographed by Dolly Sfeir
Executive Producer Chad Austin
Cinematography and Editing by Pierre Marais
Starring Princess Grace Foundation Honoree Omar Roman de Jesus, Ian Spring, and Annalee Traylor
Virtual Productions
Empress Mei Li Lotus Blossom
Written and Directed by award winning actor, writer and director, Christine Toy Johnson, Empress Mei Li Lotus Blossom tells the story of a Teaneck-born Asian American actress who poses as an exotic Hong Kong movie star so she can get her shot at Broadway. This piece was the winner of Abingdon Theatre Company’s inaugural Festival of Short Plays, a two week virtual festival took place in the fall, shedding light on stories by people of color.
Estella Scrooge
Estella Scrooge is a new musical event for the whole family. It follows Estella, a modern-day Wall Street tycoon with a penchant for foreclosing. A hotelier in her hometown of Pickwick, Ohio has defaulted on his mortgage and Estella fancies the idea of lowering the boom personally. Arriving at Harthouse on Christmas Eve, Estella discovers that the defaulting party is her childhood friend Pip Nickley. A good and generous soul, Pip has transformed the property into a refuge for the sick, dispossessed and homeless. A freak snowstorm forces Estella to take refuge. That night, just as it happened to her ancestor Ebenezer, she is haunted by three visitations…and oh, what uninvited houseguests they are!
Book, Music, & Lyrics by Paul Gordon
Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens
Abingdon co-produced the online revival of the celebrated series of songs and monologues Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, starring an array of Broadway, television and film favorites! This is set to stream on World AIDS Day – Tuesday, December 1ST.
Academy Award Winner
JK Simmons
Tony Award Winners
Lena Hall
James Monroe Iglehart
Nathan Lane
Jessie Mueller
Cynthia Nixon
Also featuring, Brooks Ashmanskas, Laura Bell Bundy, Fran Drascher, Robin de Jesús, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Norm Lewis, Kevin McHale, Anthony Rapp, Krysta Rodriguez, Seth Rudetsky, Alysha Umphress…and many more!
Including performances from: