RIVERBEND Staged Reading

Hey! As you may know, since summer 2022, Caroline Game and I (Michael Oosterhout) have been writing a brand new musical: Riverbend. After months of writing, rewriting, and exploring this story, we are finally ready to start sharing it with the world!

In our show, audiences follow Daphne, a recent high school graduate living in a small river town with her distant father, who is making plans to take her late mother’s sailboat on a year-long journey. But when twins Diana and Aiden arrive, she is challenged by feelings she’s never known before. Inspired by the ancient Greek myth "Daphne and Apollo," this modern coming-of-age story is all at once joyfully funny, heartbreakingly tragic, and daringly hopeful.

This tale has grown near and dear to our hearts, and we feel proud to be writing a show which explores several issues that are important to us personally as well as today's culture at large. We feel sure that as you meet her, you will quickly come to love Daphne too and be moved by her journey as you follow her around the riverbend.

We began developing Riverbend together at the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. There, we were lucky to have a first-act reading in December 2022 and a full table read in February 2023, along with several other development opportunities. But in order to bring this story beyond the doors of NYU to the next stage of its creative and theatrical life, we need your help!

The next important step in the development of a musical is a staged reading--not only will we be able to see our characters and the full scope of our story truly come to life for the first time, we will finally be able to introduce them to the industry, the public, and you!

But, in order to develop a musical, there is a significant investment of time and money. Costs include rehearsal and performance space rental for readings, compensation for talented actors and production team, recording, workshop application fees, and more. As young, emerging artists (who nevertheless feel strongly about supporting our fellow artists and collaborators), we unfortunately are not able to shoulder this financial burden alone. That's where you come in!

Any support at any level that you can give to help the future development of Riverbend would be appreciated beyond measure. In addition to receiving our unending gratitude, your name and contribution will be credited in programs of future readings and workshops. Truly any small amount will make a significant difference in our ability to shepherd this piece to life.

In June 2023, thanks to your support, we held our first professional reading at the Dramatists Guild in NYC! Then, in November 2023, we were able to hold a new reading as part of Emerging Artists Theatre's Spark Theatre Festival NYC--again thanks to your support! Now, as we continue to develop the piece and take it further--we deeply appreciate any help you can give.

Again, we are so grateful for your support in bringing Riverbend to its next stage of development. Thank you and we hope to see you at the reading!