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Novelist Jodi Picoult, who also conquered the big screen through adaptations of her beloved books (think My Sister's Keeper, The Pact and The Tenth Circle, among others), is heading to the theater stage.
Working alongside playwright Timothy Allen McDonald, Picoult created a new musical about COVID-19 titled Breathe. Premiering on Zoom this Friday and streaming for eight weeks, the production was actually recorded back in March of this year at the 92nd Street Y's Kaufmann Concert Hall over a period of three days.
Although obviously different from the sorts of staged shows that New Yorkers are used to, Breathe falls squarely into a new category of cultural pursuits that try to abide by the standards of a new world order comprised of updated health guidelines and requirements while still delivering the sort of artistic experience that the city is craving.
Breathe's format isn't the only COVID-19-friendly aspect of the production: the plotline itself concerns the virus, with scenes named after the sorts of symptoms that people who contracted the disease experienced (from "Shortness of Breath" to "Fever," "Fatigue," "Aches" and more).
According to the New York Times, the duo was inspired by the "memorialization of the AIDS epidemic in Rent and also by the interconnectedness of characters in Love Actually" when developing the project, which explores the effects of the pandemic on five separate pairs of people, including a gay couple and two strangers who meet at a wedding. Each vignette features compositions by different theater gurus: Rob Rokicki and Rebecca Murillo, Daniel J. Mertzlufft and Kate Leonard, Doug Besterman and Sharon Vaughan, Ethan Pakchar and Douglas Lyons, and Zina Goldrich and March Heisler.
Don't expect an audience to take over your screen once you start streaming the show. Not only were the actors playing their roles in an empty theater, but there is no real set to gaze at or costumes to appreciate as all those involved donned the sort of attire that has pretty much defined our days in lockdown (from PJs to slippers).
You can buy tickets for Breathe, which cost $25 each, right here. You'll also be able to purchase the show's original cast recording, released by Broadway Records, starting May 14.