WARREN MILLER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
The Proxy Marriage
On July 20 at 7 p.m., Broadway returns to Big Sky with a homegrown
twist: WMPAC presents a staged reading of a new musical about a unique Montana
law.
A cast of Broadway actors will be joining forces with Big Sky and
Bozeman-based performers to bring together a staged reading of a new musical
called “The Proxy Marriage,” a story based on Helena-born author Maile Meloy’s eponymous
short story published in The New Yorker.
The story follows teenagers William and Bridey, who both have weekend
jobs at a family law firm as wedding stand-ins. The firm has made an entire
practice out of Montana’s proxy marriage law, which states that brides and
grooms do not have to be physically present at the nuptials for the union to be
legal.
William and Bridey graduate and move apart to pursue their artistic
dreams, but each summer their stand-in job brings them back together for a
week. Fifteen years later, they begin to
wonder if what they were longing for all along was each other.
The Proxy Marriage is a collaboration between Adam Gwon—whose music
theater compositions have been performed on six different continents in over
half a dozen languages by luminaries such as Kelli O’Hara and Audra McDonald—and
Michele Lowe, author of the Broadway show “The Smell of the Kill” and recipient
of several national awards for her plays and musicals.
The reading will be directed by Marc Bruni, director of “Beautiful:
The Carole King Musical” on Broadway, and brings back Big Sky favorites John
Dossett and Michele Pawk, the Tony-Winning actress featured in Stephanie
DiMaggio’s Levity, which was a huge hit in the 2018 winter season at WMPAC.
Learn more about The Proxy Marriage and get tickets online at warrenmillerpac.org
The Crossing
Two-time Grammy winning ensemble The Crossing returns to Big Sky to
develop major new work for film and choir.
The WMPAC welcomes back The Crossing for their fifth summer here at
the Big Sky Choral Initiative and second summer working on Montaña, an epic new
work for choir and film.
With support from the National Endowment for the Arts, this choral
work is an ongoing collaboration between composer Michael Gordon and filmmaker
Bill Morrison, and investigates the amazing landscapes of the United States,
from their history to their beauty, struggles, and expanses.
While in residence at the WMPAC, The Crossing will be expanding
presenting the second of four installments of this large new work on Aug. 7 at
6 p.m.
Under the direction of Donald Nally, the 24-member group has garnered
two Grammys in the past two years and continues to push the boundaries of vocal
music with their innovative new works. Hailed by the New York Times for “their
radiant sound and the vibrancy of the repertory they’ve cultivated,” they are
the most highly sought after modern vocal ensemble and have performed at
globally acclaimed venues, such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles,
Lincoln Center in New York and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
They will be returning to Big Sky annually to continue creating and
leading the future of modern music.
For more information about their other projects, visit crossingchoir.org. Tickets and more information are available at warrenmillerpac.org
