New York Playwright David Cote Comes to Silver City in Aug/Sept

Silver City, Nevada – Last year during a local gathering, some of Silver City’s long time denizens noted that there hadn’t been any theatre productions in town for some time. Past community projects to create musicals such as Old Plumbottom, with direction from local professionals Will and Sheree Rose, were enormously popular. Now that Silver City has a permanent outdoor stage, the Silver Pavilion, locals suggested that the town should make theater a regular part of its public programming. In a timely coincidence, not long afteward I received an application to the Resident Artist Program in Silver City from NYC playwright, opera librettist and theatre critic David Cote.

Cote’s play Otherland was a finalist in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference. His opera libretti include Blind Injustice, which is on stage now at the Cincinnati Opera; Three Way (Nashville Opera and BAM); The Scarlet Ibis (Chicago Opera Theater and Prototype); and the one-act Fade which had a world premiere in London. He's written companion books for several hit Broadway musicals, including Wicked. His reporting and criticism have appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Guardian, the Observer, Theater News Online, American Theatre, and Opera News. He was previously the longest serving theater editor and chief drama critic of Time Out New York.

Silver City Workshops: After learning more about Cote’s work, and sending him background material on the community of Silver City, I asked what he’d think of working with the community on a one act play about the town’s current struggle to survive the ongoing onslaught by Comstock Mining Inc. He’ll bring the idea to the community during two workshops at the Silver City School House on Friday Aug. 23 and Friday Aug. 30 from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Locals can can decide then if they’d like to work on that group project, or something else, such as a libretto that they could add music to later.

Carson City Talk: You can learn more about David's creative process during a free, public talk at the Brick in Carson City on Thursday August 22 from 5pm-6:30 that also includes Chicago-based sculptor Nicole Beck. The artists talks are part of a summer series funded and sponsored by Carson City’s Deparment of Arts and Culture. The Brick, or community development building, is located at 108 E. Proctor Street.

Radio: Cote will also be interviewed this month by Silver City’s Joe McCarthy for a piece in Nevada Capital News and KNVC.