JANUARY 21, 2020 – At Open Jar Studios in Times Square for our first table reading with book writer Gregg Ostrin, music/lyric writer Peter Galperin, theatrical manager/producer Aaron Grant, and a roomful of incredible talent, including Drew Lachey (98 Degrees), Roscoe Orman (Sesame Street), and Joe Langworth.
The Story
"Last of the Mannahattas" follows a small group of individuals clinging to hope amidst the consequences of massive global warming, one hundred years in the future.
With sea levels having risen 100 feet and most of Manhattan and large parts of the east and west coasts underwater, the musical explores the intimate relationships between members of a multi-racial and multi-generational group of survivors, in the only neighborhood still standing in New York City.
"Last of the Mannahattas" explores a worst case scenario that demonstrates the triumph of the human spirit, as this unlikely group must work together to overcome the odds, as well as their fears and prejudices, to find a new home, first on land and then at sea.
It is a cautionary tale that is fiercely relevant for our times, addressing both the denial so many of us still face about this imminent threat and the eternal optimism that we believe can help us overcome the greatest environmental challenges that even now threaten our future.
The Facts
The Facts About Sea Level Rise
Climatecentral.org
Global warming has raised global sea level about 8 inches since 1880, and the rate of rise is accelerating. Rising seas dramatically increase the odds of damaging floods from storm surges. A Climate Central analysis finds the...
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https://ss2.climatecentral.org/#10/40.6270/-74.1605?show=satellite&projections=0-K14_RCP85-SLR&level=5&unit=meters&pois=hide
2019 Arctic Sea Ice Second Lowest on Record
Sept. 23, 2019 - climate.nasa.gov
The extent of Arctic sea ice at the end of this summer was effectively tied with 2007 and 2016 for second lowest since modern record keeping began in the late 1970s. An analysis of satellite data by NASA and the National Snow...
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https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2913/2019-arctic-sea-ice-minimum-tied-for-second-lowest-on-record/
An Iceberg the Size of Delaware
July 12, 2017 - nytimes.com
A chunk of floating ice that weighs more than a trillion metric tons broke away from the Antarctic Peninsula, producing one of the largest icebergs ever recorded and providing a glimpse of how the Antarctic ice sheet might ultimately start to fall apart. A crack...
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https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/09/climate/antarctica-rift-update.html
Rising Seas Will Erase More Cities by 2050, New Research Shows
Oct. 29, 2019 - nytimes.com
Rising seas could affect three times more people by 2050 than previously thought, according to new research, threatening to all but erase some of the world’s great coastal cities.
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https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/29/climate/coastal-cities-underwater.html?searchResultPosition=1
A deadly virus is spreading in marine mammals. Scientists say climate change is to blame.
nov. 7, 2019 - nbcnews.com
The study adds to growing research that global warming is having some unexpected impacts on animal and human health.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/deadly-virus-spreading-marine-mammals-scientists-say-climate-change-blame-n1078331
The Big-U, a protective system around the low-lying topography of Manhattan.
rebuildbydesign.org
In collaboration with New York City, The BIG U proposal was developed to protect Lower Manhattan from floodwater, storms, and other impacts of a changing climate.
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http://www.rebuildbydesign.org/our-work/all-proposals/winning-projects/big-u
The Creators
Peter Galperin
music & lyrics
A New York City resident, Seattle native and grunge rock refugee, Peter studied classical violin and piano with his musician parents, and was active in the burgeoning Northwest rock scene. He has recorded several critically-acclaimed CD's in New York and Nashville (available at petergalperin.com), and has composed music for a variety of dance performances, television and independent film soundtracks.
A regular performer as a solo act and with his band in clubs throughout New York City and in the Pacific Northwest, Peter's music has been described by Vents Magazine as "uplifting, thought provoking... and overly eccentric in a good way."
His first musical "Bulldozer: The Ballad of Robert Moses" premiered Off-Broadway in 2017 at New York's venerable Theatre at St. Clements. Hailed as "...theatrical gold" by New Yorker Magazine, and "an impressive debut... a dynamic score" by thebroadwayblog.com, the original cast recording is available at BroadwayRecords.com and can be streamed on Spotify.
Gregg Ostrin
bookwriter
A native of Los Angeles, Gregg went to the University of Southern California and Sarah Lawrence College, working as a actor at regional theaters as diverse as the Old Globe Theater in San Diego and The Guthrie in Minneapolis.
As a writer, he is a founding member of LA's Scrap Theater, where his first play "Rank and File" premiered at the Hudson Theater. His play "Kowalski," about Marlon Brando's fateful audition for A Streetcar Named Desire, was an Ovation nominee, running at the Two Roads Theater in North Hollywood.
As a screenwriter, Gregg has sold numerous film and pilot scripts to Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox, amongst others. He has written on the NBC TV series Wind on Water and on the final season of Xena: Warrior Princess. In addition to "Last of the Mannahattas," Gregg is writing "Reflections," a musical based on the lives of Motown song writers Holland-Dozier-Holland, which will be premiering in Canada in early 2020.
News
Contact
For more information about our show, please contact Aaron Grant Theatrical at 347.875.7761 or office@theatrical.ag.