Name: It CAN Happen Here! Hallie Flanagan and the Federal Theatre
Start: 2025-03-06T19:30:00-05:00
End: 2025-03-30T21:00:00-05:00
Location: Culture Lab LIC

A multimedia extravaganza celebrating the Federal Theatre and revealing the forces that led to its downfall–forces even more powerful today.
About this Event

Created by Melody Brooks, Katrin Hilbe, Tess Howsam, Daniel Jacobs and Susan Quinn, It CAN Happen Here! Hallie Flanagan and the Federal Theatre is a co-production between New Perspectives Theatre Company and Culture Lab LIC. Brooks is the Producer, Hilbe is the Director, and Howsam is Production Designer.

It CAN Happen Here! is a multi-media experience that weaves together three strands of storyline: the achievements of the Federal Theatre Project, which employed tens of thousands of artists from every demographic working in every theatrical genre and which brought performances into every corner of the U.S.; the ground-breaking work of its fearless leader, Hallie Flanagan, whose vision shaped the story-telling and aesthetics of the most impactful productions; and the political consequences, which encompassed the breaking of racial and social barriers and earned the disapprobation of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), whose legacy of attacks on Theatre and the Arts continue to this day.

The cast includes Theresa Rose as Hallie Flanagan, joined by a nine-member Ensemble playing a variety of roles: Max Bank, Allie Beltran, DJ Davis, Emma Sarah Davis, Chase Lee, Megan Lomax, Jomack Miranda, Nick Radu-Blackburn, and Cheyenne Springette.

Ground-breaking artists from NPTC's and CLLIC's creative teams are collaborating with director Katrin Hilbe, to take the audience on a fast paced and stylized journey from HUAC hearings to Federal theatre performances, from Hallie's home life to labor strikes, from the beginnings of an impossible undertaking to a triumphant success to a devastating loss.

Penelope Rose Deen is Choreographer/Movement Director. Award-winning Production Designer Tess Howsam is creating a world of visual storytelling inspired by the innovative theatrical designs of the Federal Theatre and its Living Newspapers that includes shadow puppets, hand-crafted props and a wealth of images from the Library of Congress archive. Gaby FeBland is collaborating on the Puppet and Props design; Matsy Stinson (Costumes), Sara Gosses(Lighting), Andy Evan Cohen (Sound) and Erwin Falcon (Projections) complete the design team. Josh Iacovelli is Technical Director; Cat Gillespie is Production Stage Manager.