ID, PLEASE by Daniel Hirsch '17 onstage in London

ID, PLEASE, an opera with a libretto by Daniel Hirsch (MFA '17) and music by Soosan Lolavar, will travel to London's Tête à Tête festival in July. The production was originally mounted as part of Co-Opera, an extraordinary collaboration between the Carnegie Mellon School of Music, the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, and Pittsburgh Opera.

ID, PLEASE made international news in February when Ms. Lolavar's ability to attend rehearsals in Pittsburgh was cast into doubt by the U.S. executive branch's initial attempt at a travel ban on people carrying passports from Muslim-majority countries.

John-Paul Nickel '08 is now a producer on JUST ADD MAGIC

John-Paul Nickel (MFA '08) has been promoted to producer on Amazon Studios' JUST ADD MAGIC. Nickel was a 2017 Writers Guild Award nominee for last season's episode "Just Add Mom." A Pittsburgh native, he previously wrote for WAREHOUSE 13.

Annie Pulsipher '17 takes THE TROUBLE WITH DEAD BOYFRIENDS to Chicago

Annie Pulsipher (MFA '17) and a team of collaborators from CMU have been invited to bring their musical THE TROUBLE WITH DEAD BOYFRIENDS to MCL Chicago's Premier Premieres festival. The show was originally produced in the School of Drama's annual Playground Festival of student work. In addition, Pulsipher was a runner-up in the University of Tulsa's WomenWorks competition.

Isabella D'Esposito '17 in Seven Devils Conference and Ars Nova ANT Fest

Isabella D'Esposito (MFA '17) will have a very busy June. Her spaceship musical GRAVITY OF ME GONE will be produced in Ars Nova's ANT Fest in New York, and her spaceship play HORIZON THREE has been selected for the Playwrights Intensive at the Seven Devils Conference in McCall, Idaho.

Pulsipher, Palmero, Hirsch win monologue prizes

Three playwrights from the MFA class of 2017 and the School of Drama actors with whom they collaborated received prizes at the Energy Week dramatic monologue competition at Carnegie Mellon.


First Place: "Power to the Potato"

Writer: Annie Pulsipher
Actor: Amanda Fallon Smith ($2,000)

Second Place: "Mother Nature has Gas"

Writer: Seanan C. Palmero Waugh
Actor: Lea DiMarchi ($1,000)

Third Place:  "In the Dark"

Writer: Daniel Hirsch
Actor: Aubyn Heglie ($500)


Energy Week, sponsored by the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, included a wide range of programming dedicated to making energy more efficient, affordable, and sustainable.

Annie Pulsipher '17 wins Tribeca/Sloan Grand Jury Prize

The Tribeca Film Institute-Sloan Student Grand Jury Prize is awarded annually to the best screenplay from amongst those that have received a Sloan award during the year. Six graduate film programs award Sloan screenwriting grants. The Grand Jury Prize is a $30,000 cash prize plus $20,000 in mentoring from the Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) as well as from scientists and industry professionals.

On March 16, Annie Pulsipher from Carnegie Mellon University was awarded the prize for her script THE GLOWING GENE. A reception followed at The Park on 10^th Avenue in Chelsea, which had specialty cocktails for each drink (“The Glowing Gene” had a fluorescent green straw.)

British composer missing rehearsals of collaboration with CMU Drama librettist due to travel ban

The Times of London (paywall): "Soosan Lolavar, 29, is having to rethink plans to visit the US next week for rehearsals of an opera she has composed. Ms Lolavar was born and brought up in London and holds dual British-Iranian citizenship because her father is from Iran. She recently returned from studying at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh after winning a Fulbright scholarship. Her opera, ID, please, is due to begin in April." The opera is a collaboration with librettists Daniel Hirsch (MFA '17) as part of a project assembled by CMU School of Drama, CMU School of Music, and Pittsburgh Opera.

The story is also being followed by The Hollywood Reporter.