Independent Arts News Reporting Award-Winning Robin & Me - My Little Spark of Madness to Honor Robin Williams Ten Years After Passing
Reported on Friday, August 2, 2024.
Pictured Above: Robin Williams photographed backstage by Jay Paul Photo credit: Jay Paul/Getty Images and Biography.com.
NEWSROOM POST: NEW YORK, NY
New York, New York – As we near the ten-year anniversary of Robin Williams’ passing on August 11th, Abingdon Theatre Company (Chad Austin, Producing Artistic Director) is delighted to announce that ROBIN & ME: MY LITTLE SPARK OF MADNESS, which had its award-winning Off-Broadway Premiere in the spring of 2023, will continue its journey in honoring Robin Williams’ legacy at theatres across Pennsylvania. Playwright & Actor Dave Droxler with Director Chad Austin will start off at Hedgerow Theatre Company from October 9-27, 2024 and will continue onto PPU Pittsburgh Playhouse in January of 2025, where these wonderful companies will produce new versions of the piece.
Additional production information can be found at https://www.hedgerowtheatre.
Pictured Above: Playwright and Performer, Dave Droxler, Photo Credit: Contributed.
Abingdon Theatre Company presented the Off-Broadway Premiere of ROBIN & ME: MY LITTLE SPARK OF MADNESS Written and Performed by Dave Droxler and Directed by Chad Austin from April 15-May 14, 2023 at Theatre Row, as part of their 31st season. This production won five Broadway World Off-Broadway awards including Best New Play Off-Broadway, Best Actor – Dave Droxler, and Best Director – Chad Austin.
Dave’s got a lot on his mind. And the only person who can help him unpack it all is his imaginary friend and real life idol: Robin Williams. ROBIN & ME: MY LITTLE SPARK OF MADNESS is an autobiographical play that follows Dave Droxler as he becomes multiple characters and whimsically relives hilarious and difficult life moments, including the times when his father dropped the ball and Robin stepped in to get him through it. But how long will it take before Dave learns how to do it without Robin’s help?
Dave Droxler said, “It feels appropriate that [my hometown and alma mater] are the next places I get to do my show again after its Off-Broadway premiere…The majority of the anecdotes I tell stem from Delaware County (located outside Philly) and during my time at Point Park University (Pittsburgh). I was fortunate enough to have many family members, friends, classmates, and colleagues throughout the span of my life come and see that production…But of course there were many who could not make the trip to NYC. So to be able to perform it again for those people in the area where all these stories were birthed (including literally where I was birthed!) is a wonderful full-circle moment.” He continued, “This year is the ten year ‘anniversary’ of Robin Williams’s passing, which is mind-boggling to think that there’s a whole generation of people who never got to know of him in real time. It’s the perfect time to continue acknowledging his legacy.”
Chad Austin said, “There is no better display of Abingdon’s mission than to have Dave Droxler continue ROBIN & ME following the award-winning Off-Broadway run, and I am thrilled to see what Hedgerow and PPU Pittsburgh Playhouse do with the piece. It is an honor to watch this play grow, and I am elated to be a part of its continued journey.”
Pictured Above: Playwright & Performer, Dave Droxler who stars in Robin & Me. Photo Credit: Grace Copeland
Established over 30 years ago, Abingdon Theatre Company (ATC) develops and produces critically acclaimed brave, new American work by emerging and established artists. Mainstage Productions include the Off-Broadway premiere of Robin & Me: My Little Spark of Madness written and performed by Dave Droxler, the New York premiere of Queens Girl in the World, which was nominated for Outstanding Solo Performance for the Vivian Robinson Audelco Recognition Awards for Excellence in Black Theatre, and the NYT Critics’ Pick Get on Your Knees written and performed by Jaqueline Novak, nominated for a Drama Desk Award. The DMW Greer One Night Only Series has showcased work such as Alex Edelman’sJust for Us which went on to receive Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations and has just completed its run on Broadway; Back by Matt Webster starring Emmy Award nominee Madeline Brewer and Tony Award nominee James Cusati-Moyer; The Prompter starring Oscar-winning actress Estelle Parsons; Date of a Lifetime, a new musical with book and lyrics by Carl Kissin and music by Robert Baumgartner Jr. ATC’s Around the Table Series has produced staged readings of new plays such as The Inferno by Chris Sherman and Arancini by Joey Merlo. In 2020, ATC established Abingdon Virtual led by Executive Producer Chad Austin, and has since produced three award-winning films, including As Apple Pie written and directed by Artist-in-Residence Pierre Marais, which was an official selection of the Cannes World Film Festival for Best Young Filmmaker and won multiple awards at festivals including Best Cinematography, Best Director, and Best Drama USA; Abingdon Virtual’s premiere film, It Cries Too Loudly, was an official selection of the Prague International Short Film Awards and won Best Cinematography and Best Short Film at the Eastern European Film Festival.
Pictured Above: Robin Williams photographed backstage by Jay Paul Photo credit: Jay Paul/Getty Images and Biography.com.
Pictured Above: Playwright & Performer, Dave Droxler who stars in Robin & Me. Photo Credit: Grace Copeland
