Diane Paulus-Directed Witness Uganda, Now Invisible Thread, Is Heading to Africa | Playbill

News Diane Paulus-Directed Witness Uganda, Now Invisible Thread, Is Heading to Africa The new Off-Broadway musical Invisible Thread, directed by Tony winner Diane Paulus, has reached its crowd-funding goal of $45,000 in order to send the cast, creators and a film crew to Uganda. In preparation for the New York premiere, the team will head to Africa and meet the students that the show is based on.

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Diane Paulus Photo by Susan Lapides

Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews' Invisible Thread, previously titled Witness Uganda, had its world premiere at American Repertory Theatre in 2014, helmed by Paulus. Based on the real-life experiences of co-creator Matthews, the musical follows the life-changing journey of a young New Yorker who volunteers for an aid project in Uganda.

Invisible Thread will have its Off-Broadway premiere at Second Stage in the fall, with official dates yet to be released. Click here for more information.

One of the real-life Ugandan students, sponsored by the organization that Matthews founded (UgandaProject), is getting married and has invited the cast to perform a selection from the musical at his wedding in Kampala. The cast will also take part in service projects, mentor orphans, work alongside local artists and perform at an AIDS clinic. A film crew will document the experience.

"Our goal is to connect with the people and places that have inspired our show and to come home and share an authentic theater experience with our audiences in New York City!" states the message on the Crowdrise crowd-funding site. The project has now exceeded its goal of $45,000.

Paulus has been attached to the project's development for several years and oversaw staged readings in New York late last year. Over the last few years, the musical, which is the winner of the 2012 and 2014 Richard Rodgers Award, has raised over $200,000 for the students' educations in Uganda. "I am so impressed by Matt and Griffin’s exceptional new musical and am very much looking forward to introducing these important writers and their uplifting new work to New York," said Second Stage artistic director Carole Rothman in an earlier press statement.

Watch the crowd-funding video featuring Gould and Matthews below:

 
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