Ryan M. Luevano To Attend The Artist-In-Residence Program At Château D'Orquevaux In France

RYAN M. LUEVANO, writer of the new musical 57 BUS, has been selected to attend the Artist-In-Residence Program hosted at the Château d'Orquevaux in France July 17-31, 2020. He has also been awarded the Denis Diderot Grant for his residency abroad. The Los Angeles based writer will spend two weeks on the beautiful French countryside, continuing to build this new musical while gaining insight from the international pool of 15 artists-in-residence that will be joining them.

Chateau d?Oruevaux history reaches back into the seventeen century and has had many different owners. The Chateau has always celebrated artists for their talents and what they offer the world. More recently in the twentieth century, the Chateau has offered the A-i-R Grant to applied artists and writers for their workmanship in the arts. This grant goes towards the cost of their residency. Château d?Orquevaux prides itself on creating a "self-motivated" limited-distractions-kind-of-space where "most meals are provided, and artists can fully immerse themselves in the environment and the French country lifestyle."

57 BUS is inspired by a true event that took place on a bus in Oakland, California in 2013, when an 18-year-old agender high school student's skirt was set on fire by another student. The musical explores how the lives of these two children are changed forever. After being the victim of this "hate crime" Skylar is left to decide if the cost of self-expression in an intolerant world is worth the freedom of living as your true self. By re-evaluating Skylar's own pursuit for self-expression, they learn more about themselves and discover what they must do to find the path to healing.

The other student, John Michael, is seen as an attacker, however, given his background, and ultimate fate by the court, audiences must determine if he is perhaps also a victim. In the end, John Michael must decide to accept the consequences of his actions and find a way to rise against society's expectations and emerge out of his circumstances better than before.

A developmental reading of the new musical57 BUS will be held in New York City on Monday February 24th, 2020 at 7pm. The reading will be directed by JUSTIN BRAUN, a NYC-based director who recently directed the Memphis premiere of Be More Chill and music directed by Bryan Blaskie, a graduate of NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.

For more information and reservations to the NYC reading please visit their website at www.57busmusical.com.

More information about Château d?Oruevaux can be found on their website, https://www.chateauorquevaux.com.