RAISING VOICES: Live & In Color is a small but mighty theater company making a difference.

Raising Voices

Live & In Color is a small but mighty theater company making a difference.

By Christopher Byrne

The future of the American theater is developing at a small camp in Salem, a small town of just over 4,200 people north of New London…well, at least a small but essential part of the contemporary theater.

Salem is the home of Live & In Color, a theater company now entering its eleventh year. Run on a shoestring—with a staff of just five—and under the direction of founder and artistic director Devanand Janki, the company has nonetheless become an important developer of new work, a pipeline to regional theaters and other producing organizations and giving voice and opportunity to a diverse group of artists.

In fact, diversity and inclusion is the “core mission” of the group, according to Janki. Janki, who identifies as South Asian, has performed on Broadway and around the world and throughout his career has been keenly aware of the lack of opportunity for many individuals who may not conform to traditional casting ideas, whether BIPOC, transgender, individuals on the autism spectrum, or more. Janki talks about how all these perspectives together create an environment of “empathic inclusion,” that is enlightening and enriching for everyone involved.

The core of the program is the annual two-week retreat at The Bingham Camp in Salem. In this idyllic environment the work is fast, intense, and highly creative. Each year the company develops one new play and one new musical, and at the end of the fortnight, they are presented to an audience. After all, Janki notes, that’s the point: to get audience feedback and see how the work resonates. 

“We live together for two weeks. We house people. We feed them, and you get so much work done.”

It’s not always smooth sailing. Janki says that in summer 2024, a snafu threatened the musical that they had planned. Two days before the camp was supposed to begin, they had to start over, and in the kind of plot twist that could be right out of a classic musical, in three days the team wrote three quarters of a new musical…and it was good.

Kim Jinhyoung, whose show Zombies, Inc. was developed last year was also produced in New York in May. It’s a one-man musical that Jinhyoung says got a huge boost from his participation in the program. It’s the story of a disheartened man trapped in a zombie apocalypse in New York City who, ironically, discovers what it means to be truly alive. Jinhyoung said that his time at the camp was incredibly helpful in nurturing him and his show.

Other New York transfers include Songs of Light & Joy, a Diwali Celebration, conceived by Janki and the play developed last year I Know Why Iris Chang Died by Esmé Maria Ng both slated for the fall.

Making It Work

Now, you may raise your eyebrows at the notion of a musical for a solo performer, but that, too, is at the core of the work Live & In Color does. As Janki explains, the mission of the company is to create pieces that can get productions at the regional or Off-Broadway (someday maybe even Broadway) levels. That means acknowledging the economic realities of production. 

Casts of two to four are the norm for Live & In Color. As Janki explains, that’s what regional companies can afford to produce. Combined with pieces that speak to the heart and reflect the world honestly, it’s become a formula for success. Janki adds that he certainly meets writers who want to create a “magnum opus,” but he counsels them to create works that could be produced as well.

One of the company’s most visible—and produced—pieces to date is Little Girl Blue: The Nina Simone Musical. The show charts Simone’s journey from classical piano prodigy to world famous soul singer. After development during the retreat, the musical played the George Street Playhouse in New Jersey, where it attracted mostly a black audience. Immediately after the pandemic, the show was produced at Goodspeed, and as Janki says, the company took a risk, as the show is not typical Goodspeed fare.

The reception, however, was tremendous. “So many board members came up to me and said, ‘We’re so glad this is here, we should be doing more of this. And audience members said, ‘We’ve never seen Goodspeed do something provocative.’ That was really wonderful to hear.”

What Janki and his theater continue to demonstrate is that it is the shared humanity of the narratives that matter most—and giving voice and visibility to the wide range of individuals that make up our culture benefits everyone. But it’s not always easy… 

Headwinds in the Current Climate

Live & In Color, like many arts organizations in the current political environment, is losing some of its grant money on both the federal and state levels because of the nature of the work the company does. This presents financial challenges, and the company is working to fill those gaps. 

As Broadway actress and Live & In Color board member Andrea Burns noted at a recent gathering, the company is telling stories that need to be told and amplifying voices that need to be heard, and that no matter what the political situation, Live & In Color is committed to providing the platform and the outlet for artists.

Storytelling is a fundamental human need, and taking the longer view of history, people have always found ways to share those stories through theater. The irony is that whether the English theater was shut down by the Puritans in 1642 or the Soviets banned “prohibited subjects” in the mid-20th Century, somehow voices have always been heard—and the show has gone on, sometimes underground or in secret, but the voices have never been completely silenced.

Keeping it Going

Undaunted, the company is full speed ahead for the 2025 season. The annual retreat and performances will be at Bingham Camp in Salem. The play will be presented on September 4 and the musical on September 6.

In addition, fundraising is gearing up, and they are planning their next Broadway on the Vines concert at Sunset Hill Vineyards in Old Lyme this August.

For more information and to become actively involved as an audience member, contributor, or both, check out the organization’s website at liveandincolor.org.

The journey of this company over the past decade-plus is a clear illustration of what vision, dedication, and perseverance can accomplish. What began as Janki’s vision to provide work and voices for his friends who were facing challenges being seen and heard has gone so far beyond his original idea, giving voice, development, and powerful experiences for audiences—what the theater has always done…and will continue to do.