Title Wave: The New Works Festival

Mister Halston by Raffaele Pacitti – June 2, 7pm

Mister Halston is a one-person play exploring the life and times of famed American fashion designer, Halston. It traces his meteoric rise, stunning fame and ultimate fall set against a tumultuous, thrilling time in New York history.

Raffaele Pacitti (Playwright)
Raffaele is a professional Art Director, working in advertising, with a varied background in the magazine and publishing worlds. His passion has always been theatre, music and fashion; and he continues to write as well as produce projects around the city. As a performer and producer, Raffaele has explored classical and modern music as well as theatrical projects. Years of experience in the advertising space, along with a varied background in both magazine design and publishing, has taught him the power of words and how they can affect perception. His passion for theater combined with his professional skills has provided a natural transition into the world of playwriting.

Curvy Widow, book by Bobby Goldman, Music and Lyrics by Drew Brody – June 7, 2pm

In this new vision of the hilarious sex-comedy musical, middle-aged Bobby finds herself alone in a penthouse she didn’t choose, living a life she didn’t choose. With the encouragement of her best friend, she throws caution to the wind to brave the internet and New York dating scenes in search of a new beginning and new version of herself.

Bobby Goldman (Bookwriter)
Drew Brody (Music and Lyrics)
Drew Brody is a New York City-based songwriter with a background in rock, pop, and folk music, which informs his work in musical theater. His songs have been performed by a range of Broadway artists, and his writing credits include Curvy Widow, Cutman: A Boxing Musical, and Derma, among others. He’s also contributed music to Oh, Hello on Broadway and several independent films. Outside of theater, Drew has released solo albums, toured with the band M-LAB, and produced records for other artists. In 2022, he founded Songbyrd, a non-profit supporting emerging musical theater writers

Ajax by Habib Yazdi – June 9, 7pm

It’s a hot summer in August, 1953, when a clean-cut American arrives at a peaceful villa in North Tehran. Kambiz, the villa’s gardener and pool boy, wonders if the new guest may be his ticket to a better life. As their friendship deepens, Kambiz finds himself entangled with the Shah of Iran and the country’s elected prime minister. How will it end? Only the pool knows…

Habib Yazdi (Playwright)
Habib Yazdi is an Iranian-American playwright and filmmaker. He produced and directed the PBS series United States of Comedy. A Sundance x ISF Building Bridges Fellow, Habib has participated in Gotham Week, the Warner Bros. Discovery Access Directors Program, and the Mentorship Matters writing lab. His short films have screened at festivals worldwide—including St. Louis, Brisbane, Brooklyn, Vail, and Pan African—and at venues like the Barbican Centre, the de Young Museum, and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
Habib earned his MFA from NYU Tisch, where he received the Oliver Stone Screenwriting Award and the Goldberg Play Prize. His comedic play about the 1953 American coup in Iran, Ajax, will premiere at Boise Contemporary Theater in 2026.

U.X. by Jason Gray Platt – June 13, 3pm

A social media giant designs a virtual reality experience for racial sensitivity training with (obviously!) only the purest of intentions. The project quickly and hilariously gets out of hand, pitting the programmer against his own creation. When technological Utopianism meets the realities of race in America, what could possibly go wrong? Nothing, right?

Jason Gray Platt (Playwright)
Jason Gray Platt’s work has been produced and developed around the country by Actors Theatre of Louisville, Denver Center Theatre Company, Round House Theater, TheatreWorks, The Playwrights Realm, Page 73, and Red Bull Theater among others. He has been a fellow at MacDowell, Yaddo, and the Folger Library as well as a core writer at the Playwrights’ Center. He received the 2019 James Stevenson Award from Playing on Air. Originally from Arizona, Jason now lives in Denver. BA: Vassar; MFA: Columbia