At a time when LGBTQ+ visibility is increasingly challenged nationwide, several Philadelphia-based theater and dance organizations are receiving major funding to ensure queer stories remain present, complex and visible in public life. The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage’s creative project grants for this season signal a sustained investment in queer-led performance as both artistic practice and cultural preservation.
The Philadelphia Theatre Company, Arden Theatre Company, Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, and Philadelphia Dance Projects are among the grantees with projects that represent queer stories.
Philadelphia Theatre Company explores belonging through bilingual musical
Philadelphia Theatre Company’s “La Guagua 47” centers queer identity, migration and belonging — themes producer and writer Alba Martinez frames as acts of joy amid ongoing cultural erasure.
Martinez described the work as deeply shaped by her identity and proximity to queer and migrant communities.
“Belonging is power,” she said, calling it a source of safety, peace and possibility shared across lived experience.
Philadelphia serves as the musical’s foundation. Martinez referred to the city as a place where she found belonging and support, making it a fitting home for the show’s world premiere. While rooted locally, the production is designed to extend beyond the city.
For Martinez, authenticity means holding joy and struggle together.
“You don’t want to be one-sided,” she said. “Authenticity means showing it all — and speaking in your own voice.”
She described the musical as “an act of joyful resistance” that affirms queer Latinx voices belong on major stages, made possible by the Pew grant that helped elevate a neighborhood-born idea to a fully realized production.
Arden Theatre Company prepares stage adaptation of landmark Hurston novel
Arden Theatre Company is developing a new stage adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” with commissioned local openly gay playwright James Ijames, whose personal connection to the novel sparked the project.
Producing Artistic Director Terry Nolen said Ijames approached Arden with the idea in 2024, seeking a collaborative commission alongside Orlando Shakes in Florida, near Eatonville — Hurston’s hometown and the novel’s setting.
Authenticity, Nolen emphasized, begins with trusting the artist. Arden, Ijames and Orlando Shakes traveled to Eatonville to better understand the community that shaped Hurston’s work.
Nolen described the project as timely, noting that Ijames’ work often carries deeply personal — and therefore political — resonance. Revisiting classic narratives through contemporary lenses, he said, allows stories to speak differently to each generation.
“There’s no singular hope,” he said. “My calling is to follow James’ passion and trust the work to meet audiences where they are.”
The Pew grant enables that openness. Rather than limiting scope, the funding allows Arden to keep saying yes to artistic possibility, supporting a process that honors the novel’s depth and collaborative scale.
While the final production remains in development, Nolen expressed confidence that the adaptation will allow Hurston’s story to reverberate in new and unexpected ways.
Delaware River Waterfront Corporation unveils new installation ahead of America’s semiquincentennial
Delaware River Waterfront Corporation will present “Sail Through This To That,” a large-scale public artwork by Indira Allegra, curated by Rob Blackson, ahead of America’s 250th anniversary.
Creative Director Sarah Eberle said the installation connects the lives of Ona Judge — an enslaved seamstress to Martha Washington — and Rem’mie Fells, a local trans woman and aspiring fashion designer killed in 2020, linking their stories through shared pursuits of freedom and dignity.
“Their stories are a reminder of struggles that are still very prevalent today,” Eberle said. “When we bring these narratives to the forefront, we create space for dialogue, empathy and collective action toward a more inclusive future.”
Situated within Philadelphia’s role in the nation’s semiquincentennial, the work confronts histories of exclusion alongside narratives of resistance.
She noted that many audiences may be unfamiliar with both Judge and Fells.
“Even in cities we think of as accepting, the struggle for trans and queer people is still happening,” Eberle said. “It’s important to draw attention to that reality, even when it’s uncomfortable.”
Allegra’s life as a transgender woman informs the piece, which balances grief with celebration. While acknowledging violence, the work also uplifts overlooked lives and challenges stories centered in American history.
Eberle emphasized that authenticity is grounded in extensive research, noting that care and historical integrity give the work its power.
When asked whether the project functions as an act of resistance, preservation or celebration, Eberle described it primarily as a celebration.
“We need moments of positivity right now,” she said. “Honoring these lives and uplifting the communities they represent is central to the project’s success.”
The Pew grant made the installation physically possible at this scale. Opening in late spring aboard the North Wind Schooner in Gloucester City, N.J., Eberle hopes audiences will leave feeling optimism.
“It’s about community, resilience, and shared history,” she said. “Ultimately, I hope it’s a powerful experience people don’t forget — one that opens them to stories they didn’t know were part of their city.”
Philadelphia Dance Projects explores spirituality and identity in ‘SERMON’
Philadelphia Dance Projects’ funded work grew from Executive Director Terry Fox’s long relationship with choreographer Tommie-Waheed Evans, whose work intersects spirituality, queerness and embodiment.
“SERMON” is rooted in Evans’ upbringing in Black church traditions and his experience navigating spirituality without acceptance as a queer person. Fox described the project as addressing a spiritual space many feel excluded from — yet deeply shaped by.
The work will be staged at Trinity Center for Urban Life, a former church repurposed as a performance venue. Its architecture reinforces the production’s themes, offering audiences an immersive but grounded experience.
Evans is collaborating with Omar-Frederick, who leads the gospel choir Devotion, to create original music. Fox noted that Evans is also collecting stories from people who felt excluded or censored within spiritual spaces, a process central to the work’s urgency.
Fox said that she trusts Evans to lead with authenticity.
“Judging from what I’ve seen of Tommie’s work, he’s a very honest creator,” she said. “He doesn’t pull from clichés.”
The Pew grant made the project’s projected 2027 debut possible.
“It provides a holistic approach to what’s really needed to bring a work to the public,” Fox said. “Pew supports not just innovation but welcoming communities and working toward something more idealistic.”
Fox hopes audiences feel Evans’ spiritual connection and leave moved.
“I hope they feel what he’s yearning for,” she said. “That sense of connection can lead to acceptance and understanding.”
Evans frames “SERMON” as a pursuit of freedom — one rooted in spirituality without restriction. Reflecting on his church upbringing, he said the work imagines a space where “your spirit, soul and mind can be free,” beyond gender or sexuality.
“In this work, I’m trying to embody that,” he said. “Whoever you are, you are welcomed, loved, appreciated, and can be free.”
His identity and proximity to queer communities are inseparable from his art.
“I enjoy queering the space,” Evans said. “I want audiences to see themselves onstage — not a two-dimensional version of what’s comfortable.”
Presenting the work in a church-like space has pushed Evans creatively.
“I’m focused on heart and soul,” he said, noting that closeness between performers and audience will shape the choreography. “Not everything has to exist in the norm.”
Evans described Pew’s support as transformative, offering both validation and visibility. Ultimately, Evans hopes audiences leave changed.
“Even if they’re not huge dancegoers, I want them to feel they’ve experienced something new,” he explained. “Authenticity is about taking that leap — and making space for others to feel they belong.”
Related