Greetings!

We are Nygel D. Robinson and Brian Quijada, the writers/composers/ performers of MEXODUS, a brand-new American musical about the Underground Railroad that led through the U.S. South to Mexico. We have worked as actors/musicians across the country from El Paso to Vermont, from Idaho to Florida, at almost every regional theatre along the way! As writers, we are newer to the work, but one thing we have always known is that no play or musical can be made alone. We are so fortunate The New Harmony Project exists, because they provide the incredibly valuable time, resources, and support that make a new play come to life.

MEXODUS is a project born out of the pandemic, but also born out of the need for Black and Brown artists like ourselves, to be seen and heard the only way we know how, through playing and performing our own songs. We love making music and playing live for audiences, so telling this story as a concert piece was the only way we could imagine developing the musical. We spent three years writing and re-writing songs and fleshing out the script of this under-told part of U.S. history. But that wasn’t enough. Our script, our written words, could not fully encapsulate the full sound of the story.

And then we were accepted into The New Harmony Project 2023 conference, and were offered the space and time to create a recording studio and put our new musical ideas “down on wax” for lack of a better phrase. After a beautiful week, we had a grand new updated concept album of the very ideas we had only dreamt about. Those ideas have become the source of inspiration for the music of MEXODUS, which will premiere this spring in Baltimore and Washington, DC.

Not only did New Harmony offer us time and space - we were in residence with the most generous and talented artists in the country. It felt like all of the writers, creating work side by side, were destined to be together. We are still so tight in our text threads! And that is a testament to the magical space that is created in Indiana, and a testament to the curation of artists who are invited.

We’re thankful that places like this exist to foster and support new work, but The New Harmony Project in particular is special. It is alone in its one-of-a-kindness. It is ego-less. It is pure. It is tranquil. It is communion. It is a little slice of Utopia. And we are forever grateful.

Please support this project in any way you can. It’s a bright light of hope in the theatre we need.