We felt it was time for a little Q&A with Off the Lane! They recently wrapped their ColLab production of Mauzy by Derek Davidson, to great review! If you’re not familiar with our sister nonprofit, Off The Lane, no worries. OTL was built on a simple but powerful belief that artists deserve mentorship, infrastructure, and opportunity; and community should be at the heart of all creative conversations. While there are many programs within OTL, today, we’re focussing mostly on ColLab, where OTL becomes a home for immersive, interactive, and interdisciplinary performance.
With each ColLab production growing in scale and reception, it was only right to sit down for a little Q&A with Off the Lane – specifically Sophie and Rachel, who were the magic-makers behind the recent success of Mauzy!
For those that might be new to the OTL side of Mustard Lane, can you tell us a little bit about your roles with OTL, and more specifically, Mauzy?
Sophie Brubaker here! I’m the Producing & Programming Director at OTL, and Rachel Sabo-Hedges is our Artistic Director and School Partnerships Chair. Rachel and I have both been involved at OTL since 2021 when I became an intern at OTL – at the same time as Rachel was going through our Mentorship Program as a mentee. We both volunteered for OTL when we first moved to the city, doing community events & putting on cabarets! I joined the internal team first in 2023, and Rachel was one of the very first directors for a ColLab production when the program first launched in 2023. We were beyond thrilled to be able to bring Rachel on as an official internal team member mid-last year. Look at us now!! It’s crazytown how full-circle it all is.
Now, how did Mauzy come to be the next ColLab production? What drew you both to it?
Rachel here! It was such a beautiful and kismet experience, getting to this show for our Spring ColLab. My stepfather, author and playwright Derek Davidson actually wrote this play in 2016 – so part of my interest in doing it, was to be able to work with Derek and bring it into 2026 – a vastly different time than even 2016. This play deals with so many socio-political issues, but in the really unique format of a remote cabin in 1920’s Appalachia.
Ah! So, Rachel, as the director, what was your vision and/or goal for this show?
I wanted this show to help upend our audiences expectations. Our north star at ColLab tends to be ‘community’ – we love bringing audiences and artists together over a shared experience (whether that’s a ColLab production, a community event or a workshop). This play was equally – if not more – fulfilling for our cast to experience and dive into as it was for our audiences to be swept away by. I’m a very process-oriented director, and because of how layered this play was, the process became the main player.
Sophie, it seems like each show with OTL just keeps growing, both in terms of production/scale and audience attendance! So…first of all, congrats! And secondly, what’s that feel like?! Where do you see OTL shows going from here?
Yeah, all I can say is WOW! We’ve grown faster than I ever could have imagined. OTL only started doing in-person events AT ALL in 2022, and our first official ColLab productions launched in 2023. In less than 3 years, we have established ourselves as one of the staple indie theatres in NYC to develop immersive and interdisciplinary new work. When we first started, our in-person community was very small, but people kept showing up with us for connection and collaboration, and now we are consistently selling out our productions and reaching max capacity for our community events.
It’s a dream. I always wanted to create a place that didn’t feel like it was part of a big industry game, a place where people showed up because they knew they would feel safe to have FUN. To trust people again; to get out of our comfort zones; to remember that we tell stories to connect with each other. That’s the whole point. I feel so grateful that so many people continue to be down to clown with us, and I can’t wait to just keep growing and growing and growing.
What’s up next for ColLab and Off the Lane?! Give us the hot goss!
Love some hot goss!!! Well, Rachel & I have big ol’ dreams for OTL. But before we get to the dreams part, let’s talk about the reality. This week, we hosted a free summer happy hour with all of our artists! This July, we’re putting up a brand new reality dating show parody musical called Island Dating Show by Natalie Myrick. Think big Zara Larsson summer rooftop pool party vibes. Then, in September, we’re partnering with the Elif Collective and Pop! Up Productions to produce the most immersive show we’ve done to date, Greenhouse by Shayan Hooshmand and Abigail Duclos (adapted from the Brazilian novella, O Alienista, by Machado de Assis). We are also currently accepting applications for our 16th cycle of the Mentorship Program, which will begin this September!
Our biggest dream of all (and what you can expect from us) is to keep increasing our artist payments, because paying our artists is our #1 priority here at OTL! The next dream is to fully produce a long-running show with ColLab. Our productions at OTL are what we affectionately call “production lite” aka we create mini immersive worlds in our nontraditional performance loft that bring the new works to life before larger productions that can be fully realized. OTL hopes to fully realize these productions ourselves too! As we continue to grow, we hope to produce shows in our OTL performance loft along with other venues, and establish ourselves as producers of long-running Off-Broadway shows in the city. Later down the line, we hope to establish all of our programs bicoastally too (LA here we come). The sky’s the limit, and this is our life’s work.
Fave memory with OTL…go!
Sophie and I started at Off the Lane around the same time (she an intern and I a mentee). My favorite memory so far was moving to New York and getting to really connect with the community with Off the Lane and the theatrical brilliance that is Sophie Brubaker! She has quickly become one of my most trusted collaborators and friends and I hope Off the Lane can bring everyone their own Sophie!
A fun memory I have from Mauzy is our daily circle-ups and warmups! Rachel would always start every rehearsal with really fun reflective questions like: “what color are you feeling today?” “what is your multi-hyphenate today as a person?” “what did you dream about last night?” “what would be your last supper?” “if you were a ghost, what would be your ghost name?” …and every rehearsal started with laughs. Since we were dealing with such heavy and significant subjects in Mauzy, it was extra important that we also infused rehearsals with moments of levity and connection. I’ll remember those warm ups for a LONG time.
To round out our Off the Lane Q&A, what’s the best way for people to get involved with all the good stuff happening at OTL?
Instagram and our website! We are always posting about all of our events & new shows on our IG! If you’ve been in one of our programs at OTL, no doubt you’ll get a shoutout there too 😉
Well, wasn’t that Q&A with Off the Lane delightful?! Sophie and Rachel are really such a joy, and the work they’re doing with Off the Lane is both impressive and beautiful! Mustard Lane has big proud-mama-vibes for the community and creative collaboration that has been fostered by these two.
