In May of 2021, a rough cut of An Old Family Recipe premiered as a filmed version of the musical. In the University of Notre Dame's Debartolo Performing Arts Center, shown for a private cast and crew screening in The Michael Browning Family Cinema. Due to COVID-19, the musical was filmed, adhering to safety measures presented by the University.
As part of the University of Notre Dame's new works program, a workshop lab class was held for the musical in the fall of 2020, students (masked, and distanced) coming together to workshop Mansour's show. Mid-way through the semester, it became clear that due to the pandemic, there was not a world in which the show could premiere as a musical with a live audience. Thus, the idea of creating a film was born.
With the help of Director Matt Hawkins and Cinematographer Bill Donaruma, as well as collaboration with the entire department of Film, Television, and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame, An Old Family Recipe was cast in January (virtually), blocked in February, and filmed throughout the month of March and into early April of 2021.
To learn more about how the production was filmed safely during a pandemic, please watch our live talkback, featuring Director Matt Hawkins, Bookwriter, composer and lyricist, Veronica Mansour, and actor Sydney Kraft.
The final cut of the show will premiere in the Fall of 2021.