Ojai Playhouse Hosts Benefit Concert and Film Screening Featuring Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls, Tig Notaro, and Jonatha Brooke

The newly refurbished Ojai Playhouse will host a film screening and benefit concert on May 17 in support of the Ojai Playwrights Conference’s (OPC) various programs dedicated to cultivating new theatrical work, including their annual New Works Festival and several intern/youth workshop opportunities for students. The concert features a night of singer-songwriters whose careers span the gap between the worlds of music and theatre, such as Emily Saliers (of Indigo Girls) and folk-rock artist Jonatha Brooke. The lineup of performers will play songs from their albums alongside music from their existing and in-progress musical theatre works.

The fundraising kicks off with a screening of the Indigo Girls documentary, It’s Only Life After All, followed by a conversation with Saliers. In keeping with OPC’s commitment to equitable access, there will be 50 free tickets to the film screening and talkback available to the public. “Equitable access is at the center of all we’re doing. Everything we do is pay-what-you-can,” says OPC Artistic Director Jeremy B. Cohen, who notes an expanding audience at the annual festival, with inexperienced theatergoers more willing to take a chance on a new play for “pay-what-you-can” prices.

[Click to enlarge] Poster for the Ojai Playwrights Conference Benefit | Photo: Courtesy

Cohen is also a collaborator on featured musicals with Saliers and Brooke. “Emily and I are writing a musical called Gospel of Eureka,” he says, “which is an adaptation of the documentary film Gospel of Eureka, about … the largest pageant play in the United States (and also the largest drag bar).” Brooke will sing from the show she created with Cohen called My Mother Has Four Noses.

The concert will be hosted by Tig Notaro and feature other fun surprises (potentially Beth Malone singing “Ring of Keys”?) and will be followed by a reception with the artists. Tickets range from $500 to $1,500, with an opportunity to sponsor tickets for artists. Find ticket information at ojaiplays.org/fundraiser2025.