Matthew Lopez on The Inheritance and BAM

There's a reason there's more than one reference to BAM in playwright and screenwriter Matthew Lopez's four-time Olivier Award-winning play The Inheritance, which reimagines E.M. Forster's Howards End in present-day New York's gay community and is currently running on Broadway: Lopez himself is a member of the BAM Young Producers, a community of BAM supporters in their 20s, 30s and early 40s shaping the future of the arts in Brooklyn. Fellow Young Producer Liz Denys recently sat down with Lopez to talk about his work, his personal connection to BAM, and how he felt about last year's Next Wave.

Seeing every Next Wave Festival show

Tell us about yourself! What do you do for fun? Do you have any interesting facts about yourself?

I'm Liz! I moved to New York City 7 years ago and to Brooklyn 5 years ago, and I and have been going to BAM frequently since. I use some of my fun time to host a podcast about making good computer security for everyone called Loose Leaf Security (I promise this is fun for me!), but I spend most of it with the arts - either devouring performances at BAM and around NYC or dabbling in a variety of creative pursuits.

Toasting Lear: The Young Producer’s Benefit

Photo: Elena Olivo

On the night of January 15, BAM celebrated the opening of Chichester Festival Theatre's lauded production of King Lear at the Harvey Theater, directed by Angus Jackson. The Young Producers, a group of young professionals who make up one of BAM's newest and most forward-thinking patron programs, celebrated as well. And it did so in style: the annual Young Producer's Benefit was a sleek, wine- and food-filled party with the cast and crew.

The night began with a performance of King Lear, starring Tony Award winner and Academy Award nominee Frank Langella as the mad king and disgraced patriarch, one of the most coveted roles in theater. Moments after the actors took their bows, the crowd flooded into the Campbell Lobby for a special post-show reception. The cast and crew joined the celebration, with an English-themed food spread—complete with mini shepherd pies and single servings of fish and chips. In addition, Brooklyn Gin designed a specially themed cocktail for the night, and the lobby was lushly decorated by Bella Meyer and the design team at Fleurs Bella.