Andromeda Sisters Benefit For Neo-Political Cowgirls

Live, in-person fundraisers and galas are back this summer, at varying levels of capacity, which is welcome news for organizations and nonprofits that rely on the financial boon they provide. Figuring out the safest way to transition back to the traditional way of operating looks different for everyone. For Kate Mueth, the founding artistic director of the Neo-Political Cowgirls — a not-for-profit dance theater company that explores and celebrates the female voice — scaling down the organization’s annual fundraiser has led to some unexpected benefits.

On Saturday night, The Lieber Collection Museum, on Old Stone Highway in East Hampton, will host Andromeda’s Sisters: An Arts and Advocacy Gala, the fifth annual fundraiser for the Neo-Political Cowgirls.

The signature feature of the event — which kicks off at 5 p.m. — will be a reading of “Order My Steps,” a one-act play by Kathryn Grant about a prison inmate who reunites with her estranged adult daughter. The reading will be directed by Laura Gomez and Ms. Mueth, and will star Dale Soules, the actress who portrayed Frieda Berlin in “Orange Is The New Black,” and Irene Sofia Lucio, a theater actress who starred in “Slave Play” and “Wit” on Broadway.

Ms. Soules was a late addition to the event, filling in for Cathy Curtain, who worked alongside Ms. Soules in “Orange Is The New Black” as correctional officer Wanda Bell, and also has a recurring role on “Stranger Things.”

Last minute scheduling conflicts prevented both Ms. Curtain and director Florenca Lozano — originally scheduled to direct with Ms. Mueth — from making it to the event, but Ms. Mueth said the way everyone involved rallied and found other actors and directors to fill in was a prime example of the kind of sisterhood in action and the network of female support that Neo-Political Cowgirls is all about.

The play reading will be followed by a social justice and advocacy discussion on the experience of freedom with Alexis McGill Johnson, the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Serena Ligouri, founder of The New Hour, an organization based on Long Island that helps women coming out of incarceration, and Angie Cruz, author of “Dominicana.”

“It was a very female, tribal thing of doing what you have to do to save the day,” Ms. Mueth said. “It was quite exemplary and exciting, and it affects me deeply to know there are so many women excited about this project willing to jump in and do it.”

Ms. Mueth said this year’s fundraiser is a sort of “shrink-wrapping” of what it has entailed in pre-pandemic times. There are typically 20 actors involved, and up to six speakers for the post-performance panel discussion. This year, Ms. Mueth and fellow organizers decided to err on the side of caution and keep the event small, which, she said, wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“It feels more manageable and we’re able to now focus in on one theme,” she said. “This play, which I really enjoyed, was a rich one because it really enters into the hard conversations between mother and daughter, whether that’s a mother who has been incarcerated or a normal mother/daughter relationship. There are real, tough conversations about finding ways to healing.”

The panel discussion after the play will center around the idea of freedom, and Ms. Mueth said she is excited for the featured guests and the opportunity that having a smaller gathering presents for a more nuanced and focused discussion on what can be a broad topic.

“That word freedom has gotten very vague and divisive,” she said. “But what does it mean to have your freedoms challenged every day, whether you’re looking at it through the prisms of reproductive freedom, immigration and incarceration. We have representatives from those three genres of work. It’s a tricky pool to swim into, but we’re really highlighting these women and their work.”

Tickets for the event range from $125 to $250 per person, a price point that Ms. Mueth said reflects the desire of Neo-Political Cowgirls to “reimagine the experience of a gala,” and make them more affordable and accessible to the larger community.

A recording of the event will also be available starting on the morning of June 28, and will remain available online until July 7. Ms. Mueth said original plans to livestream the event were scrapped because of concerns that the WiFi signal would not be strong enough.

The $125 price point is the standard ticket price, while for those who can afford it, the suggested donation is $250 per ticket. Ms. Mueth said there will be a number of free tickets made available to certain groups and organizations.

“If we all want to thrive in community, we have to make it accessible and feasible for everyone to be there,” she said.