Making Art.
Our Way.
Aurway is a Newark-based nonprofit producing original musicals and immersive arts programming — created by and for Black and brown communities.
Who We Are
Born from a shared vision and rooted in Newark, New Jersey, Aurway has spent five years building a space where Black and brown stories take center stage, not as an afterthought, but as the entire point.
We are a company of artists, educators, and community builders. We create original work. We train the next generation. We show up for our community. And we do it all our way.
Our Work — The Repertoire
Something Like a Fairytale
6-time award winner. Performed at the National Black Theatre Festival. Original cast album available on all streaming platforms.
Written and Composed by Lawrence Dandridge
Original Stories. Broadway Caliber. Unapologetically Ours.
Aurway maintains a growing catalog of original musicals written, composed, and produced in-house, award-winning works that have been performed at the New York Theater Festival, the National Black Theatre Festival, and on stages across New Jersey.
RED, A New Musical
A story of community, bravery, and resistance. Performed at NY TheaterFest and multiple workshops is Los Angeles. Recently presented at Vanguard Theater’s Illuminating New Voices Festival.
Written and Composed by Lawrence Dandridge
Whispers of Jubilee
The origin story of Juneteenth, told through children's eyes, live music, and movement. A Capella presentation based on children’s book Written and illustrated by Veronica Gonmiah. Original music and arrangements by Lawrence Dandridge.
Life Through My Eyes
A teenager's journal becomes a reckoning, for his peers and for all of us. NY Theatre Winterfest 2021. Toured Newark Public Schools as a part of the Dear Life Project.
Written and Composed by Lawrence Dandridge
What Comes Next?
A woman confronts her past selves in an attic and has to decide what she's still fighting for. NY Theater Festival. Full production 2024. Play with Music
Written and Composed by Lawrence Dandridge
Coming Home
A family reunites for the first time in years — and nothing is the same as they remembered. Through music rooted in cookout classics and honest, unflinching dialogue, Coming Home digs into the traditions, tensions, and unconditional love that hold Black families together. In development
Written and Composed by Lawrence Dandridge
“One of the sweetest memories I recall, was being able to greet little black girls after the show ended, and hearing them say that they see themselves in me, that they see themselves on stage and that served as a striking reminder that representation always matters…”
Erica Philpot, on playing Alyse in Something like a Fairytale, National Black Theater Festival 2017.
“Black art is important because it is conceived with hope and pain. The pain gives it the authenticity, and the hope gives it the power. That’s what Aurway is…”
