Fast Forward
Fast Forward is a podcast about the futures artists are already building. MTF equips artists to create musical stories as a collective force for justice, healing, and radical imagination. Produced by MTF, Fast Forward brings artists, thinkers, and cross-sector collaborators into conversation to explore how creative practice moves beyond traditional development pipelines and into the world at large. Each episode asks us to fast forward to a future where artists are seen as essential contributors to society, not just culture makers, but collaborators in fields like health, technology, education, and civic life. Through candid dialogue, lived experience, and real-world examples, the podcast examines what becomes possible when storytelling is invited into new spaces. Fast Forward is for artists, producers, and partners who believe that creative work can shape systems, expand belonging, and build more humane futures. It’s a space for curiosity, experimentation, and bold thinking about how artists live, work, and collaborate. Because the future of art isn’t coming later. It’s already in motion. Learn more about MTF at www.mtf.nyc.
Episodes
In the last episode of Season 1, Christina D. Eskridge sits down with Brisa Areli Muñoz to talk about how her public health background has elevated her artistry. Pun intended, because Christina is the founder and executive director of Elevate Theatre Company LLC in New York City.
"Christina D. Eskridge, MPH grew up in Oakland, California. She performed all over the state in regional and community theater productions while studying ...
Cheeyang Ng and Brisa Areli Muñoz sit down to talk taking more risk, the creation journey of Legendary, celebrating the moment, & their relationship with MTF over 12 years.
"Legendary: The Myth of Creation is a solo musical that reimagines the act of myth-making through a queer, diasporic lens. It follows the journey of the Narrator, a queer Asian immigrant living in the U.S., as they nav...
In this episode, Brisa Areli sits down with writing duo Melliot (Mel Hornyak & Elliot Valentine) of Makers Cohort IV! We get into the joy & importance of Queer/Trans art, speculative fiction as a genre, and how they're writing their communities directly into their art. Listen in and learn more about the various project Melliot has been cookin' up!
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About MTF MTF equips artists to create musical stories as a coll...
Brisa Areli and Brandon sit down with EmmaLee Kidwell & Maria Andreoli to talk about how technology intersects dramaturgically with their process and new piece in development Come See Your Future.
Come See Your Future is a hybrid musical theatre and virtual reality piece that unfolds in a sci-fi, dystopian world ravaged by climate change. The project explores capitalism’s impact on the environment and how political division inh...
This interactive live Fast Forward event invited audiences to explore how musical storytelling extends beyond the stage to influence other sectors. At our Fast Forward: Technology as a Liberatory Tool, we began to investigate how technology can serve artists and creators.
To ground the discussion in lived artistic practice, we’ve engaged two artist case studies. EmmaLee Kidwell and Maria Isabella Andreoli are developing Come See Yo...
To ground us in practical application, MTF dives into the process of developing Germono Toussaint's The Last Gatekeeper as a case study for the use of Technology as a dramaturgical and liberatory tool. "The Last Gatekeeper is an immersive, multi-media, musical theater piece inspired by the writings of West African shaman Malidoma Patrice Somé. The term gatekeeper refers to the indigenous belief that those who express themselves as ...
Brandon Powers joins us to talk all things MTFxR. We get into technology as a dramaturgical & liberatory tool, definitions, practical examples, fears, & more!
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About MTF MTF equips artists to create musical stories as a collective force for justice, healing, and radical imagination.
Stay in Orbit: Website: www.mtf.nyc Instagram: @mtfmusicals YouTube Give Back
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CREDITS
Produced by | MTF Musicals
Hoste...
On the other side of our live event/taping, ELC gathers to reflect on launching this new program, what curiosities we still have, and how we can imagine deepening this work. If you have a family member or friend at a senior center who can benefit from this type of work, please let us know at info@mtf.nyc! If you work in insurance and have valuable knowledge to add, we invite you to join the conversation. If you are asking yourself ...
In episode 6, we circle back to Flako on the other side of our live event to check in on what that experience was like, what's in store for MERCEDES, and more! This conversation wraps up our time at the intersection of Health & Wellness (for now) and we look forward to diving into Technology as a Liberatory Tool! Stay tuned.
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About MTF MTF equips artists to create musical stories as a collective force for justice, h...
In this episode of Fast Forward, artists Emmanuelle Zagoria and Ben Bonnema reflect on the conversation from MTF’s first Fast Forward: Health & Wellness gathering. Together, they explore what it might look like to build healthier creative ecosystems, imagining how care, sustainability, and collective responsibility could shape the future of artistic work.
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About MTF MTF equips artists to create musical...
What happens when musical theater intersects with health, healing, and wellness?
Recorded live at our Fast Forward event this past October (2025), this episode explores how artists are using musical storytelling to engage with some of the most pressing questions around care, mental health, and collective well-being.
Featuring expert voices Lis Chirinos, Sarah Serrano-Esquilin, and Dr. Marc ...
In Episode 3 of Fast Forward, Brisa sits down with Modesto 'Flako' Jimenez for an intimate and expansive conversation about identity, memory, and wellness through artistic practice.
Together, they explore who Flako is as an artist, who Mercedes was, and what MERCEDES the project has become. This is a case study in how creative work can function as healing, reclamation, and emotional processing.
In Episode 2 of Fast Forward, members of MTF’s Artistic Circle (Brandon Powers, Sidney Erik Wright, and Brisa Areli Muñoz) break down what Fast Forward is and why it matters now. This conversation explores cross-sector collaboration, the future of the arts, and how artists can drive impact beyond traditional entertainment and new work development.
Together, they examine how creative leaders can influence...
Before we fully Fast Forward, we want to take the time to ground ourselves in where we are and why this work matters now. In this debut episode, MTF's Extended Leadership Circle introduces the org and sets the stage for what Fast Forward is here to do: imagine bold futures for storytelling, center artists as essential contributors to society, and explore how creative practice moves across sectors and communities. You’ll hear the or...
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