Author Jodi Picoult also helped create a COVID musical

Yesterday we shared news of author Jodi Picoult’s upcoming COVID-era novel, Wish You Were Here.

As it turns out, Picoult initially wasn’t ready to write a book about the pandemic, but she was feeling inspired to create something — and, of course, she was feeling a bit isolated, as she told the New York Times.

So she teamed up with playwright Timothy Allen McDonald to write a musical called Breathe, which depicts the pandemic’s effect on the lives of four pairs of people.

Douglas Lyons, a writer, lyricist, and actor, joined the duo after George Floyd’s murder to add a fifth segment incorporating the movement that his death inspired.

Breathe will premiere May 14 on the streaming service Overture+, and a recording will be available through July 2.

And if you’re repulsed by the thought? 

Picoult acknowledged to the NY Times: “I know there are going to be people who aren’t ready for this and maybe never will be.”

Related posts 

• Jodi Picoult has written a COVID-19 novel 

• Atwood, Grisham and other authors are co-writing a pandemic novel