CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER, FRONT PORCH ARTS COLLECTIVE PRESENT MFONISO UDOFIA’S "HER PORTMANTEAU"
Directed by Tasia A. Jones, this mother-and-daughters story follows a reunion between Abasiama Ufot and her two children raised in different circumstances.
March 27-April 20 at Central Square Theater in Cambridge;
Press performance Sat., March 29 @ 7:30p
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Central Square Theater and Front Porch Arts Collective’s co-production of Mfoniso Udofia’s powerful play "Her Portmanteau" runs March 20 to April 20, 2025, at the Central Square Theater. This production is the fourth of Boston’s Ufot Family Cycle series, a city-wide performance festival of Udofia's nine-part story spearheaded by The Huntington Theatre Company.
"Her Portmanteau" is helmed by Tasia A. Jones, the acclaimed director and Boston University Assistant Professor who most recently led “Crumbs from the Table of Joy” at Boston’s Lyric Stage. The cast features Patrice Jean-Baptiste (below, l.) as Abasiama Ufot (Jean-Baptiste was last seen as Willetta in “Trouble in Mind” at Lyric Stage and understudying Abasiama in Udofia’s play “The Grove” at The Huntington), Jade Guerra as Iniabasi Ekpeyong (below c., recently in Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s “The Piano Lesson”), and Lorraine Victoria Kanyike (below, r., recently in ASP’s “Emma,” and The Porch’s “Chicken & Biscuits”) as Adiaha Ufot.
"Her Portmanteau" delves into a story of betrayal and forgiveness, centering on a Nigerian mother in the U.S. and her two daughters who have lived vastly different lives. Iniabasi, given up at birth by her mother, Abasiama, returns from Nigeria embittered, in search of answers and a better life for her own child. Adiaha, the American-raised child of Abasiama’s second marriage, has had a starkly different upbringing. The reunion forces them to confront their past, navigating clashing traditions and a family legacy that spans time, culture, and generations.
Playwright Mfoniso Udofia, a Massachusetts-raised and Wellesley-educated artist, created the Ufot Family Cycle to share stories that reflect her own experiences and provide representation for African and African American families. Each play in the Cycle stands alone, but together, they weave a rich tapestry of interconnected narratives.
The "Her Portmanteau" production team includes Shelley Barish as Scenic Designer, Chloe Moore as Costume Designer, Emma Deane as Lighting Designer, Julia Wonkka as Properties Designer, Arshan Gailus as Sound Designer, and Emmanuel Sylvester as Language Consultant. Additional creative support is provided by Bibi Mama (Dialect Coach), Lauren Burke (Stage Manager), Matthew Breton (Lighting Supervisor), and Alexander Gentile (Technical Director).
Full cast and creative team bios are available on the “Her Portmanteau” page here.
DATES, TICKETS, AND SPECIAL PERFORMANCES
“Her Portmanteau” runs March 27-April 20, 2025 at Central Square Theater. Performances are Wed., Thu., Fri. @ 7:30p, Sat. @ 2p and 7:30p, and Sun. @ 2p.
Performances on March 30 and April 2, 13 and 16 are captioned. The April 4 “Black Out” performance is reserved for individuals of the African Diaspora, inclusive of Black and Black American patrons of all identities. April 10 performance is College Night, with prices and outreach designed to attract college students.
Tickets start at $25; available from CentralSquareTheater.org or FrontPorchArts.org.
ABOUT THE UFOT FAMILY CYCLE
Boston’s Ufot Family Cycle marks the first time all nine plays will be completed and performed in their intended order. “Her Portmanteau” is part of a larger city-wide festival driven by a partnership that includes universities, social organizations, nonprofits, and community activation partners.
The Huntington’s productions of the first two plays of the cycle, Sojourners in fall 2024 and The Grove in winter 2025, have been highly acclaimed by critics and audiences alike; the third play, runboyrun, will have live performances of the podcast in March and be available as a podcast in April 2025.
The Cycle is supported by The Huntington with funding from Amy and David Abrams, the Barr Foundation, The Boston Foundation, the Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation, the Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation and the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture.
Partners in the Ufot Family Cycle include: AfroDesiaCity, ArtsEmerson, Boston Arts Academy, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Boston Public Art Triennial, Boston Public Library, Boston Public Schools, Boston University, Central Square Theater, Coolidge Corner Theatre, DiasporaMass, Embrace Boston, Facing History & Ourselves, Front Porch Arts Collective, GBH, The Huntington, Kligerman Productions, McCoy Audio, Next Chapter Podcasts, Nigerian Professionals Group, Northeastern University, Prior Performing Arts Center, Reimagining Migration, Riverside Theatre Works, Roxbury Community College, Wellesley College, Wellesley Repertory Theatre, West End House, Wheelock Family Theatre and ZUMIX. More information about plays and performances in the Cycle can be found at bostontheatrescene.com/ufotboston
CALENDAR LISTING
WHAT: Central Square Theater and Front Porch Arts Collective present Mfoniso Udofia’s "Her Portmanteau." This is the fourth production in Ufot Family Cycle series, a city-wide festival of Udofia's nine-part story.
WHEN/ March 20 to April 20, 2025, Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts
WHERE: Avenue, in Cambridge’s Central Square neighborhood.
INFO: Directed by Tasia A. Jones, "Her Portmanteau" is a story of betrayal and forgiveness, centering on a Nigerian mother in the U.S. and her two daughters who have lived vastly different lives. A reunion forces them to confront their past, navigating clashing traditions and a family legacy that spans time and culture.
TICKETS: $32-$103, including fees. Student tickets $25 with current ID. Available online at CentralSquareTheater.org or FrontPorchArts.org, or by phone at the Central Square Theater Box Office 617-576-9278.
Boston Theater Company’s QUEER VOICES FESTIVAL Returns to Boston Center for the Arts from March 21-23, 2025
(Boston, MA - Wednesday, February 26, 2025) – Boston Theater Company recently announced the second annual QUEER VOICES FESTIVAL, with performances from March 21-23, 2025 at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) Plaza Theatre. The submission-based showcase of vibrant and diverse ten-minute plays written by LGBTQ+ playwrights also includes a matinee staged reading in collaboration with CHUANG Stage and a matinee of a family-friendly devised piece inspired by Shakespeare.
Lyndsay Allyn Cox (she/they), Queer Voices Producing Director, and a trio of directors, Shira Helena Gitlin (they/them/theirs), Hannah McEachern (she/her/hers), and Nathaniel Justiniano (he/him+) will share their artistic vision for the seven pieces. Tickets are now available and can be purchased here.
“We’re so excited to bring back Queer Voices for the second year,” says Lyndsay Allyn Cox,
(she/they). “Join us for an exciting weekend of queer artistry, each place, event, and experience offers a unique window into the rich diversity of LGBTQ+ experiences. No matter who you are or where you come from, you’re welcome to be a part of this inclusive, joyous celebration of queer voices.”
Below is a list of plays in this year’s festival:
The Balcony or The Last Night by Pascale Florestal, she/her/hers
Halftime v. Intermission by Michael J. Bobbitt, he/him
Left Overs by Roni Ragone, they/them
Limpia by Leonard P. Madrid, he/him
Oop, Can't Say That by Tom Zhang, they/them
Seance by Dylan Horowitz, He/Him & She/Her
Zelda by Haz Cady, he/him
Performances are on March 21 and 22 at 7:30 pm. On March 22 at 2:00pm there is also a staged reading in collaboration with Chuang Stage and on March 23 at 1:00pm there is a Queer Shakespeare performance and Drag Story hour for families, including BTC’s 2025 Education Tour performance: 'Beyond Boundaries: Gender Expression in Shakespeare' created by Lisa Rafferty.
Tickets ‘Pay What You Wish’. Information can be found by going to www.bostontheater.org/
Boston Theater Company’s Road of Rainbows Pride 5K - BTC's annual pride event, is providing the funds for Queer Voices. Road of Rainbows Pride 5K takes place on June 14, 2025 at the Boston Common.
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY, GBH, THE HUNTINGTON,
AND NEXT CHAPTER PODCASTS ANNOUNCE
A NATIONAL PODCAST OF MFONISO UDOFIA’S runboyrun
Boston’s citywide Ufot Family Cycle continues with the third play in the series, which will expand the national reach of the Cycle as a podcast, with two sneak-peak Boston performances
(BOSTON) – The Huntington continues the sweeping nine-play Ufot Family Cycle and announces plans for runboyrun, the powerful drama written by Mfoniso Udofia and directed by Christopher V. Edwards. The third play in Boston’s epic nine-play Ufot Family Cycle, runboyrun will be recorded and made nationally available as a podcast in partnership with the Boston Public Library, GBH, and Next Chapter Podcasts. runboyrun will also be performed as a live reading at the Boston Public Library’s GBH Newsfeed Café (700 Boylston Street) on Thursday, March 13 at 3:30pm and again at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave) on Friday, March 14 at 7pm. The audio play podcast will be made available at a later date to be announced.
Jumping between chilly 2012 Worcester, MA and hot 1968 Biafra, Mfoniso Udofia’s runboyrun asks what happens when a long-ago war continues inside the body of a survivor. Every day, Disciple lives in the echoes of the Biafran War, fracturing his connection to his wife Abasiama. The survival of their 30-year marriage depends on building new vocabularies, breaking traditions built on trauma -- and daring, once again, to live moment by moment.
“It is a beautiful thing to work with Mfoniso on her Ufot Cycle with runboyrun,” says director Christopher V. Edwards. “This audio play creates a unique opportunity to delve deep into the psychological landscape of the characters dealing with intergenerational trauma and the echoes of history that reverberate and haunt the present. Mfoniso’s language is gorgeous with a power to transport the listeners between Nigeria and America, highlighting the challenges experienced by many immigrant families.”
The cast is led by playwright Mfoniso Udofia as family matriarch Abasiama Ufot, and acclaimed actor Chiké Johnson as the family patriarch with persistent ghosts, Disciple Ufot. This production marks the first time Udofia is taking on a role in her own play cycle in Boston. And Johnson’s casting marks his return to the role of Disciple after his previous performance in runboyrun at New York Theatre Workshop.
GBH will be recording the play in their state-of-the-art recording space. Thanks to GBH’s equipment and expertise, runboyrun’s podcast will be not only convenient for audiences to enjoy from the comfort of their home, but it also will be recorded in the highest professional quality. The podcast release date is still to be announced.
“We are honored to join with The Huntington and their citywide partners for the celebration of Mfoniso Udofia’s Ufot Family Cycle,” says President and CEO of GBH, Susan Goldberg. “This ambitious undertaking brings together an incredible cohort of partners across the culture sector, shining a light on the immigrant experience through both art and community. We look forward to playing a role in its success.”
runboyrun comes to the BPL, GBH, The Huntington, and Next Chapter Podcasts, after its world premiere at the Magic Theatre in San Franscisco, under then Artistic Director Loretta Greco. The play received development support at New Dramatists through the Bucket List Initiative, a program supported by a grant from Venturous Theatre Fund of Tides Foundation; and the project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. runboyrun also enjoyed a highly acclaimed run at the New York Theatre Workshop in 2019, also directed by Loretta Greco. Curtain Up called this Off Broadway production, “unquestionably compelling” and Exeunt NYC said it was “a tremendous gift…one of the best plays I’ve seen about survivors of war and the PTSD that keeps them running after decades.”
“The Boston Public Library is incredibly excited to partner again with The Huntington on such an ambitious and innovative project alongside such a diverse and wonderful group of community organizations,” says Director of Library Services at Boston Public Library, Michael Colford. “This exciting and varied cycle of plays allows communities to experience a wide range of experiences to absorb and to share.”
“Mfoniso Udofia’s storytelling genius should be experienced by as many people as possible and in as many mediums as possible,” says Head of Scripted Fiction at Next Chapter Podcasts, Michael Goodfriend. “It’s a privilege for Next Chapter Podcasts to be working with Mfoniso on runboyrun, building on the fruitful collaboration we shared in the award-winning podcast adaptation of her Othello translation for Play On Shakespeare. Mfoniso challenges us to perceive our reality in new ways and reminds us of what it is to be human, in all our complexity, promise and fallibility. We are honored to help realize runboyrun as an audio production alongside all of the incredible producing and organizational partners who are helping to bring Mfoniso’s groundbreaking Ufot Family Cycle to life.”
The creative team for runboyrun includes sound design and original music by Lindsay Jones. The language consultant is Emmanuel Sylvester and the radio play adaptor is Catherine Eaton. The stage manager is Adele Traub Nadine. The dramaturg is Charles Haugland. Casting is by Lyndsay Allyn Cox.
runboyrun is the third play in Mfoniso Udofia’s nine-play Ufot Family Cycle. Over 35 community and creative partners in Greater Boston are coming together over two years to produce and finish developing all nine plays in their intended order for the first time. Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco largely drove this initiative when she joined The Huntington in 2022. At that time, Greco brought with her a longstanding partnership and friendship with playwright Udofia, and a vision for producing the complete Ufot Family Cycle in the Boston area – a festival marked by radical collaboration with an unprecedented scale and scope across our city. After two years of planning and leadership from The Huntington, the festival of all nine plays kicked off with Sojourners at the Huntington Theatre in November 2024, and The Grove at The Huntington’s Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, running now through March 9, 2025.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Mfoniso Udofia (Playwright) a first-generation Nigerian American storyteller and educator, attended Wellesley College and obtained her MFA from the American Conservatory Theater (ACT). While at ACT, she co-pioneered The Nia Project which provided artistic outlets for San Francisco youth.
Productions of her plays runboyrun, Her Portmanteau, and In Old Age have been seen at New York Theatre Workshop, American Conservatory Theater, Playwrights Realm, Magic Theatre, National Black Theatre, Strand Theater Company (MD), and Boston Court. She received the 2021 Horton Foote Award, the 2017 Helen Merrill Playwright Award, the 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission, and is a member of New Dramatists.
She is currently commissioned by The Huntington, Hartford Stage, Denver Center, ACT, and South Coast Repertory. Her plays have been developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, ACT, McCarter Theatre, OSF, New Dramatists, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, Hedgebrook, Sundance, Space on Ryder Farm, and more.
Since 2018, Mfoniso has been working extensively in television; she has worked on such acclaimed shows as 13 Reasons Why on Netflix, A League of Their Own on Amazon, Let the Right One In on Showtime, and Pachinko (Peabody Award), Little America, and Lessons in Chemistry (WGA Nomination) all on Apple TV+. She has also developed films for HBO, Legendary, and Amazon.
Christopher V. Edwards (Director) is the Artistic Director of the Actors' Shakespeare Project in Boston, where he has directed critically acclaimed productions of The Piano Lesson, Equivocation, The Bomb-itty of Errors, and The Taming of the Shrew. He is a Senior Lecturer at Boston University's School of Theatre. National credits include Fences, Othello, The Three Musketeers, ART, Romeo and Juliet, and the world premiere of How to Break. Edwards has worked Off Broadway, in London's West End, internationally, and at regional theaters across the country: Shakespeare & Company, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and The National Theatre in Oslo, Norway, among others.
ABOUT THE UFOT FAMILY CYCLE
Boston’s Ufot Family Cycle marks the first time all nine plays will be complete and performed in their intended order. In addition to producing the first two plays and co-producing the podcast of the third play, The Huntington will also serve as a motherboard of resources and connection to bolster the creative process and success of the remaining six productions that will be mounted through 2026 by and with arts organizations, universities, social organizations, non-profits, and a host of community activation partners.
Each of the productions will be professionally filmed by partner Kligerman Productions to expand the reach of the Ufot Family Cycle and preserve it in perpetuity, allowing the Ufot Family Cycle to be taught in educational settings as part of the American theatrical canon.
Partners in the Ufot Family Cycle include: AfroDesiaCity, ArtsEmerson, The Barr Foundation, Boston Arts Academy, The Boston Foundation, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Boston Public Art Triennial, Boston Public Library, Boston Public Schools, Boston University, Central Square Theater, Coolidge Corner Theatre, DiasporaMass, Embrace Boston, Facing History & Ourselves, Front Porch Arts Collective, GBH, The Huntington, Kligerman Productions, The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, McCoy Audio, Next Chapter Podcasts, Nigerian Professionals Group, Northeastern University, Prior Performing Arts Center, Reimagining Migration, Riverside Theatre Works, Roxbury Community College, Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation, Wellesley College, Wellesley Repertory Theatre, West End House, Wheelock Family Theatre, and ZUMIX.
More information about the Ufot Family Cycle, including the 35+ partners and funders involved in bringing the Ufot story to life, can be found at bostontheatrescene.com/
INSPIRATION FOR THE UFOT FAMILY CYCLE
When nationally acclaimed playwright Mfoniso Udofia grew up in Southbridge, Massachusetts and attended Wellesley College, she rarely saw stories about Africans and African Americans that felt like her family. Inspired in part by August Wilson’s Century Cycle, she set out to create an emotionally engrossing cycle of nine plays that follows one Nigerian American family through three generations: parents, children, grandchildren. Each play stands alone brilliantly, yet together forms a stunning tapestry that will resonate with everyone.
“I’m writing these plays for myself, for my immediate family, for my extended family, for the Ibibio community,” says Udofia. “I’m writing us — so we can see us. I believe my work incites community action. When one cares about a character so much they are crying for them, they usually cannot meet a similar person in life and instantaneously judge them. A dramatic telling of an immigrant story, when done well, can cause an audience to change irrevocably in the moment. These audience members will then leave the building and enter their own communities with newfound empathy.”
Mfoniso’s own experience informs the Cycle as her parents immigrated to Texas from Nigeria in the 1970s, had children, and then moved to the Boston area because of the educational opportunities available. Mfoniso went to Wellesley College, during which time she had her first experience with The Huntington through her Africana Studies class when Professor Selwyn R. Cudjoe took students to see Gem of the Ocean and introduced her to playwright August Wilson (1945-2005). To see herself onstage, reflected in Wilson’s ten-play American Century Cycle, with each set in a different decade of the 20th century about Black American life, was influential years before she would pursue her career in playwriting and return to Wellesley as a faculty member of the Albright Institute.
The New York Times states, “While building empathy is important to Ms. Udofia, as she continues to work on the rest of the ‘Ufot’ plays, she is also unapologetic about the fact that she isn’t writing the Cycle for a traditional theatre audience.” Mfoniso spoke about this during several Boston community meetings in 2023, stating her intentions to be an active participant in meeting community members where they are to inform the making of the remaining Cycle plays.
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION FOR RUNBOYRUN
Live performance of runboyrun
Thursday, March 13 at 3:30pm
Boston Public Library – GBH Newsfeed Café (700 Boylston St)
RSVP HERE: https://www.huntingtontheatre.
Live performance of runboyrun
Friday, March 14 at 7pm
Huntington Theatre – 264 Huntington Ave
RSVP HERE: https://www.huntingtontheatre.
TICKETS
Tickets are complimentary with advance online registration. Walk-ups are also welcome.
The podcast recording will be available online later this spring following the live readings. More information will be shared at huntingtontheatre.org
THE HUNTINGTON ANNOUNCES THE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM
OF HILARIOUS AND EXQUISITE CLASSIC, THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE
The witty, romantic, and timeless comedy by French playwright Marivaux dazzles at the Huntington Theatre in this fresh adaptation directed by Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco.
(BOSTON) – The Huntington announces the cast and creative team of The Triumph of Love, the classic romantic comedy written by Pierre Carlet de Marivaux, translated by Stephen Wadsworth, and directed by Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco (Prayer for the French Republic at The Huntington). The Triumph of Love runs from Friday, March 7 – Sunday, April 6, 2025 at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave).
Love takes center stage in The Triumph of Love, an uproarious classic French comedy by 18th century playwright Pierre Carlet de Marivaux. A clever princess is smitten at first sight – but to win her prince, she must woo him in disguise. Mistaken identities, hilarious circumstances, and deeply felt desire collide head on with Reason and Philosophy – and surprising romantic entanglements ensue! Artistic Director Loretta Greco stages Stephen Wadsworth’s magnificent adaptation which inspired a passion for Marivaux in America anew.
“I am thrilled to bring Stephen’s intoxicating adaptation of Marivaux’s 18th century play to life here at The Huntington,” says Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “Full of playful deception, romance, hilarity and hope, The Triumph of Love is a surprising, deeply moving and modern examination of our ability to grow over time. That this play which premiered in 1732 feels so alive today owes much to the singular passion of Stephen Wadsworth and this definitive adaptation.”
Called “Exhilarating” by The New York Times and “A triumph!” by Variety, the classic Marivaux text from 1732 was freshly adapted and translated in 1992 by Stephen Wadsworth at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ – where Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco served as a staff producer on the production at the time. Now with Greco as director, this sparkling adaptation of a beloved classic will be performed in The Huntington’s historic theatre. American Theatre Magazine calls the play, “A literary and theatrical revelation...This is the greatest play that Shakespeare and Molière never wrote.”
“Loretta Greco was a key collaborator on the first production of this translation, when she was staff producer at McCarter Theatre,” says translator Stephen Wadsworth. “Her razor-sharp eye and keen ear brought her deep into the work on the script itself, as well as on the staging. I can’t wait to see what she does with this play at The Huntington.”
Embracing beauty with period French costumes, pastoral set design, and romantic lighting, this new production at The Huntington is sure to dazzle. The design is intentionally crafted to celebrate the classical elegance of the story – and the transformative power of being seen – can shine even brighter in its contemporary relevance. Laughter and love are le plat du jour at The Huntington this March.
The cast of The Triumph of Love includes:
Allison Altman as Léonide, a clever princess, sometimes in disguise as Phocion or Aspasie. Credits include: Birthday Candles on Broadway, Mother, Daughter, Sisterwife Off Broadway, and Anna Karenina at the Denver Center.
Avanthika Srinivasan as Corine, Léonide’s maid, sometimes in disguise as Hermidas. Credits include: Elyria Off Broadway, Candida at Gringold Theatrical Group, and Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+.
Vincent Randazzo as Harlequin, Hermocrate’s valet. Credits include: The Servant of Two Masters at Lanes Coven Theatre, Survival of the Unfit at Great Barrington Public Theatre, and Crime and Punishment at The Old Globe.
Patrick Kerr as Dimas, Hermocrate’s gardener. Credits include: Travesties and You Can’t Take It with You on Broadway, and The Big Door Prize on Apple TV.
Rob Kellogg as Agis, the rightful heir to the throne and Hermocrate’s ward, who has sworn off love. Credits include: Romeo and Juliet Off Broadway, the films The Bride and No Later Light, and the TV series Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.
Marianna Bassham as Léontine, Hermocrate’s sister and a spinster. Credits include: Nassim, The Band’s Visit (co-produced with SpeakEasy Stage), and Hurricane Diane at The Huntington.
Nael Nacer as Hermocrate, a philosopher uninterested in love. Credits include: Nassim and Leopoldstadt at The Huntington, and Prayer for the French Republic at The Huntington and on Broadway.
Understudies include: Morgan Ford, Joanna Strapp, Nick Sulfaro, and Lewis D. Wheeler.
The creative team for The Triumph of Love includes scenic and costume design by Junghyun Georgia Lee (The Heart Sellers at The Huntington), lighting design by Christopher Akerlind (Prayer for the French Republic at The Huntington), and sound design and original music by Fan Zhang (Prayer for the French Republic at The Huntington). The hair, wig, and makeup designer is Tom Watson (Leopoldstadt at The Huntington). The assistant director is Lydia Cochran, and the dramaturg is Charles Haugland. The commedia dell’arte consultant is Judith Chaffee, the fight and intimacy coordinator is Jesse Hinson, and the voice and text coach is Lee Nishri-Howitt. The production stage manager is Deirdre Benson and the stage manager is Ashley Pitchford. Casting is by Janet Foster.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Loretta Greco (Director) is The Huntington’s Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director. Her extensive national directing credits include Joshua Harmon’s Prayer for the French Republic and Taylor Mac’s world premiere of Joy and Pandemic for The Huntington, the premieres of runboyrun and A Park in Our House at New York Theatre Workshop, The Story, Lackawanna Blues, and Two Sisters and a Piano at The Public Theater, Sweat, The Realistic Joneses, Speed-the-Plow, and Blackbird at American Conservatory Theater, and productions for California Shakespeare, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, McCarter Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Long Wharf, La Jolla Playhouse, and Williamstown Theatre Festival, among others. She is a champion of groundbreaking artists and has longstanding working relationships with esteemed playwrights such as Taylor Mac, Mfoniso Udofia, Lloyd Suh, Barbara Hammond, Luis Alfaro, Octavio Solis, Linda McLean, and Sam Shepard, with whom she worked closely on a five-year Bay Area-wide legacy series and directed the critically acclaimed revivals of Buried Child and Fool for Love. Prior to The Huntington, she was the artistic director at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre for 12 years, as well as producing artistic director of New York’s WP Theater and associate director and staff producer of the McCarter Theatre. She is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect and the recipient of Bay Area Critic’s Association Awards, a Drama League fellowship, the Princess Grace Award, a Sundance/Luma Director’s fellowship, and the 2018 Zelda Fichandler Award.
Pierre Carlet de Marivaux (Playwright) was born on February 4, 1688 in Paris, France. A French dramatist, novelist, and journalist, his comedies became, after those of Molière, the most frequently performed in French theatre. He died February 12, 1763 in Paris. In addition to The Triumph of Love, Marivaux also wrote The Game of Love and Chance and The False Secrets.
Stephen Wadsworth (Translator) is renowned for his translations and productions of plays by Marivaux which introduced the playwright to American theatre audiences in the 1990s. For his work on Marivaux and Molière, he was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France. His productions of Aeschylus, Shakespeare, Molière, Marivaux, Goldoni, Beaumarchais, Strindberg, Shaw, Wilde, and Coward have established him as a master of classical style, but he has also directed world premieres of plays by authors as diverse as Anna Deavere Smith, Beth Henley, and Ken Ludwig. He has been a front-rank opera director for over 40 years, creating productions for the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, La Scala Milan, London’s Royal Opera, the Edinburgh Festival, and many other companies notably including Seattle Opera, where he created 11 productions, including a legendary production of Wagner’s Ring cycle. He co-authored the opera A Quiet Place with Leonard Bernstein. Since 2008 he has been the James S. Marcus Fellow at The Juilliard School, where he teaches acting and directing.
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION FOR THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE
WHEN
Performances: March 7 – April 6, 2025
Evenings: Tues – Thurs at 7pm; Fri and Sat at 7:30pm
Matinees: Select Wed, Fri, Sat, and Sun at 2pm
Days and times vary; see complete schedule above.
Press Opening: Wednesday, March 12, 2025 at 7pm (RSVP here)
WHERE
The Huntington Theatre
264 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115
TICKETS
Tickets start at $29. Season ticket packages and FlexPasses are also now on sale:
- online at huntingtontheatre.org
- by phone at 617-266-0800;
- or in person at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave) or Calderwood Pavilion (527 Tremont Street)
Select discounts apply:
- $10 off: season ticket holders
- $40 “HYPE” tickets (Huntington Young Patron Events) for patrons 40 years-old and younger (valid ID required)
- $25 student and military tickets (valid ID required)
- Limited number of Pay-What-You-Wish tickets (not available online, please call or visit the box office to inquire using the contact info above)
Please note that a digital recording of this production will be made available for online viewing. Details to come at huntingtontheatre.org/whats-
The Huntington asks that any patron experiencing illness stay home and contact ticketing services for more information about exchanges.
ACCESS PERFORMANCES FOR THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE
Tickets are $20 for each patron and their guests. To reserve tickets please email access@
Accessible performances are supported in part by the Liberty Mutual Foundation.
OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE: Tuesday, March 25 at 7pm. The Huntington offers open captioning at designated performances for any patron who benefits from having the text of spoken dialogue visible in time with the play.
ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE: Friday, March 28 at 7:30pm. The Huntington offers American Sign Language interpretation at designated performances for patrons who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE: Saturday, April 5 at 2pm. The Huntington offers audio description for patrons who are blind or low-vision. Please visit huntingtontheatre.org/
Large Print and Braille Programs will also be available for patrons at performances.
THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE SPECIAL EVENTS
“Stage & Screen” The Rules of the Game at Coolidge Corner: Monday, March 3 at 7pm
The Huntington and Coolidge Corner continue their “Stage & Screen” collaboration with an event on Monday, March 3 at Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA. After a 7pm showing of French language film The Rules of the Game (directed and screenplay by Jean Renoir, 1950), guests connected The Huntington’s production of The Triumph of Love will host a post-screening discussion.
Tickets to the Stage & Screen film and post-screening discussion can be purchased here: coolidge.org/programs/stage-
Humanities Forum: Sunday, March 23 at 2pm
The Huntington hosts a post-show discussion after the 2pm matinee performance on Sunday, March 23 at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave).
Actors Forum: Thursday, March 27 at 7pm
The Huntington hosts a moderated, post-show discussion with members of the cast after the 7pm performance on Thursday, March 27 at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave). Hear actors from The Triumph of Love reflect on their roles and nuances of each character.
Actors Forum: Wednesday, April 2 at 2pm
The Huntington hosts a moderated, post-show discussion with members of the cast after the 2pm matinee performance on Wednesday, April 2 at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave). Hear actors from The Triumph of Love reflect on their roles and nuances of each character.
Student Matinee performance: Thursday, April 3 at 10am
The Huntington Education Department hosts a student matinee of The Triumph of Love on Thursday, April 3 at 10am at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave). Student tickets are $20 each, chaperones attend at no cost, and one chaperone is required for every 15 students.
To reserve your school group and learn more information, please email Manager of Education Operations Bec Lowe at education@
MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA
Any members of the media who are interested in speaking with the artists of The Triumph of Love, please contact Publicist Gabrielle Jaques at gjaques@huntingtontheatre.org or 617-273-1520.
Press night for critics is Wednesday, March 12 at 7pm. Please RSVP here for press night or other available performances.
Production photos will be available for download online, and b-roll footage can be requested.
PHOTOS available for download here
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating over 40 years of outstanding theatre, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community.
Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli, The Huntington is committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, provides life- changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, has acted as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA.
The Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre in fall of 2022 after its transformational renovation, and is currently in phase two of the project; the renovation and building project of this storied venue with a bold vision for the future will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
THE HUNTINGTON AND COOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE CONTINUE THEIR “STAGE AND SCREEN” COLLABORATION THIS SPRING
Abigail C. Onwunali in Sojourners (photo by Marc J. Franklin); Jean Renoir, Roland Toutain, and Nora Gregor in The Rules of the Game; Katharine Hepburn in Summertime
The Huntington continues its series in partnership with Coolidge Corner
to connect stage and screen, while sharing their original production of Sojourners with audiences
just in time for the next few plays in the Ufot Family Cycle
(BOSTON) – The Huntington and Coolidge Corner Theatre announce three upcoming screenings, all connected to Huntington production offerings this season. Two of the three screenings are part of the larger, long-standing partnership series “Stage & Screen,” and the third is a special screening of The Huntington’s 2024 production of Sojourners by Mfoniso Udofia, the first play in Boston’s Ufot Family Cycle, captured by Kligerman Productions.
The Stage & Screen series is a collaboration between The Huntington and Coolidge Corner Theatre that explores the depictions of shared themes in upcoming Huntington productions and acclaimed films. Throughout their season, Huntington artists appear at the Coolidge to discuss the films that inspire and impact their work, and the different ways in which film and theatre can enlighten and inform audiences.
Coming up on February 10, 2025 at 7pm, the Coolidge will screen The Huntington’s 2024 production of Mfoniso Udofia’s play Sojourners, the origin story in the 9-play Ufot Family Cycle. Over 30 Boston area organizations are collaborating together to bring this epic story of three generations of a Nigerian American family to life, and it marks the first time this Cycle will be complete and performed in its entirety for one community. The Huntington’s 2024 production was a Boston Theatre Critics Association “Critics’ Pick,” and it introduced Abasiama, the Ufot family matriarch – a dynamic and forward-thinking woman from whom an entire Nigerian lineage in America emerges. This pro-shot recording was captured with eleven cameras by Kligerman Productions, and offers an exciting opportunity for audiences to experience the play for the first time or revisit the story in high-definition before the next few Ufot plays are mounted this spring, starting with The Grove at The Huntington’s Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA from February 6 – March 9, 2025.
In Sojourners, marriage, migration, and the pursuit of education collide with surprising humor when a young and brilliant Nigerian couple arrives in Houston in 1978, looking to earn their degrees and bring insights back to their home country. But when Abasiama discovers that her husband has been seduced by Motown records and American culture, she begins a surprising friendship with a local woman named Moxie. Director Dawn M. Simmons helmed the lively and nuanced Sojourners, following her acclaimed production of K-I-S-S-I-N-G [2023 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding New Script].
This screening is free to attend, with advance registration. Reservations can be made online here: https://forms.gle/
Next up, on Monday, March 3, 2025 at 7pm, the Coolidge will screen The Rules of the Game, Jean Renoir’s scathing critique of corrupt French society, cloaked in a comedy of manners. At la Colinière, the deceptively idyllic country estate of a wealthy Parisian aristocrat, a selection of society’s finest gather for a rural sojourn and shooting party. Over the course of the weekend, they reveal themselves to be absurdly cruel and vapid.
This screening is in conversation with The Huntington’s production of the classic French farce, The Triumph of Love (running at the Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, from March 7 – April 6, 2025). This screening will include a discussion with artists from The Triumph of Love.
Tickets are available to purchase to The Rules of the Game online at: https://coolidge.org/films/
Finally, on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 at 7pm, the Coolidge will screen Summertime, a sublimely bittersweet tale of romantic longing directed by David Lean and set in the sun-splashed glory of Venice at the height of summer (filmed in radiant Technicolor). In a tour de force of fearless vulnerability, Katharine Hepburn portrays the conflicting emotions that stir the heart of a lonely, middle-aged American tourist who is forced to confront her insecurities when she is drawn into a seemingly impossible affair with a charming Italian shopkeeper (Rossano Brazzi) amid the ancient city’s canals and piazzas. Lean’s personal favorite among his own films, Summertime is an exquisitely tender evocation of the magic and melancholy of a fleeting, not-quite-fairy-tale romance.
This screening is in conversation with The Huntington’s production of the Tony Award-winning musical The Light in the Piazza (running at the Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave, from May 8 – June 15, 2025). This screening will include a discussion with artists from The Light in the Piazza.
Tickets are available to purchase to Summertime online at: https://coolidge.org/films/
SCREENING DATES AND TICKETS
February 10, 2025 at 7pm: Screening of The Huntington’s 2024 production of Sojourners
This screening is free to attend, with advance registration. Reservations can be made online here: https://forms.gle/
Monday, March 3, 2025 at 7pm: The Rules of the Game
This screening will include a discussion with artists from The Huntington’s The Triumph of Love. Tickets are available to purchase to The Rules of the Game online at: https://coolidge.org/films/
Tuesday, May 6, 2025 at 7pm: Summertime
This screening will include a discussion with artists from The Huntington’s The Light in the Piazza. Tickets are available to purchase to Summertime online at: https://coolidge.org/films/
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating over 40 years of outstanding theatre, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community.
Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli, The Huntington is committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, provides life- changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, has acted as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA.
The Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre in fall of 2022 after its transformational renovation, and is currently in phase two of the project; the renovation and building project of this storied venue with a bold vision for the future will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
ABOUT COOLIDGE CORNER THEATRE
The Coolidge Corner Theatre is a New England landmark with a national reputation for award-winning film programming, innovative film education programs, and community partnerships. Established in 1933 and nonprofit since 1989, it draws approximately 250,000 visitors annually.
A six-screen cinema, the Coolidge shows classic and contemporary films, hosts live performances and special guests, and produces film series like Big Screen Classics, After Midnite, Science on Screen®, Cinema Jukebox, PANORAMA, Cinema in 70mm, The Sounds of Silents®, Kids’ Shows, and Rewind!, as well as pro bono youth film education classes, adult education, and monthly repertory programs. The Coolidge hosts several prominent film festivals and has recently welcomed film luminaries such as Werner Herzog, Julianne Moore, The Daniels, John Waters, Ruth E. Carter, Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas, Anya Taylor-Joy, Frank Oz, Liv Ullmann, Ethan Hawke, and many others. For more information, visit coolidge.org.
Join us for a moving story of family, love, and stepping into who you are
in the world premiere of Mfoniso Udofia’s THE GROVE
– the second of nine plays in Boston’s Ufot Family Cycle
The Huntington’s Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA (527 Tremont St)
*PLEASE NOTE THIS IS THE LOCATION ON TREMONT STREET IN THE SOUTH END, NOT THE SPACE ON HUNTINGTON AVENUE NEAR SYMPHONY HALL
About The Grove: Playwright Mfoniso Udofia tells the story of a family homecoming, asking how we draw on the wisdom and beauty of our ancestors when the bonds of family are stretched to the limit. Abasiama’s eldest daughter Adiaha believes that becoming a writer can make her family proud, but at her graduation party, she has to choose whether to fulfill her parents’ desires or stay true to her own dreams. Director Awoye Timpo (The Bluest Eye at The Huntington) reunites with longtime collaborator Udofia for this story of a young woman coming into herself, with the rich heart of a family drama against the thrilling theatrical backdrop of a Greek chorus of ancestors.
About the Ufot Family Cycle: When nationally acclaimed playwright Mfoniso Udofia grew up in Southbridge, Massachusetts and went to Wellesley College, she rarely saw stories about Africans and African Americans that felt true to her own family. Inspired in part by August Wilson’s Century Cycle, she set out to create an emotionally engrossing cycle of nine plays that follows one Nigerian American family through three generations: parents, children, grandchildren. Each play stands alone brilliantly, yet together form a stunning tapestry that will resonate with everyone. The Ufot Family Cycle is an unprecedented two-year city-wide festival where 30+ theatres and arts organizations around Greater Boston will join to produce Mfoniso Udofia’s cycle of plays in partnership with universities, social organizations, non-profits, and a host of community activation partners, beginning this fall.
All tickets are subject to availability and are not transferable.
*For those who would like to revisit Sojourners (the first Ufot Family Cycle play that was produced at The Huntington this past fall 2024), Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline will be hosting a free screening of the filmed production on Monday, February 10, 2025 at 7pm. RSVP here to save your seat for that special community screening!
For more information on The Grove visit
https://www.huntingtontheatre.
@huntingtontheatre
#UfotBOS
THE HUNTINGTON ANNOUNCES THE CAST AND CREATIVE
TEAM
OF WORLD PREMIERE OF MFONISO UDOFIA’S THE GROVE
Boston’s citywide Ufot Family Cycle continues with the second play in the series, now following Abasiama’s daughter as she grapples with questions of identity and heritage
(BOSTON) – The Huntington continues the sweeping nine-play Ufot Family Cycle and announces the cast and creative team of The Grove, the stirring and timely play written by Mfoniso Udofia and directed by Awoye Timpo (The Bluest Eye at The Huntington). A world premiere and the second play in Boston’s epic nine-play Ufot Family Cycle, The Grove runs from Friday, February 7 – Sunday, March 9, 2025 at the Calderwood Pavilion (527 Tremont St).
When Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco joined The Huntington in 2022, she brought with her a longstanding partnership and friendship with playwright Mfoniso Udofia, and a vision for producing the complete Ufot Family Cycle in the Boston area – a festival marked by radical collaboration with an unprecedented scale and scope across our city. After two years of planning and leadership from The Huntington, all nine of the Ufot Family Cycle plays are being produced in Greater Boston by 30+ partners over two seasons, starting with the Huntington productions of Sojourners and The Grove.
“Much like August Wilson’s cycle plays, each play within Mfoniso’s cycle stands brilliantly on its own, prompting new questions, ideas, and conversations,” says Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “The Grove leaps forward in time and invites us to Abasiama’s daughter, Adiaha’s grad school graduation party complete with the magnificently interwoven dreams and hopes of her parents, uncles, siblings, and friends.”
In The Grove, playwright Mfoniso Udofia tells the story of a family homecoming, asking how we draw on the wisdom and beauty of our ancestors when the bonds of family are stretched to the limit. Abasiama’s eldest daughter Adiaha believes that becoming a writer can make her family proud, but at her graduation party, she has to choose whether to fulfill her parents’ desires or stay true to her own dreams. Director Awoye Timpo (The Bluest Eye at The Huntington) reunites with longtime collaborator Udofia for this story of a young woman coming into herself, with the rich heart of a family drama against the thrilling theatrical backdrop of a Greek chorus of ancestors.
“The second play in the Ufot Family Cycle, The Grove, holds a special place in my heart as it was the first play I ever wrote,” says playwright Mfoniso Udofia. “Following Adiaha, Abasiama’s daughter, as she navigates coming of age, The Grove explores the delicate balance between personal desires and the traditions of the close-knit Nigerian community she holds dear.”
Director Awoye Timpo reunites with longtime collaborator Mfoniso Udofia for a play with the rich heart of a family drama told with the support of a theatrically thrilling chorus of ancestors. The story picks up a couple decades after the 1970s action of Sojourners, finding Nigerian immigrants Abasiama and Disciple Ufot living with their family in Worcester, Massachusetts. Whether audience members are continuing the Ufot family’s journey, or beginning it here, there are a host of multi-generational characters to enjoy meeting in The Grove.
The Grove was commissioned and developed by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company. The script also received development support at New Dramatists through the Bucket List Initiative, a program supported by a grant from Venturous Theatre Fund of Tides Foundation, and received a presentation as part of The Other Season at Seattle Repertory Theatre 2016-2017. The Huntington’s 2025 production marks the first time the piece will be fully produced and shared with audiences. The Huntington’s production of The Grove is supported in part by the Barr Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The cast of The Grove includes:
Patrice Johnson Chevannes as Abasiama Ufot, the Ufot family matriarch, holding a quiet strength. Credits include: Racing Demon and The Crucible on Broadway, and Endgame at Irish Rep.
Abigail C. Onwunali as Adiaha Ufot, Abasiama and Disciple’s eldest daughter, home from grad school and grappling with her identity. Credits include: Sojourners at The Huntington, JaJa’s African Hair Braiding on Broadway, and The Half-God of Rainfall at New York Theatre Workshop.
Joshua Olumide as Disciple Ufot, the Ufot family
patriarch and Abasiama’s husband with intense faith and expectations of his
family. Credits include: Sojourners at The Huntington, The
Winter’s Tale at Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, and A
Raisin in the Sun at New Rep.
Amani Kojo as Ekong Ufot, Abasiama and Disciple’s teenage
son, very American. Credits include: Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Good
Goods, and Titus Andronicus at SUNY Purchase.
Aisha Wura Akorede as Toyoima Ufot, Abasiama
and Disciple’s daughter, the middle child, and very smart. Credits
include: Sojourners at The Huntington, and Potus and A
Doll’s House at Emerson College.
Paul-Robert Pryce as Udosen Udoh, a young,
progressive, and charming friend of the Ufot family. Credits include: King
Lear and Merchant of Venice at Compagnia de
Colombari, and Pecong at the National Black Theatre of Harlem.
Maduka Steady as Godwin Inyang, friend of
the Ufot family, older, verbose, and fiery. Credits include: Amy’s View on
Broadway, Mud River Stone at Playwrights Horizons, and Scapin at
Roundabout Theater.
Valyn Lyric Turner as Kimberly Gaines, Adiaha’s
girlfriend, a passionate African American artist. Credits include: John
Proctor is the Villain at The Huntington, Vanya and Sonia and
Masha and Spike at Gloucester Stage, and A Raisin in the Sun at
New Rep.
Ekemini Ekpo, Janelle Grace, Patrice
Jean-Baptiste, Chibuba Bloom Osuala, Dayenne Walters as Shadows, the women who
comprise Adiaha’s ancestral line.
Understudies include: Rebekah Brunson, Maurice Emmanuel Parent, Kandyce Whittingham, and Sharmarke Yusuf.
The creative team for The Grove includes choreography by Adesola Osakalumi (Skeleton Crew on Broadway), scenic design by Jason Ardizzone-West (Sojourners at The Huntington), costume design by Sarita Fellows (Sojourners at The Huntington), lighting design by Reza Behjat (English on Broadway), and sound design and original music by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (Sojourners at The Huntington). The hair, wig, and makeup designer is Earon Chew Nealey (Sojourners at The Huntington). The assistant directors are Rebekah Brunson and Kandyce Whittingham. The dramaturgs are Charles Haugland and Donnetta Lavinia Grays. The intimacy coach is Dr. Ayshia Mackie-Stephenson, the fight director is Jesse Hinson, the vocal and dialect coach is Dawn-Elin Fraser, the language consultant is Emmanuel Sylvester, and the cultural consultant is Ademola Bello. The production stage manager is Emily F. McMullen and the stage manager is Lauren J. Burke. Casting is by Janet Foster.
This Cycle marks the first time all nine plays will be complete and performed in their intended order. In addition to producing the first three plays, The Huntington will also serve as a motherboard of resources and connection to bolster the creative process and success of the remaining six productions that will be mounted through 2026 by and with arts organizations, universities, social organizations, non-profits, and a host of community activation partners.
Each of the productions will be professionally filmed by partner Kligerman Productions to expand the reach of the Ufot Family Cycle and preserve it in perpetuity, allowing the Ufot Family Cycle to be taught in educational settings as part of the American theatrical canon.
Partners in the Ufot Family Cycle include: AfroDesiaCity, ArtsEmerson, The Barr Foundation, Boston Arts Academy, The Boston Foundation, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Boston Public Art Triennial, Boston Public Library, Boston Public Schools, Boston University, Central Square Theater, Coolidge Corner Theatre, DiasporaMass, Embrace Boston, Facing History & Ourselves, Front Porch Arts Collective, GBH, The Huntington, Kligerman Productions, The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, Next Chapter Podcasts, Nigerian Professionals Group, Northeastern University, Prior Performing Arts Center, Reimagining Migration, Riverside Theatre Works, Roxbury Community College, Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation, Wellesley College, Wellesley Repertory Theatre, West End House, Wheelock Family Theatre, and ZUMIX.
More information about
the Ufot Family Cycle, including the 30+ partners and funders involved in
bringing the Ufot story to life, can be found at bostontheatrescene.com/ufotboston
DWTS SEASON 33 FINALIST STEPHEN NEDOROSCIK ADDED AS CO-HOST FOR DANCING WITH THE STARS: LIVE! 2025 TOUR!
FAN-FAVORITES CHANDLER KINNEY, ILONA MAHER, AND MIRRORBALL WINNER JOEY GRAZIADEI AND HIS PARTNER JENNA JOHNSON TO PERFORM IN SELECT CITIES
Starring Dancing with the Stars Professional Dancers
Alan Bersten, Brandon Armstrong, Britt Stewart, Daniella Karagach Emma Slater, Ezra Sosa, Gleb Savchenko, Pasha Pashkov and Rylee Arnold.
Due to demand, additional shows added in Boston, MA; Rosemont, IL; Madison, WI; Charlotte, NC; Clearwater, FL; Salt Lake City, UT
Tickets on sale now at dwtstour.com!
(Boston, MA, December 9, 2024) – Dancing with the Stars is back on tour to heat up your winter! This year’s all-new stage show will feature your favorite dancers from the #1 hit television show. They’ll be performing spectacular brand-new numbers dreamed up by Emmy award-winning choreographer Mandy Moore (Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, La La Land) as well as some of the viral showstoppers featured in season 33 that launched a million TikTok posts. Come relive DWTS’ record-breaking 33rd season that brought in over 20 million fan votes per episode!
2024 US Olympic bronze medalist in men’s gymnastics, Stephen Nedoroscik, who earned the nickname ‘Pommel Horse Guy’ will join the entirety of the tour as co-host. More DWTS Season 33 fan favorites and finalists Olympic rugby champion and social media superstar Ilona Maher and Disney’s Z-O-M-B-I-E-S and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin actress Chandler Kinney, along with The Bachelor star Joey Graziadei are thrilled to be joining the tour for select shows. DWTS pro Jenna Johnson will join Joey to perform in select cities.
Due to demand, additional performances have been added in Boston, MA; Rosemont, IL; Madison, WI; Charlotte, NC; Clearwater, FL and Salt Lake City, UT. Tickets for all shows are on sale now at dwtstour.com.
A limited number of VIP packages are still available for most shows and include Premium Tickets, Meet & Greet Photo Opportunity and interactive experience with DWTS Cast Members and Special Guests, Exclusive Merchandise and more. Details and info at dwtstour.com.
To purchase tickets and to get the full list of tour dates, please visit dwtstour.com. “Dancing with the Stars: Live!” is produced by Faculty Productions in association with BBC Studios Los Angeles Productions.
“Dancing with the Stars: Live!” Tour Dates:
Stephen Nedoroscik: co-host on all tour dates
Joey Graziadei & Pro Jenna Johnson: Season 33 Mirrorball Winners Jan. 21-26 Shows and Feb. 25 – Mar. 13 Shows
Chandler Kinney: Feb. 11-23 Shows and Mar. 16 – Apr. 5 Shows
Ilona Maher: April 5 Show
“Dancing with the Stars: Live!” Dates:
January 7 – Richmond, VA – Altria Theater
January 9 – Baltimore, MD – Lyric Baltimore
January 10 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
January 11 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
January 12 – Morristown, NJ – Mayo Performing Arts Center (2 shows)
January 14 – Portland, ME – Merrill Auditorium at City Hall
January 15 – Manchester, NH – SNHU Arena
January 16 – Boston, MA – Boch Center Wang Theatre
January 17 – Boston, MA – Boch Center Wang Theatre
January 18 – Atlantic City, NJ – Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
January 19 – Lancaster, PA – American Music Theatre (2 shows)
January 21 – Buffalo, NY – Shea’s Buffalo Theatre
January 22 – Schenectady, NY – Proctors
January 23 – University Park, PA – Bryce Jordan Center
January 24 – National Harbor, MD – The Theater at MGM National Harbor
January 25 – Bethlehem, PA – The Wind Creek Event Center (2 shows)
January 26 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark January 28 – New Brunswick, NJ – State Theatre New Jersey
January 29 – Brookville, NY – Tilles Center for the Performing Arts
January 30 – White Plains, NY – The Westchester County Center
January 31 – Kitchener, ON – Centre in the Square^
February 1 – Rama, ON – Casino Rama Resort – Entertainment Centre
February 2 – Verona, NY – Turning Stone Resort & Casino
February 4 – Pittsburgh, PA – Benedum Center for the Performing Arts
February 5 – Akron, OH – Akron Civic Theatre
February 6 – Detroit, MI – FOX Theatre
February 7 – Columbus, OH – Mershon Auditorium
February 8 – Rosemont, IL – Rosemont Theatre (2 Shows)
February 11 – Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre at Old National Centre
February 12 – Milwaukee, WI – Miller High Life Theatre
February 13 – Ames, IA – Stephens Auditorium
February 14 – Minneapolis, MN – Northrop
February 15 – Madison, WI – The Orpheum Theater (2 Shows)
February 16 – Grand Rapids, MI– DeVos Performance Hall
February 18 – St. Louis, MO – Stifel Theatre
February 19 – Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J Brady Music Center
February 20 – Nashville, TN – Grand Ole Opry House
February 21 – Atlanta, GA – The Fox Theatre
February 22 – Charlotte, NC – Ovens Auditorium (2 Shows)
February 23 – Durham, NC – Durham Performing Arts Center
February 25 – Greensboro, NC – Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts February 26 – Spartanburg, SC – Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium
February 27 – Jacksonville, FL – Moran Theater
February 28 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood March 1 – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall (2 Shows)
March 2 – Orlando, FL – Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
March 4 – North Charleston, SC – North Charleston Performing Arts Center March 5 – Huntsville, AL – Von Braun Center - Mark C. Smith Concert Hall March 6 – Memphis, TN – Orpheum Theatre
March 7 – Biloxi, MS – Beau Rivage Theatre
March 8 – Biloxi, MS – Beau Rivage Theatre
March 9 – Sugar Land, TX – Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
March 11 – Grand Prairie, TX – Texas Trust CU Theatre
March 12 – Austin, TX – Bass Concert Hall
March 13 – San Antonio, TX – Majestic Theatre
March 14 – Durant, OK – Choctaw Casino & Resort
March 15 – Wichita, KS – INTRUST Bank Arena
March 16 – Denver, CO – Buell Theatre
March 18 – Boise, ID – Morrison Center For The Performing Arts
March 19 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre
March 20 – Spokane, WA – First Interstate Center for the Arts
March 21 – Portland, OR – Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
March 22 – Redding, CA – Redding Civic Auditorium
March 23 – Santa Rosa, CA – Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
March 25 – San Jose, CA – San Jose Center for the Performing Arts
March 27 – Salt Lake City, UT – Eccles Theater
March 28 – Salt Lake City, UT – Eccles Theater
March 29 – Las Vegas, NV – The Smith Center for the Performing Arts
March 30 – Temecula, CA – Pechanga Resort Casino (2 shows)
April 2 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre
April 3 – Santa Barbara, CA – Arlington Theatre
April 4 – Indio, CA – Fantasy Springs Resort Casino
April 5 – Los Angeles, CA – Dolby Theatre
*Cast subject to change.
About Faculty Productions:
Faculty, formed by veteran manager and producer Jared Paul in partnership with Live Nation, the world’s leading live entertainment company, produces and creates world-class live branded entertainment and concerts. Faculty is responsible for some of the most successful global touring productions including the Faculty-managed New Kids on the Block recently completed 46-city Magic Summer 2024 Tour, which sold over 500,000 tickets, and the upcoming multi-year Las Vegas Residency: The Right Stuff, set to open in June 2025; and the Big Time Rush 2023 Can’t Get Enough Tour and 2024’s sold-out EU/UK and Australia/Asia Tours. Big Time Rush returned in 2022 after 9 years with sold out shows in the US and Mexico including stops at legendary venues such as Madison Square Garden. In 2022, Faculty produced the first-ever CHEER LIVEtour with stars from the Netflix series, are the long time producers of the Dancing with the Stars: Live! Tour, and producers of Move Live on Tour (Derek Hough and Julianne Hough), Glee Live! In Concert!, America’s Got Talent Live!, American Idol Live!, and So You Think You Can Dance Live Tour. In 2017, Faculty and Paul created the acclaimed immersive pop-up art exhibit HAPPY PLACE, which started in Los Angeles before moving to locations across the US and Canada and most recently to Sydney, Australia and New Zealand. In 2023-2024, Faculty produced COCOMELON PARTY TIME an all-new, first-of-its kind, kid-centric event centering on JJ, Cody & friends from the hugely popular children’s program CoComelon, the #2 most subscribed YouTube channel in the world with over 400 million views per month. Party Time has visited 28 cities thus far across the US and Canada entertaining thousands of families.
About BBC Studios
The main commercial arm of BBC Commercial Ltd, BBC Studios generated revenues in the last year of £1.8 billion and a third consecutive year of profits of over £200 million. Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, the business is built on two operating areas: the Content Studio, which produces, invests and distributes content globally and Media & Streaming, with BBC branded channels, services including bbc.com and BritBox International and joint ventures in the UK and internationally. The business made more than 2,800 hours of award-winning British programmes last year for a wide selection of public service and commercial broadcasters and platforms, both in the UK and across the globe. Its content is internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms, and includes world-famous brands like Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, the Planet series, Bluey and Doctor Who.
In the U.S, BBC Studios operates both a distribution business and one of its major production units. The production unit, based in Los Angeles, creates and produces adaptations of UK programs, as well as all new original programs, for linear and digital platforms in the U.S. This production unit is responsible for the phenomenally successful, Emmy®-winning Dancing with the Stars, the multi-award-winning Life Below Zero franchise, the popular reboot of the classic quiz show Weakest Link, the US version of the global sensation The 1% Club, the revved up Top Gear America, and the survival competition series Outlast. In scripted, the team has achieved success adapting British hits, including Ghosts, Call Me Kat (based on the UK format Miranda) and Welcome to Flatch (This Country in the UK) for top U.S. broadcast networks.
BBC Studios | Website | Press Office | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram
For Press Inquiries:
Darren DeLuca / darren@luca-pr.com / 603-489-7624
Alex DeLuca / alex@luca-pr.com / 603-557-7742
Paige Walker / paige@luca-pr.com / 781-315-3082
About The Boch Center
The Boch Center is one of the nation’s leading nonprofits performing arts institutions and a guardian of the historic Wang and Shubert Theatres. As New England’s largest cultural venue, the Boch Center is home to theater, classical and popular music, dance, comedy, opera, Broadway musicals, family entertainment, and more. Located in Boston’s historic Theater District, the Boch Center also offers a diverse mix of educational, cultural and community outreach initiatives, including the City Spotlights Teen Leadership Program and the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame; collaborates with artists and local nonprofit arts organizations; preserves historic venues; and acts as a champion for Greater Boston’s arts and cultural community. Learn more at bochcenter.org.
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ON THE EVE OF ABOLITION
BY PUERTO RICO’S PAPEL MACHETE
CO-PRESENTED BY ÁGORA CULTURAL ARCHITECTS
A BILINGUAL PERFORMANCE (SPANISH/ENGLISH)
FOUR PERFORMANCES ONLY
EMERSON PARAMOUNT CENTER
OCTOBER 31 – NOVEMBER 3, 2024
Set in 2047, this performance imagines abolition camps, formerly incarcerated people, families, and organizers working together in a fight to end all prisons, all rooted in the realities of the modern-day United States and Puerto Rico. Through a partnership with Prison Radio, Papel Machete has engaged with political prisoners and currently incarcerated artists and accessed materials created by incarcerated people in Prison Radio’s archives.
“We are honored to welcome the imaginative artists of Papel Machete to ArtsEmerson, led by Emerson College Alum Jorge Diaz,” says ArtsEmerson Interim Executive Director Ronee Penoi. “On the Eve of Abolition is so special because it centers Puerto Rican voices in imagining a fully liberated and better future for us all. Immense gratitude to our co-presenter Ágora Cultural Architects and the support of the City of Boston for your commitment to uplifting artists who dare to challenge the status quo and imagine what's possible.”
“Through the magic of puppet and mask theater, we invite audiences to join us on a journey to the year 2047, and into a multimedia experience towards the creation of a new, liberated world, only possible through love and the revolutionary spirit of collective resistance,” said Papel Machete.
Tickets for On the Eve of Abolition may be purchased 24/7 at ArtsEmerson.org, or by calling 617-824-8400 (Tue-Sat from 12:00PM ET - 6:00PM ET). The Paramount Center Box Office (559 Washington Street, Boston) is open for walk-up service Thu-Sat from Noon - 6:00 PM ET. Tickets start at $25. Groups of 10+ attending a performance save up to 30%.
BLO TO OFFER ITS VOICE AND ITS STAGES
TO ENHANCE CLIMATE CHANGE AWARENESS
Rising Waters/Rising Voices initiative will encompass two mainstage performances in
Spring 2025, public programs, and collaborations with climate-centered organizations.
BOSTON – October 10, 2024 – With a desire to foster and its mitigation, Boston Lyric Opera announced today an initiative to use its stages and its community position to call attention to, and motivate action for, a sustainable future.
BLO’s Rising Waters/Rising Voices initiative will debut this season through two mainstage opera performances, community discussions and other public programs, as well as information about urgent climate issues in public-facing outlets including theater programs, its website, and more.
BLO Artistic Director Nina Yoshida Nelsen says the initiative was inspired by the company’s recent move to Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood, an area that houses the company’s Opera & Community Studios space and is particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise. BLO’s widely lauded The Butterfly Process, which took a year-long look at the opera “Madama Butterfly” through an anti-racist lens, provided a template. That effort led to development of an industry-leading approach to mounting “Butterfly” – and other operas from the traditional canon – with intentional, inclusive practices.
“Climate change advocates tell us that the biggest hurdle to engaging more people in the work is weaving the issue into relatable stories and making an emotional connection,” Nelsen says. “It’s not a science problem, they say, it’s a storytelling problem.”
“To my mind, the most powerful things about opera are our voices and our ability to tell dramatic stories in an impactful way. In tandem with a strong contingent of regional partners and collaborators, we will use the strength and reach of this art form to tell stories of the global climate crisis through beautiful music and staging. We plan to uplift the work others are doing in the Boston community, reduce our participation in climate change and encourage our audiences and our industry to do the same.”
-more-
Earlier this year, BLO announced two productions that anchor the Rising Waters/Rising Voices initiative. They include:
The world premiere production of “The Seasons” (March 12-16, 2025), a new opera co-conceived by Anthony Roth Costanzo, driven by the Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” and with a libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and librettist Sarah Ruhl. The story revolves around a group of artists who gather at a retreat to create new work, but whose plans are radically altered by unnatural and unexpected weather changes.
A free, community-centered performance of Benjamin Britten’s parable opera “Noah’s Flood” (May 3, 2025) that tells the biblical story of a world overcome by unnatural rainfall, and the extreme measures one man and his family must take to save the planet. (Britten famously experienced such a storm when his hometown of Lowestoft in Suffolk, England suffered a devastating flood.) A large contingent of community participants will be recruited to take part in the “Noah’s Flood” production, particularly youth singers and musicians.
BLO’s Rising Waters/Rising Voices initiative kicks off October 19 and 20 during Fort Point Open Studios from 11am to 5pm, when the company welcomes visitors to its new Opera & Community Studios space at Midway Artist Studios. Musical performances at 11:30am and 3pm on Saturday promote the spring programs. Nelsen will moderate a panel discussion about climate change awareness at 3pm on Oct 20 featuring: Rebecca Shoer from Stone Living Lab; City of Boston Office of Climate Resilience Director Christopher Osgood; and Tara Moses, Co-founder of Groundwater Arts. Family-friendly crafts and events take place each day. Details of the Open Studios event are here.
Nelsen says other public events intended to spark public discussion and motivate actions for a sustainable future are planned throughout the next year, including the October 25 multimedia presentation “WaveForms” with MASARY Studios and the Museum of Science, as well as public programs aligned with BLO’s spring 2025 productions of “The Seasons” and “Noah’s Flood.” These events will engage local environmental groups and advocates, artists and scholars, and the general public. BLO also will present a series of free, environmentally-focused performances by a variety of local artists. More details are to come.
BLO has worked with the Green Ribbon Commission this year and is partnering with the City of Boston Office of Climate Resilience on Rising Waters/Rising Voices. Programming and promotional partners include: Back Bay Ringers, Boston Recorder Orchestra, Boston String Academy, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Children’s Chorus, New England Conservatory Preparatory School, and Voices Boston (for “Noah’s Flood”); Lincoln Center, SCENE, AMOC* and ArtsEmerson (for “The Seasons”); and Groundwater Arts, Stone Living Lab, and Mass Rivers Alliance for related activities.
Ongoing/updated information about Rising Voices/Rising Waters can be found at blo.org/rising.
“Weird Al” Yankovic Announces 2025 Tour
To Hit 65 Cities Across North America
Coming to Boston’s Boch Center Wang Theatre on Tuesday, July 15, 2025
“ … less like a traditional concert than a Broadway musical crossed with comedy film festival crossed with a tent revival… the single best performance I had ever seen in my life. “Weird Al” Yankovic was a full-on rock star, a legitimate performance monster.” - New York Times
“Chalk it up to smarts or good timing,
but ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic arrived at a time where the counterculture met the monoculture,
beginning his career as an outsider and winding up as a beloved institution.” - Pitchfork
“He’s a living pop culture legend” - Consequence
“There has never been a better time
to be a hardcore fan of ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic than right now.” - Rolling Stone
“Weird Al” Yankovic is bringing his full-production multimedia comedy rock show back to the concert stage with the BIGGER & WEIRDER 2025 Tour. After two world tours in smaller venues with scaled-down, intimate shows featuring his original songs, Weird Al now returns to the big stage for the first time in six years, playing his iconic hits as well as some fan favorites which have never been performed live. With his giant video wall, multiple costume changes, and an amazing eight-piece ensemble featuring Al’s original band, Weird Al ups the ante on his already legendary show with a new super-sized concert experience.
“This is kind of a ‘best of both worlds’ tour,” explains Yankovic. “We’ll be doing all the big crowd-pleasing parodies as well as some deep cuts for the hardcore fans – but with twice as many players on stage, everything is going to sound twice as good!”
The tour will be supported by special guest Puddles Pity Party, the 7-foot sad clown whose golden voice is “comparable to any Grammy winner” (Los Angeles Times) and has performed sold out shows around the globe including San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts, London’s Soho Theatre and a residency at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
BIGGER & WEIRDER kicks off Friday, June 13 with a week of shows at The Venetian in Las Vegas, and runs across North America through September 21. Tour dates and tickets for all shows are available here, with public onsale beginning at 10am local time on Friday, September 27.
Earlier this year, in celebration of his #1 album Mandatory Fun’s 10th anniversary, Weird Al released his new single and video “Polkamania!,” a medley of some of the biggest and most memorable songs of the last decade by artists like Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Adele and Taylor Swift. He recently celebrated the 35th anniversary of his cult classic film UHF with a new 4K/UHD/Blu-Ray release with bonus features.
"Weird Al" Yankovic is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist in history. A pop culture icon, he is known around the world for his parodies of mega hits by artists of the last four decades including Madonna, Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, Usher, Nirvana, Eminem, Queen, Lady Gaga, and many more. His numerous hits include “Amish Paradise,” “Eat It,” “Like a Surgeon,” “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Word Crimes,” and the platinum-selling “White & Nerdy.” He has received 5 Grammy awards and 17 career nominations, and is one of only three artists to chart in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 in the previous four consecutive decades (the others being Madonna and Michael Jackson). His last album Mandatory Fun is the only comedy album in history to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200. Also an accomplished actor, writer, director and producer, Yankovic was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018, and an Emmy Award for the 2022 release WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story (starring Daniel Radcliffe as Yankovic). Yankovic’s live shows have entertained audiences across the globe for generations, including appearances at such iconic venues as Radio City Music Hall, The Hollywood Bowl, Red Rocks, Wolf Trap, The Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall.
BIGGER & WEIRDER 2025 Tour Dates
June 13 | LAS VEGAS, NV | The Venetian Theatre at The Venetian Resort |
June 14 | LAS VEGAS, NV | The Venetian Theatre at The Venetian Resort |
June 18 | LAS VEGAS, NV | The Venetian Theatre at The Venetian Resort |
June 20 | LAS VEGAS, NV | The Venetian Theatre at The Venetian Resort |
June 21 | LAS VEGAS, NV | The Venetian Theatre at The Venetian Resort |
June 23 | SALT LAKE CITY, UT | Maverik Center |
June 24 | MORRISON, CO (Denver) | Red Rocks Amphitheatre |
June 26 | KANSAS CITY, MO | Starlight Theatre |
June 27 | DES MOINES, IA | Des Moines Civic Center |
June 28 | WELCH, MN (Minneapolis) | Treasure Island Amphitheater at Treasure Island Resort & Casino |
June 29 | HIGHLAND PARK, IL (Chicago) | Ravinia Festival (on sale TBA) |
July 1 July 2 | TRAVERSE CITY, MI CLARKSTON, MI (Detroit) | National Cherry Festival Pine Knob Music Theatre |
July 3 | INDIANAPOLIS, IN | Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park |
July 5 | BEAVER DAM, KY (Evansville) | Beaver Dam Amphitheater |
July 6 | KETTERING, OH (Dayton) | Fraze Pavilion |
July 9 | TORONTO, ON | Budweiser Stage |
July 11 | BUFFALO, NY | Darien Lake Amphitheater |
July 12 | NEW YORK, NY | Madison Square Garden |
July 13 | BETHEL, NY | Bethel Woods Center for the Arts |
July 15 | BOSTON, MA | Boch Center Wang Theatre |
July 17 | SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (Albany) | Broadview Stage at SPAC |
July 18 | MASHANTUCKET, CT | Premier Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino |
July 19 | PHILADELPHIA, PA | TD Pavilion at the Mann |
July 20 | VIENNA, VA (Washington, DC) | Wolf Trap |
July 24 | RALEIGH, NC | Red Hat Amphitheater |
July 25 | WILMINGTON, NC | Live Oak Bank Pavilion |
July 26 | CHARLOTTE, NC | Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre |
July 27 | HUNTSVILLE, AL | Orion Amphitheater |
July 29 | NEW ORLEANS, LA | Saenger Theatre |
July 31 | AUSTIN, TX | Bass Concert Hall |
Aug 1 | THE WOODLANDS, TX (Houston) | The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Presented by Huntsman |
Aug 2 | GRAND PRAIRIE, TX (Dallas) | Texas Trust CU Theatre |
Aug 3 | ROGERS, AR (Fayetteville) | Walmart AMP |
Aug 5 | LINCOLN, NE (Omaha) | Pinewood Bowl Theater |
Aug 7 | CASPER, WY | Ford Wyoming Center |
Aug 8 | IDAHO FALLS, ID | Mountain America Center |
Aug 9 | NAMPA, ID (Boise) | Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater |
Aug 10 | BONNER, MT | KettleHouse Amphitheater |
Aug 12 | AIRWAY HEIGHTS, WA (Spokane) | BECU Live at Northern Quest |
Aug 13 | TROUTDALE, OR (Portland) | Edgefield Concerts on the Lawn – McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater |
Aug 14 | TROUTDALE, OR (Portland) | Edgefield Concerts on the Lawn – McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater |
Aug 15 | AUBURN, WA (Seattle) | White River Amphitheatre |
Aug 17 | PALMER, AK (Anchorage)* | Alaska State Fair – ConocoPhillips Borealis Theatre |
Aug 20 | EUGENE, OR | Cuthbert Amphitheater |
Aug 22 | MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA (San Francisco) | Shoreline Amphitheatre |
Aug 23 | MODESTO, CA | The Fruit Yard Amphitheater |
Aug 24 | STATELINE, NV (Reno/Tahoe) | Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys |
Aug 26 | REDDING, CA | Redding Civic Auditorium Lawn |
Aug 27 | ROHNERT PARK, CA | Green Music Center |
Aug 29 | SAN DIEGO, CA* | The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park |
Aug 30 | INGLEWOOD, CA (Los Angeles) | Kia Forum |
Aug 31 | PHOENIX, AZ | Arizona Financial Theatre |
Sept 2 | GRAND JUNCTION, CO | Amphitheater at Las Colonias Park |
Sept 4 | COLORADO SPRINGS, CO | Ford Amphitheater |
Sept 5 | RIO RANCHO, NM (Albuquerque) | Rio Rancho Events Center |
Sept 6 | CONCHO, OK (Oklahoma City) | Lucky Star Amphitheater at Lucky Star Casino |
Sept 7 | TULSA, OK | Tulsa Theater |
Sept 9 | MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO (St. Louis) | Saint Louis Music Park |
Sep 12 | MADISON, WI | Breese Stevens Field |
Sept 13 | CUYAHOGA FALLS, OH (Cleveland) | Blossom Music Center |
Sept 14 | COLUMBUS, OH | Palace Theatre |
Sept 16 | NEWPORT, KY (Cincinnati) | MegaCorp Pavilion |
Sept 17 | KALAMAZOO, MI | Miller Auditorium |
Sept 20 | NASHVILLE, TN | Ascend Amphitheater |
*Support TBA
BRETT ELDREDGE ANNOUNCES GLOW: WELCOME TO THE FAMILY TOUR DATES COMING TO THE BOCH CENTER WANG THEATRE ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29 & SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30 ,2025
TICKETS ON SALE HERE ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27TH AT 10 AM LOCAL TIME
NEW ALBUM MERRY CHRISTMAS (WELCOME TO THE FAMILY) OUT
SEPTEMBER 27TH ON WARM AND COZY RECORDS
SHARES DUET WITH KELLY CLARKSON, “SWEET DECEMBER”
Photo Credit: Alysse Gafkjen
“There’s nothing better than Brett Eldredge's holiday music to put you in the spirit of the season.”
-People Magazine
Today, Brett Eldredge announces his 12-date “GLOW: Welcome to the Family” tour in cities including Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Nashville and more (full dates below). The tour will open at the historic Boch Center Wang Theatre for two shows on Friday, November 29 and Saturday, November 30, 2025. Eldredge shared about the tour, "I feel honored that these Christmas shows have became such a tradition for so many families to get in the spirit of the season. This upcoming tour is going to be sprinkled with some extra magic, new original Christmas songs and classic holiday stories. My goal is for everyone to feel right at home and leave as part of one BIG beautiful family! Merry Christmas, welcome to the Family! Let’s Glow!" The tour, featuring support from Stacey Ryan, will find Mr. Christmas himself perfoming multiple nights at historic venues including The Chicago Theater, New York’s Beacon Theatre, Boston’s Wang Theatre, and will close at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Tickets will go on sale here on Friday, September 27th at 10 AM Local Time.
Recently Eldredge announced Merry Christmas (Welcome to the Family), his eighth full-length LP and third holiday album. The album is a collection of eight original holiday songs destined to become seasonal classics and first on his own label, Warm and Cozy Records. See track list below and pre-order the full album on all formats here. The vinyl edition of the album will be available on October 25th.
“Sweet December,” a duet with Kelly Clarkson, is the first song to be available before the album’s release and is out now. Clarkson and Eldredge’s ease and warmth as vocalists and collaborators flow through the song building excitement for holidays to come. As Eldredge explains, “after singing “Under the Mistletoe” together, I knew there was no one else in the world I wanted to sing this song with...Kelly’s voice has this soulful retro feeling. I’ve never done a Christmas song in this style, and I really love it.” Kelly Clarkson also adds, “I’ve been fortunate enough to record songs with Brett, go see him live, and have him on my show! He has one of my favorite voices and I will sing with him anytime, anywhere! I hope people dig ‘Sweet December’ as much as we do!” Listen to “Sweet December” here.
This year, Eldredge invites fans to unplug and gather around the kitchen table with Welcome to the Family: The Game, an exclusive board game printed onto the inner gatefold of the album’s vinyl edition. With pop-up game pieces for up to 8 players, it's perfect for festive fun. Plus, fans who roll Santa’s special virtual die could win surprise holiday prizes. The vinyl will be accompanied by a printed inner sleeve and will be available in a website exclusive signed Christmas splatter LP, retail exclusive Evergreen LP, Amazon exclusive red LP, and black LP. The signed Christmas splatter LP will only be available to members of the Locals Fan Club, a tight-knit community for Brett Eldredge fans, offering early access to presale tickets, exclusive content, and special music releases. For over 4 years, fans have been joining the family—don’t miss out! Become a member today here.
Expanding on the inspiration for the album Eldredge draws on memories that feel lived in, like a favorite holiday sweater. “When you listen, I hope it reminds you to lean into your traditions and maybe reach to someone you haven’t talked to in a while. Loosen up a little and be who you are during the holidays. Embrace love, family, and togetherness. Don’t take it all too seriously. I just want to tell my stories and do what feels right in my heart.”
On the album’s title, Merry Christmas (Welcome to the Family), he elaborates, “I had a story in my head of introducing a stranger to my really whacky experience of going home for the holidays and meeting all of the interesting, crazy, beautiful, and awesome characters in my family. I had just experienced another Christmas with 50 people in my house. We opened presents, went to Christmas service, and everybody was sleeping in the attic. At the end of the song, I introduce everyone to my family, everyone from my brother and mother to Uncle Jim and Aunt Margo.”
Brett Eldredge is an award-winning Illinois-born and Nashville-based multiplatinum singer, songwriter, producer, and entertainer. Since 2010 Brett has earned a reputation as an eloquently clever songwriter, a showstopping performer, and with a growing catalog boasting a pair of Gold-certified albums and nine singles certified either Gold or Platinum by the RIAA. Beyond gathering billions of streams, he has notched seven #1’s on Country Radio, launched two albums into the Top 3 of the Billboard 200, and taken home various honors at the CMA Awards, ACM Awards, and BMI Country Awards. He also served up two fan-favorite holiday albums, Glow [2016] and Mr. Christmas [2021]. Among many highlights, his cover of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside!” [feat. Meghan Trainor] emerged as a staple, generating over 207 million Spotify streams and counting. Glow ignited the spark for the annual Glow tour. He draws listeners right into the magnetic pull of the holidays soundtracked by boisterous big band orchestration, heartfelt balladry, and simultaneously warm and robust vocals.
Merry Christmas (Welcome to the Family) Track Listing
1 Merry Christmas (Welcome to the Family)
2 It Must Be Christmas
3 Sweet December (featuring Kelly Clarkson)
4 Warm and Cozy
5 The Night St. Nick Got Sick
6 Season of Lights and Wonder
7 Who Will You Be Kissing on New Year's Eve? (featuring Idarose)
8 Welcome to the Family (Reprise)
Brett Eldredge – GLOW: Welcome to the Family Tour Dates
with special guest Stacey Ryan
Fri 11/29 Boston, MA Boch Center Wang Theatre
Sat 11/30 Boston, MA Boch Center Wang Theatre
Sun 12/1 Philadelphia, PA The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark
Fri 12/6 Chicago, IL The Chicago Theatre
Sat 12/7 Chicago, IL The Chicago Theatre
Sun 12/8 Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre
Tues 12/10 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre
Thur 12/12 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
Fri 12/13 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
Sat 12/14 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
Wed 12/18 St Louis, MO Fox Theatre
Friday 12/20 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
For more information about Brett Eldredge, please contact Emilio Herce (emilio@qprime.com) or Mary Moyer (mary@qprime.com) at Q Prime, 212.302.9790.
THE HUNTINGTON ANNOUNCES THE INTERNATIONAL SENSATION AND UNIQUE THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE NASSIM,
FEATURING A DIFFERENT SPECIAL GUEST AT EVERY PERFORMANCE
Playwright Nassim Soleimanpour’s dynamic new play about connection, friendship, language, and embracing the unknown comes to the Calderwood Pavilion October 4 – 27
A mysterious script in a box, and a new surprise performer every night – from local talent to big time celebrities!
(BOSTON) – The Huntington announces the cast and creative team of Nassim, a vibrant theatrical experience written by Nassim Soleimanpour, directed by Omar Elerian, and produced by Nassim Soleimanpour Productions and Bush Theatre. Nassim runs from Friday, October 4 – Sunday, October 27, 2024 at the Calderwood Pavilion (527 Tremont Street).
From Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour comes an audacious, 75-minute, new theatrical experiment. Each performance a different special guest appears on stage, while the script waits unseen in a sealed box. Touchingly autobiographical yet powerfully universal, Nassim is a striking theatrical demonstration of how language can both divide and unite us.
Winner of the Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Nassim has toured globally and is translated and performed in the native language of each country. Throughout the run of this production at The Huntington, both English and some Farsi will be spoken, and over 25 distinct special guests will be featured, with a different notable person taking the stage each night. The first time the guest performer sees the script is the moment they walk on stage and unbox it in front of the audience.
“I am beyond excited to bring Nassim to The Huntington and the great city of Boston as we approach show number 500,” says playwright Nassim Soleimanpour. “In a world full of bitter divisiveness, Nassim warmly invites us to unite and make new friends through the power of live entertainment. We look forward to doing so – with you! – in October.”
“I’m thrilled to introduce my friend, the brilliant writer Nassim Soleimanpour, and his gorgeous show simply entitled Nassim to each of you this fall,” says Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “Renowned internationally (his work has been translated to more than 30 languages), Nassim is equal parts inventive theater maker, cultural critic, and gentle community builder. His vulnerable exploration of connection through language transcends borders with grace and offers rare moment-to-moment surprises, large doses of laughter, and resonant understated impact.”
Called a “life-changing experience” by New York Theatre Guide and a “tantalizing theatrical provocation that breaks down all walls between stage and audience” by The Stage, Nassim was originally commissioned and produced by the Bush Theatre and opened at the Bush Theatre in 2017. After its opening in London, the production won the Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before beginning its life on tour. In 2018 alone, the play was performed in 20 countries within a 200 day span. A unique theatrical experience that the Sydney Morning Herald called “surprising, disarming, and ultimately moving,” Nassim has been performed over 370 times with over 370 performers from around the world.
Nassim will feature a different guest performer at every performance. Select guest performers will include: Former Voice of the Celtics Mike Gorman, esteemed playwright Mfoniso Udofia (author of the nine plays of the Ufot Family Cycle), Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart, Emmy award-winning Executive Arts Editor and host of GBH’s “The Culture Show” Jared Bowen, former Huntington Managing Director Michael Maso, Teatro Chelsea Artistic Director Armando Rivera, beloved Boston playwright and actor Melinda Lopez, recent Elliot Norton Award-winner Jennifer Apple (from last season’s The Band’s Visit), nationally produced playwright John Kolvenbach (last season’s Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight), and several favorite local actors including Marianna Bassham, Ken Cheeseman, Will Lyman, Karen MacDonald, Nael Nacer, and Celeste Oliva, with more to be announced.
The creative team for Nassim includes scenic design by Rhys Jarman, lighting design by Rajiv Pattani, sound design by James Swadlo. The designer is Rhys Jarman, the production manager is Michael Ager, the script editors are Carolina Ortega and Stewart Pringle, and the general manager is Shirin Ghaffari.
Nassim was originally commissioned and produced by the Bush Theatre and received its world premiere at the Bush Theatre, London, on 25 July 2017.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Nassim Soleimanpour (playwright) is an Iranian-German playwright and theatremaker. His plays have been translated into over 40 languages and have been performed thousands of times by some of the biggest names in the industry all around the globe. He is best known for his cold-read plays in which a new unrehearsed actor performs the plays sight-unseen in front of a live audience. Theatre includes: White Rabbit Red Rabbit (Westside Theatre New York City/International Tour), BLANK (Summerhall/International Tour), Nassim (& Bush/ Traverse/New York City Center/International Tour), Blind Hamlet (&Actors Touring Company/LIFT), COOK (Copenheagen Grob/ Bush/International Tour), Mr. K and The Flowers (Audible), ECHO (&The Royal Court/LIFT). Awards include: Dublin Fringe Festival Best New Performance (White Rabbit, Red Rabbit), Summerworks Outstanding New Performance Text Award (White Rabbit, Red Rabbit), The Arches Brick Award (White Rabbit, Red Rabbit), Fringe First Award (NASSIM), Off Broadway Alliance Awards (NASSIM).
Omar Elerian (director) is a freelance director, dramaturg and theatre-maker. Italian of Palestinian descent, Omar trained in Italy and then graduated from Lecoq International Theatre School in Paris in 2005. He was the resident associate director at the Bush Theatre from 2012 to 2019, where he commissioned and directed some of the theatre’s most successful shows. As sole director for the Bush, his credits include smash-hit Misty by Arinzé Kene (Bush, West End and Off Broadway), Nassim by Nassim Soleimanpour (Bush, Traverse Theatre and world tour), Going Through by Estelle Savasta and Islands by Caroline Horton Outside the Bush, he directed the Olivier nominated show You’re Not Like the Other Girls Chrissy by Caroline Horton and co-created acclaimed site-specific show The Mill: City of Dreams with Madani Younis for Freedom Studios. His most recent directing credits include The Return of Danton by Syrian playwright Mudar Alhaggi which premiered at the Münchner Kammerspiele, The Chairs by Eugene Ionesco at the Almeida Theatre, the Olivier nominated two Palestinians go dogging by Sami Ibrahim at the Royal Court, As You Like It for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon and ECHO by Nassim Soleimanpour, which just had its world premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in London as part of LIFT.
CLASSICAL MUSIC/OPERA
September 13 & 15, 2024
MITRIDATE
Boston Lyric Opera
BLO’s season opener is the revered but rarely performed
Mozart opera, MITRIDATE. Written by the classical prodigy at age 14, MITRIDATE
is the story of a royal family’s internal intrigue during wartime. The
performance stars Lawrence Brownlee who returns to BLO an in-demand
international star after debuting with the company in the early 2000s. The
starry cast features soprano Brenda Rae as Aspasia, Vanessa Goikoetxea as
Sifare and John Holiday as Farnace. Stage Director James Darrah (BLO’s The
Threepenny Opera, The Fall of the House of Usher and desert in) takes
inspiration from Camelot-era America, noting that it was a time when Americans
began to see and treat political leaders as royalty. The creative team includes
2024 Tony Award-winning projection designer Hana S. Kim (The Outsiders) and
2024 Tony-nominated scenic designer Adam Rigg (Illinoise). Tickets start at
$25. At the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont Street, Boston.
Information and tickets at blo.org/mitridate. Full press release here.
September 26, 2024
FREE: STREET STAGE on THE ROSE KENNEDY GREENWAY
Boston Lyric Opera
BLO’s popular mobile performance stage returns to The Rose Kennedy Greenway for a fall visit featuring beloved arias and popular music repertoire including highlights from the company’s 2024/25 Season. Free. Performance starts 12:30 pm at Rowes Wharf Plaza, Atlantic @ High Street, Boston. Details at blo.org/events.
November 10, 2024
AIDA and THE OPERA GALA
Boston Lyric Opera
Boston Lyric Opera’s one-performance-only of Giuseppe Verdi’s triumphal masterpiece AIDA precedes the return of its annual fundraiser that supports access through community initiatives. The 3pm staged concert stars Michelle Johnson (“Cavalleria Rusticana”) in the title role and international star Morris Robinson, who returns to the BLO stage 25 years to the day he made his professional debut in the company’s 1999 production of the same opera. Performance-only tickets start at $48. At the Emerson Colonial Theater, 106 Boylston Street, Boston. Gala is 6 pm at the HIlton Boston Park Plaza Hotel, 50 Park Plaza. Performance and performance/gala tickets available at blo.org/aida.
DANCE
September 27, 2024
FALL INTO DANCE
Boston Dance Alliance and The Dance Complex
The region’s only dance service organization and its largest dance location team up for a public celebration of the 2024/25 dance season. The event includes live performances, meet-and-greets with Boston dance and arts leaders, and video excerpts of the locally-based and touring dance artists who will perform this fall and next spring. New Boston Dance Alliance Executive Director Aaron Myers and The Dance Complex Executive Artistic Director Peter DiMuro say the event is a chance for dance fans and the dance-curious to explore the diverse and seemingly endless dance options coming this season. Free. At The Dance Complex, 536 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. Details at dancecomplex.org.
October 18-19, 2024
WELCOME HOME
Boston Moving Arts
The local nonprofit dance presenter mounts a wide-ranging production with a theme of finding comfort and relief from stressful situations (ahem…election year). WELCOME HOME features local artists, and performers from Canada and the Pacific Northwest. Boston choreographer Rachel Linskey brings “Gathering Sparks,” a lively fusion of contemporary dance and Yiddish folk traditions driven by live music from Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band. Cambridge-based Leah Misano’s “Trusting” is a duet with dancer Alex Meeth that highlights the complexities of shifting and relaxing weight. Montreal dance artist Andrew Skeels’s “Unkempt” examines the sometimes messy interactions that human relationships have; German/American dance group FLOCK from Washington state makes its local debut with the critically acclaimed “Somewhere Between,” which explores myths and childhood stories with undular movement. Tickets $30 (Early Bird $20 special through August 30). At the Boston University Dance Theater, 915 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston. Tickets and details at bostonmovingarts.com.
November 8-10
ROOTS & ROUTES
The Dance Complex
This year’s showcase of Teaching Artists who work within The Dance Complex emphasizes diverse backgrounds and movement styles – and the myriad journeys to dance – that come together in the Cambridge hub. In this eclectic program, artists share dances deeply connected to multicultural traditions that are performed by professional dancers and dedicated students alike. Choreographer lineup to be announced later. At The Dance Complex, 536 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. Information and tickets at dancecomplex.org.
November 22-23
MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY
Celebrity Series of Boston
A century ago, Martha Graham started to redefine contemporary dance and the social, psychological and sexual ideas it can portray. Her celebrated company sustains this legacy, keeping her modern dance choreography fresh, vital and in the public eye, solidifying Graham as an essential American artist. The Martha Graham Dance Company returns to Celebrity Series for the first time since 2005 (and the 12th since 1945), pairing classic and contemporary works and marking the three-year GRAHAM100 celebration leading up to the group’s 2026 centennial. Program includes Graham classics “Lamentation” (1930) and “Dark Meadow Suite” (1946) as well as Agnes de Mille’s 1942 “Rodeo” and a new commision from choreographer Jamar Roberts, “We the People” (2024). Tickets on sale Aug 20. At the Cutler Majestic Theater, 219 Tremont Street, Boston. Information at celebrityseries.org
December 14-15
FUNNY UNCLE CABARET
Public Displays of Motion
Public Displays of Motion Artistic Director Peter DiMuro revives his alternative family inspired show with stories and dances about adoptive, LGTBQ+ and other families that don't fit the Currier-and-Ives holiday vibe. In the first half of this two-part performance, DiMuro highlights the concept of “chosen families” (as opposed to the ones we’re born into) by mining stories from his life and from collaborators in Boston’s drag and cabaret communities. Part two enters the Holiday Party zone with an Open Mic/Open Floor that allows audiences to share a song or a dance. In the sing-along section, new versions of Holiday classics with a queer twist demand more belting than Santa’s oversized pants. At The Dance Complex, 536 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. Information and tickets at dancecomplex.org
THEATER
September 13 - October 12, 2023
LAUGHS IN SPANISH
SpeakEasy Stage Company
The new play from award-winning Boston playwright Alexis Scheer (“Our Dear Dead Drug Lord”) is a cafecito-infused comedy about mothers and daughters, art, and success. On the eve of Art Basel, Mari (Rebekah Rae Robles) prepares to open a career-defining show in her Miami gallery when suddenly all the paintings go missing. To make matters worse, her once-famous, mostly-absent mother Estella (Paola Ferrer) hits town with a mysterious agenda. Part telenovela and part whodunit, LAUGHS IN SPANISH is a poignant, playful and joyful exploration of family and identity that’s written to be performed in English. Directed by Mariela López-Ponce. At the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston. Information and tickets at speakeasystage.com
October 18-November 16, 2024
PRU PAYNE
SpeakEasy Stage Company
In this East Coast premiere by Newton, Mass.-based Pulitzer
Prize-nominated playwright Steven Drukman, a sharp-tongued intellectual and
critic named Prudence (Paula Plum) has recently agreed to share her
extraordinary life in an eagerly awaited autobiography. But when Pru’s memory
starts to fade, her son sets her up in a state-of-the-art care facility, where
love takes hold just as the world she once knew begins to slip away. Director
Paul Daigneault (who recently announced his final season as SpeakEasy Artistic
Director) leads a cast that includes Marianna Bassham, Emmy Award winner Gordon
Clapp, De’Lon Grant and Greg Maraio. At the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston
Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston. Information and tickets at
speakeasystage.com.
THE HUNTINGTON LAUNCHES
THE HUNTINGTON ACADEMY,
WITH PROFESSIONAL-LED COURSES FOR ALL AGES
For the first time in over a decade, The Huntington Education Department offers courses for students K-12, workshops for adults, and corporate trainings
(BOSTON) – The Huntington’s Education Department announces the launch of The Huntington Academy, new tuition-based classes for students of all ages to learn, play, and engage with the theatrical arts. Online registration is now live for five courses starting in September for students Pre-K through 12th grade. More courses, including adult workshops and corporate trainings, will be added throughout the 2024-2025 season.
The Huntington’s steadfast commitment to arts education is a core pillar of its mission and operations. Theatre education builds prosocial behavior, encourages empathy, improves public speaking, and develops both creative and critical thinking.
The Huntington Academy’s launch this September marks the first time since 2008 that tuition-based education programming will be made available by the Tony Award-winning theatre company. The Academy features all new course offerings, plus a handful of familiar favorites under the umbrella program EPIC: Empowered Performers in Conversation. Academy courses provide an opportunity for students of all ages to explore playwriting and performance. Led by industry professionals, Academy courses will also empower students with essential life skills through theater games, scene work, and performance. These offerings will serve as a new programming pillar, accompanying The Huntington’s longstanding, subsidized education programming, including School Residencies, the Student Matinee Series, Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts, and the Boston chapters of the national Next Narrative Monologue Competition and August Wilson New Voices Competition.
Courses for K-12 students are structured to stand alone and also provide a scaffolded, cumulative learning experience for individuals who wish to experience the entire course catalogue as they progress year-over-year.
“The Huntington Academy has been in the planning stages for more than five years and we are thrilled to celebrate its launch,” say Huntington Director of Education Meg O’Brien and Associate Director of Education & Practical Learning Marisa Jones. “With our course offerings we aim to celebrate the theatrical process, which in turn will amplify and elevate the creative spark and rich imagination that exists in everyone, regardless of their age or career.”
Current Huntington Academy course offerings include:
Stories to Share | PreK & K
This course is an introduction to storytelling, creative expression, and play. Throughout the semester, students will be encouraged to tap into their curiosity and wonder as they explore oral narration and folk tales. While focusing on self-expression, students will gather new skills to support them as they form their own ideas about how they want to create and share stories with their peers. This course is a fun and playful experience for first-time performers, curated and taught by theatre arts professionals.
Journey into Acting | 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Grade
Designed and taught by theatre arts professionals, this course provides opportunities for students to build their confidence, collaborate with their peers, and explore how they can use their bodies and voices to tell a story. Through theatre games and exercises, students will develop listening skills, sensory awareness, and focus. Using strategies such as Reader’s Theatre and improvisation, students will gain foundational knowledge in the performing arts, having lots of fun along the way!
Crafting Characters | 4th & 5th Grade
In this course, students will dive deeper into character development and build their skills in physicality and voice work. Students will practice listening and responding in character, learning new acting techniques along the way. Using improvisation games and theatre exercises, students will continue to build a relationship with acting and discover a wide range of performance styles. Led by theatre arts professionals, this is a great course for young actors seeking to hone their performance skills and begin thinking about theatre as a multi-disciplinary art form.
EPIC: Middle School | 6th, 7th, & 8th Grade
Under the umbrella program EPIC: Empowered Performers in Conversation, this is a course for young actors who are excited to develop their theatrical physicality, ensemble work, and creative writing. Students will work together to create an original piece of theatre utilizing devised theatre techniques taught by theatre industry professionals. Using external stimulus as inspiration, they will devise their own characters, text, and blocking as an ensemble. Theatre exercises will be used to encourage risk-taking, creative expression, and age-appropriate acting techniques. Students in this course will participate in the EPIC: Festival at the end of the semester, where they will perform their work and be in community with other EPIC: Festival participants.
College Audition Prep | 9th, 10th, 11th, & 12th Grade
This course is designed to coach students preparing for college auditions and students who wish to hone their craft in a fun, focused, and supportive learning environment. With guidance from theatre industry professionals, students will develop their voice and style on stage as they develop their skills in monologue and scene work. Plus, they will strengthen their knowledge about the audition process, including learning how to write a resume, how to make a successful self-tape audition, and more!
Adult workshops for theatre and non-theatre professionals will be added in Fall 2024. General courses will center on introducing and developing artistic skills for adults of all experience levels in an accessible and fun atmosphere. Artist courses will provide skill-sharpening workshops for those who are currently in or will be pursuing an artistic career. These workshops will create a more empathetic and creative community in Greater Boston, both in the board room and on stage.
For corporate organizations who want to give their workforce the star treatment, The Huntington Academy corporate training will be made available later this season. Workshops led by industry and HR professionals can be curated to a company’s needs and will ensure “the show will go on” thanks to a strengthened foundation of teambuilding, trust, and strategic creative instinct.
More about The Huntington Academy here
Huntington Academy image here
THE HUNTINGTON ACADEMY REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Register for courses PreK-12th Grade online at huntingtontheatre.org/the-
Questions about The Huntington Academy can be emailed to academy@huntingtontheatre.org
THE HUNTINGTON COMPLETES ITS 2024-2025 SEASON
WITH CLASSIC ROMANTIC COMEDY THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE
AND INTERNAITONAL FRINGE HIT NASSIM
The Huntington’s final two titles of a seven show season
bring connection and love
to a vibrant 2024-2025 lineup – single tickets are now on sale!
(BOSTON) – Led by Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli, The Huntington announces the final two titles to complete a 2024-2025 season that asks the important questions of what it means to be alive today while offering a bounty of entertainment and opportunities for joyful connection.
In October, The Huntington is thrilled to present Nassim Soleimanpour Productions’ bold International Fringe hit Nassim to Boston for the first time. Nassim is written by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour (White Rabbit Red Rabbit) and directed by Omar Elerian, and will be performed at the Calderwood Pavilion (527 Tremont St) from October 4 – October 21, 2024.
In Spring 2025, Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco will direct the hilarious and seductive French comedy The Triumph of Love by Marivaux in a definitive adaptation by Stephen Wadsworth. The Triumph of Love will play at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave) from March 7 – April 6, 2025.
These two productions reflect the depth and breadth of theatrical offerings at The Huntington and, while they could not be more different from one another, they perfectly complement the previously announced season which includes; Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, the launch of Mfoniso Udofia’s Ufot Family Cycle, and Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel’s Tony Award-winning musical The Light in the Piazza.
ABOUT NASSIM
Slightly autobiographical, and totally universal, Nassim is a heartwarming and audacious theatrical experiment. Each night a different special guest who has never seen the show or read the script will join the playwright on stage, to forge a fresh relationship as they navigate language and life differences together in joyful real time in front of an audience. Special guests will be announced ahead of time, closer to the start of performances.
“I’m thrilled to introduce my friend, the brilliant writer Nassim Soleimanpour and his gorgeous show simply entitled Nassim to each of you this fall,” says Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “Renowned internationally (his work has been translated into more than 30 languages), Nassim is equal parts inventive theatre maker, magical clown, cultural critic, and gentle community builder. His vulnerable exploration of connection through language transcends borders with grace and offers rare moment-to-moment surprises, large doses of laughter, and resonant understated impact.”
Nassim was originally commissioned and produced by the Bush Theatre in 2017, won the Fringe First Award at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and subsequently was performed in 20 countries within a 200 day span. In 2019, the play won the Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Unique Theatrical Experience. New York Theatre Guide called it a “life-changing experience” and Pelican Magazine described it as “a play for innovators, dreamers, and people who aim to break boundaries. It’s a breeze, it’s a delight, and it is a must-watch.”
“I am beyond excited to bring Nassim to The Huntington and the great city of Boston as we approach show number 500,” says playwright Nassim Soleimanpour. “In a world full of bitter divisiveness, Nassim warmly invites us to unite and make new friends through the power of live entertainment. We look forward to doing so – with you! – in October.”
ABOUT THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE
Love takes center stage in The Triumph of Love, the uproarious classic French comedy by 18th century playwright Pierre Carlet de Marivaux. A clever princess is smitten at first sight – but to win her prince, she must woo him in disguise. Mistaken identities, hilarious complications, and deeply felt desire collide head on with Rationalist Philosophy – and surprising romantic entanglements ensue!
Artistic Director Loretta Greco stages Stephen Wadsworth’s magnificent translation which inspired a renewed a passion for Marivaux in America in the 1990s. Called “Exhilarating” by The New York Times and “A triumph!” by Variety, the classic Marivaux text from 1732 was freshly adapted and translated in 1992 by Stephen Wadsworth at the McCarter Theater in New York – where Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco served as a staff producer on the production at the time. Now with Greco as director, this sparkling adaptation of a beloved classic will be performed in The Huntington’s historic theatre, kicking off Spring 2025 with a comedy of romance and mistaken identities.
“I am thrilled to bring Stephen Wadsworth’s intoxicating adaptation of Marivaux’s 18th century play to life here at The Huntington,” says Greco. “Full of playful deception, romance, hilarity, and hope, The Triumph of Love is a surprising, deeply moving, and modern examination of our ability to grow over time. That this play, which premiered in 1732, feels so alive today owes much to the singular passion of Stephen and this definitive adaptation.”
“Loretta Greco was a key collaborator on the first production of this translation of The Triumph of Love, when she was staff producer at McCarter Theater,” says translator Stephen Wadsworth. “Her razor-sharp eye and keen ear brought her deep into the work on the script itself, as well as on the staging. I can’t wait to see what she does with this play at The Huntington.”
2024-2025 SEASON AT THE HUNTINGTON
Leopoldstadt
by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Carey Perloff
The Huntington Theatre
September 12 – October 13, 2024
Produced in association with Shakespeare Theatre Company
Nassim
by Nassim Soleimanpour
Directed by Omar Elerian
Calderwood Pavilion / Wimberly Theatre
October 4 – October 21, 2024
Sojourners
by Mfoniso Udofia
Directed by Dawn M. Simmons
The Huntington Theatre
October 31 – December 1, 2024
Part of Boston’s Ufot Family Cycle
The Grove
by Mfoniso Udofia
Directed by Awoye Timpo
Calderwood Pavilion / Wimberly Theatre
February 7 – March 9, 2025
Part of Boston’s Ufot Family Cycle
The Triumph of Love
by Marivaux, translated by Stephen Wadsworth
Directed by Loretta Greco
The Huntington Theatre
March 7 – April 6, 2025
Don’t Eat the Mangos
by Ricardo Pérez González
Directed by David Mendizábal
Calderwood Pavilion / Wimberly Theatre
March 26 – April 27, 2025
The Light in the Piazza
Book by Craig Lucas
Music & Lyrics by Adam Guettel
Based on the Novel by Elizabeth Spencer
Directed by Loretta Greco
The Huntington Theatre
May 8 – June 15, 2025
CITYWIDE CELEBRATION OF PLAYWRIGHT MFONISO UDOFIA’S
‘UFOT FAMILY CYCLE’ LAUNCHES THIS FALL
Over the next two years, a consortium of theatre companies and activation partners across
Greater Boston will produce Mfoniso Udofia’s 9-play cycle
which follows three generations of a Nigerian American family
Boston's Ufot Family Cycle project represents two years of convening, planning,
and investment by The Huntington to incubate and create this one-of-a-kind event
(BOSTON) – Greater Boston theatre companies and collaborative partners gathered at Boston’s City Hall today, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, to announce major plans for an ambitious two-year, citywide celebration of the Ufot Family Cycle, a cycle of nine plays about three generations of a Nigerian American family by Massachusetts-raised, visionary playwright Mfoniso Udofia.
The far-ranging list of collaborative partners brings together arts institutions, universities, social organizations, non-profits, and a host of community activation partners across Greater Boston, who will collaborate on the creation and public activation of the cycle. Partners currently include AfroDesiaCity, ArtsEmerson, The Barr Foundation, Boston Arts Academy, The Boston Foundation, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Boston Public Art Triennial, Boston Public Library, Boston Public Schools, Boston University, Central Square Theater, Coolidge Corner Theater, DiasporaMass, Embrace Boston, Facing History & Ourselves, Front Porch Arts Collective, GBH, The Huntington, Kligerman Productions, The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, Next Chapter Podcasts, Nigerian Professionals Group, Northeastern University, Prior Performing Arts Center at the College of the Holy Cross, Roxbury Community College, Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation, Wellesley College, Wellesley Repertory Theatre, West End House, Wheelock Family Theatre, and ZUMIX, with others to be announced in the coming months.
All nine plays in the cycle will be fully produced, beginning this fall at The Huntington with its productions of the first play Sojourners, the origin story of the matriarch of the family, and the second play, The Grove, in February of 2025; the following 7 plays of the cycle will be produced by a series of arts organizations and community partners over the next two years through the summer of 2026. Boston’s Ufot Family Cycle includes premieres of five of the plays and marks the first time that the cycle will be experienced in its entirety and in Udofia’s intended order, representing a major collaborative project with an expansive scale and scope not imagined elsewhere in the country and only made possible in Boston.
Each of the nine plays will have community activation partners – a unique cohort that brings together disparate segments of Boston’s arts and culture sector to collaborate in new ways, both lifting and generating audiences for the artistic work itself and imagining a new model for institutional collaboration with portals for access to artmaking, civic transformation, and education for all ages.
Four of the plays (Sojourners, runboyrun, Her Portmanteau, and In Old Age) have been previously produced to great acclaim at theatres including New York Theatre Workshop, The Playwrights Realm, Magic Theatre, and American Conservatory Theatre. Udofia’s plays have been called “extraordinary” by The New York Times, which writes that they “offer a moving and powerful corrective to the notion that what immigrants leave behind is always awful, and that what they find is always worth the trip.” New York Theater called them an “enlightening and binge-worthy family saga that updates the story of immigrant America.”
The Ufot Family Cycle represents a profound investment in an artist of great vision, humanity, and humor. Huntington Theatre Artistic Director Loretta Greco envisioned this city-wide festival celebrating Udofia’s work and describes it as “a commitment to cultural aspiration of the highest caliber with the sincere intention of making great art which pushes the culture forward, challenging and revitalizing the American canon.”
Greco continues: “At the same time, the Ufot Family Cycle is a wonderfully crazy experiment – a test balloon for exploring our relationship to risk and the power and complexity of both collaboration and community activation over time. What does it mean to activate an entire city with a unique diaspora story, a story of who we are that unfolds in 9 parts, neighborhood to neighborhood over 24 months? What do we learn from disrupting the way we normally do things to invite a host of unexpected partners to co-create the art and amplify the conversation around that art from all walks of life across many sectors? My hope is along the way we can create a new paradigm towards working together to get big, messy, aspirational things done.”
INSPIRATION FOR THE UFOT FAMILY CYCLE
When nationally acclaimed playwright Mfoniso Udofia grew up in Southbridge, Massachusetts and attended Wellesley College, she rarely saw stories about Africans and African Americans that felt like her family. Inspired in part by August Wilson’s Century Cycle, she set out to create an emotionally engrossing cycle of nine plays that follows one Nigerian American family through three generations: parents, children, grandchildren. Each play stands alone brilliantly, yet together forms a stunning tapestry that will resonate with everyone.
"I'm writing these plays for myself, for my immediate family, for my extended family, for the Ibibio community,” says Udofia. “I'm writing us — so we can see us. I believe my work incites community action. When one cares about a character so much they are crying for them, they usually cannot meet a similar person in life and instantaneously judge them. A dramatic telling of an immigrant story, when done well, can cause an audience to change irrevocably in the moment. These audience members will then leave the building and enter their own communities with newfound empathy."
Mfoniso's own experience informs the Cycle as her parents immigrated to Texas from Nigeria in the 1970s, had children, and then moved to the Boston area because of the educational opportunities available. Udofia’s mother was a biologist, and her father was a scholar of West African studies. Mfoniso went to Wellesley College, during which time she had her first experience with The Huntington through her Africana Studies class when Professor Selwyn R. Cudjoe took students to see Gem of the Ocean and introduced her to playwright August Wilson (1945-2005). To see herself onstage, reflected in Wilson's ten-play American Century Cycle, with each set in a different decade of the 20th century about Black American life, was influential years before she would pursue her career in playwriting and return to Wellesley as a faculty member of the Albright Institute.
The New York Times states, "While building empathy is important to Ms. Udofia, as she continues to work on the rest of the ‘Ufot’ plays, she is also unapologetic about the fact that she isn't writing the Cycle for a traditional theatre audience." Mfoniso spoke about this during several Boston community meetings in 2023, stating her intentions to be an active participant in meeting community members where they are to inform the making of the remaining Cycle plays.
ABOUT PRODUCING THE FULL UFOT FAMILY CYCLE IN BOSTON
When Artistic Director Loretta Greco joined The Huntington in 2022, she brought with her a longstanding partnership and friendship with Mfoniso Udofia, and a vision for producing the complete Ufot Family Cycle in the Boston area. Greco previously produced the premieres of three of Mfoniso’s plays – Sojourners, runboyrun, and In Old Age – while helming San Francisco’s Magic Theatre.
Over the past 2 years, The Huntington has hosted salons and gatherings to build a coalition of partnering artists and organizations, in addition to hosting writing residencies and many workshops to develop work in the cycle. In fall 2024, the nine-play Cycle will kick off with The Huntington’s productions of Sojourners (followed by The Grove in 2025). The Huntington will also serve as a motherboard of resources and connection to bolster the creative process and success of the remaining seven productions that will be mounted through 2026 by and with arts organizations, universities, social organizations, non-profits, and a host of community activation partners.
Each of the productions will be professionally filmed by partner Kligerman Productions in order to expand the reach of the project and preserve it in perpetuity, allowing the Ufot Family Cycle to be taught in educational settings as part of the American theatrical canon.
The Ufot Family Cycle has received support from The Barr Foundation, The Boston Foundation, and the Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation, as well as the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture in the City of Boston.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Mfoniso Udofia, a first-generation Nigerian American storyteller and educator, attended Wellesley College and obtained her MFA from the American Conservatory Theater (ACT). While at ACT, she co-pioneered The Nia Project which provided artistic outlets for San Francisco youth.
Productions of her plays Sojourners, runboyrun, Her Portmanteau, and In Old Age have been seen at New York Theatre Workshop, American Conservatory Theater, Playwrights Realm, Magic Theater, National Black Theatre, Strand Theater Company (MD), and Boston Court. She received the 2021 Horton Foote Award, the 2017 Helen Merrill Playwright Award, the 2017-18 McKnight National Residency and Commission, and is a member of New Dramatists.
She is currently commissioned by The Huntington, Hartford Stage, Denver Center, ACT, and South Coast Repertory. Her plays have been developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, ACT, McCarter Theatre, OSF, New Dramatists, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, Hedgebrook, Sundance, Space on Ryder Farm, and more.
Since 2018, Mfoniso has been working extensively in television; she has worked on such acclaimed shows as 13 Reasons Why on Netflix, A League of Their Own on Amazon, Let the Right One In on Showtime, and Pachinko (Peabody Award), Little America, and Lessons in Chemistry (WGA Nomination) all on Apple TV+. She also has developed films for HBO, Legendary, and Amazon.
ABOUT THE PLAYS OF THE UFOT FAMILY CYCLE
PLAY ONE – THE ORIGIN STORY
SOJOURNERS
by Mfoniso Udofia
Produced by: The Huntington
Venue: The Huntington Theatre
Directed by Dawn M. Simmons
October 31 – December 1, 2024
Mfoniso Udofia launches her sweeping cycle with a family’s origin story. Marriage, migration, and the pursuit of education collide when a young and brilliant Nigerian couple arrives in Houston, looking to earn their degrees and bring insights back to their home country. But when Abasiama discovers that her husband has been seduced by Motown records and American culture, she must choose between the Nigerian Dream and her matriarchal obligations. Director Dawn M. Simmons helms the lively and funny Sojourners at the historic Huntington Theatre following her acclaimed production of K-I-S-S-I-N-G at the Calderwood Pavilion.
POP-UP PERFORMANCES OF SOJOURNERS
The Huntington is also planning free pop-up performances of Sojourners outside the city and in Boston neighborhoods including East Boston with ZUMIX, Roxbury with Roxbury Community College, and Hyde Park. (East Boston has the highest percentage of foreign-born residents of any Boston neighborhood, Hyde Park is home to the Yoruba Community of Massachusetts, whose programs improve and enhance Yorubas and Nigerian immigrants' social and economic well-being; and Roxbury has been known for being the center of Black life in Boston for decades). In addition, The Huntington will partner with Prior Performing Arts Center at College of the Holy Cross to bring the production to Central Massachusetts, where Udofia grew up and where one in five Worcester residents are immigrants.
Kyle Frisina, The Prior Performing Arts Center at College of the Holy Cross, Interim Director: “The Prior Performing Arts Center is honored to partner with The Huntington to bring Mfoniso Udofia's Sojourners to Holy Cross and to Worcester, a city known for its rich tapestry of immigrant experiences. We can't wait for audiences to encounter this beautiful, funny play by a writer whose own immigrant parents made Central Massachusetts their American home."
Marisa Jones, Roxbury Community College, Adjunct Professor of Theatre: “Roxbury Community College is thrilled to partner with The Huntington to bring Mfoniso Udofia’s Sojourners to the Performing Arts Center this fall. The Ufot Cycle is a celebration of the African Diaspora and will resonate with many in our community as it captures stories of immigration, family, and Black Joy.” Marisa Jones is also The Huntington's Associate Director of Education & Practical Learning, where she will be managing the creation of curriculum guides for all nine plays in the cycle.
Madeleine Steczynski, ZUMIX Founder and Executive Director: “ZUMIX loves The Huntington, and we are thrilled to partner with them in new and creative ways! Together, we are building on each other's strengths to reach new audiences, and to inspire hope.”
PLAY TWO
THE GROVE
by Mfoniso Udofia
Produced by: The Huntington
Venue: Calderwood Pavilion / Wimberly Theatre
Directed by Awoye Timpo
February 7 – March 9, 2025
Playwright Mfoniso Udofia stages a family homecoming, asking what it means to draw on the wisdom and beauty of our ancestors when the bonds of family are stretched to the limit. Abasiama’s eldest daughter Adiaha wants to become a writer to make her family proud, but at her graduation party, she has to choose: fulfill her parents’ desires to settle with a traditional Nigerian man, or stay true to her own romantic match. Director Awoye Timpo (The Bluest Eye at The Huntington) reunites with longtime collaborator Udofia for a play with the rich heart of a family drama against the thrilling theatrical backdrop of a Greek chorus of ancestors.
PLAY THREE
runboyrun
by Mfoniso Udofia
Produced as an audio play adaptation by: Next Chapter Podcasts in partnership with GBH
With readings held at Boston Public Library – Central Library & Roxbury Branches
February/March 2025
What happens when a civil war ends politically – but continues inside the body? When does trauma become tradition? Every day, Disciple and Abasiama relive the same day over and over from the Biafran War. The survival of their 30-year marriage depends on building new vocabularies and daring, once again, to live moment by moment.
Michael Colford, Director of Library Services at Boston Public Library: “The Boston Public Library is incredibly excited to partner again with The Huntington on such an ambitious and innovative project alongside such a diverse and wonderful group of community organizations. This exciting and varied cycle of plays allows communities to experience a wide range of experiences to absorb and to share."
Susan Goldberg, President and CEO of GBH: “We are honored to join with The Huntington and their citywide partners for the celebration of Mfoniso Udofia’s Ufot Family Cycle. This ambitious undertaking brings together an incredible cohort of partners across the culture sector, shining a light on the immigrant experience through both art and community. We look forward to playing a role in its success.”
Michael Goodfriend, Head of Scripted Fiction at Next Chapter Podcasts: “Mfoniso Udofia’s storytelling genius should be experienced by as many people as possible and in as many mediums as possible. It’s a privilege for Next Chapter Podcasts to be working with Mfoniso on runboyrun, building on the fruitful collaboration we shared in the award-winning podcast adaptation of her Othello translation for Play On Shakespeare. Mfoniso challenges us to perceive our reality in new ways and reminds us of what it is to be human, in all our complexity, promise, and fallibility. We are honored to help realize runboyrun as an audio production alongside all the incredible producing and organizational partners who are helping bring Mfoniso’s groundbreaking Ufot Family Cycle to life.”
PLAY FOUR
HER PORTMANTEAU
by Mfoniso Udofia
Produced by: Central Square Theater and Front Porch Arts Collective
Venue: Central Square Theater
Directed by Tasia A. Jones
March 27 – April 20, 2025
What happens when there are two “first-born” daughters with the same mother? Can the two women both inherit Abasiama’s birthright? Her Portmanteau is an explosive story of betrayal and forgiveness, centering on a Nigerian mother in the U.S. and her daughters who lived very different lives. A reunion forces them to reconcile their past full of clashing traditions, and a family legacy that spans time, culture, and generations.
Lee Mikeska Gardner, Artistic Director of Central Square Theater: "Collaboration is in Central Square Theater's DNA. We couldn't be more excited to work with Front Porch Arts Collective and other organizations across the region to bring Mfoniso Udofia's world to our stages. Her Portmanteau is a beautiful chamber play about three tenacious women, and it's a perfect fit for us."
PLAY FIVE
KUFRE N’ QUAY
by Mfoniso Udofia
Produced by: Boston Arts Academy; with advisory support from The Huntington and in collaboration with Wheelock Family Theatre
Venue: Boston Arts Academy Main Stage in the Fenway
July 2025
How do we navigate the contrast between African and Black American culture? Can love bridge a transcontinental divide? A 12-year-old African boy arrives in New York’s Little Senegal and joins a youth center. What happens when he falls in love with an African American girl?
Maura Tighe, Boston Arts Academy Artistic Director: “We are eager to explore this relationship with The Huntington, Ms. Udofia, and her amazing play, Kufre n' Quay. The project is an opportunity for our students to engage in high-level art-making and also explore work that is culturally relevant to their lives. The experience is going to be phenomenal for our kids.”
Nick Vargas, Executive Director Wheelock Family Theatre: “Wheelock Family Theatre is excited to partner on the Ufot Family Cycle! This historic initiative will provide audiences from Greater Boston & beyond with the opportunity to experience and celebrate the work of Mfoniso Udofia.”
PLAY SIX
THE CEREMONY
by Mfoniso Udofia
Produced with support from Boston Playwrights’ Theatre and Boston University College of Fine Arts
Fall 2025
What can our parents give us – especially when those gifts were not given to parents themselves? Disciple’s only son Ekong prepares for his wedding day – but to gather what he needs for the ritual, he must ask his father, still torn apart by war.
Megan Sandberg-Zakian, Artistic Director of Boston Playwrights’ Theatre: “Boston Playwrights’ Theatre is dedicated to the voice and vision of the playwright – and so nothing could be more exciting to us than participating in a hugely ambitious project designed to uplift the voice and vision of an extraordinary (and locally grown!) writer like Mfoniso. We are honored and delighted to be a part of the laboratory in which the Ufot Family Cycle is nurtured, and we are particularly thrilled that so many of the plays will be first or second productions of new work.”
Harvey Young, Dean of Boston University College of Fine Arts: “I am inspired by Loretta Greco’s vision to bring Boston’s theatre community together. As both a longtime collaborator with The Huntington and the sponsor of two Boston professional theatres—Wheelock Family Theatre and Boston Playwright’s Theatre, Boston University is thrilled to join in this celebration of new work and transformative artistry.”
PLAY SEVEN
LIFTED
by Mfoniso Udofia
Produced by: Wellesley Repertory Theatre
Directed by Tamilla Woodard
Winter 2026
What does it mean to come from a culture that believes you cannot steal what is already yours? Brilliant scholar Toyoima Ufot’s lonely path in academia was built directly on her father Disciple’s work. After she is accused of plagiarism, she travels to Nigeria, a journey that both unleashes her history and heals.
Marta Rainer, Wellesley Repertory Theatre Artistic Director: "We Wellesley College graduates who have been galvanized by the impactful possibilities within the field of live performing arts are Wellesley Rep. We who strive to connect with, teach, encourage, and gather our communities through the sharing of our complex theatrical work define Wellesley Rep as a global and multigenerational repertory of autonomous makers, striding our unique creative paths from the shared starting point of Wellesley College. Mfoniso embodies this mission so exquisitely - so inspiringly! - and we are extremely honored to support this expansive collaboration with our producing peers to share her artistic voice and vision.”
PLAY EIGHT
IN OLD AGE
by Mfoniso Udofia
Produced by: ArtsEmerson and Front Porch Arts Collective
Directed by Dawn M. Simmons
Spring 2026
Can we continue to evolve in our final years? Abasiama still lives in the same house after her husband’s death. Soon she learns the true nature of love with an unlikely new partner, the church-going carpenter Azell, and her life takes a new turn. A clean house and a healed soul frees Abasiama to embark on the last love voyage of her life.
Ronee Penoi, Interim Executive Director of the Office of the Arts at ArtsEmerson and Director of Artistic Programming: “ArtsEmerson is delighted to be in partnership with our friends at Front Porch Collective to support In Old Age as part of the Ufot Family Cycle. At ArtsEmerson, we are committed to uplifting stories that inspire civic transformation and celebrate the diasporas that make up our city. We also know we can’t do this work alone and we are so excited to join The Huntington and all the other producers and partners to embark on this beautiful collaboration for the city and community we love.”
PLAY NINE
ADIAHA AND CLORA SNATCH JOY (a folk opera)
by Mfoniso Udofia
Produced by: Boston Lyric Opera and The Huntington
Venue: The Huntington Theatre
A folk opera featuring songs created with Nehemiah Luckett
Part of Embrace Boston’s Everyone 250 Festival
June/July 2026
Daughter Adiaha travels to South Carolina in search of her mother's partner, Azell. Instead, she finds Clora – and a strangely familiar house in Gullah South. Sparks fly as they fight, make messes, and work to understand their history. Together, Adiaha and Clora imagine new ways forward, guided by spirit women who push them into their destiny.
Nina Yoshida Nelsen, Boston Lyric Opera Artistic Director: “Co-producing Adiaha and Clora Snatch Joy with The Huntington is going to make an exhilarating end to the Ufot Family Cycle project. Mfoniso's brilliant, expansive series tells the kind of rich story we love bringing to audiences. This striking folk opera will be a unique and uplifting addition to BLO’s artistic offerings. As the only Ufot Family Cycle production with singing, we are delighted to participate in this epic collaboration across Boston's theatrical institutions.”
PRAISE FOR THE UFOT FAMILY CYCLE
“Extraordinary! Even though the plays are specifically about Nigerian immigrants, the themes are universal.” – The New York Times
“Udofia embodies a certain playwriting sensibility of today’s American theatre – embracing a plurality of identities, a willingness to allow the interior lives of her characters to reveal themselves in unexpected ways, and a penchant for small details as stand-ins for big events." – KQED, Bay Area NPR
"Udofia upends preconceptions and expectations with a deeply felt perspective on parent and sibling relationships, immigration, communication, social media perceptions of lives and identities of people split between the American melting pot and Nigeria." – New Jersey Stage
“An enlightening and binge-worthy family saga that updates the story of immigrant America.” – New York Theater
ABOUT THE UFOT FAMILY CYCLE PRODUCING PARTNERS:
ARTSEMERSON is the professional presenting and producing organization at Emerson College, and its mission is to bring people together to experience powerful performances that delight, provoke, and inspire, celebrating both our differences and common humanity. Founded in 2010 by Robert J. Orchard — the year the U.S. Census confirmed there was no single cultural majority in Boston — ArtsEmerson is committed to building a cultural institution that reflects the diversity of our city. Our imaginative and globe-spanning live and virtual performances, films, and conversations invite each of us to be part of a Boston that is more creative, equitable, and connected. ArtsEmerson is led by Interim Executive Director of the Office of the Arts & ArtsEmerson Director of Artistic Programming, Ronee Penoi. For more information visit ArtsEmerson.org.
BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY is a full-inclusion public high school for the visual and performing arts, with students in Grades 9-12. It is a joint project of the Professional Arts Consortium, Inc., and the Boston Public Schools. Boston Arts Academy serves as a laboratory and a beacon for artistic and academic innovation, preparing a diverse community of aspiring artist scholars to be successful in their college or professional careers and to be engaged members of a democratic society. Boston Arts Academy offers pathways to success through a rigorous arts-based, college preparatory academic curriculum and a competitive arts curriculum. A proven model for artistic and academic ideation, BAA has transformed the lives of more than 1,500 city youth. Since its founding in 1998, Boston Arts Academy has successfully fostered a culture of student achievement for Boston youth with unprecedented results. We believe that the arts help young people find their voices, build creative problem-solving skills, and engage in meaningful ways with their communities leading to success in college and careers. Our arts curriculum encourages innovation, creative risk-taking, and professionalism.
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA: Over its nearly 50 years producing opera in Boston, Boston Lyric Opera's (BLO) mission is to build curiosity, enthusiasm and support for opera through compelling experiences that connect, inspire and reflect our community. With more than 170 performances each year on main stages, in school-based youth performances, and through free public concerts, BLO tells stories that reflect the diversity of our community. Learn more about BLO at blo.org.
BOSTON PLAYWRIGHTS’ THEATRE: Founded in 1981 by Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre (BPT) is an award-winning professional theatre dedicated to new works for the stage. Located on the campus of Boston University, we produce a season of new work, an annual “marathon” of ten-minute plays, and a festival of teenage writers. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Megan Sandberg-Zakian, Associate Professor of the Practice and head of the MFA in playwriting Nathan Alan Davis, and Managing Director Darren Evans, BPT focuses on first and second productions of new plays by living writers, and on processes designed to support both the playwright and the play. We have a deep investment in Boston and Boston-adjacent artists; we look for projects that center vital questions in the lives of those in our region and seek the amplification of voices in our communities that have been historically silenced or ignored. As the home of the Boston University MFA in Playwriting, we nurture the work of our graduate students through workshops and developmental productions. In addition, MFA Playwrights are closely involved in all facets of BPT—backstage, front of house, and everywhere in between, from education programs to social media management to curation and season selection. Our alumni have had their work produced around the country and the world, and include Melinda Lopez, Ronán Noone, Molly Smith Metzler, Zayd Dohrn, Alexis Scheer, Eliana Pipes, and Karen Zacarías, among many other extraordinary writers and humans.
CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER (CST) explores social justice, science and gender politics through theater. Combining artistic excellence, cross disciplinary collaboration and community engagement, CST creates theater where points of view are heard, perspective shifts, and change can happen. Central Square Theater, the oldest female-led theater organization in Greater Boston, is now one organization upholding the values and theatrical excellence of its origin companies, Underground Railway Theater and The Nora. Under the leadership of Executive Director Catherine Carr Kelly, Artistic Director Lee Mikeska Gardner, Director of Education and Community Initiatives Kortney Adams, and its Board of Directors, CST is an innovator in the nonprofit arts field in collaborative leadership. Central Square Theater engages over 35,000 people annually through live performance, rigorous youth education, and community programs. CST works closely with MIT on Catalyst Collaborative@MIT (CC@MIT), one of the only nationwide partnerships between a world class research institute and a professional theater. CC@MIT creates and presents plays that deepen public engagement with science, while providing creative and emotional experiences not available in other forms of dialogue about science.
FRONT PORCH ARTS COLLECTIVE is a Black theatre company committed to advancing racial equity in Boston through theatre. Founded in 2016, our core values are cultural inclusion, community advancement, and creating an impactful legacy. The Porch is part of a Black cultural renaissance in Boston that centers the city’s Black and African Diasporic communities. We are the vanguard rewiring Boston’s racist history to make Boston a top destination for Black talent to work and make a home. We are part of the new cultural place-making in Boston. Our work primes people to value, seek out, and support culturally specific arts offerings. By creating an atmosphere where people see the world through differing experiences, we foster a greater understanding of the human condition building tolerance and empathy in our world. Our namesake signifies a communal spirit, inspiring us to serve communities of color and produce art that is inclusive of all communities and welcoming to all audiences, inspiring a more tolerant and inclusive Boston. The Porch is a place where the perspectives and experiences of Black people are not a novelty, but an integral part of the global conversation.
Dawn M. Simmons, Co-Producing Artistic Director: “For Front Porch Arts Collective to be a part of the Ufot Family Cycle and to bring Mfoniso Udofia's powerful narratives to stages around Greater Boston is truly an honor and a joy. Her storytelling skills are enhanced by the distinct voice and perspective she brings. In kicking off with Sojourners at The Huntington this fall, (which I am honored to direct), and continuing with Her Portmanteau (co-produced with Central Square Theater next spring), and In Old Age (co-produced with ArtsEmerson in 2025/26), The Porch team is excited to share these compelling stories. The Ufot Family Cycle resonates deeply with our mission to bring communities together by telling stories from the African Diaspora. This collaboration is a significant moment for our community; we look forward to collaborating with the artists and producers this cycle brings together.”
THE HUNTINGTON is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community. Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli, The Huntington is committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, provides life-changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, acts as the host organization for a multi-year residency of Front Porch Arts Collective (a Black theatre company based in Boston), and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA. The Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre in fall of 2022 after its transformational renovation, and is currently in phase two of the project; the renovation and building project of this storied venue with a bold vision for the future will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
NEXT CHAPTER PODCASTS is committed to elevating bold, authentic voices to enlighten and inspire. Through open, honest conversations centered on values, Next Chapter partners with brands and thought leaders to closely create content that not only expands reach but also fosters deeper, more profound connections with their audiences. Their award winning library of podcasts spans multiple genres from sports to scripted fiction and reaches a global audience. Through an ongoing partnership with Play On Shakespeare, Next Chapter is a leader in the field of adapting plays into podcasts, surpassing 5 million downloads of Shakespearean audio worldwide and winning multiple awards for its productions.
WELLESLEY REPERTORY THEATRE was established in 1998 by Founding Artistic Producer Nora Hussey. Nora’s passionate storytelling mission - supported by the generosity of Ruth Nagel Jones ‘42 and carried forward by current Artistic Producer Marta Rainer ‘98 - built an award-winning bridge for over two decades between curricular inquiry and professional opportunity for our ever-expanding ensemble of theatre artists, through annual productions on the Wellesley College campus. While our commitment to our core mission remains fervently steadfast, this year WRT has been thrilled to set forth a reinterpretation of our methodology. We have redefined the Rep! Through direct support of our graduates in their own communities via the newly launched WRT grant program and more, we aspire to create opportunities that have an unmediated and lasting impact on the manifold creative lives and careers of our graduates in an evolving, multifaceted artistic landscape. WRT remains committed to acting as a creative incubator and source of artistic sustenance for current Wellesley College Theatre students, our amazing graduate body, and our collaborators.
ABOUT UFOT FAMILY CYCLE FUNDING PARTNERS:
THE BARR FOUNDATION’s mission is to invest in human, natural, and creative potential, serving as thoughtful stewards and catalysts. Based in Boston, Barr focuses regionally, and selectively engages nationally, working in partnership with nonprofits, foundations, the public sector, and civic and business leaders to elevate the arts, advance equitable solutions for climate change, and enable all students to discover and actualize their unbounded potential. Founded in 1997, Barr now has assets over $2.5 billion and has contributed more than $1 billion to charitable causes. For more information, visit barrfoundation.org.
THE BOSTON FOUNDATION is one of the nation’s first and most impactful community foundations. We exist to close the gap on this region’s greatest disparities, and to help build a better Boston. The systemic and structural inequities that drive disparities cannot be dismantled without extraordinary perseverance and collaboration among visionary and courageous partners, including donors who are committed to making philanthropy an effective vehicle for social change. Together we can improve lives and strengthen communities.
Lee Pelton, The Boston Foundation, President & CEO: “Mfoniso Udofia and her work speak profoundly to the vital history of our immigrant city and to the equitable future we all are working to create. I am inspired by how the Ufot Family Cycle will bridge neighborhoods and communities across our city to come together around a story of the Black diaspora. The Boston Foundation is honored to support this remarkable endeavor. We know the immense power that artists have to connect us to life’s enduring themes and humanize the landscape of history and in doing so, inspires our citizens to imagine a city of truth telling, memory and meaning. I hope that TBF’s partnership will motivate others to find their unique way to also lend their support and involvement.”
THE MAYOR’S OFFICE OF ARTS AND CULTURE enhances the quality of life, the economy, and the design of the City through the arts. The role of the arts in all aspects of life in Boston is reinforced via equitable access to arts and culture in every community, its public institutions, and public places. Key areas of work include support to the cultural sector through grants and programs, as well as the production and permitting of art in public places.
Kara Elliott-Ortega, Chief of Arts and Culture: “The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture is proud to support the Ufot Family Cycle and the incredible cohort of partner organizations that have assembled to collaborate on this large-scale, citywide project. A Neighborhood and Downtown Activation Grant will allow performances to be brought beyond the theatre’s walls to the heart of a variety of communities, expanding the boundaries the theatre for both audiences and artists.”
VENTUROUS THEATER FUND OF THE TIDES FOUNDATION (VTF) supports ambitious new work for the stage and the writers who create it. VTF makes grants to fund the production of plays that are “venturous”—ambitious in scale, epic in scope, challenging in form, controversial in subject matter, experimental in concept, and/or unabashed in their theatricality. VTF also funds artist-driven initiatives that embrace agency for playwrights at all stages of their careers, and that champion creative growth and financial security for dramatists. These include playwright fellowships, opportunities for collaboration across national boundaries, the Legacy Playwrights Initiative for elder writers, and healthcare/health insurance resources. More info at VenturousTheaterFund.org.
ABOUT UFOT FAMILY CYCLE ACTIVATION PARTNERS:
AFRODESIACITY (ADC) is an independent event management agency. We partner directly with emerging artists and professionals of diverse backgrounds to elevate your voice and support organizations in producing soulful events and creative and professional opportunities. We serve Boston’s greater metropolitan area and the East Coast region, offering artists management, event production, and community and cultural activation.
BOSTON PUBLIC ART TRIENNIAL is the city’s first and only public art organization dedicated to supporting artists and communities in bold, contemporary, public art. The Triennial’s mission is to foster relationships between artists and the public to create bold public art experiences that open minds, conversations, and spaces across Boston, resulting in a more open, equitable, and vibrant city.
Marguerite Wynter, Director of Partnerships and Engagement: “We're thrilled to partner with The Huntington for the Ufot Family Cycle. We believe in fostering Boston's arts ecosystem through collaboration between the visual, performing arts, and beyond.”
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY: Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library is a pioneer of public library service in America. It was the first large, free municipal library in the United States; the first public library to lend books; the first to have a branch library; and the first to have a children’s room. The Boston Public Library of today is a robust system that includes the Central Library in Copley Square, 25 neighborhood branches, the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center, the Kirstein Business Library and Innovation Center, and an archival center, offering public access to world-class special collections of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and prints, along with rich digital content and online services. The Boston Public Library serves nearly 4 million visitors per year and millions more online. All of its programs and exhibitions are free to all and open to the public. The Boston Public Library is a department of the City of Boston, under the leadership of Mayor Michelle Wu. To learn more, visit bpl.org.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE FOR FINE ARTS is a community of fine and performing artists — musicians, visual artists, and theatre-makers — who believe in the power of creativity. While artistic and academic rigor are signatures of the program, education within BU College of Fine Arts extends beyond the walls of the practice rooms and studios. Students also benefit from the rich centers of art and culture throughout Boston, international opportunities through the study abroad program, and a worldwide network of alumni and connections to professions. At CFA, we are thought leaders and arts innovators. We are diverse and inclusive. We are international. We’re committed to excellence. Our artists work with award-winning faculty, practice in top-notch facilities, thrive in the spaces of creative experimentation, and pursue the many opportunities available at one of the world’s best universities.
THE PRIOR PERFORMING ARTS CENTER in Worcester, Massachusetts, is the College of the Holy Cross’ newest venue and is an uncommon commons for transformative experiences with the arts. With dynamic programming and striking architectural design, The Prior supports arts-based collaboration across disciplines; offers technical capabilities to ignite the imaginations of students, faculty, community members, and visiting artists alike; and provides new avenues for leveraging the positive power of the arts for broad audiences and through civic and community partnerships.
COOLIDGE CORNER THEATER is an independent, nonprofit cinema and cultural institution with four screens and the capacity for over 700 audience members. Since 1933, audiences in the greater Boston area have relied on the Coolidge for the best of contemporary independent film, repertory, and educational programming.
DIASPORAMASS is an organization in Massachusetts that brings together the Black and Brown diaspora through photography, videography, news, events, and resources. We celebrate cultural diversity, promote unity, and empower our community. Through visual storytelling and advocacy, we inspire positive change, amplify marginalized voices, and foster inclusivity. Our vision is a connected and empowered Massachusetts where everyone is seen, heard, and valued. We support Nigerian storytelling because it enriches our understanding of diverse narratives, promotes cultural exchange, and contributes to a more inclusive society. Together, we build a brighter future for the Black and Brown diaspora.
EMBRACE BOSTON: Working at the intersection of arts, culture, community and research to dismantle structural racism, Embrace Boston sees a radically inclusive and equitable Boston where everyone belongs and Black people prosper, grounded in joy, love and wellbeing.
FACING HISTORY & OURSELVES uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. From one classroom in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1976, Facing History & Ourselves has become a global organization with a network of hundreds of thousands of middle and secondary school educators reaching millions of students worldwide. We help educators prepare students to participate in civic life—using intellect, empathy, ethics, and choice to stand up to bigotry and hate in their own lives, communities, and schools.
Dimitry Anselme, Chief Officer, Growth & Engagement: “In a political, cultural moment where division thrives and the rejection of newcomers to the shores of the United States of America has found a potent embrace, The Huntington invites us to reject these false prophets and rather invites us to re-dedicate ourselves to the founding values of the Republic. Boston will once again return to its roots of migration and immigration that started with the establishment of the Plymouth Bay Colony so long ago. Sojourners is a play about identity, migration and belonging, and this is the right city to tell this story. As a playwright, Mfoniso is telling a very American story about discovering oneself, reimagining oneself and building new lives as one sets roots on these American shores. Bostonians-particularly the next generation of Bostonians-will find here a play that speaks to their identities and lived experience.”
GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. GBH’s local television channels include GBH 2, GBH 44, GBH WORLD and GBH Kids. With a newsroom headquartered in Boston, GBH reaches across New England with GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; CRB Classical 99.5; and CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station. From Boston to the Berkshires, from Worcester to the Cape and Islands, GBH is dedicated to connecting the Commonwealth through news, programming, learning tools and events. GBH has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org.
KLIGERMAN PRODUCTIONS is a leading provider of professional video production services. Since 2021, Kligerman Productions has been a close partner with The Huntington, working to capture high-quality recordings of each of their performances, with a special focus on preserving the magic of live theatre and bringing it to the screen.
NIGERIAN PROFESSIONALS GROUP is dedicated to fostering the success and personal fulfillment of African students, professionals, and entrepreneurs in the diaspora. Since our founding in 2019, we have promoted excellence, teamwork, and growth, proudly operating as a certified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. At NPG, we cultivate innovative ideas by fostering a culture of collaboration that breaks down barriers. Our mission is to empower individuals through timely sharing of valuable information about career prospects, scholarships, and grants. By encouraging healthy competition and personal growth, we inspire our members to reach new heights.
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: Founded in 1898, we’re renowned for our experiential learning model, high-impact research, deep partnerships, and worldwide reach. From day one, we’ve pursued innovative ways of teaching and research that place a premium on experience and engagement with the world. Today, our signature approach erases traditional boundaries, empowering not only students, but faculty, alumni, partners, and innovators to solve problems and pursue impact.
Antonio Ocampo-Guzman, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Theatre: “The Department of Theatre is delighted to join our friends and frequent collaborators at The Huntington on this groundbreaking exploration. Not only is Mfoniso’s work raw and powerful: the entire enterprise of a city-wide celebration is a much-needed reimagining of how the performing arts participate in civic discourse and how we create sustainable financial models for them to flourish. We anticipate the Ufot Family Cycle to be an incredible learning opportunity for all of us, especially our next generations of theatre artists.”
ROXBURY COMMUNITY COLLEGE (RCC) is a public institution of higher education offering associate degrees, certificate programs and lifelong learning opportunities to the Greater Boston community. In 2021 the Department of Education recognized RCC as a Predominately Black Institution (PBI) making RCC the only PBI in the Northeastern United States. RCC offers 24 associate degree programs, 6 credit-based certificate programs, 13 non-credit professional certification programs, 30+ lifelong learning and fitness classes, and customized incumbent worker training programs. The College hosts hundreds of civic and community events at the Reggie Lewis Center and Media Arts Center each year. RCC is committed to providing all learners with the academic and non-academic support required for degree completion and long-term success. Roxbury Community College provides a nurturing environment, where all community members are welcome, regardless of past education. We transform lives through excellence and innovation, preparing our learners for active citizenry and success in a changing world.
WEST END HOUSE is a vital community dedicated to inspiring and empowering young people to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens. Located in Allston, West End House serves over 1,500 individuals annually, ranging from ages 7 to 24, from 25 of Boston’s 30 zip codes. Our programs are focused on key areas including Visual and Performing Arts, Academic Success, Leadership and Career Development, College and Career Pathways, Sports and Fitness, and Food Security and Nutrition. West End House ensures access for all by making all programs and services free to the community. Since 1906, youth have come through our doors to find success and support for their educational, personal, artistic, and career journeys. We prioritize each individual’s well-being as they discover their own path forward to a healthy, fulfilling, and joyful future. Our Formula for Impact is rooted in positive relationships with caring adults who deliver innovative programs that result in measurable impact. Learn more at westendhouse.org.
WHEELOCK FAMILY THEATRE: At Wheelock Family Theatre, family theatre is a shared experience for the entire family, where the definition of “family” is as inclusive and expansive as possible—the family you are related to and the family you have chosen. We appreciate that families are made up of individuals of multiple identities and perspectives and that it is essential that we all feel free to bring our whole selves to the practice of making and experiencing theatre together. At Wheelock Family Theatre, family theatre is smart fun for all ages. We tell stories featuring intergenerational casts that resonate with adults and children in the audience in order to foster important conversations across generations and enrich and expand our understanding of our shared humanity. We offer process-oriented classes that teach young people collaborative and creative skills that transcend the theatrical medium and will be applicable throughout their lives.
ZUMIX: Since its inception in 1991, ZUMIX has offered award-winning creative youth development programs to empower young people ages 7-18. ZUMIX's nationally recognized programs provide opportunities for creative learning, exploration, skill-building, employment, and mentorship so that young people can transition into adulthood with confidence. ZUMIX’s programs support students’ growth artistically, personally, professionally, and as civic leaders both in and out of the classroom. Based in East Boston, ZUMIX gives young people tools to graduate from high school and pursue a future of their choosing. ZUMIX does this through programs in instrumental music, production, songwriting, performance, audio engineering, and audio and video storytelling. The 21st-century skills youth acquire at ZUMIX support overall career readiness by emphasizing the development of skills in communication, leadership, creativity, and adaptability.
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THE HUNTINGTON ANNOUNCES CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM
OF TONI STONE, LYDIA R. DIAMOND’S GRAND-SLAM
ORIGINAL PLAY ABOUT A BASEBALL TRAILBLAZER
The Huntington announces the regional premiere of Lydia R. Diamond’s new play inspired by the life of the first woman to play professional baseball on a man’s team in the Negro Leagues
(BOSTON) – The Huntington announces the cast and creative team of Toni Stone, a tenacious and inspiring original play written and directed by Lydia R. Diamond and inspired by the book Curveball: The Remarkable Story of Toni Stone by western Massachusetts journalist and author Martha Ackmann. The production runs from Friday, May 17 through Sunday, June 16, 2024 at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave).
Based on Ackmann’s book, Diamond’s uplifting new play follows the experiences of Toni Stone, an ace ballplayer who knows her stats and has a great arm. Rejected by the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League because of her race, she becomes the first woman to play professional baseball on a man’s team in the Negro Leagues, shattering expectations and creating her own set of rules. Filled with humor and the love of the game, Huntington favorite Diamond knocks it out of the park with this beautiful, rich portrait of a trailblazing woman.
“I am so pleased to be back at The Huntington!” says playwright and director Diamond. “Toni Stone is a play that is especially close to my heart. A woman with a singular focus who, through hard work and tenacity, realized her dreams. This fabulous theatre has once again helped me realize mine… To direct a play that I am so proud of, in the warm embrace of a theatre that feels like home, and in a town that loves baseball as much as our fearless Toni did!”
Called “a grand slam!” by Broadway World and “Entertaining! Toni Stone bursts with the joys of life,” by The Chicago Tribune, Toni Stone makes its New England debut at The Huntington this spring, closing out a homerun first season of artistic programming for Huntington Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco.
Greco says, “I love this play as much as I love baseball. The return of beloved playwright Lydia Diamond to The Huntington is cause alone for celebration – but combine it with her latest based on the real life story of the indomitable Toni Stone, the first woman to play professional baseball in the male baseball league – during actual baseball season, and in America’s most baseball-loving city – and the result is pure joy!”
Boston native and renowned dancer and choreographer Ebony Williams will choreograph the baseball in Toni Stone, bringing the movements of the game to life on stage. Known as one of the two dancers matching Beyoncé in the iconic “Single Ladies” music video, as well as the Associate Choreographer for the musical film In the Heights, Williams has danced and choreographed with some of the biggest names in Hollywood and was named “one of the top 25 dancers to watch” by Pointe Magazine. Much of her early training took place in Boston at the Roxbury Center for the Performing Arts, Boston Ballet School and Citydance, and Boston Conservatory.
The cast of Toni Stone includes:
Ryan Vincent Anderson as King Tut, the celebrity of the team who is looking for his next opportunity to join the major leagues. Credits include Peter Pan Goes Wrong on Broadway and the Broadway Tour of The Play That Goes Wrong.
Bobby Cius as Jimmy, the team’s newest member who is a little timid but plays fast and hard. Credits include K-I-S-S-I-N-G with The Huntington and Front Porch Arts Collective and Pass Over with SpeakEasy Stage.
Anthony T. Goss as Elzie, a tough-talking ballplayer whose macho swagger often covers up his closeted sexuality. Credits include Gong Lum’s Legacy and Cowboy Off Broadway.
Stanley Andrew Jackson as Millie, Toni’s confidant and closest friend. Credits include The Refuge Plays with Roundabout and Book of Will with A Noise Within Theatre Company.
Jonathan Kitt as Alberga, a Jamaican businessman who is drawn to Toni’s mind and energy. Credits include Boy x Man at Negro Ensemble Company and Becoming Something: Canada Lee with The Kraine Theater.
Al’Jaleel McGhee as Woody, a left-handed pitcher and Casanova that sometimes fails to arouse. Credits include the National Tour of A Soldier’s Play with Roundabout and Intimate Apparel with Northlight.
Jennifer Mogbock as Toni Stone, star player of the Negro Baseball Leagues for nearly a dozen years. Credits include: The Half-God Of Rainfall with New York Theatre Workshop and Merry Wives with the Public Theater.
Omar Robinson as Stretch, the team’s organized and methodical catcher, manager, and coach. Credits include: Common Ground Revisited and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead at The Huntington.
Blake Anthony Morris as Spec, the smartest member of the team. Credits include: Ain’t No Mo’ with the Public Theater and The Hot Wing King with Studio Theatre.
Olutayo Bosede as an ensemble member and dance captain. Credits include: Moulin Rouge! The Musical on Broadway and The Wiz Live! on NBC.
Understudies include: Dominic Carter, Todd McNeel, James Ricardo Milord, Hassiem Muhammad, and Eunice Woods.
The creative team for Toni Stone includes scenic design by Collette Pollard (Little Women in co-production with Seattle Rep and Milwaukee Rep), costume design by Mara Blumenfeld (The Jungle Book at The Huntington), lighting design by Brian J. Lilienthal (Common Ground Revisited at The Huntington), sound design by Aubrey Dube (Fat Ham at The Huntington), and hair, wig, and makeup design by Earon D. Nealey (Fat Ham at The Huntington). The dramaturg is Charles Haugland. The choreographer is Ebony Williams, the vocal and dialect coach is Kim James Bey, and the fight director and intimacy consultant is Ted Hewlett. The associate director is Devin Christor. The production stage manager is Emily F. McMullen and the stage managers are Lucas Bryce Dixon and Pat-rice Rooney.
Toni Stone was Commissioned by Roundabout Theatre Company and Samantha Barrie, and originally Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company, New York, NY in association with Samantha Barrie. Toni Stone received development support from the Resident Artists Program at Arena Stage, Washington, D.C.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT AND DIRECTOR
Lydia R. Diamond is an award-winning playwright whose works include: The Gift Horse, Toni Stone, Smart People, Stick Fly (Broadway), Voyeurs de Venus, Harriet Jacobs, The Bluest Eye, The Inside, and Stage Black. Her work has been performed at companies including: The Huntington (Stick Fly, Smart People [Premiere], The Bluest Eye), American Conservatory Theater, Congo Square, Steppenwolf, Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage, Company One, Writers Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, New Victory at The Duke (Off Broadway), Guthrie Theater, Roundabout (Off Broadway), Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Second Stage Theater (Off Broadway), Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, True Colors, MPAACT, Arden Theatre Company, Encores! at City Center (New York), Intiman Theatre, and PlayMakers Repertory Company. Diamond has been a W. E. B. Du Bois Institute Non-Resident Fellow at Harvard, a Sundance Playwright Lab Creative Advisor, a Radcliffe Institute Fellow, a Sally B. Goodman Fellow, and a National Endowment for the Arts/TCG playwright in residence. Awards include: Horton Foote Prize, Joseph Jefferson Award, IRNE Award Nomination, Elliot Norton Award Nomination, Audelco Nomination, Kilroy’s List, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist, LA Critics Circle Award, and National Arts Club Kesselring Prize for Playwriting. She was a Consulting Producer and writer for Showtime’s 4th season of The Affair and nominated for a Writers Guild Award for best Drama Episode. She has also written for NBC, HBO, HBOMAX, and Hulu. Diamond has an Honorary MFA from A.C.T., and an Honorary Doctorate from Pine Manor College. She sits on the Dramatists Guild Legal Defense Fund Board and The Dramatists Guild Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access Committee. Diamond is an Associate Professor of Playwriting at University of Illinois in Chicago.
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION FOR TONI STONE
WHEN
Performances: May 17 – June 16, 2024
Select Evenings: Tues – Thurs at 7:30pm; Fri – Sat at 8pm; select Sun at 7pm
Matinees: Select Wed at 3pm; select Sat and Sun at 2:30pm
Days and times vary; see complete schedule above.
Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes, including one intermission
Press Opening: Wednesday, May 22, 2024 at 7pm (RSVP here)
WHERE
Huntington Theatre
264 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115
TICKETS
Tickets start at $30. FlexPasses are also now on sale:
- online at huntingtontheatre.org
- by phone at 617-266-0800;
- or in person at the Calderwood Pavilion (527 Tremont Street) or the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave)
Select discounts apply:
- $10 off: season ticket holders
- $40 “HYPE” tickets (Huntington Young Patron Events) for patrons 40 years-old and younger (valid ID required)
- $25 student and military tickets (valid ID required)
Please note that a digital recording of this production will be made available for online viewing. Details to come at huntingtontheatre.org/whats-
The Huntington asks that any patron experiencing COVID symptoms stay home and contact ticketing services for more information about exchanges.
ACCESS PERFORMANCES FOR TONI STONE
Tickets are $20 for each patron and their guests. To reserve tickets please email access@
Accessible performances are supported in part by the Liberty Mutual Foundation.
OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE: Tuesday, June 4 at 7:30pm. The Huntington offers open captioning at designated performances for any patron who benefits from having the text of spoken dialogue visible in time with the play.
ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE: Friday, June 7 at 8pm. The Huntington offers American Sign Language interpretation at designated performances for patrons who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE: Saturday, June 15 at 2:30pm. The Huntington offers audio description for patrons who are blind or low-vision at designated performances. Please visit huntingtontheatre.org/
Large Print and Braille Programs will also be available for patrons at performances.
MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA
Any members of the media who are interested in speaking with the artists of Toni Stone, please contact Publicist Gabrielle Jaques at gjaques@huntingtontheatre.org or 617-273-1520.
Press night for critics is Wednesday, May 22, 2024 at 7pm. Please RSVP here for press night or other available performances.
Production photos will be available for download online, and b-roll footage can be requested.
PHOTOS available for download here
TONI STONE SPECIAL EVENTS
“Stage & Screen” A League of Their Own at Coolidge Corner: Tuesday, May 14
The Huntington and Coolidge Corner continue their “Stage & Screen” collaboration with an event on Tuesday, May 14 at Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA. After a 7pm showing of A League of Their Own (directed by Penny Marshall, 1992), guests from The Huntington’s production of Toni Stone will host a post-screening discussion.
Tickets to the Stage & Screen film and post-screening discussion can be purchased here: coolidge.org/films/league-
HYPE (Huntington Young Patron Event): Saturday, May 18
The Huntington’s “Huntington Young Patron Events” program (HYPE) hosts an afternoon event at 2pm on Saturday, May 18 at the Roberto Clemente Field (in Boston’s Back Bay Fens, Clemente Field, Boston, MA 02215).
Tickets to performances of Toni Stone are available for those 40 and under at $40 each with promo code DISCOUNT online at huntingtontheatre.org, by walk-up at the Box Office at the Huntington Theatre or Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, or by calling ticketing services at 617-266-0800.
Humanities Forum: Sunday, June 2
The Huntington hosts a post-show discussion after the 2:30pm matinee performance on Sunday, June 2 at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave).
Blackout Boston: Tuesday, June 11
The Huntington will host a Blackout Boston evening for those who identify as members of Africa’s Global Diaspora (persons who identify as descendants of Africans dispersed throughout the world).
The Blackout performance will take place on Tuesday, June 11 at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave). More information will be announced soon.
Blackout Boston is an opportunity for Black identifying audiences to experience live theater that feels resonant to the Black experience in a space where their community is the majority. If you have questions about this event or other community events, please contact Huntington Community Engagement Manager Oz Pereira: opereira@
Tickets to this performance are Pay What You Wish.
Actors Forum: Wednesday, June 12
The Huntington hosts a moderated, post-show discussion with the cast after the 3pm matinee performance on Wednesday, June 12 at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave). Hear actors from Toni Stone reflect on their roles and nuances of each character.
Community Gaming Day: TBA
Hosted in partnership with One Up Games, The Huntington will host a MLB The Show 24 video game tournament at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave) to celebrate athlete Toni Stone, who now is a playable character in this popular video game. More details to be announced soon.
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating over 40 years of outstanding theatre, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community.
Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli, The Huntington is committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, provides life- changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, acts as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA.
The Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre in fall of 2022 after its transformational renovation, and is currently in phase two of the project; the renovation and building project of this storied venue with a bold vision for the future will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
SPEAKEASY STAGE COMPANY & FRONT PORCH ARTS COLLECTIVE PRESENT THE NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE OF
THE PULITZER PRIZE- & TONY-WINNING MUSICAL
A STRANGE LOOP
Apr. 26 to May. 25, 2024
Wimberly Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion
at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End.
Performances Wed. & Thu. @ 7:30PM; Fri. @ 8PM; Sat. @ 2 & 8PM; and Sun. @ 3PM. Additional weekday matinee Thu., May. 23 @ 2PM.
PRESS OPENING: Sun., Apr. 28 @ 3 PM (or by request) / RSVP here / Advance photos here
(BOSTON) – SpeakEasy Stage Company and Front Porch Arts Collective (“the Porch”) present the New England premiere of Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning musical, A STRANGE LOOP. The production runs April 26 through May 25, 2024, at the Wimberly Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. Estimated run time is 1 hour, 40 minutes with no intermission.
Michael R. Jackson’s blisteringly funny show exposes the heart and soul of Usher, a young artist grappling with desires, identity, and instincts he loves and loathes in equal measure. While tolerating a grinding job guiding families in and out of theater performances, the Black queer writer’s inner thoughts turn to an artistic endeavor: writing a musical about a Black, queer writer writing a musical about a Black, queer writer. Hobbled by negative self-talk and hell-bent on breaking
free from it, Usher wrestles with his thoughts (portrayed by a cast of talented actors) in an attempt to move past this “strange loop.”
Boston native Kai Clifton plays Usher, alongside cast mates Grant Evan, De’Lon Grant, Jonathan Melo, Zion Middleton, Davron S. Monroe and Aaron Michael Ray. Full bios can be found on SpeakEasy’s A STRANGE LOOP page.
A STRANGE LOOP is directed by award-winning actor, director and educator Maurice Emmanuel Parent, co-Producing Artistic Director for the Porch. Parent previously helmed Choir Boy at SpeakEasy. His directing credits also include: Breath and Imagination (Lyric Stage); 2023 Elliot Norton Award Nominee Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Front Porch Arts Collective, Central Square Theater and Greater Boston Stage); and Seven Guitars (Actors’ Shakespeare Project -- 2023 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director). Parent is Professor of the Practice at Tufts University’s Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies.
Other members of the A STRANGE LOOP creative team include music director/conductor David Freeman Coleman, choreographer Taavon Gamble, intimacy director Greg Geffard, and assistant intimacy director Phoebe Gonzalez. The design team is Jon Savage (scenic design), Brian J. Lilienthal (lighting), Becca Jewett (costumes), David Remedios (sound), and Emme Shaw (props). The production stage manager is Elizabeth Ramirez.
Tickets start at $25, with discounts for students, seniors, veterans, and people under 35. Tickets and more information are available online at BostonTheatreScene.com, by phone at 617.933.8600, or in person at the Calderwood Pavilion Box Office at 527 Tremont Street in Boston.
Estimated run time is 1 hour, 40 minutes with no intermission.
A STRANGE LOOP opened Off-Broadway in June 2019. Stephen Brackett directed original cast members Larry Owens, L Morgan Lee, James Jackson Jr., Elijah Caldwell, John-Andrew Morrison, Jason Veasey, and Jamaal Clark Turpin. The show moved to Washington, D.C. for a production by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, where it opened in December 2021, after postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The play made its Broadway debut in April 2022 at the Lyceum Theatre, featuring Jaquel Spivey as Usher. It ran for 314 performances and won two Tony Awards.
About the Show’s Creator
MICHAEL R. JACKSON (Book, Music & Lyrics) was named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2022. For his work on A Strange Loop, he won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2022 Tony Award for Best Musical. He also wrote the book, music, and lyrics for White Girl in Danger and the book and lyrics for the current Off-Broadway hit Teeth. Awards and associations include: a New Professional Theatre Festival Award, a Jonathan Larson Grant, a Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, an ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Award, a Whiting Award, the Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Drama Desk Award, an Obie Award, an Antonyo Award, a Fred Ebb Award, a Windham-Campbell Prize, a Dramatist Guild Fellowship. He is also an alum of Page 73’s Interstate 73 Writers Group. (he/him)MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
A DANCE-THEATER PRODUCTION,
DRIVEN BY SONGS FROM RECORDING STAR STING,
COMES TO THE EMERSON COLONIAL THEATRE MARCH 26 - 30.
Choreographed and directed by Kate Prince, with newly recorded and reworked versions of Sting’s evocative rock songs.
Extraordinary contemporary dancing propels a story about a family,
split by war and forced to forge new lives in foreign lands.
Embeddable performance trailer here. Photos, video and other assets here.
February 27, 2024 – BOSTON – The story of a family torn apart by war and forced to make their ways in unfamiliar lands is told through Kate Prince’s striking, bold choreography in MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE, a dance/theater production inspired and driven by the music of 17-time Grammy Award-winning rock icon Sting. The production, now on a tour of the U.S. and Canada, comes to Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre March 26-30.
In its 2020 world premiere at Sadler’s Wells’ Peacock Theater in London’s West End, MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE became a critical hit for its distinctive mix of gravity-defying, lyrical hip hop dance and its use of evocative rock songs that together underscore a moving story of humanity and hope.
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE opens in a village alive with joyous celebrations that suddenly comes under siege. In the ensuing chaos, three siblings – Leto, Mati and Tana – are separated from their parents. Each sibling undertakes a perilous journey to new lands – fighting off captors and predators, surviving imprisonment, falling in love and finding their way back to more peaceful lives. Nearly two dozen songs – written by Sting and made famous through his solo career and his band The Police – appear in the show.
Chart-topping hits and fan favorite tracks propel the narrative, often in surprising ways. “Every Breath You Take,” “Roxanne,” “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” “Walking On The Moon,” “Englishman In New York,” and “Fields Of Gold” are among the songs with new vocals by Sting and new arrangements by Grammy and Tony Award winner Alex Lacamoire (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, The Greatest Showman). Guest vocals include actress and singer Beverley Knight MBE and Lynval Golding (of The Specials).
Kate Prince’s choreography incorporates a wide range of influences for the production’s 22 dancers, from breakdance, hip hop and contemporary street dance, to jazz dance and gestural movement – with a hint of balletic partnering. Prince says the thrill of watching audiences react to the music they know and the unfolding story told through her muscular, athletic and non-stop choreography brings her great joy.
“I love watching audiences watch Message In A Bottle,” she says. “They have this double reaction of loving the music and loving Sting’s work, and realizing how much of the music they do know and how much it's been in their lives. Then, watching the audience watching those dancers, you get the sense of ‘how are they doing that?’ and ‘how are they still going?’”
Performers in the touring company include dancers Oliver Andrews, Lindon Barr (Dance Captain), Deavion Brown, David Cottle, Harrison Dowzell, Nestor Garcia Gonzalez, Natasha Gooden, Lizzie Gough (Resident Director), Anna Holmstrom, Megan Ingram, Ajani Johnson-Goffe, Charlotte Lee, Daniella May, Dylan Mayoral, Lukas McFarlane (Associate Choreographer), Robbie Ordona, Lara Renaud, Hannah Sandilands (Dance Captain), Jessey Stol, Steven Thompson, Gavin Vincent, Malachi Welch, Serena McCall, and Nethra Menon. Biographical information on the dancers is available here.
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE plays Boston’s historic Emerson Colonial Theatre for seven performances only, from March 26-30, 2024. Tickets are available online at emersoncolonialtheatre.com or by calling 888.616.0272. The box office at 106 Boylston Street is open Tuesday through Friday from 12pm to 6pm. Online and phone ticket purchases are subject to standard service fees. For group orders of 10 or more please email infocolonial@theambassadors.com.
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE is co-produced and presented by Sadler’s Wells and Universal Music UK.
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CALENDAR LISTING
WHAT: MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE, a new dance theater production choreographed by award-winning dance maker Kate Prince and propelled by more than two-dozen songs by rock icon Sting, comes to Boston in its New England premiere.
WHEN/ March 26-30, 2024
WHERE: Emerson Colonial Theatre, 106 Boylston Street, Boston
INFO: Comprising nearly two dozen songs from the catalogs of Sting and The Police, MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE tells the story of an idyllic village that comes under siege, forcing one close-knit family to splinter, fight oppression, find their ways in a new land and regain the love and peace they knew in their former life.
TICKETS: Tickets start at $49 and are available online at emersoncolonialtheatre.com or by calling 888.616.0272. The Emerson Colonial Theatre box office is open Tue-Fri from 12 to 6pm.
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MEDIA INFORMATION
Press performance Tue, March 26; RSVPs being taken now.
An embeddable trailer for MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE is here.
Production photos, video and other assets are available here.
For access to artists, production assets (photos and video), and press review tickets:
Meredith Mastroianni, ECT, 617-902-6140 (o) or 617-285-3769 (text/cell) or
John Michael Kennedy, JMKPR, 781-620-1761 (o) or 212-842-1752 (text/cell)
BIOGRAPHIES and BACKGROUND INFORMATION
ABOUT Kate Prince, MBE (Director and Choreographer)
Kate Prince is Artistic Director of ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company, which she founded in 2002. She is an Associate Artist at the Old Vic and at Sadler’s Wells, where ZooNation is also a Resident Company. ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company is also an Associate Company at Birmingham Hippodrome and The Mayflower, Southampton.
ZooNation productions include: Into the Hoods (Novello Theatre 2008), which was the West End’s first hip hop dance show; Some Like It Hip Hop (Sadler’s Wells Peacock 2011-13, and UK tour, and 2019 revival); Groove on Down the Road (SouthBank Centre 2013-14); ZooNation: Unplugged (Sadler’s Wells 2013); The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party (Royal Opera House Linbury Studio 2014 and the Roundhouse 2016); Into the Hoods: Remixed (Sadler’s Wells Peacock 2015-16 and UK tour) and SYLVIA (Old Vic 2018).
With ZooNation, Prince has also created choreography for sporting events, including the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Handover Ceremonies (2008), the Opening Ceremony of the Tour de France (2007) and the IOC opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics at the Royal Opera House.
Prince has been nominated for five Olivier Awards and two Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards among others. She was awarded an MBE for services to dance during the Queen’s Birthday Honours, 2019.
ABOUT Sting (Music & Lyrics)
Composer, singer-songwriter, actor, author and activist Sting was born in Newcastle, England before moving to London in 1977 to form The Police with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers. The band released five studio albums, earned six GRAMMY Awards and two Brits, and was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Throughout his illustrious career, Sting has sold 100 million albums from his combined work with The Police and as a solo artist.
As one of the world’s most distinctive solo artists, Sting has received an additional 11 GRAMMY Awards, a Golden Globe, an Emmy, four Oscar nominations, a TONY nomination, Billboard Magazine’s Century Award, and MusiCares 2004 Person of the Year among others. In 2003, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to music. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has received the Kennedy Center Honors, The American Music Award of Merit and The Polar Music Prize.
Sting was honored at the BMI Pop Awards for his enduring hit single “Every Breath You Take,” which appears in MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE, and has become the Most Performed Song – with 15 million radio plays – from BMI’s catalog of over 14 million musical works.
He has appeared in more than 15 films, executive produced the critically acclaimed A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, and in 1989 starred in The Threepenny Opera on Broadway. His most recent theatre project is the Tony®-nominated musical The Last Ship, inspired by his memories of the shipbuilding community of Wallsend in the North East of England where he was born and raised.
Sting’s support for human rights organizations such as the Rainforest Fund, Amnesty International, and Live Aid mirrors his art in its universal outreach. Along with wife Trudie Styler, Sting founded the Rainforest Fund in 1989 to protect both the world’s rainforests and the indigenous people living there. Together they have held 19 benefit concerts to raise funds and awareness for our planet’s endangered resources.
ABOUT Sadler’s Wells (Co-Producer)
Sadler's Wells is a world-leading creative organization based in London committed to the making of dance, with over three centuries of theatrical heritage. Since 2005, Sadler’s Wells has created award-winning dance productions, co-productions and touring projects in collaboration with its portfolio of Associate Artists, as well as international dance companies and partners.
ABOUT Universal Music UK (Co-Producer)
Universal Music is the UK’s leading music company, home to successful artists from across the musical spectrum. Alongside the labels Polydor, Decca, Island, EMI, Capitol and 0207 Def Jam, its businesses include Abbey Road, the world’s most famous recording studio, and Mercury Studios, a music-first content studio.
Universal Music UK is a division of Universal Music Group (UMG), a Vivendi Company and the world leader in music based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising and audio-visual content in more than 60 countries. Featuring the most comprehensive catalogue of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world.
ABOUT Emerson Colonial Theatre
In its storied history, Emerson Colonial Theatre has debuted such seminal Broadway shows as Anything Goes, Porgy and Bess, Oklahoma!, Follies, A Little Night Music, Grand Hotel, and La Cage aux Folles, and most recently, the pre-Broadway premieres of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, David Byrne’s American Utopia, A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, and the revival of Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker. This summer, the Colonial will host the pre-Broadway world premiere musical, The Queen of Versailles, reuniting celebrated Oscar-winning songwriter Stephen Schwartz with Tony and Emmy Award winner Kristin Chenoweth. The building, which opened in 1900 with a production of Ben-Hur, is the oldest continuously operated theatre in Boston, as well as being amongst the most magnificent, having retained most of its original period details. A theatre for the community, Emerson Colonial Theatre presents a new and varied program of Broadway shows, live music, comedy, and special events. EmersonColonialTheatre.com. Facebook and Instagram: @EmersonColonial
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STAND UP IF YOU’RE HERE TONIGHT EXTENDS
AT THE HUNTINGTON DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND
THE HUNTINGTON ANNOUNCES CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM
OF IMMERSIVE STAND UP IF YOU’RE HERE TONIGHT
Experience The Huntington like never before with a unique theatrical experience
in the intimate Maso Studio at the Huntington Theatre
Jim Ortlieb in Stand Up If You're Here Tonight. Photo by Michael Brosilow
(BOSTON) – The Huntington announces the cast and creative team of its new production of Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight, the thoroughly unique and interactive play written and directed by John Kolvenbach. The production kicks off 2024, running from Saturday, January 20 – Sunday, March 3, 2024 at the Huntington Theatre in the Maso Studio (264 Huntington Avenue).
Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight is a new play by Olivier Award-nominated playwright John Kolvenbach. Winner of the LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, Jim Ortlieb delivers a tour-de-force performance as a man desperate for connection, bent by isolation, and deeply in love with the audience itself. Unlike anything you’ve seen at The Huntington before, this underground experience in the renovated, 150-seat Maso Studio blurs the line between audience and performer, and will have audiences connecting, laughing, thinking, and up on their feet.
Kolvenbach wrote Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight in the spring of 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic. It premiered at the Harbor Stage Company in Wellfleet, then went on to have sold-out runs in LA, Chicago, and Paris. It has been praised as a “stunningly original existential exercise” by WTTW (PBS) Chicago, and as “uproarious, downright brilliant, and full of joyful surprises!” by the Provincetown Independent.
Kolvenbach explains, “The show is about a guy trying to do the impossible, or the nearly impossible: he wants to achieve a kind of union with the audience, a oneness, to blur the line between the play and the people who are there that night. That's the ambition of the man in the play, but it's also the ambition (harebrained, maybe) of the play itself. We hope for communion."
Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Kolvenbach first worked together and forged their friendship during her time as artistic director of San Francisco’s Magic Theatre where she produced his plays Goldfish, Mrs. Whitney, Sister Play, and Reel to Reel.
“You are in for a treat!” says Greco. “This incisive, vulnerable, funny, new play by my dear friend John Kolvenbach is the first half of this special intimate evening, and the second opens up to drinks and freeform conversation with the artists and your fellow audience members. This is unlike any experience you’ve had at The Huntington! In Paris and LA, people stayed for hours, and we hope you’ll want to stay and connect as well.”
The Huntington’s production of Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight features actor Jim Ortlieb as Man, a performer seeking an audience. His credits include The Farnsworth Invention and Of Mice and Men on Broadway. The creative team features Huntington staff members, including scenic design by Kristine Holmes (Mala at ArtsEmerson and The Huntington) and lighting design by M Berry (The Ding Dongs at Gloucester Stage Company). The production stage manager is Adele Nadine Traub.
The performance runs for approximately 65 minutes and is followed by a social hour where audiences can interact with members of the cast and creative team and with each other. A beverage during the social hour is included in the price of the ticket.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
John Kolvenbach (Playwright and Director) West End: Love Song (Olivier nomination, Best New Comedy, starring Cillian Murphy); On an Average Day (with Woody Harrelson). Love Song premiered at Steppenwolf and played in New York, Zurich, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington, Seoul, and Rome and will be revived this spring in Chicago by Remy Bumppo. Average Day has been produced in Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Lisbon. Goldfish premiered at South Coast Repertory, then played at the Magic Theatre, directed by Loretta Greco. Reel to Reel premiered at the Magic. Sister Play premiered at The Harbor Stage Company and at the Magic, both productions directed by the author. Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight opened in the summer of 2021 in Los Angeles and, simultaneously, at The Harbor Stage. The LA production went on to American Blues, in Chicago and then to Paris. Other plays include: Fabuloso, Bank Job, and Marriage Play or Half 'n Half 'n Half.
Jim Ortlieb (Man) Broadway: The Farnsworth Invention, Of Mice and Men, Guys and Dolls. 1st National Tour: Billy Elliot the Musical (Chicago and Toronto). International: Hughie, The Homecoming, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Translations, Faith Healer, Dark Pony (Gare St. Lazare Paris, France and West Cork, Ireland). Regional: Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Man Who Came to Dinner (Steppenwolf); Grapes of Wrath (Dir. David Cromer, Ford’s Theatre); Tartuffe, Candide (Weston, VT); M the Murderer (Organic, Chicago, and Gare St. Lazare, Paris); Blind Date (Goodman, Chicago); The Book of Will, All in the Timing (Northlight, Chicago); Life Sucks (Lookingglass, Chicago); Scapin (American Blues Theatre Company, of which he is a member.) TV and Film: American Horror Story, ER, Gilmore Girls, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, West Wing, The Closer, CSI, Grey’s Anatomy, The Shield, Felicity, Roswell, Home Alone, Magnolia, A Mighty Wind, Flatliners, Latter Days, Drunkboat, Contagion, The Crash, Running Scared, Goodnight Sweet Wife. Awards: twice nominated for Best Actor for the Joseph Jefferson Award in Chicago; Best Actor nominee for Boston’s Independent Reviewers of New England Award (for John Kolvenbach’s Marriage Play at Merrimack Rep in Lowell), and a Best Actor winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award for his work in Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight.
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THE HUNTINGTON ANNOUNCES CAST AND
CREATIVE TEAM OF LLOYD SUH’S NEW PLAY
THE HEART SELLERS
Heartwarming new play celebrates female friendship and Asian American experiences
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| Lloyd Suh |
In The Heart Sellers, Jane and Luna run into each
other in the grocery store on Thanksgiving in 1973 and find they have
much in common: each are recent Asian immigrants, a bit homesick and lonely
with hardworking absentee husbands, and adjusting to a new country filled with
new opportunities. Over sips of wine and a questionable frozen turkey, they
dream of disco dancing, learning to drive, and even a visit to Disneyland,
sharing their hopes and challenges for making a new home in a new land. A
funny, moving, and big-hearted new play.
Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco says, “Lloyd Suh’s intentionality around unpacking complicated slices of untold history in beautiful, theatrical ways for the benefit of our children and future generations is wildly inspirational. His plays are honest, heartbreaking, full of curiosity and resilience: a theatrical constellation asking us to look at our past in new ways with an eye towards a brighter future.”
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| May Adrales |
“The Heart Sellers looks at a pivotal moment in time, when the conditions were created for much of what we’re currently grappling with as a nation around our collective history,” says Suh. “It’s a play of giving thanks, making new friends, and finding home in a new place.”
Suh is an acclaimed Korean American playwright, winner of the 2019 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, and was named one of the “50 to Watch” by the Dramatists Guild. He worked with Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco closely during her time at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco. His play American Hwangap was produced during Greco’s first season at Magic, another of his plays, Jesus in India, premiered at Magic in 2012, and Greco opened her final season at Magic with Suh’s The Chinese Lady. New England audiences may recall The Chinese Lady was recently produced at Central Square Theater in Cambridge in 2022
The Heart Sellers
 |
| Jenna Agbayani and Judy Song |
The cast of The Heart Sellers includes:
Jenna Agbayani as Luna, Luningning Ignacia Mangahas de la Rosario Bustos, a 23-year-old from the Philippines. Credits include: LEAR and Kentucky at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
Judy Song as Jane, Hong Jae Ha, a 23-year-old from Korea. Credits include: Haeneyo’s Kitchen (해녀의 부엌) in Korea and the films Parked in America and White Butterfly with SXSW Film Festival.
Understudies
include: Kristian Espiritu and Carol Jeong.
The creative team for The Heart Sellers includes scenic and costume design by Junghyun Georgia Lee (Sweat at The Huntington), lighting design by Kat C. Zhou (The Butcher Boy Off Broadway), sound design and original music by Fabian Obispo (Boleros for the Disenchanted at The Huntington), and hair and makeup design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt (The Band’s Visit at The Huntington). The dramaturg is Christine Mok. The assistant director is Jenny S. Lee and the dialect coach is Joy Lanceta Coronel. The production stage manager is Roxana Kahn and the stage manager is Ashley Pitchford.
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA MOUNTS A NEW, BOSTON-INSPIRED PRODUCTION OF ROSSINI’S "LA CENERENTOLA"
Boston, MA — rev. October 11, 2023* — Boston Lyric Opera announces a city-centric take on Gioachino Rossini's timeless opera, "LA CENERENTOLA (CINDERELLA).” This interpretation brings the familiar story of a mistreated young woman and a handsome prince into the hearts of two familiar Boston neighborhoods. “La Cenerentola” is directed by award-winning theater artist and longtime Boston resident Dawn M. Simmons, who makes her opera debut. This opera runs for a limited engagement of three performances, from November 8-12, 2023 at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. Tickets are available now at blo.org/cinderella.
It’s been 30-plus years since BLO’s last production of Rossini’s opera. In it, the sweet Angelina played by Cecelia Hall in her BLO debut (l., CMW Photography), is a young woman from an ungrateful family who finds true love with the help of a prince’s tutor who disguises himself to help Don Ramiro, find a worthy partner. Ramiro is played by Levy Sekgapane in his BLO debut (r., Kartal Karagedik).
As in the well-known animated film Cinderella, Angelina meets and weds the Prince, much to the chagrin of her family. But unlike that film, Rossini’s opera version, with libretto by Jacopo Ferretti, dispenses with fairy dust in favor of more earthly interventions, maintaining its magic with beautiful melodies and an energetic score.
“I hope La Cenerentola romances audiences,” says Simmons. “The magic is in the music, in the simplicity of boy-meets-girl and how they sweep each other off their feet.”
“This fun and lustrous opera is a story about the triumph of goodness, right here in Boston,” says BLO Stanford Calderwood General Director & CEO Bradley Vernatter. “Dawn M. Simmons’s cultural leadership and prolific theater career has shown her to be a visionary director. For us, she creates a production that reminds us of the importance of good humor, kindness, and love in our lives.”
In addition to Hall, the CENERENTOLA cast includes Dana Varga (BLO debut) as Clorinda, 2023/24 BLO Emerging Artist Alexis Peart as Tisbe, Levi Hernandez (the BLO film series, “B.”) as Dandini, Brandon Cedel (BLO’s 2019 “The Rape of Lucretia”) as Don Magnifico, and Philip Lima (BLO’s 2022 “Romeo & Juliet”) as Alidoro.
The 42-piece Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra is conducted by BLO Music Director David Angus. The Boston Lyric Opera Chorus is led by BLO Chorus Director Brett Hodgdon.
Set designer Jenna McFarland Lord and Lighting Director Bailey Costa transform the Emerson Cutler Majestic stage with elements of iconic Boston architecture, from Don Ramiro’s palatial Beacon Hill home with gently twinkling garden lights, to the Magnifico family’s stylish Seaport digs lit by the energy of the neighborhood’s modern vibe.
Similarly, costume designer Trevor Bowen straddles the old and the new, fashioning Angelina’s transformation from cleaning woman to princess, and Don Ramiro’s casual modern-day swagger into a ball-worthy take on traditional waistcoat and jacket. The “wicked stepsistahs” Clorinda and Tisbe are never dressed down, befitting their aspirations as wannabe influencers.
"As an artist born and raised in this city, I know we
are ready for a new look at this classic story,” says Simmons (r., courtesy
photo). “Boston may not have castles in the center of town, or young women
shoveling coal to keep the house warm anymore, but like anywhere else we have
people who want more out of life than what they’ve been handed. This story of
love, transformation, and the enduring power of kindness is one everyone can
relate to."
TICKETS
Tickets for LA CENERENTOLA are available now individually or in a two- or three-part subscription to BLO’s 2023/24 Season. Individual tickets start at $25, and are available at blo.org/cinderella.
WHAT: Boston Lyric Opera presents a new production of Gioachino Rossini’s LA CENERENTOLA (CINDERELLA), directed by award-winning Boston theater artist Dawn M. Simmons. Inspired by the city of Boston and its iconic neighborhoods, this production tells the familiar story of a sweet but mistreated young woman whose encounter with a handsome prince gives her a new life and makes her “wicked stepsistahs” jealous. Cecelia Hall and Levy Segkapane make their BLO debuts as Angelina and Don Ramiro, respectively.
WHEN: Three performances from November 8-12, 2023, including: Wed., Nov
8 @ 7:30p; Fri., Nov 10 @ 7:30p; and Sun., Nov 12 @ 3p.
WHERE: Emerson Cutler Majestic
Theatre, 219 Tremont Street in Boston, Mass.
WHEN: T
Nov 12 @ 3p.
WHEN: Thr
The Huntington announces cast a
CREATIVE TEAM OF LLOYD SUH’S NEW PLAY
THE HEART SELLERS
Heartwarming new play celebrates female friendship and Asian American experiences
(BOSTON) – The Huntington announces the cast and creative team of The Heart Sellers, a gorgeous and funny new play written by Lloyd Suh and directed by May Adrales. The production runs from Tuesday, November 21 – Saturday, December 23, 2023 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA (527 Tremont St).
In The Heart Sellers, Jane and Luna run into each other in the grocery store on Thanksgiving in 1973 and find they have much in common: each are recent Asian immigrants, a bit homesick and lonely with hardworking absentee husbands, and adjusting to a new country filled with new opportunities. Over sips of wine and a questionable frozen turkey, they dream of disco dancing, learning to drive, and even a visit to Disneyland, sharing their hopes and challenges for making a new home in a new land. A funny, moving, and big-hearted new play.
Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco says, “Lloyd Suh’s intentionality around unpacking complicated slices of untold history in beautiful, theatrical ways for the benefit of our children and future generations is wildly inspirational. His plays are honest, heartbreaking, full of curiosity and resilience: a theatrical constellation asking us to look at our past in new ways with an eye towards a brighter future.”
Called “hilarious and heartwarming! A laugh-aloud love letter to friendship!” by Broadway World, and “a stunning comedy! Breathtaking” by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Heart Sellers makes its New England debut at The Huntington this November. The name of the play is drawn from the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart-Celler Act, which eliminated restrictive nationality-based immigration quotas and granted thousands of professional workers a new path to citizenship.
“The Heart Sellers looks at a pivotal moment in time, when the conditions were created for much of what we’re currently grappling with as a nation around our collective history,” says Suh. “It’s a play of giving thanks, making new friends, and finding home in a new place.”
Suh is an acclaimed Korean American playwright, winner of the 2019 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, and was named one of the “50 to Watch” by the Dramatists Guild. He worked with Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco closely during her time at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco. His play American Hwangap was produced during Greco’s first season at Magic, another of his plays, Jesus in India, premiered at Magic in 2012, and Greco opened her final season at Magic with Suh’s The Chinese Lady. New England audiences may recall The Chinese Lady was recently produced at Central Square Theater in Cambridge in 2022.
The Heart Sellers is presented through special arrangement with TRW PLAYS 1180 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036. trwplays.com
The cast of The Heart Sellers includes:
Jenna Agbayani as Luna, Luningning Ignacia Mangahas de la Rosario Bustos, a 23-year-old from the Philippines. Credits include: LEAR and Kentucky at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
Judy Song as Jane, Hong Jae Ha, a 23-year-old from Korea. Credits include: Haeneyo’s Kitchen (해녀의 부엌) in Korea and the films Parked in America and White Butterfly with SXSW Film Festival.
Understudies include: Kristian Espiritu and Carol Jeong.
The creative team for The Heart Sellers includes scenic and costume design by Junghyun Georgia Lee (Sweat at The Huntington), lighting design by Kat C. Zhou (The Butcher Boy Off Broadway), sound design and original music by Fabian Obispo (Boleros for the Disenchanted at The Huntington), and hair and makeup design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt (The Band’s Visit at The Huntington). The dramaturg is Christine Mok. The assistant director is Jenny S. Lee and the dialect coach is Joy Lanceta Coronel. The production stage manager is Roxana Kahn and the stage manager is Ashley Pitchford
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Lloyd Suh (Playwright) is the 2019 winner of the Herb Alpert Award for Theater. His play The Chinese Lady was hailed a New York Times Critics’ Pick during its NY run. He has had productions at Barrington Stage, Ma-Yi, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Long Wharf Theater, Magic Theater, Artists at Play, and Artists Rep among others. His plays include Charles Francis Chan Jr’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery (NAATCO, Theater Mu), The Wong Kids in The Secret of the Space Chupacabra GO! (Ma-Yi, Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, NEA Arena Stage New Play Development Grant) and American Hwangap (Magic Theatre, Ma-Yi/PlayCo, Tanghalang Pilipino). Named one of “50 to Watch” by the Dramatists Guild, Lloyd has received additional grants, awards and fellowships from the Dramatists Guild, the Jerome Foundation, the Lark Play Development Center, SecondGeneration, Pan Asian Repertory, and NAATCO.
May Adrales (Director) is currently the director of the theatre program at Fordham University. Her Off Broadway credits include: Poor Yella Rednecks, Vietgone, Golden Shield (Manhattan Theatre Club); Letters of Suresh (2nd Stage); Dance and the Railroad (Signature Theatre); Luce (LCT3); The Strangest (NYTW); Unbounded (Public Theater); and Natural Shocks (WP). Adrales has also worked with regional organizations including Oregon Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Rep, Alley Theatre, Seattle Rep, Goodman, Baltimore Center Stage, Two River Theatre Company, Pioneer Theatre Company, and Milwaukee Rep. She has won the following awards: Drama League Directing Fellow, Van Lier Fellow, Ammerman Award, Alan Schneider Award, Paul Green Directing, New Generations, and Denham Fellowship. Education: MFA, Yale School of Drama. mayadrales.net
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION FOR THE HEART SELLERS
WHEN
Performances: November 21 – December 23, 2023
Select Evenings: Tues – Thurs at 7:30pm; Fri – Sat at 8pm; select Sun at 7pm
Matinees: Select Wed at 2pm; select Sat and Sun at 2pm
Days and times vary; see complete schedule above.
Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission
WHERE
Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
527 Tremont St, Boston
TICKETS
Tickets start at $30. Season ticket packages and FlexPasses are also now on sale:
- online at huntingtontheatre.org
- by phone at 617-266-0800;
- or in person at the Calderwood Pavilion (527 Tremont Street) or the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave)
Select discounts apply:
- $10 off: season ticket holders
- $40 “HYPE” tickets (Huntington Young Patron Events) for patrons 40 years-old and younger (valid ID required)
- $20 student and military tickets (valid ID required)
Please note that a digital recording of this production will be made available for online viewing. Details to come at huntingtontheatre.org/whats-
The Huntington asks that any patron experiencing COVID symptoms stay home and contact ticketing services for more information about exchanges.
ACCESS PERFORMANCES FOR THE HEART SELLERS
Tickets are $20 for each patron and their guests. To reserve tickets please email access@
Accessible performances are supported in part by the Liberty Mutual Foundation.
OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE: Tuesday, December 5 at 7:30pm. The Huntington offers open captioning at designated performances for any patron who benefits from having the text of spoken dialogue visible in time with the play.
ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE: Friday, December 15 at 8pm. The Huntington offers American Sign Language interpretation at designated performances for patrons who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE: Saturday, December 23 at 2pm. The Huntington offers audio description for patrons who are blind or low-vision at designated performances. Please visit huntingtontheatre.org/
Large Print and Braille Programs will also be available for patrons at performances.
THE HEART SELLERS SPECIAL EVENTS
AAPI Community Night: Tuesday, November 21
The Huntington hosts a night of celebration for members of the AAPI community in Greater Boston. Join us at the Calderwood Pavilion for a pre-show reception with Artistic Director Loretta Greco at 6:00-7:15pm before the 7:30pm performance of The Heart Sellers. Following the show, there will also be a post-show, on-stage panel discussion.
HYPE (Huntington Young Patron Event): Friday, December 1
The Huntington’s “Huntington Young Patron Events” program (HYPE) hosts a pre-show “Friendsgiving” celebration before the 8pm performance on Friday, December 1 at the Calderwood Pavilion (527 Tremont St).
Tickets to performances of The Heart Sellers are available for those 40 and under at $40 each with promo code DISCOUNT online at huntingtontheatre.org, by walk-up at the Box Office at the Huntington Theatre or Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, or by calling ticketing services at 617-266-0800.
Humanities Forum: Sunday, December 10
The Huntington hosts a post-show discussion after the 2pm matinee performance on Sunday, December 10 at the Calderwood Pavilion (527 Tremont St).
Actors Forum: Thursday December 14
The Huntington hosts a moderated, post-show discussion with the cast after the 7:30pm performance on Thursday, December 14 at the Calderwood Pavilion (527 Tremont St). Hear actors from The Heart Sellers reflect on their roles and nuances of each character.
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating over 40 years of outstanding theatre, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community.
Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli, The Huntington is committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, provides life- changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, acts as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA.
The Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre in fall of 2022 after its transformational renovation, and is currently in phase two of the project; a storied venue with a bold vision for the future, the renovation and building project will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
THE BAND’S VISIT CO-PRODUCTION BY
THE HUNTINGTON AND SPEAKEASY STAGE
EXTENDS DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND
Tickets are selling fast for The Huntington and SpeakEasy Stage’s co-production
of the Tony- and Grammy-winning musical The Band’s Visit,
now running through December 17 at the Huntington Theatre
(BOSTON) – The Huntington and SpeakEasy Stage announce that their production of The Band’s Visit will extend, now running through Sunday, December 17, 2023 at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave). Several weeks out from opening, the production has added an additional week of performances due to overwhelming demand from audiences. The first two rows of the orchestra have also been made available for sale for all performances, November 10 – December 17.
With music and lyrics by David Yazbek, book by Itamar Moses, and directed by SpeakEasy Stage founder and artistic director Paul Daigneault, The Band’s Visit centers on an Egyptian band of musicians who become stranded in a small Israeli town after a transportation mix-up. With no lodgings available, the locals take them into their homes for the night. By morning, surprising connections have been made and friendships forged over moments of shared humanity and love of music. In this beautiful, feel-good musical, a brief visit can have a lasting impact.
Based on Eran Kolirin’s 2007 film of the same name, this original musical first premiered at the Atlantic Theater Company Off Broadway in 2016 before transferring to Broadway in 2017. The tour was scheduled to perform in Boston in 2020, but was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Winning an astounding 10 Tony Awards in 2018 – among the highest in Broadway history – as well as the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album in 2019, The Band’s Visit was hailed by The New York Times as “One of the most ravishing musicals you will ever be seduced by,” and The Hollywood Reporter called it “Gorgeous, intoxicating, and soulful.”
MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA
Any members of the media who are interested in speaking with the artists of The Band’s Visit, please contact Publicist Gabrielle Jaques at gjaques@huntingtontheatre.org or 617-273-1520.
Press night for critics is Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 7pm. Please RSVP here for press night or other available performances.
Production photos will be available for download online, and b-roll footage can be requested.
THE HUNTINGTON HOSTS A FREE OPEN HOUSE AT
THE HUNTINGTON THEATRE – MONDAY, OCTOBER 9
DURING FENWAY ALLIANCE’S OPENING OUR DOORS DAY
Visitors can take a behind-the-scenes tour (with a peek into dressing rooms and the costume shop!),
browse artwork by visual artist Alison Judd in the 2nd floor gallery, and hear from Huntington staff and artists (including August Wilson biographer Patti Hartigan) in lively panel discussions
(BOSTON) – The Huntington is pleased to announce the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave) will participate in the Fenway Alliance “Opening Our Doors Day” on Monday, October 9 by hosting a robust slate of events and access during an open house from 11am-3pm.
The schedule of events throughout the day is as follows:
All Day events: 11am – 3pm
· Guided tours led by Huntington staff, starting from the 1st floor theatre lobby (tour is approx. 20-30 minutes)
· Meet-your-seat: Huntington donors and supporters have the opportunity to see their named seat, hosted by Huntington development staff
· View beautiful art by local visual artist Alison Judd on our 2nd floor gallery
· Huntington Theatre Box Office open
11:15am: Spotlight on Huntington Education Department Alumni (Performance and Discussion)
In the Maso Studio, 2nd floor
Enjoy a performance and discussion with Education Associate (and Codman Academy alum) Latasha Snider, Fat Ham cast member and August Wilson Monologue alum Victoria Omoregie, and current students and program participants Emily Guerrero Del Villar, Dereon Goldsmith, and Next Narrative Competition National Champion Sakura Rosenthal.
12pm – 1pm: Huntington 23/24 Season Preview Talk (Discussion)
In the Maso Studio, 2nd floor
Participate in a sneak peek discussion about the upcoming Huntington season with Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Director of New Work Charles Haugland.
12:30pm – 12:45pm: Gallery talk with visual artist Allison Judd
In the Huntington Theatre Gallery, 2nd floor
1pm – 2pm: August Wilson biographer and Boston Globe writer Patti Hartigan (Book Talk)
In the Maso Studio, 2nd floor
Hear biographer and Boston Globe writer Patti Hartigan speak about her new book August Wilson: A Life, moderated by Front Porch Arts Collective Co-Artistic Director Maurice Emmanuel Parent.
1:30pm – 1:45pm: Gallery talk with visual artist Allison Judd
In the Huntington Theatre Gallery, 2nd floor
2pm – 2:45pm: Celebrating 20 years of local playwrights on our stages! (Discussion)
In the Maso Studio, 2nd floor
Join Huntington Playwriting Fellows Kirsten Greenidge, Masha Obolensky, and Lila Rose Kaplan for a conversation about living and creating art as playwrights in Boston, moderated by Director of New Work Charles Haugland.
The event is free and open to the public, but we encourage the community to RSVP on Eventbrite.
The Huntington’s Open House is part of the Fenway Alliance’s annual Opening Our Doors Day event, a celebration of the Fenway Cultural District including art exhibits, performances, nature and historical walks, art activities, open houses and more. More information can be found on the Fenway Alliance website.
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating over 40 years of outstanding theatre, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community.
Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli, The Huntington is committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, provides life- changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, acts as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA.
The Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre in fall of 2022 after its transformational renovation, and is currently in phase two of the project; a storied venue with a bold vision for the future, the renovation and building project will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
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WITH ORIGINS IN A GROUNDBREAKING CULTURAL PROCESS,
A STARTLING NEW MADAMA BUTTERFLY EMERGES
BLO’s production, running Sept 14-24, sets the story in 1940s San Francisco.
Untouched, Puccini’s soaring score proves resilient and resonant.
Preliminary costume and set design sketches here.
BOSTON – June 22, 2023; updated Aug 2, 2023** – Boston Lyric Opera’s new MADAMA BUTTERFLY opens at the Emerson Colonial Theatre September 14-24 after a years-long, groundbreaking cultural journey designed to examine the opera’s complex production history, embrace the beloved soaring score, and create an intentional production led by Asian and Asian-American artists seeking to reclaim a nearly 150-year-old narrative, and make it resonate with contemporary audiences.
Stage Director Phil Chan’s production of composer Giacomo Puccini’s opera brings the story of Butterfly and American Naval Officer B.F. Pinkerton into the world of 1940s San Francisco, where many Japanese Americans lived and where racial prejudice was heightened by World War II. Here, Butterfly is a performer in the historically inspired world of the city’s Chinatown nightclubs of the era, which employed Asian-American artists and drew white American audiences by promising exoticism. Here, Butterfly and Pinkerton fall in love before he leaves for military duty in the Pacific Rim.
Following an unconventional start to their romance, Pinkerton ships off to his military destination, unaware that the love affair with Butterfly has resulted in a pregnancy. Butterfly is swept up in the xenophobic hysteria triggered by the bombing of Pearl Harbor and becomes incarcerated in an American prison camp where she and her son await Pinkerton’s return.
Chan (r.), whose organization Final Bow for Yellowface has altered the world of ballet by improving Asian representation onstage and off, makes his opera directing debut. The production features dramaturgy by BLO Artistic Advisor Nina Yoshida Nelsen whose prolific singing career has included scores of “Madama Butterfly productions, filmmaker/author Arthur Dong whose research and historical documentaries “Forbidden City, USA” and “Hollywood Chinese” inform the world of the new production, as well as Indiana University Director of Asian American Studies Karen Inouye and Associate Professor Ashlyn Aiko Nelson.
Chan says this new production tells a decisively American story. “All the characters in this MADAMA BUTTERFLY are Americans, and none of the story takes place in Japan – or anywhere outside California,” he says. “As we look to keep the artform thriving, we need to make its stories relevant to the audiences and the people of our time, while making sure the timeless Puccini score is still heard.”
Casting for BLO’s new production includes Karen Chia-Ling Ho (l.) as Butterfly, Alice Chung as Suzuki, Dominick Chenes as Pinkerton; Troy Cook as Sharpless, and Rodell Rosell as Goro (all five make their Boston Lyric Opera debuts). Vera Savage sings the role of Kate Pinkerton, Matthew Arnold as Signor Dori, and BLO Emerging Artist Junhan Choi in dual roles as Commissioner and Registrar.
In addition to Stage Director Phil Chan and the dramaturgy team, the artistic lineup for MADAMA BUTTERFLY includes Set Designer Yu Shibagaki, Costume Designer Sara Ryung Clement, Lighting Designer Jeannette Oi-Suk Yew, Wig and Makeup Designer Fuji Dreskin, and Choreographer Michael Sakamoto. The BLO Orchestra, comprising 70 players, will be conducted by BLO Music Director David Angus. A 20-plus-member cohort of the BLO Chorus will be led by Brett Hodgdon.
This MADAMA BUTTERFLY is the first production informed by “The Butterfly Process,” BLO’s extensive exploration of the opera’s history, provenance and impact from its early 20th Century premiere up until today. The year-long initiative examined and provided practical examples of how opera companies can build intentional and authentic productions of traditional works in a way that invites full, equitable participation, inspires new thinking, and strengthens both communities and audiences through the way music and stories are presented. More information on “The Butterfly Process” can be found here.
“The journey to this production has been enormously rewarding, challenging, and eye-opening,” says BLO General Director & CEO Bradley Vernatter. “Not only has ‘The Butterfly Process’ guided our work on operas from the inherited repertoire like this one, it also has begun to inform much of the artistic work we do as an organization. By investigating this historical masterwork and facing its legacy – both positive and negative – we are better equipped to produce an inclusive, intentional future for the artform that includes operas like ‘Madama Butterfly.’”
COMMUNITY EVENTS AND PARTNERSHIPS
Boston Lyric Opera plans a series of educational and public events connected to its production of MADAMA BUTTERFLY. Through its work in this realm, BLO is committed to increasing access to opera across the city. Details on these events will be announced later.
TICKETS
Tickets for MADAMA BUTTERFLY are available now with a three- or four-part subscription to BLO’s 2023/24 Season. Individual tickets, which start at $25, are available via presale on July 18, and to the general public on August 1 at blo.org/butterfly.
-more-
CALENDAR LISTING
WHAT: Boston Lyric Opera presents a new production of Giacomo Puccini’s MADAMA BUTTERFLY. The production, set in the Chinatown nightclub scene of 1940s San Francisco, features a predominantly Asian and Asian-American artistic team, and is directed by Phil Chan.
WHEN: Four performances from September 14-24, 2023, including: Thu., Sep 14 @ 7:30p; Sun., Sep 17 @ 3p; Fri., Sep 22 @ 7:30p; and Sun., Sep 24 @ 3p.
WHERE: Emerson Colonial Theatre, 106 Boylston Street in Boston, Mass.
TICKETS: Available now with a season subscription. Individual tickets start at $25, available for presale July 18 and to the general public August 1 at blo.org/butterfly.
INFO: Following a groundbreaking cultural journey designed to examine the opera’s complex production history, embrace its beloved soaring score, and create a production that resonates with contemporary audiences, BLO’s MADAMA BUTTERFLY brings the story into the world of 1940s San Francisco, where many Japanese Americans lived, and where racial prejudice was heightened by World War II. Here, Butterfly is a nightclub performer who falls in love with the American naval officer Pinkerton and is caught up in American xenophobia during World War II.
2022 PULITZER PRIZE WINNER FAT HAM
COMES TO THE HUNTINGTON
IN ASSOCIATION WITH ALLIANCE THEATRE
AND FRONT PORCH ARTS COLLECTIVE
James Ijames’ highly acclaimed and deliciously funny new play is a fresh take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, seasoned with Black queer joy and a compelling examination of love and loss
(BOSTON) – The Huntington in association with Alliance Theatre and Front Porch Arts Collective announces the cast and creative team of Fat Ham, the acclaimed new play written by James Ijames and directed by Tony Award-nominated Stevie Walker-Webb. The production runs from Friday, September 22 – Sunday, October 22, 2023 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA (527 Tremont St).
In this deliciously funny, Pulitzer Prize-winning new play, sweet and sensitive Juicy wants to make his own way as a queer Black man growing up in a Southern family, until his father’s ghost turns up at a backyard barbecue and insists that Juicy avenge his murder. Ay, there’s the rub!
“James Ijames’ brilliant, hilarious play is Hamlet and is not Hamlet,” says Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “This is the beginning of our rigorous exploration of the classics – powerful stories that continue to speak to us – as re-dreamt for our time. In Ijames’ deft hands this exploration of masculinity, queerness, and familial acceptance boasts of muscular language, emotional truth, and the wildly entertaining foibles of family.”
This smart and sharp reinvention of Shakespeare’s masterpiece premiered in a filmed production for the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia in 2021 before making its Off Broadway debut at the Public Theater the following year. The play won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and in spring of 2023, the Public Theater transferred their production to Broadway where it received five Tony Award nominations and even more critical acclaim. The New York Times called it “Hot and sizzling! A raucous, flat-out hilarious comedy! Fat Ham is a revelation!”
“I am very excited for Fat Ham to meet the audiences in Boston,” says playwright James Ijames. “The play has a powerful message of transformation, radical acceptance, and joy! This show is for anyone looking for a space of liberation and beauty.”
The cast of Fat Ham includes:
James T. Alfred as Rev, Tedra’s husband, her dead ex-husband’s brother, a kind of Claudius. And also as Pap, the Ghost of Juicy’s father. Credits include the national tour of Jitney and Black Odyssey Off Broadway.
Amar Atkins as Larry, an awkward marine with a secret, a kind of Laertes. Credits include: the national tour of The Color Purple revival, and As You Like It and King Lear at the Public Theater.
Thomika Marie Bridwell as Rabby, Larry and Opal’s mother, Tedra’s friend, a kind of Polonius. Credits include Joy and Pandemic and K-I-S-S-I-N-G (in co-production with Front Porch Arts Collective) at The Huntington, and Chicken and Biscuits at Front Porch Arts Collective.
Marshall W. Mabry IV as Juicy, beautiful, lonely, and smart; a kind of Hamlet. Credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream in Harlem at Pittsburgh Public and Once on this Island at SpeakEasy Stage.
Lau'rie Roach as Tio, Juicy’s clever cousin and oldest friend, a kind of Horatio. Credits include Toni Stone at Alliance Theatre and Milwaukee Rep, and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe at Alliance Theatre.
Victoria Omoregie as Opal, one of Juicy’s only friends, a kind of Ophelia. Victoria was a winner of the August Wilson Monologue Competition with The Huntington’s education department. Other credits include Fairview at SpeakEasy Stage and The Bomb-Itty of Errors at Actors’ Shakespeare Project.
Ebony Marshall-Oliver as Tedra, Juicy’s mother, a kind of Gertrude. Credits include Ain’t No Mo’ and Chicken and Biscuits on Broadway, and Merry Wives at the Public Theater.
Understudies include: David J. Castillo, Vincent Ernest Siders, Kai Tshikosi, and Shanelle Chloe Villegas.
The creative team for Fat Ham includes scenic design by Luciana Stecconi (Witch and The Art of Burning at The Huntington), costume design by Celeste Jennings (Malvolio at Classical Theatre of Harlem), lighting design by Xiangfu Xiao (The Diamond at Pregones/PRTT), sound design by Aubrey Dube (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and Clyde’s at The Huntington), hair and wig design by Earon Nealey (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at The Huntington), and illusions design by Evan Northrup (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at The Huntington. The choreographer is PJ Johnnie Jr, dialect coach is Amani Dorn, and the fight choreographer and intimacy coach is Jesse Hinson. The associate director is Dawn M. Simmons. The production stage manager is R. Lamar Williams and the stage manager is Ashley Pitchford.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
James Ijames (Playwright) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, director, and educator. James’ plays have been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon, Wilma Theatre, Theatre Exile, Azuka Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), The National Black Theatre, JACK, The Public Theater (NYC), Hudson Valley Shakespeare Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, Definition Theatre, Timeline Theater (Chicago, IL) and Shotgun Players (Berkeley, CA) and have received development with PlayPenn New Play Conference, The Lark, Playwright's Horizon, Clubbed Thumb, Villanova Theatre, Wilma Theater, Azuka Theatre and Victory Gardens. James is the recipient of the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist and two Barrymore Awards, for Outstanding Direction of a Play for The Brothers Size with Simpatico Theatre and Gem of the Ocean with Arden Theatre Company. James is a 2015 Pew Fellow for Playwriting, the 2015 winner of the Terrence McNally New Play Award (for WHITE), the 2015 Kesselring Honorable Mention Prize winner (for ...Miz Martha), a 2017 recipient of the Whiting Award, and a recipient of the 2019 Kesselring Prize (for Kill Move Paradise), a 2020 Steinberg Prize, and the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. James was a founding member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia’s first playwright producing collective. He received a BA in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta and an MFA in acting from Temple University in Philadelphia. James is an associate professor of theatre at Villanova University. @FatHamBway
Stevie Walker-Webb (Director) is a Tony Award-nominated, Obie Award-winning director, playwright, and cultural worker who believes in the transformational power of art. His work has been produced on and Off Broadway, including Ain’t No Mo’ (The Public Theater/Broadway), One in Two (The New Group), Black Odyssey (Classic Stage), Fairview (Woolly Mammoth), and Our Town (Baltimore Center Stage). Upcoming productions include Gun & Powder (Paper Mill Playhouse). He is founder of Hundreds of Thousands, an arts and advocacy organization that makes visual the suffering and inhumane treatment of incarcerated mentally ill people. He has received the Princess Grace Award for Theater and The Lily Award from the Dramatists Guild of America, and is a 2050 Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, a visiting artist and lecturer at Harvard University, and the founding artistic director of the Jubilee Theatre in Waco, Texas. Stevie has created art and theatre in Madagascar, South Africa, Mexico, and across America. steviewalkerwebb.com
WHEN
In-person performances: September 22 – October 22, 2023
Select Evenings: Tues – Thurs at 7:30pm; Fri – Sat at 8pm; select Sun at 7pm
Matinees: Select Wed, Sat, and Sun at 2pm
Days and times vary; see complete schedule above.
Running time: 95 minutes, no intermission
Press Opening: Wednesday, September 27, 2023 at 7pm (RSVP here)
WHERE
The Huntington/Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
527 Tremont Street, South End, Boston
TICKETS
Tickets to in-person performances start at $30. Season ticket packages and FlexPasses are also now on sale:
- online at huntingtontheatre.org
- by phone at 617-266-0800;
- or in person at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont St, South End, Boston
Select discounts apply:
- $10 off: season ticket holders
- $40 “HYPE” tickets for patrons 40 years old and younger (valid ID required)
- $20 student and military tickets (valid ID required)
The Huntington asks that any patron experiencing COVID symptoms stay home and contact ticketing services for more information about exchanges.
MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA
Any members of the media who are interested in speaking with the artists of Fat Ham, please contact Publicist Gabrielle Jaques at gjaques@huntingtontheatre.org or 617-273-1520.
Press night for critics is Wednesday, September 27, 2023 at 7pm. Please RSVP here for press night or other available performances.
Production photos will be available for download online, and b-roll footage can be requested.
PHOTOS available for download here
ACCESS PERFORMANCES FOR FAT HAM
Tickets are $20 for each patron and their guests. To reserve tickets please email access@
OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE: Tuesday, Oct 10 at 7:30pm. The Huntington offers open captioning at designated performances for any patron who benefits from having the text of spoken dialogue visible in time with the play.
ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE: Friday, Oct 13 at 8pm. The Huntington offers American Sign Language interpretation at designated performances for patrons who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE: Saturday, Oct 21 at 2pm. The Huntington offers audio description for patrons who are blind or low-vision at designated performances. Please visit huntingtontheatre.org/
Large Print and Braille Programs will also be available for patrons at performances.
FAT HAM SPECIAL EVENTS
HYPE: Friday, September 29
The Huntington’s “Huntington Young Patron Events” program (HYPE) hosts a post-show celebration on Friday, September 29 at Reunion BBQ (439 Tremont St).
Tickets to performances of Fat Ham are available for those 40 and under at $40 each with promo code DISCOUNT online at huntingtontheatre.org, by walk-up at the Box Office at the Huntington Theatre or Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, or by calling ticketing services at 617 266 0800.
Blackout Boston: Sunday, October 1
Front Porch Arts Collective and The Huntington come together once again to host a Blackout Boston evening for those who identify as members of Africa’s Global Diaspora (persons who identify as descendants of Africans dispersed throughout the world).
The pre-show event and Blackout performance will take place on Sunday, October 1 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA (527 Tremont St). A pre-show Drag Reception will take place at 6pm, followed by the Blackout performance of Fat Ham starting at 7pm.
Blackout Boston is an opportunity for Black identifying audiences to experience live theater that feels resonant to the Black experience in a space where their community is the majority. If you have questions about this event or other community events, please contact Huntington Community Engagement Manager Oz Pereira: opereira@
Tickets to this performance are Pay What You Wish.
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating over 40 years of outstanding theatre, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community. Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli, The Huntington is committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, provides life- changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, acts as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA.
The Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre in fall of 2022 after its transformational renovation, and is currently in phase two of the project; a storied venue with a bold vision for the future, the renovation and building project will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org
ABOUT ALLIANCE THEATRE
Founded in 1968, the Alliance Theatre is the leading producing theater in the Southeast, reaching more than 165,000 patrons annually. The Alliance is led by Artistic Directors Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses and is a recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award® for sustained excellence in programming, education, and community engagement. In January 2019, the Alliance opened its new, state-of-the-art performance space, The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre. Known for its high artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance has premiered more than 120 productions including nine that have transferred to Broadway. The Alliance education department reaches 90,000 students annually through performances, classes, camps, and in-school initiatives designed to support teachers and enhance student learning. The Alliance Theatre values community, curiosity, collaboration, and excellence, and is dedicated to representing Atlanta's diverse community with the stories we tell, the artists, staff, and leadership we employ, and audiences we serve. alliancetheatre.org (needs link)
ABOUT FRONT PORCH ARTS COLLECTIVE
Front Porch Arts Collective is a Black theatre company committed to advancing racial equity in Boston through theatre. Now in residence with The Huntington, Front Porch Arts Collective seeks to create a place where perspectives and experiences of Black people are no longer novelty, but an integral part of the global conversation, and to build programs that make the entire theatrical landscape more reflect the diversity of the city. By creating an atmosphere where people see the world through differing experiences, we hope to foster greater understanding of the human condition that ultimately contributes to tolerance and empathy in our world. Our namesake signifies a communal spirit, inspiring us to serve communities of color and produce art that is inclusive of all communities and welcoming to all audiences, to inspire a more tolerant and inclusive Boston. Our core values are cultural inclusion, community advancement, and impactful legacy. To learn more about The Porch, visit frontporcharts.org
THE LEHMAN TRILOGY EXTENDS AT THE HUNTINGTON
DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND
Audiences are cheering The Huntington’s production of the 2022 Tony-Winner for Best Play,
now running through July 23 at The Huntington Theatre
(BOSTON) – The Huntington announces their acclaimed production of The Lehman Trilogy will extend, now running through Sunday, July 23, 2023 at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave). Six additional performances have been added due to overwhelming demand from audiences.
The Lehman Trilogy is an epic and timely story of family, ambition, and risk, sprawling across 163 years of history and shining a calculating spotlight on the spectacular rise and fall of the Lehman Brothers, a family and a company that changed the world. Captivating theatergoers, the 2022 Tony Award-winning Best Play is by Stefano Massini, adapted to English by Ben Power, and directed by artistic director emeritus of American Conservatory Theater Carey Perloff.
Performed entirely by three actors and one musician, the story follows the original three Lehman brothers, then their sons and grandsons, as they journey from rags to riches to ruin. In 1840s Alabama, a Bavarian immigrant dreams of a better life for his family. By the early 2000s, his descendants trigger unprecedented financial disaster. In a marvel of storytelling, this extraordinary piece of theatre is both an intimate saga about a family and a monumental exposé of unbridled capitalism.
The Lehman Trilogy has been translated into 24 languages and has received international acclaim from both critics and audiences: The New York Times praised The Lehman Trilogy as “genuinely epic. You’re left reeling by the scope and vitality of it.” The Hollywood Reporter called it “most thrilling...breathtaking!” Deadline called it, “A masterpiece. A miracle and a spellbinding demonstration of theatre’s possibilities.” And London’s The Guardian called it, “astonishing. An intimate epic about the shifting definition of the American Dream.”
This Tony Award-winning play first premiered in France in 2013 and in Italy in 2015, before the English adaptation debuted at London’s National Theatre in 2018, then played the Park Avenue Armory in NYC in spring of 2019. After pandemic delays, the National Theatre production had a limited run on Broadway (Sept 2021 – Jan 2022) and in Los Angeles (Mar – Apr 2022). Stefano Massini also adapted the play into a novel which was translated into English by Richard Dixon and published in 2020.
The Huntington’s 2023 production of The Lehman Trilogy, now running through Sunday, July 23, is the first original, American-based production.
THE HUNTINGTON 2023 SPOTLIGHT GALA
SHATTERS RECORDS, RAISING $1.67M
The Huntington community celebrated those who have made an extraordinary impact
on Greater Boston, the arts, and The Huntington – including playwright Paula Vogel,
longstanding Managing Director Michael Maso, and Trustee David Leathers
(BOSTON) – The Huntington held its annual Spotlight Gala on Monday, May 1, 2023 at the Cyclorama at the BCA (539 Tremont St). Over 400 attendees gathered to celebrate honorees as well as the achievement of this transformational season. The Gala supports The Huntington’s artistic, education, and community initiatives and this year set an all-time record with $1.67 million raised.
“The Huntington’s Spotlight Gala was both a tremendous success and a fantastic evening,” says Huntington Chairman of the Board Randy Peeler. “We are so grateful for the incredibly generous donors and sponsors whose contributions at the gala will have a vital impact on The Huntington as a public good for the City of Boston and beyond.”
The Spotlight Gala honored three people who have made an extraordinary impact on The Huntington and the larger theatre community: Trustee David Leathers, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, and Managing Director Michael Maso.
David Leathers is a longtime Huntington Trustee and has been a tireless champion for The Huntington Theatre renovation project as Chair of the Facilities Committee. His steadfast commitment and attention to detail, despite myriad challenges during the pandemic, ensured that The Huntington Theatre successfully reopened in Fall 2022. His daughter Megan Leathers spoke beautifully about Leathers’ love of stories and storytelling and the artistic community he has found at The Huntington as she presented him with the Wimberly Award.
Paula Vogel is a lion in the theatre community as both a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (for How I Learned to Drive) and a dedicated educator who spent many years at Brown University as the founder of their esteemed playwriting program, inspiring generations of playwrights and theatre artists. Her plays, Tony Award-nominated Indecent and A Civil War Christmas, have thrilled Boston audiences on stage at The Huntington, and The Huntington looks forward to partnering with her on an upcoming new works commissioning initiative. Her former student, acclaimed playwright Sarah Ruhl, presented her with the Wimberly Award and spoke warmly about Vogel’s bravery as an artist and her love for the artform and other writers.
Huntington Founding Managing Director Michael Maso was honored with the Encore Award, presented by his wife Lisa Coady, as he prepares to step down from that role at the end of this season after 41 years. A leader and trailblazer in the Boston arts scene as well as the broader American theatre industry, his vision paved the way for the Calderwood Pavilion to be built and The Huntington Theatre to be renovated; and his legacy is not only an empowered Huntington Theatre Company (with a campus spanning four locations) but an enriched and vibrant theatre ecosystem that his care and collaborative spirit helped foster.
Huntington Trustee and host of WCVB Channel 5’s CityLine Karen Holmes Ward hosted the evening. The event was chaired by Huntington Trustee David Firestone and his wife Karen Firestone and Huntington Advisor Bobby Perino.
Longtime Huntington staffers Andrew DeShazo and Kevin Schlagle received the 10th annual Gerard and Sherryl Cohen Awards for Excellence, which recognize the exceptional work and dedication of peer-nominated Huntington staff who consistently go above and beyond. DeShazo has been a stalwart part of the props run crew for over 20 years; Schlagle has held many roles in his 14 years at the company, from stage manager to producer and Covid safety manager. The awards were presented by Huntington Trustee Gerard Cohen and his granddaughter Chloe Peddle.
Several live performances took the stage throughout the night, including lively performances by Sing Street cast members Adam Bregman, Tony Genovesi, Michael Lepore, Elijah Lyons, Gian Perez, and Ben Wang. This new musical with an original score and a 15-member ensemble opened The Huntington’s 2022-2023 season and was the largest production ever housed at The Huntington’s Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. Also performing: Steven Skybell (currently in rehearsals for The Huntington’s upcoming production of The Lehman Trilogy) and Taylor Mac (playwright of Joy and Pandemic, now playing at the Calderwood Pavilion) sang a delightful rendition of “Do You Love Me?” from Fiddler on the Roof in honor of Vogel; Boston actors Aimee Doherty and Shannon Lamb sang a special rendition of “Wells Fargo Wagon” from The Music Man to honor Leathers.
The evening concluded with a surprise performance by Michael Maso, singing “Some Other Time” from On the Town. Many members of the Greater Boston theatre community joined him on stage to sing “What I Did for Love” from A Chorus Line, including: Amy Barker, Leigh Barrett, Jazzmin Bonner, Elle Borders, Christopher Chew, Aimee Doherty, Jennifer Ellis, Shannon Lamb, Sarah Muirhead, Matthew Pantanella, Maurice Emmanuel Parent, Ale Philippides, Bob Saoud, and Bobbie Steinbach. This is Maso’s final gala as Managing Director and the energy in the room was warm, supportive, and energizing.
More information about the event can be found here.
Photos can be downloaded here.
Video of Michael Maso’s speech and surprise performance can be downloaded here.
ABOUT THE WIMBERLY AWARD HONOREES
Dave Leathers has served as a Huntington Trustee since 2013 and is the current chair of the Facilities Committee. Dave has been a driving force for the revitalization of The Huntington Theatre and is the former CEO of John Moriarty & Associates, a highly respected construction firm with clients such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Brandeis University. He and his wife Susan are long-time Huntington enthusiasts and live in Boston.
Paula Vogel is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright whose plays Indecent (Tony Award nomination for Best Play) and A Civil War Christmas have been celebrated on The Huntington’s stages. Her other plays include How I Learned to Drive (Pulitzer Prize, Lortel Prize), The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Mineola Twins, The Baltimore Waltz, Hot ‘N’ Throbbing, Desdemona, And Baby Makes Seven, and The Oldest Profession. Lifetime achievement awards include the American Theatre Hall of Fame Award, the Obie Award, and New York Drama Critics Circle Award. Her plays are published in six volumes by TCG Press and she teaches playwriting workshops throughout the United States and abroad. In 2020 she founded the digital theatre archive of new plays, BARD AT THE GATE, which is available at Broadway on Demand. paulavogelplaywright.com
THE HUNTINGTON NAMES LYNDSAY ALLYN COX
AS NEW PRODUCING DIRECTOR
Cox joins The Huntington as an arts leader and champion of new work, after 16 years of
acting, producing, and directing in the Greater Boston community
(BOSTON) – The Huntington announces that Artistic Director Loretta Greco has appointed Boston actor, director, and producer Lyndsay Allyn Cox as The Huntington’s new Producing Director, beginning May 9, 2023. As Producing Director, she will report to and work closely in partnership with Greco, and will be responsible for supervising productions from the casting process through the closing performance on behalf of the artistic department.
“Lyndsay Allyn Cox is a creative and strategic, big-minded leader. She will be a wonderful breath of fresh air at The Huntington!” says Greco. “Our national search brought us home to Boston where Lyndsay’s breadth and depth of talent was undeniable. Her passion for theatre and for bringing artists together across disciplines in exciting and impactful ways, along with her deep local ties, will help us forge even greater relationships in the community. I’m thrilled to have her join us as we create an exciting new era at The Huntington.”
Cox joins The Huntington after four years of leadership at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) as director of theatre arts and most recently as senior director of programs and experiences, where she has overseen theatre programs, including residencies to create new work while also curating performing arts events, such as the well-attended and popular #hellablack, which centered Black artistry and Black expression from Boston artists.
Recently appearing on Huntington stages as an actor in Our Daughters, Like Pillars and Witch, she has performed and directed with several prominent local theatre companies, including Front Porch Arts Collective, Lyric Stage Company, SpeakEasy Stage, and Company One. Named one of WBUR’s inaugural class of The ARTery 25 (millennials of color impacting Boston art and culture) and a graduate of Appalachian State University, she is actively involved in the LGBTQ+ community, is a member of a social justice-centered Reform synagogue in Brookline, MA, and resides in Boston’s South End.
“I am thrilled to be joining The Huntington at this exciting time!” says Cox. “It’s such a blessing to be able to step into this role, into this level of leadership, and I can’t wait to get right to work alongside Loretta and the rest of the team. The Boston theatre community has played such an important role in my career and I am looking forward to giving back to the community in deep and meaningful ways.”
In this new role at The Huntington, Cox will be supervising productions, as well as The Huntington’s producing and casting team, and serving as line producer for select shows and community partnerships.
THE HUNTINGTON AND SPEAKEASY STAGE
CO-PRODUCE THE SMASH HIT TONY & GRAMMY
AWARD-WINNING MUSICAL THE BAND’S VISIT IN
FALL 2023
Longtime partners, the two companies join forces on a co-production for the first time
to expand the audience for this exquisite new musical
(BOSTON) – The Huntington and SpeakEasy Stage announce that they will co-produce the much-lauded Tony Award-winning musical The Band’s Visit which features music and lyrics by David Yazbek and book by Itamar Moses, as part of their respective 2023-2024 seasons.
The Band’s Visit will be performed at the recently renovated Huntington Theatre from November 10 – December 10, 2023 and directed by award-winning SpeakEasy Founder and Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault.
The Band’s Visit won an astounding 10 Tony Awards in 2018 – among the highest in Broadway history – as well as the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album in 2019. The show was hailed by The New York Times as “One of the most ravishing musicals you will ever be seduced by,” and The Hollywood Reporter called it, “Gorgeous, intoxicating, and soulful.”
This co-production marks the first time that SpeakEasy Stage and The Huntington have jointly staged a production, though the two companies have been longtime partners and collaborators, and worked together with Company One Theater to produce a festival of Annie Baker’s Shirley, VT plays in 2010. They also work together closely on a regular basis as The Huntington built and manages the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA where SpeakEasy Stage is the Calderwood Pavilion Resident Theatre Company at the Boston Center for the Arts. This co-production of The Band’s Visit allows both companies to expand their partnership and reach new audiences for this highly acclaimed new musical.
The Band’s Visit centers on an Egyptian band of musicians who become stranded in a small Israeli town after a transportation mix up. With no lodgings available, the locals take them into their homes for the night. By morning, surprising connections have been made and friendships forged over moments of shared humanity and love of music. In this beautiful, feel-good musical, a brief visit can have a lasting impact.
Based on Eran Kolirin’s 2007 film of the same name, this original musical first premiered at the Atlantic Theater Company Off Broadway in 2016 before transferring to Broadway in 2017. The tour was scheduled to perform in Boston in 2020 but was cancelled due to the pandemic.
“We at SpeakEasy are thrilled to team up with our good friends at The Huntington to bring this sublime, beautiful musical to life,” says SpeakEasy’s Paul Daigneault. “It is also an incredible honor to be the first to direct a musical on the new Huntington Theatre stage, to invite the city’s amazing talent on this artistic journey, and to share the many wonders of this surprising and joyous show.”
“This gorgeous musical won 10 Tony Awards, and it now will delight Boston audiences for the first time,” says Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “We’re thrilled to whole-heartedly collaborate with our partners at SpeakEasy Stage, and it’s a privilege to welcome their founder, our friend and colleague Paul Daigneault, in his Huntington debut.”
SpeakEasy Stage and The Huntington will each announce their full seasons in early April, and season ticket packages will be available for purchase at that time. This production of The Band’s Visit is licensed by Music Theatre International.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
David Yazbek (Music & Lyrics) is an American writer, musician, composer, lyricist and recording artist. He wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals The Full Monty (2000), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010), The Band's Visit (2017), and Tootsie (2019). His album The Laughing Man won the 1997 N.A.I.R.D. Award for Best Pop Album. Other albums include TOCK and Damascus! For theatre he has also composed original music for Boy's Life at LCT; Mojo, Atlantic Theatre; The Pope's Nose, Promenade Theatre and over two others. He has done a lot of scriptwriting for TV, including a brief, Emmy Award-winning stint with “Late Night with David Letterman” and the co-creation of the groundbreaking yet cloying “Puzzle Place” for PBS. He's composed scores for a wide range of films and shows for HBO, NBC, Fox, and Nickelodeon and is responsible for the unrelenting theme song to “Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?” He has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, winning in 2019 for the original cast recording of The Band's Visit. As a songwriter and/or producer he has worked with such artists as XTC, Tito Puente, Space Hohg, The Verve Pipe, Ruben Blades, Rockapella, and the Persuasions. More can be learned at davidyazbek.com
Itamar Moses (Book) is the author of the full-length plays Outrage, Bach at Leipzig, Celebrity Row, The Four of Us, Yellowjackets, Back Back Back, Completeness, and The Whistleblower, the musicals Nobody Loves You (with Gaby Alter), Fortress of Solitude (with Michael Friedman), and The Band’s Visit (with David Yazbek), and The Evening of Short Plays Love/Stories (Or But You Will Get Used to It). His work has appeared Off Broadway and elsewhere in New York, at regional theatres across the country, and in Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Venezuela, Turkey, and Chile, and is published by Faber & Faber and Samuel French. Awards for his work include Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle, and Obie Awards in New York, as well as awards from the Portland, San Diego, Dallas, and Bay Area Theatre Critics Circles. He’s received new play commissions from The McCarter, Playwrights Horizons, Berkeley Rep, The Wilma Theater, South Coast Rep, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center, and The Goodman. On television, Itamar has written for TNT’s “Men of a Certain Age,” HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” WGN’S “Outsiders,” and Showtime’s “The Affair.” He holds an MFA in dramatic writing from NYU and has taught playwriting at Yale and NYU. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. Born in Berkeley, CA, he now lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Paul Daigneault (Director/SpeakEasy Founder & Producing Artistic Director) is a New England-based freelance director, producer, and teacher. Since founding the award-winning SpeakEasy Stage in 1992, he has produced over 150 Boston premieres. As a director, he is especially proud of his projects that have centered gay and queer stories as well as his passion for contemporary American musicals. His professional directing highlights include The Inheritance; Fun Home; Admissions; The Scottsboro Boys; Significant Other; Violet; Mother & Sons; Big Fish; In the Heights; Next to Normal; Nine; Some Men; Zanna, Don’t!; Parade; Caroline, or Change; Take Me Out; Company; A Man of No Importance; Bat Boy - The Musical; Passion; A New Brain; Floyd Collins; Love! Valour! Compassion!; and Jeffrey. In 2014, Paul was the recipient of the Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence, the highest honor presented by the Boston Theater Critics Association. Paul is currently on the faculty at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he teaches musical theatre, producing, and directing. He was honored in 2007 with the Boston College Arts Council’s Alumni Award for Distinguished Achievement, and served as the college’s 2011-2012 Rev. J. Donald Monan S. J. Professor in Theatre Arts. Outside the theatre, Paul has served on the Board of the ICU Patient & Family Advisory Council at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is a lover of National Parks and plans to visit all 63!
ABOUT SPEAKEASY STAGE
Now in its 32nd year, SpeakEasy Stage is an award-winning, not-for-profit, professional theatre company in residence at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. Founded and led by Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault, the company has consistently won acclaim for its intimate, top-quality, original productions of bold contemporary plays and musicals that, for three decades, have sparked conversations that challenge, connect, and inspire its audiences and the Greater Boston community. In addition, as part of its mission to build and support a thriving local theatre scene, SpeakEasy works with hundreds of Massachusetts-based actors, directors, designers, and technicians each year, and trains early-career artists through its emerging artist and fellowship programs. From its humble 40-seat beginnings, the company has emerged as a leader in Boston’s theatre community, a champion of diverse and emerging voices, and a staunch proponent of the transformative power of theatre to bring about social change. SpeakEasyStage.com
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating 40 years of outstanding theatre, The Huntington
is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our
stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark
the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices
in our community. Committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, The
Huntington provides life-changing opportunities for students through its robust
education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of
playwrights and new plays, acts as the host organization for a multi-year
residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in
Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The
Huntington Calderwood/BCA. Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood
Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Managing Director Michael Maso, The
Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre this fall after its
transformational renovation. A storied venue with a bold vision for the future,
the renovation and building project will allow us to innovatively expand our
services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For
more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
BENDING BARTÓK’S “BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE” WITH ALMA MAHLER’S “FOUR SONGS” AT A SOUTH BOSTON CRUISE TERMINAL
Anne Bogart directs Bartók’s one-act opera with Alma Mahler’s romantic songs.
BLO Music Director David Angus conducts.
Ryan McKinny and Naomi Louisa O’Connell star as Bluebeard and Judith.
Performances March 22-26 with an intimate audience experience installed
inside the Flynn Cruiseport Boston.
BOSTON – February 14, 2023 – A brand-new production that blends Bela Bartók’s 1918 one-act opera Bluebeard’s Castle with 1915’s Four Songs (Vier Lieder) by his contemporary Alma Maria Schindler-Mahler – and immerses audiences in a multi-room installation including a pre-show musical salon – arrives at the Flynn Cruiseport Boston for four performances March 22-26. The experience is led by legendary stage director Anne Bogart, who wowed audiences in 2019 with BLO’s production of Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale.
The production of Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs stars American bass-baritone Ryan McKinny (far l.) as Bluebeard and Irish mezzo-soprano Naomi Louisa-O’Connell (l.) as Judith.
Bluebeard’s Castle (Béla Balázs, librettist) tells a twisted folktale of the fictional Duke Bluebeard who brings his hastily wed wife Judith to visit his foreboding fortress of a home for the first time. In exploring the castle and her new relationship, Judith begins to realize she faces the same desperate fate that befell Bluebeard’s previous wives. Much has been made of whether Bartók, Baläzs and the source material intended the castle’s rooms of atrocities as literal or figurative. Either way, the opera explores the depths of an intense emotional and psychological relationship.
Four Songs is one of three song cycles Mahler wrote before her marriage to Gustav Mahler. The songs, “Licht in der Nacht,” “Waldseligkeit,” “Ansturm” and “Erntelied” ponder love both turbulent and passionate, and the healing beauty of nature. Mahler’s composing career was quashed in deference to her husband’s wishes; only 17 of her more than four dozen compositions survive.
“When I began thinking about how to approach Bluebeard,” Bogart says, “I realized Bartók’s music is extraordinary – dark and labyrinthine – some of the most dynamic, powerful music you will hear. But it clearly needed a companion piece – written by a woman. We are dealing with the stark differences between the male and female experiences inherent in Bartók’s work.”
Bogart says blending the two distinctly different works counterbalances Bartók’s “excitingly dynamic, powerful and very male” music with Mahler’s lighter, more humanistic songs. Bringing female-composed music into the production adds depth to the character of Judith, Bogart says, “giving her an agency not otherwise shown in the story.”
BLO Music Director David Angus, who conducts the performances, found a recently revised orchestration for Bartók’s opera created in 2020 by German conductor Eberhard Kloke; it makes its New England premiere with this production. Angus says this chamber orchestration retains the music’s power and allows for a more intimate experience into the psychological world that Bogart is creating. The settings for Mahler’s songs are re-orchestrated by contemporary arranger Julian Reynolds for a chamber orchestra; Angus describes them as “delicate and beautiful” and says “they deserve to have a much wider audience.”
THE EXPERIENCE
The production itself takes the audience on a journey, starting at the street level from which huge escalators transport them up into the massive Cruiseport building. Once inside, audiences enter a curtained corridor leading to a cabaret/salon reminiscent of those Alma Mahler might have hosted as a leading New York City socialite. A pianist (Yukiko Oba) plays music by women composers including Amy Beach, Margaret Bonds, Lili Boulanger, Florence Price and Clara Schumann (a Spotify playlist is here). Audiences then move to a performance space where O’Connell as Judith opens the performance singing two of Mahler’s lieder.
“Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs illustrates a production and programming philosophy that has, for more than a dozen years, shaped the identity of Boston Lyric Opera,” says Stanford Calderwood General Director & CEO Bradley Vernatter. “These site-specific installations – Pagliacci in a North End ice rink, or Anne Bogart’s The Handmaid’s Tale at the Harvard basketball stadium – have yielded some of BLO’s most rewarding artistic triumphs,” Vernatter says. “I’m so happy this production allows us to work again with the brilliant Anne Bogart, who knows well how to create a beautiful production and a memorable experience for audiences.”
The artistic team for Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs includes set designer Sara Brown (most recently for BLO, designed Fellow Travelers, 2019), costume designer Trevor Bowen (Champion, 2022), lighting designer Brian H. Scott, Boston-based movement director Victoria L. Awkward (Romeo & Juliet, 2022) and intimacy director Angie Jepson. For more information on the artistic team, click here.
TICKETS
Tickets to Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs start at $25 and are available through BLO Audience Services online at blo.org, by phone at 617.542.6772, or via email at boxoffice@blo.org.
ABOUT BOSTON LYRIC OPERA
Now in its 46th Season, Boston Lyric Opera’s programming remains faithful to tradition while blazing new ground, building audiences, and creating new ways to enhance the opera-going experience. Since its founding in 1976, Boston Lyric Opera continues to celebrate the art of the voice through innovative productions and public programming. BLO has produced world and U.S. premieres, commissions, and co-productions of note, ranging from live stage productions to films streamed worldwide on its platform, operabox.tv.
BLO has partnered with organizations such as San Francisco Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Detroit Opera and others, and continues to be a destination for leading artists, conductors, directors and designers from around the world. Alongside its main stage programming, BLO artists in our Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artists initiative work to hone their craft and prepare for the next step in their careers while BLO’s wide-reaching community programming and education initiatives introduce opera to new audiences
across generations.
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BRITY SERIES HOSTS WINTER’S HOTTEST WEEK OF DANCE
Company SBB // Stefanie Batten Bland’s “Look Who’s Coming to Dinner”
January 14 @ 8 PM & January 15 @ 3 PM
LaTasha Barnes’ “The Jazz Continuum”
January 19, 20 and 21 @ 8 PM
Week’s activities include performances at NEC’s Plimpton Shattuck Black Box Theatre and community events led by contemporary dance’s red-hot choreographers.
BOSTON – (Dec. 6, 2022) – Celebrity Series of Boston hosts two intimate and wildly divergent dance performances that tackle big ideas in January, showcasing the work of two acclaimed companies led by award-winning and sought-after women choreographers of color. Company SBB//Stefanie Batten Bland’s evocative and thought-provoking “Look Who’s Coming to Dinner” takes inspiration from the similarly titled 1967 Stanley Kramer film. LaTasha Barnes’ “The Jazz Continuum” brings her ecstatic celebration of jazz music and Black American social dance styles. Both performances are at the Plimpton Shattuck Black Box Theatre at New England Conservatory.
“LOOK WHO’S COMING TO DINNER”
This work by Batten Bland (r. photo by Christaan Felber) fits the category of dance theater, evidenced by the show’s main narrative: a series of solo, duo and full ensemble segments suggest relationships among a gathered group at a festive event, where a visitor arrives to claim space at the party’s literal and figurative tables. The tables, set for dinner guests, morph to become walls, doors, screens, containers and, at one point, a mode of transportation. The company’s seven dancers are similarly flexible: their characters embody movements that are joyful, sorrowful, attacked, imprisoned, emphatic and resigned.
The piece leans on the film’s themes of race and family politics and the search for commonality. Snippets of dialogue set the tone and provide comment on some scenes. The piece is set to music by Paul Damian Hogan, a mix of soft and beat-filled ambient, synthesized instrumental, and piano music. Choreographed, directed and designed by Batten Bland, the piece is a moving and absorbing expression of social, political and racial issues. Performances of “Look Who’s Coming to Dinner” are followed by opportunities for attendees and performers to gather and discuss the work over refreshments in the Plimpton Shattuck lobby. Saturday evening’s performance also features a post-show, onstage discussion with Batten Bland and company artists.
A global artist and the child of a jazz composer/producer father and writer mother, Batten Bland says she has a unique blend of “African American flamboyance and European sensibility.” She describes her work as living at the intersection of dance-theater, film and installation, with emotional content that’s accessible and messages that are visceral. Her Company SBB was established in France in 2008. She received stateside support from Mikhail Baryshnikov and the Baryshnikov Arts Center, where she is a resident artist. Batten Bland danced with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Tanztheater Wüppertal Pina Bausch, Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More, and many others. Batten Bland’s work has been seen around the world including The Yard at Martha’s Vineyard from where she received a Bessie Schönberg Fellowship. She is also the recipient of a 2021 grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project.
Production photos for “Look Who’s Coming to Dinner” are available here.
“THE JAZZ CONTINUUM”
Barnes’ (r., photo by Steve Pisano) exuberant show (which she calls an "offering to the continuum") conjures a different kind of party – one a century in the making – where dance and music from generations past meets the vibrant contemporary styles that developed from them. The energy is high with more than a dozen dancers and musicians (and an occasional crossover between the disciplines) exploring the growth and development of uniquely American jazz and Black American social dance styles.
Solos, duets, quartets and full-group dance numbers show a throughline from Jazz & Lindy Hop, to House Dance, Waacking, Hip-Hop and much more. The ensemble creates a convivial vibe, encouraging each other from the perimeter of the performance space, sharing powerful movements in a circle then opening to the audience, which Barnes describes as “both an acknowledgement and an invitation to give back to the continuum.” The musicians play similarly – jazz is a musical conversation between the artists and their instruments, after all. Barnes calls out the “mind-bending artistry” of an onstage DJ/turntablist who helps sculpt the soundscape with scratching and beat layering with doses of Soul, House, Hip-Hop and more. Like the music form for which it’s named, “The Jazz Continuum” centers improvisation; it evolves from show to show, iterative and responsive to the communities where it is presented and their audiences.
The Bessie Award-winning, New York Times-lauded dance “Breakout Star of 2021” LaTasha Barnes is an internationally awarded and celebrated dance artist, educator (Assistant Professor of Dance at Arizona State University), highly decorated U.S. Army Veteran (where she was a SFC/ SATCOM Engineer), and tradition-bearer of Black American Social Dance. Barnes’ parents say she was “dancing before she was breathing,” and recall memories of pre-natal LaTasha grooving in her mother’s womb while she sat next to speakers at parties where her father was a DJ. From this early love and education, her expansive artistic, competitive and performative skills flourished, making her a frequent collaborator with prominent artists and arts organizations around the world. Barnes says she is “deeply honored to be in service” to her culture across social, academic and performative spaces – something she shared on NBC’s TODAY with Hoda & Jenna and in her July 2022 cover profile in DANCE Magazine. After receiving support for and previewing “The Jazz Continuum” in a commissioned debut with the Works & Process program – part of The Guggenheim’s Creative Bubble Residencies program, it was presented at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 2021. After receiving a 2022 NEFA National Dance Project grant the work was presented at The Joyce Theater in 2022.
Production photos for “The Jazz Continuum” are available here.
“Stefanie and LaTasha are powerhouse talents with unique visions, unbeatable resumes and undeniable talent,” says Celebrity Series President and Executive Director Gary Dunning. “But in back-to-back performances in January, they form what I’m certain will be the most exciting dance week Boston has seen in a long time. ‘Look Who’s Coming to Dinner’ is unlike anything we’ve ever served to our audiences. ‘The Jazz Continuum’ is infectiously fun and incredibly smart. These two productions further Celebrity Series’ commitment to present stories from diverse artists. We’re proud to partner with these two brilliant creators and we know that their works will speak - in so many different ways - to audience members from many communities.”
In addition to their performances, Batten Bland and Barnes will lead community events in Boston. A US Army veteran, Barnes will visit and hold a workshop for veterans in the city, along with community workshops to engage the Swing and Street Dance communities in Boston and Cambridge through a multi-day residency at the Dance Complex.
PERFORMANCES and TICKETS
“Look Who’s Coming to Dinner” plays at NEC’s Plimpton Shattuck Black Box Theatre for two shows only: Sat., January 14, 2023 @ 8 PM and Sun., January 15, 2023 @ 3 PM. Tickets are $75, and available online at celebrityseries.org or by phone at 617-482-2595.
“The Jazz Continuum” plays three performances at NEC’s Plimpton Shattuck Black Box: Thu, January 19 @ 8 PM; Fri., January 20 @ 8 PM; and Sat., January 21 @ 8 PM. Tickets are $75, and available online at celebrityseries.org or by phone at 617-482-2595.
NOTE: Due to the Plimpton Shattuck Black Box layout there is no late seating.
FUNDING and SPONSORSHIP
Celebrity Series of Boston’s 2022/23 Dance Series is sponsored by Leslie & Howard Appleby, Stephanie L. Brown Foundation, Cynthia & John S. Reed Foundation, and Royal Little Family Foundation.
Celebrity Series of Boston is grateful to its 2022/23 Season Sponsors Amy & Joshua Boger and to the many individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies whose support helps fulfill their mission to present performing artists who inspire and enrich the community. Individual and institutional supporters include Jill & David Altshuler, Leslie & Howard Appleby, the Barr Foundation through its ArtsAmplified initiative, Stephanie L. Brown Foundation, Julia Byers & Steven Holtzman, Deloitte, D.L. Saunders Real Estate Corp., Foley & Lardner LLP, Kathleen & Chris Gaffney, Harriet and David Griesinger, Klarman Family Foundation, Peter & Anna Kolchinsky, George & Lizbeth Krupp, Liberty Mutual Foundation, Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation, Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Eleanor & Frank Pao, Stephen C. Perry & Oliver Radford, The Rabb Family Foundations, Cynthia and John S. Reed Foundation, The Reopen Creative Boston Fund, administered by the Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, Reuben Reynolds, Sally S. Seaver, PhD, Stifler Family Foundation, Belinda Termeer, Susan & Michael Thonis, Dorothy & Stephen Weber, Yawkey Foundation, U.S. Small Business Administration, Anonymous (3), and many others.
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CALENDAR LISTING – Company SBB // Stefanie Batten Bland “Look Who’s Coming to Dinner”
WHAT Celebrity Series of Boston presents Company SBB // Stefanie Bland Batten’s “Look Who’s Coming to Dinner,” an evocative dance-theater performance inspired by the similarly named 1967 Sydney Poitier film about love, race and finding commonality. The piece explores who is welcomed at society’s actual and metaphorical tables, who is excluded, and why.
WHEN Sat., January 14, 2023 @ 8 PM and Sun., January 15, 2023 @ 3 PM
WHERE Plimpton Stattuck Black Box Theatre at New England Conservatory, 255 St Botolph Street in Boston
TICKETS $75 at celebrityseries.org or 617-482-2595
CALENDAR LISTING – LaTasha Barnes’ “The Jazz Continuum”
WHAT Celebrity Series of Boston presents LaTasha Barnes’ “The Jazz Continuum,” an exuberant heart-lifting performance that traces the parallel histories of uniquely American jazz music and the Black American social dance styles that developed across generations, from Lindy Hop to Hip-hop and beyond.
WHEN Thu-Sat., January 19-21, 2023 @ 8 PM
WHERE Plimpton Stattuck Black Box Theatre at New England Conservatory, 255 St Botolph Street in Boston
TICKETS $75 at celebrityseries.org or 617-482-2595
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2022/23 MID-SEASON CASTING and TICKET ANNOUNCEMENT
RYAN McKINNY STARS IN A NEW PRODUCTION OF BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE FROM DIRECTOR ANNE BOGART
Premiere production runs March 22-26, 2023
JAMEZ MCCORKLE BRINGS HIS ACCLAIMED LEAD PERFORMANCE
TO BOSTON IN RHIANNON GIDDENS AND MICHAEL ABEL’S OMAR
Critically lauded BLO co-commission runs May 4-7, 2023
TICKETS FOR BLUEBEARD AND OMAR ON SALE DEC 1.
BOSTON – Dec. 1 2022 – Casting and production announcements for Boston Lyric Opera’s spring 2023 performances are being released today, including performers in BLO’s premiere production of Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs in March 2023 and the New England premiere of Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’ new opera, Omar in May 2023. Public tickets for both performances are on sale December 1.
BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE/FOUR SONGS
Bass-baritone Ryan McKinny (above, l., photo by Jiyang Chen) stars as the fictional, fairytale character Bluebeard in Béla Bartók’s one-act psychological thriller Bluebeard’s Castle that will be paired with the dramatic song cycle Four Songs (Vier Lieder) by composer Alma Mahler (wife of Gustav). The highly anticipated production is directed by Anne Bogart, whose 2019 version of The Handmaid’s Tale for BLO received universal acclaim and was one of BLO’s best-selling shows. Naomi Louisa O’Connell sings the role of Judith, the bride who realizes she’s gotten herself into a much different post-nuptial situation than she envisioned. O’Connell also performs Mahler’s “Four Songs.” BLO Music Director David Angus conducts. Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs will play March 22-26, 2023 in an immersive, multi-genre experience that includes a salon-like atmosphere, dance and more installed at The Terminal @ Flynn Cruiseport in South Boston.
A full list of the Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs artistic and production team is available here.
OMAR
Tenor Jamez McCorkle (page 1, r., photo by Leigh Webber) stars in Omar, the title role he premiered at the Spoleto Festival last spring and brought to LA Opera this fall. Omar is the story of Omar Ibn Said, a prominent scholar of the Islamic faith and many other subjects, who was born to a wealthy West African family. Enslaved in South Carolina at 37 years old, Ibn Said escaped his first place of enslavement and headed to North Carolina where he lived as a slave until his death in 1864. His is the only known autobiographical essay written in Arabic by a Muslim man enslaved in America.
Grammy winner Rhiannon Giddens wrote the libretto and composed the music in partnership with film and orchestral composer Michael Abels for a production conceived by Kaneza Schaal. Classical Voice San Francisco called the production “a profoundly moving spectacle,” and lauded McCorkle’s performance as “a career-defining role.” Michael Ellis Ingram conducts the BLO Orchestra and Chorus.
Additional casting announced for Omar includes Cierra Byrd in the role of Fatima, Omar’s Mother and Daniel Okulitch playing the dual roles of enslavers James Owen / Johnson. BLO Emerging Artists (current and alumni) in principal roles include: Neal Ferreira as Auctioneer / Taylor; Emma Sorenson as Eliza, Little Daughter; Nicholas LaGesse as Abdul, Omar’s Brother / Abe; and Fred C. VanNess Jr. as Amadou-Renty. Catherine Daniel plays Katie Ellen/The Caller. Omar plays May 4-7, 2023 at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theater.
Additional casting for Omar and a list of the original production creative team is available here. Omar is co-commissioned by Spoleto Festival USA, Carolina Performing Arts, L.A. Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera. It is inspired by Dr. Ala Alryyes’s translation of Omar Ibn Said’s autobiography in his book A Muslim American Slave: The Life of Omar Ibn Said.
TICKETS ON SALE
Individual tickets for BLO’s Spring 2023 performances of Bluebeard’s Castle/Four Songs and Omar are on sale December 1. Two-show subscriptions, also available now, offer a 10% discount over individual tickets.
Subscriptions and individual tickets can be purchased online at blo.org, by phone at 617.542.6772 or by email at boxoffice@blo.org
IN BRITTEN’S BIBLE STORY OPERA “THE PRODIGAL SON,”
A DIRECTOR SEES RECONCILIATION PARABLE THAT OFFERS PATH TO MEND MODERN SOCIAL DIVIDE
Performances Oct 21-22, 2022 @ 7pm in Boston’s Cathedral Church of Saint Paul
Director Kirsten Cairns: “We must be the people who stand by those in need.”
BOSTON -- September 28, 2022 -- The Boston- and U.K.-based Enigma Chamber Opera continues its exploration of chamber works by Benjamin Britten with two performances of the English composer’s biblically inspired 1968 opera “The Prodigal Son.” The work is the third of Britten's three Parables for Church Performance; Enigma mounted the first, “Curlew River,” to critical acclaim last fall. This new production is directed by Artistic Director Kirsten Z. Cairns, who finds in the universal story of parent/child reconciliation and forgiveness a balm for an often bitterly divided society. Perfs are Oct. 21 and 22 @ 7pm at Boston’s Cathedral Church of St. Paul.
This production will be available for streaming on the Enigma Chamber Opera YouTube page for one week starting Oct. 28 at 7 pm.
“The Prodigal Son” libretto is by William Plomer, based on a Christian parable told by Jesus to his disciples in the Gospel of Luke 15. Its story centers on two sons of a farmer – the older a hard-working laborer who tends to the family business and the younger, whose reckless ways see him leaving with then squandering his inheritance in a far-off city. Destitute and defeated, the younger son returns home, begging his father to take him back.
Cairns says the familial reconciliation in the opera resonated for her but not in the typical way. “Often with this story we are meant to identify with the Younger Son or the Elder Son,” Cairn says. “I found myself wondering if we ought to identify with the Father. I am struck by the biblical line, ‘While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.’”
“Last year, in Curlew River we explored the idea that even in your darkest, most desperate days, you will find people who will walk with you, or stand by you; there will be comfort,” Cairns continues. “This year our story seems to tell us we must be the people who stand by those in need. Don’t wait for them to come to you; run out to greet them and throw your arms around them – that is the love we need to embody in this world.”
PRODUCTION CONCEPT
As in Enigma’s mounting of “Curlew River” last fall, “The Prodigal Son” is framed as a spontaneous performance by members of a fraternal community. Cairns leaves the circumstances of the performers’ all-male gathering purposefully vague (is it a church group, a recovery meeting, or something else?), but says the concept was inspired by the welcoming and forgiveness that people can find in a church or other supportive community.
Britten’s work has been central to Enigma’s nascent production history. Cairns directed the company’s debut production -- a highly regarded production of Britten’s supernatural opera “The Turn of the Screw” -- in January 2020. Her direction in November 2021 of “Curlew River” drew capacity audiences as well as critical raves for “uniformly superb” voices, “astonishingly precise” playing, a “powerful” and “transcendent” production and “the best opera production I saw last year.” Enigma will complete the Britten trilogy with a production of “Burning Fiery Furnace” in October 2023.
CAST AND ARTISTIC TEAM
“Curlew River” features seven male singers portraying the gathered men who bookend the main story and characters in that story. Performers are Omar Najmi as The Tempter/Abbott, Aaron Engebreth as The Father, David McFerrin as the Elder Son, Matthew DiBattista as the Younger Son. Paul Soper, Tom Oesterling and Daniel Fridley are chorus members playing servants, beggars and other characters. The performance also features the voices of a small children’s choir.
Kirsten Z. Cairns is Stage Director. Music Director Edward Elwyn Jones (also Music Director of Harvard Memorial Church) leads the eight-piece orchestra and plays organ. Lighting design is by Paul Marr; Rebecca Shannon Butler is costume designer; projection design is by Peter Torpey.
The orchestra includes: flute, Aimee Toner; trumpet, Ryan Noe; horn, Emma Staudacher; viola, Emily Rome; double bass, Daniel Gorn; harp, Angelina Savoia; and percussion, Mike Williams.
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PHOTO THIS PAGE: (l.-r.) Prodigal Son players Matthew DiBattista, Aaron Engebreth and David McFerrin in Enigma’s 2021 production of Curlew River. Photo by Ashlee Rose Scott.
TICKETS
General admission tickets for “The Prodigal Son” are $30; $20 for students and seniors. Tickets are available Fri., Oct. 1 via EnigmaChamberOpera.org or EventBrite.
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CALENDAR LISTING
WHAT: Enigma Chamber Opera presents “The Prodigal Son,” Benjamin Britten’s musical retelling of the biblical parable about two brothers – one loyal to the family business and the other tempted into squandering his inheritance, and their forgiving father.
WHEN: October 21 and 22, 2022 at 7:00 pm
WHERE: The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, 138 Tremont St. in Downtown Boston
TICKETS: $20-30, available via EnigmaChamberOpera.org and at the door.
THE HUNTINGTON REOPENS THE NEWLY RENOVATED HUNTINGTON THEATRE WITH AUGUST WILSON’S MASTERPIECE JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE
The Huntington celebrates Wilson’s legacy and its longstanding relationship with the playwright by dedicating the lobby of the renovated theatre in his name
(BOSTON) – The Huntington announces the casting and creative team for the highly anticipated revival of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, directed by Lili-Anne Brown. Wilson’s masterpiece serves as the inaugural production of the newly renovated Huntington Theatre and runs from October 14 – November 13, 2022, with digital access to the filmed performance available until November 27, 2022.
The Huntington has had a deeply special relationship with playwright August Wilson and his work, having produced all ten of his American Century Cycle plays that chronicle the African American experience in the 20th century (seven prior to their Broadway runs), and his autobiographical one-man show How I Learned What I Learned.
This major revival of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone is particularly meaningful to The Huntington – not only will it reopen the Huntington Theatre after being closed the past two and a half years for the pandemic and its transformational renovation, but it was the first Wilson play that the Huntington ever produced and the start of a fruitful collaboration that lasted until the playwright’s death in 2005. The Huntington partnered with the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1986 for the pre-Broadway production of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone that featured soon-to-be-stars Angela Bassett and Delroy Lindo, and went on to produce all of Wilson’s major works.
August Wilson himself said in a 2004 recorded interview, “I have a long and valued relationship with the Huntington Theatre, and I guard that relationship jealously.” Wilson left an indelible mark on American theatre, and The Huntington will celebrate his legacy by naming the lobby of the newly renovated Huntington Theatre the August Wilson Lobby. Wilson’s widow and estate executor, the Tony Award nominated costume designer Constanza Romero, will attend the opening night performance of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone on October 19 and unveil the plaque in his honor.
ABOUT THE PLAY
Joe Turner's Come and Gone is set in a boarding house in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1911, where owners Seth and Bertha Holly play host to a makeshift community of African Americans, many who have left the farms of the South to come to the cities of the North. Newcomer Herald Loomis arrives with his daughter in tow, in search of his lost wife after having spent 7 years of forced labor working for Joe Turner – but first he must regain a sense of his own heritage and identity.
Director Lili-Anne Brown says her approach to this production is to “Be reverent and uplift this work, but also approach it with fresh eyes.” She notes that the characters in the play are experiencing the Great Migration and a period of upheaval, and wants to explore what it means to stage this production after the pandemic as another period of tremendous social change. “Some of these characters are one generation out from slavery,” she continues. “They are all asking, where is home, how does one find it, and find oneself.”
“I can think of no better way to welcome our community home than with August Wilson’s masterwork,” says Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “I’m especially thrilled to do so with the astounding Lili-Anne Brown at the helm and a cast that boasts so mightily of Boston artistry.”
The cast of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone includes notable actors from the Boston area and around the country. They are, in order of appearance:
- Maurice Emmanuel Parent as Seth Holly, the hardworking and practical owner of the boarding house he runs with his wife Bertha. Credits include Common Ground Revisited, Sweat, Merrily We Roll Along, Skeleton Crew and more at The Huntington, Co-Producing Artistic Director of The Front Porch Arts Collective.
- Shannon Lamb as Bertha Holly who runs the boarding house with her husband Seth, making biscuits and acting as peacemaker. Credits include Common Ground Revisited at The Huntington, Letters to Kamala (WAM), Joe Turner's Come and Gone (UMASS Theater), It Happened in Little Rock, and Because of Winn Dixie (Arkansas Repertory Theatre).
- Robert Cornelius as Bynum Walker, a resident of the boarding house, a spiritual man who practices folk magic and has a talent for binding people together. Credits include Her Honor Jane Byrne (Lookingglass Theatre), Lottery Day (Goodman Theatre), and Hamlet (Gift Theatre).
- Lewis D. Wheeler as Rutherford Selig, a traveling salesman who describes himself as a “people finder,” and who sells raw materials to Seth then buys back the pans and wares Seth makes. Credits include No Man’s Land (ART), Pass Over (SpeakEasy Stage), Long Day’s Journey Into Night (New Repertory Theatre), and Book of Will (Lyric Stage).
- Stewart Evan Smith as Jeremy Furlow, a cheerful young man and boarder, looking for a good job and some female companionship. Credits include Black Superhero Magic Mama (Company One), Vanity Fair (Underground Railway Theatre), The Crucible (Bedlam/The Nora Theatre Company), and The Three Musketeers (Greater Boston Stage Company).
- James Ricardo Milord as Herald Loomis, a newcomer to Pittsburgh, searching for his lost wife and trying to put his life back together after 7 years of forced labor. Credits include Common Ground Revisited at The Huntington, Paradise Blue (Gloucester Stage) and the premiere of Young Nerds of Color (Central Square Theater).
- Young actors Gray Flaherty and Alana Ross alternate as Zonia Loomis, Herald Loomis’ daughter. Gray is an 8th grader at the Shady Hill School in Cambridge, and Alana is a 5th grader at the Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School in Cambridge.
- Al-nisa Petty playing Mattie Campbell, a hopeful young woman looking for the lover who recently left her. Credits include Kin (WP Theater), Twelfth Night (The Acting Company), and School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Berkeley Rep).
- Eli Lapaix and Joshua McKenna alternate as Reuben Mercer, a neighborhood boy who befriends Zonia. Eli is a 7th grader at Waring School in Beverly. Joshua has appeared in A Christmas Carol (2021-22) and The Bodyguard (2019) at North Shore Music Theatre.
- Dela Meskienyar as Molly Cunningham, a happily single, independent young woman who flirts with Jeremy. Credits include The Beginning Days of True Jubilation at the New Ohio Theater.
- Patrese D. McClain as Martha Pentecost, Herald Loomis’ wife and Zonia’s mother, who has come to Pittsburgh in search of a new life. Credits include Jitney (Broadway tour), Twilight (Syracuse Stage), Pipeline and Skeleton Crew (Actors Theatre).
- Understudies include Kadahj Bennett, Kelsey Fonise, David Kelly, Melanie Loren, and Damon Singletary.
The creative team for Joe Turner’s Come and Gone includes scenic design by Arnel Sancianco (Once on this Island at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ain’t No Mo’ at Woolly Mammoth), lighting design by Jason Lynch (You Are Here: An Evening with Solea Pfeiffer Off Broadway), costume design by Samantha C. Jones (Black Odyssey at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, King James at Steppenwolf), and sound design by Aubrey Dube (The Bluest Eye at The Huntington, Trayf and Good at New Rep). Hair, wig, and makeup design is by Earon D. Nealey, Sandy Alexandre is the dramaturg, Ted Hewlett is the fight choreographer, Jermaine Hill is the music consultant, Kurt Douglas is the movement consultant, Gregory Geffrard is the intimacy consultant, and Carla McDonough is the young person coordinator. The production stage manager is Emily F. McMullen and the stage manager is Ashley Pitchford.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
August Wilson (Playwright) (April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) authored Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. These works explore the heritage and experience of African Americans, decade-by-decade, over the course of the 20thcentury. His plays have been produced at The Huntington, at regional theatres across the country and all over the world, as well as on Broadway. In 2003, Mr. Wilson made his professional stage debut in his one-man show How I Learned What I Learned.
His works garnered many awards including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987) and The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney; as well as eight New York Drama Critics Circle Awards. Additionally, the cast recording of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award, and Mr. Wilson received a 1995 Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano Lesson. Mr. Wilson’s early works included one-act plays The Janitor, Recycle, The Coldest Day of the Year, Malcom X, The Homecoming, and the musical satire Black Bert and the Sacred Hills.
Mr. Wilson received many fellowships and awards, including Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships in playwrighting, the Whiting Writers Award, 2003 Heinz Award, and a 1999 National Humanities Medal given by the President of the United States, and numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities, as well as the only high school diploma ever issued by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. He was an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 1995 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and on October 16, 2005, Broadway renamed the theatre located at 245 West 52nd Street – The August Wilson Theatre. Additionally, Mr. Wilson was posthumously inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2007.
Mr. Wilson was born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, PA and lived in Seattle, WA at the time of his death. He was survived by his two daughters, Sakina Ansari and Azula Carmen Wilson, and his wife, costume designer Constanza Romero.
Lili-Anne Brown (Director), a Chicago South Side native, works as a director, actor and educator, and has performed in, directed and produced many award-winning shows in Chicago and nationally. She is the former Artistic Director of Bailiwick Chicago, where she focused programming on Chicago-premiere musicals and new play development with resident playwrights. Recent directing credits include School Girls, or The African Mean Girls Play and the world premieres of Ike Holter’s I Hate It Here and Lottery Day (Goodman Theatre), Ain’t No Mo’ (Woolly Mammoth), The Color Purple (The Muny), Once on This Island (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Acoustic Rooster...(Kennedy Center), Spunk (Roundabout Theatre virtual), Put Your House in Order (La Jolla Playhouse). She is a member of SDC, AEA, and SAG-AFTRA, and represented by William Morris Endeavor. lilbrownchicago.com
WHEN
In-person performances: October 14 – November 13, 2022
Select Evenings: Tues. – Thurs. at 7pm; Fri. – Sat. at 8pm; select Sun. at 7pm
Matinees: Select Wed., Sat., and Sun. at 2pm
Days and times vary; see complete schedule above.
Digital: Available October 31 until November 27, 2022
WEEKNIGHT CURTAIN TIME CHANGE:
Please note that the Tues, Wed, and Thurs performances of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone will begin at 7pm (as they are school nights for our youngest cast members).
Anticipated running time: 2 hours 40 minutes, including one intermission
Press Opening: Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at 6:45pm (please note special curtain time!) Please RSVP here for press night or other available performances.
WHERE
The newly renovated Huntington Theatre
264 Huntington Avenue, Boston
TICKETS
Tickets to in-person performances and to a digital recording of the performance start at $25. Season ticket packages and FlexPasses are also now on sale:
- online at huntingtontheatre.org
- by phone at 617-266-0800;
- or in person at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, South End, Boston; or the Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, starting October 10
Select discounts apply:
- $10 off: season ticket holders
- $30 “35 Below” tickets for patrons 35 years old and younger (valid ID required)
- $20 student and military tickets (valid ID required)
ACCESS PERFORMANCES FOR JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE
Tickets are $20 for each patron and their guests. To reserve tickets please email access@huntingtontheatre.org, call ticketing services at 617-266-0800, or in person at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, South End, Boston. Accessible performances are supported in part by the Liberty Mutual Foundation.
ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE: Friday, November 4 at 8pm. The Huntington offers American Sign Language interpretation at designated performances for patrons who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE: Tuesday, November 8 at 7pm. The Huntington offers open captioning at designated performances for any patron who benefits from having the text of spoken dialogue visible in time with the play.
AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE: Saturday, November 12 at 2pm. The Huntington offers audio description for patrons who are blind or low-vision at designated performances. Please visit huntingtontheatre.org/visit/
Large Print and Braille Programs will also be available for patrons at performances.
DIGITAL INSURANCE
If patrons ever feel as if they would rather not see Joe Turner’s Come and Gone in person – for any reason – they can easily exchange their tickets into a specially recorded version of this play. OR, they can purchase tickets to the digital version of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone in advance.
The digital recording of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone will be available October 31 until November 27, 2022.
JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE MASK POLICY:
Masked Matinees: Masks covering patrons’ mouth and nose will be required for everyone in the building during matinee performances and must be worn at all times except when actively eating or drinking concessions, available for purchase during intermission. Mask requirements will be enforced by front of house staff.
Masks encouraged evening performances: All patrons are encouraged to wear a mask, except when actively eating or drinking concessions, for everyone’s comfort and safety. Mask wearing is not required and will not be enforced. Huntington staff will continue to wear masks.
Any patron interested in attending a different performance will be able to exchange their tickets by contacting The Huntington’s ticketing services staff. The Huntington asks that any patron experiencing COVID symptoms stay home and contact ticketing services for more information about exchanges.
ABOUT THE SHOW ART:
The show art for Joe Turner’s Come and Gone was created by Boston artist Ekua Holmes and commissioned by The Huntington especially for this production. Holmes is a Roxbury-based artist, illustrator, and arts administrator, known for her vibrant collages that depict urban life. Selections of Holmes’ artwork will be on display in the renovated Huntington Theatre’s newly created 2nd floor arcade gallery during the run of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating 40 years of outstanding theatre, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community. Committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, The Huntington provides life-changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, acts as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA. Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Managing Director Michael Maso, The Huntington is reopening the historic Huntington Theatre this fall after its transformational renovation. A storied venue with a bold vision for the future, the project will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
KAIROS DANCE THEATER’S HUSK/VESSEL MARKS RETURN OF
DANCE LEGEND PAULA JOSA-JONES FOR COLLABORATION WITH ACCLAIMED REGIONAL COMPANY
Fall Premiere Performances Run Oct. 14 – 15 at Boston University Dance Theater
BOSTON – September 23, 2022 – Legendary contemporary choreographer and dancer Paula Josa-Jones returns to Boston next month to premiere HUSK/VESSEL with acclaimed performance company KAIROS Dance Theater. Performances run Friday, Oct. 14 @ 7:30p and Saturday Oct. 15 @ 3p and 7:30p at Boston University Dance Theater.
HUSK/VESSEL was conceived by Josa-Jones and co-choreographed with KAIROS co-founder and executive artistic director DeAnna Pellecchia, who has danced with Josa-Jones for over 20 years. The artists’ long shared history informs the work’s collaborative creation, grounded in a visually rich and viscerally somatic style of movement. This is Josa-Jones’s first work choreographed for KAIROS. Having focused on a robust ongoing career with her own company – exploring interspecies dance with humans and horses, and bringing solo and group performances around the country – this is the first major ensemble work Josa-Jones has created for another professional dance company in nearly 20 years.
HUSK/VESSEL was developed, set and rehearsed entirely during the pandemic, drawing on Pellecchia and Josa-Jones’s close working relationship to transcend COVID limitations. “Working with DeAnna in this way has challenged both of us, especially developing a collaborative work in separate, virtual spaces,” says Josa-Jones. “Neither of us has worked this way before. It is a real privilege to work with DeAnna and her company, which pushes the dancers to fully explore the edges of themselves.”
Josa-Jones says that in HUSK/VESSEL costume and fabric are both covering and habitat, concealing and revealing the dancers and their movement, as well as simultaneously limiting and expanding the possibilities for movement and character. The work features an all-female cast in solos, duets and groups, each inhabiting a unique garment-world of their own, exploring gradual and abrupt transformations and interactions as soloists and as an ensemble.
“Paula’s creation process demands that each of the dancers make deep personal connections, exploring the somatic and emotional relationships with layers of fabric,” Pellecchia says. “That connection is deeply personal to me, having first met Paula when I was a dancer in her company. This work is a love letter to Paula from me. She taught me what I know, and now I teach dancers what I know. This idea of passing down knowledge and experience is sacred in this piece – something I think will really resonate with audiences.”
Josa-Jones opens the show with a new solo work for herself. CAVALLUS was created as an “offering in movement” to honor the passing of Capprichio, her beloved Andalusian stallion. Josa-Jones is renowned for an extensive body of work with an inter-species company including horses, dancers and riders. Her equine work includes live performance, film, teaching, and humanitarian work with rescued and abused animals.
TICKETS AND LOCATION DETAILS
HUSK/VESSEL tickets are $20-25 and available directly on Eventbrite here and via KAIROS Dance Theater website. Tickets also will be available for purchase at the door. Performances take place at Boston University Dance Theater, located at 915 Commonwealth Ave.
ABOUT KAIROS DANCE THEATER
Established in 2012, KAIROS Dance Theater creates emotionally powerful performances that promote art as a threshold for communication and social change. KAIROS aims to redefine the role of art in culture by crafting projects that speak to social issues and work towards rewriting culturally defined narratives. KAIROS’s immersive, multi-sensory performances have been featured as a "Critics’ Pick" eighteen times by the Boston Globe; and presented throughout New England, the United States and around the world at galleries, museums, theaters, site-specific landscapes, and educational spaces. Learn more at www.kairosdancetheater.org.
ABOUT PAULA JOSA-JONES
Paula Josa-Jones is a dancer/actor, choreographer, writer, visual artist and movement educator known for her visually rich, emotionally charged dance theater. Her work includes dances for humans, inter-species work with horses and dancers, film and video. Josa-Jones has been called “one of the country’s leading choreographic conceptualists” by The Boston Globe, and the Village Voice describes her work as “powerful, eccentric, and surreal.” Her dances have been produced in Russia, Europe, Mexico and throughout the United States. She has taught in the dance programs at Tufts University, Boston University and at universities, colleges and dance festivals nationally and internationally. Learn more at www.paulajosajones.org.
# # #
CALENDAR LISTING FOR HUSK/VESSEL
WHAT: The KAIROS Dance Theater company premiere of HUSK/VESSEL marks a return to Boston for legendary contemporary choreographer and dancer Paula Josa-Jones, with whom Kairos Artistic Director DeAnna Pellecchia has worked extensively. The evening-length piece conceived by Josa-Jones and co-choreographed with Pellecchia for KAIROS explores costumes and clothing as both covering and habitat, and how actual and metaphorical layers aid humans in hiding or revealing themselves. Josa-Jones opens the show with a new solo work, CAVALLUS.
WHEN: Fri. Oct. 14, 2022, 7:30 pm; and Sat. Oct. 15, 2022, 3 pm and 7:30 pm
WHERE: Boston University Dance Theater, 915 Commonwealth Ave. in Boston
TICKETS: $20-25 and available on Eventbrite here and the KAIROS Dance Theater website.
COVID: Mask-wearing is optional in the Boston University Dance Theater.
BLO BOARD OF DIRECTORS APPOINTS
BRADLEY VERNATTER
AS GENERAL DIRECTOR AND CEO
Appointment follows Vernatter’s term as Acting General and Artistic Director.
Artistic Director search will expand BLO leadership team to realize the new strategic
plan, and bring a collaborative new creative voice to the company.
BOSTON – Sept 22, 2022 – The Boston Lyric Opera Board of Directors, led by Michael J. Puzo, voted this week to appoint Bradley Vernatter as the Stanford Calderwood General Director and CEO, the company’s highest leadership position. The appointment follows Vernatter’s term as Acting General and Artistic Director. At Vernatter’s suggestion to expand the company’s leadership team, the Board moved to split the previous role into two positions and open a search for a new Artistic Director.
“There is clear enthusiasm on the board for Brad's leadership and his artistic vision during the past two seasons, which brought the company new artistic triumphs and growth while navigating unexpectedly troubled waters,” Puzo says. He noted the Board recognizes Vernatter’s accomplishments, including:
· Stewarding company operations, fundraising, and finances to continue producing throughout the pandemic and beyond; Producing BLO’s return to live opera following the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, from Cavalleria Rusticana in fall 2021, its free performance of Romeo & Juliet on the Boston Common this summer and its upcoming production of La bohème; Expanding the Company’s relationships with notable artists including Rhiannon Giddens, Michael Abels, Stephanie Blythe, Ellen Reid, Nico Muhly, Isabel Leonard, Talise Trevigne and others; Developing the Company’s streaming platform, operabox.tv and producing critically acclaimed films and series such as the animated film of Philip Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher, the cinematic adaptation of Ana Sokolovic’s Svadba, and the genre-leading eight-part opera miniseries desert in; Launching BLO Street Stage, the Company’s mobile performance stage to bring opera to the region; Conducting an assessment of inequity and social justice at the company, and in the opera field; and Leading a planning process that resulted in a five-year Strategic Plan and revamped mission and vision statements for the Company. “With an ambitious plan for BLO’s future in place,” Puzo says, “we look forward to expanding the leadership team and to welcoming a new Artistic Director to the company and the city.” The Artistic Director position will report to the General Director and CEO, and will be a partner with Vernatter and Music Director David Angus in planning artistic programs for the company. Boston Lyric Opera completed its Strategic Planning process earlier this year, resulting in a comprehensive, forward-thinking plan to guide the artistic and administrative direction of the company over the next five years. The BLO Board of Directors adopted the plan, which revises the company’s mission and vision statements, and centers on: expanding the breadth of artistic programs; strengthening ties to regional and national communities; developing new leaders for the industry; and centering values of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. “I am grateful for the leaders, artists and supporters who have contributed to BLO’s tremendous legacy and I am motivated by our new five-year plan,” says Vernatter. “We have the opportunity to put a stronger emphasis on being part of Boston’s civic and cultural fabric while producing the best of opera that inspires us and connects us.”
ABOUT BRADLEY VERNATTER
Vernatter began working with Boston Lyric Opera in 2015 and was appointed Acting Stanford Calderwood General and Artistic Director in May 2021. He previously served as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. Earlier, Vernatter was Director of Operations for Opera Omaha and Associate Producer for its ONE Festival. He held artistic and management positions with Ireland’s Wexford Festival Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, the Castleton (Va.) Festival, and the Miller Theatre at Columbia University in New York City.
In 2020, Vernatter was recognized by Boston Business Journal as one of the “40 Under 40” rising young leaders. He is a member of the YW Boston LeadBoston 2022 cohort and serves on the Board of Advisors at Artists For Humanity, a non-profit that empowers teens through employment in the arts. In addition, Vernatter contributes to social entrepreneurship projects addressing access to basic services.
Vernatter holds a Master of Business Administration from the IE-Brown MBA program (Madrid/Providence, R.I.) as well as a Bachelor of Arts from Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio and a certificate in professional fundraising from Boston University. He is an alumnus of the OPERA America Leadership Intensive, through which he has participated in the Civic Action Group and as a reviewer for grants.
AN AUGMENTED-REALITY DANCE EXPERIENCE, THE FIRST BY ARTS COLLECTIVE THE CLICK, OFFERS SITE-SPECIFIC CONTEMPORARY DANCE THAT VIEWERS WATCH ON MOBILE DEVICES
“Emotive Land” Explores Need for Harmony Among Art, Culture, Innovation and Nature In Cambridge’s Tech-Focused Kendall Square.
Viewer-Driven Experience Launches October 1 with Free Live Performance.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – September 7, 2022 – The newly formed arts collective The Click launches its first project – an immersive, augmented reality (“AR”) contemporary dance experience called “Emotive Land” – on Oct. 1 at 1 pm in Cambridge’s Kendall Square Canal District. “Emotive Land” engages dance, music, film and technology in an AR experience that investigates a growing need for harmony among art, culture, innovation and nature while animating the natural and built environments of the tech-focused neighborhood. A one-hour free live performance, at which live dancers will move and engage with digital content at sites along the water, celebrates the app launch. (Launch event rain date is Oct. 2 at 1 pm)
“Emotive Land” is accessed through an app that allows audience members to view virtual dance performances on smartphone screens at specific sites. The app will be accessible from The Click website wwwtheclickboston.com, as well as Apple App Store, Google Play Store and other app locations on Oct. 1. The project was conceived and co-created by The Click founding members Kristin Wagner and Lonnie Stanton with app development by James Peerless.
Stanton choreographed the performances in the app and for the live launch event. Her native Hawaiian heritage informs the curatorial lens for the project, which centers on nature's resilience and encourages viewers to consider a relationship to the land rooted in stewardship versus hierarchical ownership. Stanton says the creative team considered how physical constraints of public spaces shape both human expression and growth, and worked to create an experience that helps viewers understand the “dynamic dance” that persists between themselves and their environment.
Through technology designed by software engineer Peerless, “Emotive Land” transforms public spaces into places to discover, access and enjoy contemporary dance. Peerless says AR technology has gained popularity among developers and in commercial uses, evidenced by the wildly popular “Pokemon Go” game that swept the globe in 2016 and its use by retailers to help customers to envision how furniture or products might look in their homes.
“The overlap of AR technology and the arts is pretty small right now, but it's growing,” Peerless says. Viewers who download the app and open it near the Kendall Square Canal District will encounter visual prompts that lead them to spots where virtual dancers appear on their screens, seeming to interact with actual locations. “It’s a way to bring the feeling of being at a live performance in an on-demand way,” Peerless says.
With no set show time and no cost, “Emotive Land” encourages more access to dance experiences. “We want people to see the power of community when engaging with this work,” Wagner says. “The pandemic made us realize we can coexist and thrive with technology; that’s why we [Click artists] chose a technological venture as our first project. Our work is heightened by the creative freedom that technology offers – audience members are free to come and go at any time.”
The app for “Emotive Land” will be available October 1 through November 30.
Artists for “Emotive Land” include (in alpha order) dancer Angelina Benitez (Lynnfield, Mass.), dancer/choreographer/ filmmaker Olivia Blaisdell (Roslindale, Mass.), dancer/choreographer/ \
filmmaker Lindsay Caddle LaPointe (Stow, Mass.), dancer Rachel Linsky (Brighton, Mass.), dancer Alexandria Nunweiler (Malden, Mass.), app developer and tech consultant James Peerless (Newton, Mass.), dancer/choreographer Lonnie Stanton (South Boston), composer/sound designer Nate Tucker (Somerville, Mass.) and dancer Kristin Wagner (Lunenburg, Mass.).
SUPPORT AND FUNDING
“Emotive Land” is made possible in part by grants and residencies received from Boston Moving Arts Productions, The Dance Complex BLOOM Residency Program, ArtAssembled, the Somerville Arts Council through the AIR Residency Program, and the New England Foundation for the Arts’ New England Dance Fund, with support from the Aliad Fund at the Boston Foundation and the Live Arts Boston grant from the Boston Foundation.
Emotive Land is made possible in part by grants and residencies received from: Boston Moving Arts Productions, The Dance Complex BLOOM Residency Program, ArtAssembled and the Somerville Arts Council through the AIR Residency Program, the New England Foundation for the Arts’ New England Dance Fund, with generous support from the Aliad Fund at the Boston Foundation, and the Live Arts Boston grant from the Boston Foundation.
ABOUT THE CLICK
Developed in 2021, The Click is a collaborative dance company and creative collective in Greater Boston. Its members are dancers whose primary medium of physical expression is through contemporary dance ], but who experiment in many modes and genres of creativity. As a collective, The Click’s members are deeply invested in answering the universally complex question: who are we and what are we doing here?
The Click contributes to the consistent presence of creativity in the region in several ways: by educating pre-professional youth dancers, professional adult dancers and the dance-curious of any age; performing original creations at traditional and non-traditional venues in Massachusetts, across New England and beyond; and by investing in the curiosity of those new to dance (in Boston or in general) by maintaining an open, inclusive and accessible community. Learn more about The Click at www.theclickboston.com.
# # #
CALENDAR LISTING
WHAT: “Emotive Land” is an app-based augmented reality experience that engages dance, music, film and technology to investigate the need for harmony among art, culture, innovation and nature in Cambridge’s Kendall Square. A live dance performance launches the app along the area’s waterfront.
WHEN: Sat. Oct. 1 @ 1 pm (Rain date: Sun. Oct. 2 @ 1pm). App will be available for download to view the augmented reality experience starting Oct 1 through Nov. 30, 2022
WHERE: Live performance begins at 15 Broad Canal Way in Cambridge (near PaddleBoston). It follows a walking path along the Charles River with several stops. The path is fully accessible and includes about 15 minutes of walking.
ENTRY: The event (and the app) are free and available to the public.
COVID: Masking and social distancing is encouraged at this open-air, outdoor event.
THE HUNTINGTON ANNOUNCES THAT CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED
NEW MUSICAL SING STREET EXTENDS THROUGH
OCTOBER 9 DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND
(BOSTON) – The
Huntington in association with Sing Street LLC announces
an additional week of performances for the joyous new musical Sing
Street, based on the hit 2016 indie film of the same title by John Carney (“Modern Love,” Begin Again, Once), with
a book by Tony Award winner Enda Walsh (Lazarus, Once),
and music and lyrics by Gary Clark (front man of Danny Wilson)
and Carney, now playing at The Huntington’s Calderwood
Pavilion at the BCA through October 9, 2022.
Enthusiastic audiences have been on their feet for this critically-acclaimed new musical. The Boston Globe says Sing Street is “exuberant” and “packs a visceral punch.” GBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen calls Sing Street “extraordinary. A show where hope is alive and infectious. I woke up thinking about it.” WBUR praises Sing Street’s “top-notch cast” and adds that it’s “bursting with the buoyancy of youth,” and Theatrely says it’s “transcendent theatre! Cathartic and joyous.”
The story is set in Dublin, 1982. Everyone is out of work. Thousands are seeking bluer skies across the Irish Sea. 17-year-old Conor and his schoolmates find an escape from their troubles by forming a band to impress Raphina, a mysterious girl who catches Conor’s eye. With an original score that embraces the sounds of the ‘80s, Sing Street celebrates the joy of first love and the power of music.
Tony Award winner Rebecca Taichman (Indecent on Broadway and at The Huntington) directs, and Tony Award winner & Obie Award winner Sonya Tayeh (Moulin Rouge on Broadway) choreographs.
Sing Street features Adam Bregman, Courtnee Carter, Billy Carter, Jack DiFalco, Dónal Finn, Anthony Genovesi, Michael Lepore, Diego Lucano, Elijah Lyons, Alexa Xioufaridou Moster, Anne L. Nathan, Gian Perez, Dee Roscioli, Armand Schultz and Ben Wang, with Leigh Barrett, Gable Kinsman, Nael Nacer, Matthew Pantanella, Ale Philippides, and Virginia Vogel.
The production features scenic design by seven-time Tony Award winner Bob Crowley (Once, An American in Paris), costume design by Crowley and Lisa Zinni (Freestyle Love Supreme), lighting design by seven-time Tony Award winner Natasha Katz (Once, Frozen), sound design by Tony and Grammy Award winner & Olivier Award nominee Peter Hylenski (Moulin Rouge), video design by Luke Halls (The Lehman Trilogy) and Brad Peterson (West Side Story), and hair and makeup design by Tommy Kurzman (Mrs. Doubtfire). Music supervision is by Peter Gordeno and Kris Kukul (Beetlejuice), Fred Lassen (Prince of Broadway) is music director, with casting by Tara Rubin Casting. Production stage manager is Karyn Meek and stage manager is Amanda Spooner.
Enhancement funding for Sing Street is provided by Barbara Broccoli, Patrick Milling Smith, Frederick Zollo, Orin Wolf, Brian Carmody, Michael G. Wilson, The Shubert Organization, Greta Anderson/ Nikolas Anderson, David Droga, John Gore Organization, Kimberly Steward, Caledonia Productions/ Kalin-Rubinstein, No Guarantees/Federman-Koenigberg, William Berlind/Hendel-Karmazin, Independent Presenters Network/LD Entertainment, James Trezza/Scanlan-Perakos, Zell Riley Blume/Rose-Narang, Daryl Roth/Tom Tuft, OD Company Co./Ashruf, and Sony Music Masterworks, in association with Sing Street LLC. Executive Producers are Patrick Daly and Alecia Parker.
TICKETS AND INFO:
August 26 – October 9, 2022
Select Evenings: Tues. – Thurs. at 7:30pm; Fri.
– Sat. at 8pm; select Sun. at 7pm
Matinees: Select Wed., Sat., and Sun. at 2pm
Days and times vary; see complete schedule above.
Run time: 2:20 including one intermission
WHERE
The Huntington/Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
527 Tremont Street, South End, Boston
TICKETS
Tickets start at $25. Season ticket packages and
FlexPasses are also now on sale:
online at huntingtontheatre.org
by phone at 617-266-0800; or in person at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, South End, Boston
Select discounts apply:
$10 off: season ticket holders
$30 “35 Below” tickets for patrons 35 years old
and younger (valid ID required)
$20 student and military tickets (valid ID required)
ACCESS PERFORMANCES FOR SING STREET
Tickets are $20 for each patron and their guests. To reserve tickets please email access@huntingtontheatre.org, call ticketing services at 617-266-0800, or in person at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, South End, Boston. Accessible performances are supported in part by the Liberty Mutual Foundation.
OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE: Tuesday, September
13 at 7:30pm.
The Huntington offers open captioning at designated performances for any patron who benefits from having the text of spoken dialogue visible in time with the play.
AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE: Saturday, September
24 at 2pm.
The Huntington offers audio description for patrons who are blind or low-vision at designated performances. Please visit huntingtontheatre.org/visit/accessibility for information.
ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE: Friday, September
30 at 8pm.
The Huntington offers American Sign Language
interpretation at designated performances for patrons who are Deaf or hard of
hearing.
WITH HOPE FOR A ROBUST RETURN TO THE ARTS THIS FALL, GREATER BOSTON ARTS EXPO OFFERS THE CITY’S LARGEST-EVER LIVE SEASON PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 19
BOSTON – August 29, 2022 – Nearly 60 performing arts organizations from across the region will convene on the Rose Kennedy Greenway (Atlantic Avenue between Milk Street and High Street) next month for the Greater Boston Arts Expo (GBAX, BostonArtsExpo.com), an audience-focused celebration of the 2022-’23 performing arts season that comprises the city’s largest-ever live season preview. GBAX will feature a variety of free public performances, ticket and season discount offers, and a chance to meet artists and the people behind shows and events coming up this year.
The Greater Boston Arts Expo takes place September 19 from 4-8 pm and is produced by arts service organizations ArtsBoston and StageSource, with support from the City of Boston, the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District, the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, Lexus Broadway in Boston, and the Cultural Equity Incubator. The Boston Globe is lead media sponsor for the event.
The paths and sidewalks of the Greenway between Rings Fountain and Rowes Wharf Plaza will be lined with tents and tables staffed by regional artists and arts leaders. During the family-friendly event local celebrity emcees will welcome performances ranging from dance and rap to opera and Shakespeare, from drag to flamenco and classical music to musical theatre – all on a main stage provided by Boston Dance Alliance and The Wandering Stage. Pop-up performances, family activities including a “selfie station” with props from StageSource’s Props Co-Op, and arts-centered interactive games that encourage arts exploration will happen throughout the event.
Although free, attendees are encouraged to register for the event for updates and to request special accessibility needs. GBAX will have ASL interpretation, audio description and accessibility assistance.
Trillium Brewing Company’s Garden on the Greenway will open for the evening. Food trucks (including Revelry, the winner of Boston magazine’s 2022 Best Food Truck) will offer meal options to GBAX attendees. Onsite discounts and dozens of hourly opportunities to win free tickets will be available.
Among the organizations that will be part of GBAX (in alphabetical order):
Actors’ Shakespeare Project
American Repertory Theater
Arts Connect International
ArtsBoston
ArtsEmerson
Back Bay Ringers
Ballroom in Boston
Beheard.world
Blue Man Group Boston
Boch Center for the Performing Arts
Boston Center for the Arts
Boston Dance Alliance
Boston Lyric Opera
Boston Philharmonic Orchestra
Boston Playwrights' Theatre
Broadway In Boston
Cappella Clausura Inc.
Celebrity Series of Boston
Central Square Theater
City Ballet of Boston
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company
Company One
Coro Allegro
Cultural Equity Incubator
Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatres
Emerson Colonial Theatre
Emmanuel Music
Footlight Club
Fresh Ink Theatre Company
Global Arts Live
Greater Boston Stage Company
Guerilla Opera
Handel and Haydn Society
Hub Theatre Company of Boston
The Huntington
Jewish Arts Collaborative
Liars & Believers
Longy School of Music of Bard College
Lurenzone Theatrics
Lyric Stage Company of Boston
Moonbox Productions
Mosesian Center for the Arts
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
New Repertory Theatre
OnStage Dance Company
Puppet Showplace Theater
Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston
Regent Theatre
Revels, Inc.
Sarasa Chamber Music Ensemble
Sh*tfaced Shakespeare
Slate Casting
SpeakEasy Stage Company
StageSource Props Co-Op
Suffolk University Theatre Department
The Theater Offensive
Titanic Theatre Company
Wheelock Family Theatre
ArtsBoston Executive Director Catherine Peterson (she/her) says GBAX will connect Boston’s revitalized performing and visual arts sector with city residents, visitors and workers itching to get back to performances and events. “We know audience members are eager to come back to the arts; they started dipping their toes back in last season,” Peterson says. “With most arts groups back in full force this fall, and so much to see and do, we want to produce a celebratory event where arts lovers of all kinds can learn about the theater, dance, music, and visual arts coming up. At GBAX, people will be able to plan their arts calendars for the season.”
StageSource Interim Executive Director Jen Lewis (she/her) says she’s excited about the great stories and performances that will be on city stages this year. “GBAX is a rare opportunity for audiences to experience and directly interact with a wide variety of artists and organizations doing incredible creative work around the region,” Lewis says. “Performers on the GBAX stage and organizations bringing resources to the event are a cross-section of what’s happening culturally in Boston. Our emphasis is to help smaller and BIPOC-led organizations become better known among audiences this season. GBAX will be a truly inclusive and diverse event in every way – and a lot of fun!”
"Bringing audiences to the arts in Boston means supporting the shops and restaurants here, which means a real and reliable boost to the downtown economy," says Downtown Boston BID Interim Co-Director Anita Lauricella. "It's in the city's best interest that the arts thrive here and we're proud to support this effort to make that happen."
"The Greater Boston CVB is thrilled to sponsor this inaugural festival,” says Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Martha Sheridan. “The arts and cultural tourism sector must fully recover for the visitor economy as a whole to thrive. Cultural organizations were particularly hard hit by the pandemic and we are excited to participate in events such as the Greater Boston Arts Expo that aim to reengage and reinvigorate arts audiences."
# # #
Read more about StageSource here / Read more about ArtsBoston here.
MEDIA CONTACT: For details on the Greater Boston Arts Expo, including interviews with organizers and an up-to-date list of participants, contact John Michael Kennedy at 781-620-1761 or jmk@jmkpr.com.THE HUNTINGTON ANNOUNCES SCHEDULE CHANGE FOR BHANGIN’ IT: A BANGIN’ NEW MUSICAL
DUE TO MANUFACTURING DELAY FOR HUNTINGTON THEATRE RENOVATION
(BOSTON): The Huntington announces that its production of Bhangin’ It: A Bangin’ New Musical has been rescheduled due to the delay of a critical electronic component required for the new automated rigging system at the newly renovated Huntington Theatre. Originally scheduled to run December 4, 2022 – January 8, 2023, The Huntington will reschedule the exuberant Bhangin’ It for summer 2023 as the final show of its 22/23 season.
The Huntington has made significant progress on the extensive restoration of the Huntington Theatre over the past 19 months during an extraordinarily challenging time for construction projects around the world. While The Huntington has kept the renovation project close to its original schedule, the global chip shortage and the delay with the automated rigging system means that the theatre will not be ready to meet the needs of the complex, Broadway-scale, new musical Bhangin’ It on its originally announced schedule.
“In spite of the supply chain challenges, we are thrilled to be able to close our season with the extraordinary new musical Bhangin’ It,” says new Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “I adore this incredible team of artists and can’t wait to share this incomparable theatrical event with the city of Boston.”
The Huntington’s season will still begin with the Broadway-bound musical Sing Street at the Calderwood Pavilion, with previews beginning August 26 and a press opening on September 7, and will inaugurate the renovated Huntington Theatre with a much-anticipated revival of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, to begin performances on October 14 as originally scheduled. With some creative problem solving, The Huntington will install a temporary, less complex rigging system that will suit the needs of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, then will install the new permanent automated rigging system in November/December. The Huntington’s season will now comprise a total of 7 shows rather than 8.
The Huntington will announce the revised dates for Bhangin’ It as soon as the calendar is finalized.
THE HUNTINGTON PRESENTS
THE 2022 BREAKING GROUND FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS –
FREE READINGS OF NEW WORKS JULY 20 – 25, 2022
Breaking Ground highlights the work of Huntington Playwriting Fellows
and marks the first festival since 2019, before the pandemic
(BOSTON) – The Huntington announces that the 2022 Breaking Ground festival of new plays will be held July 20 – 25, 2022 at The Calderwood/BCA, the first Huntington readings open to the public since before the pandemic.
The Breaking Ground festival is a vital part of the Huntington’s new play development efforts and highlights the work of locally-based Huntington Playwriting Fellows and national writers in partnership with the Huntington. Since its inception in 2003, many Breaking Ground plays have gone on to appear as part of Huntington seasons as well as those of theatres in Boston, across the country, and internationally.
Readings are free and open to the public, though not to reviewing members of the press. Advance reservation is required. Find more information and RSVP at huntingtontheatre.org/BreakingGround2022
The five-day festival will include 4 plays written by Huntington Playwriting Fellows:
· Arbor, written by Catherine Epstein and directed by Morgan Green
Wednesday, July 20 at 7:30pm at The Calderwood/BCA
· Black Mother Lost Daughter, written by Fedna Jacquet and directed by Stevie Walker-Webb
Friday, July 22 at 7:30pm at The Calderwood/BCA
· Rough Magic, written by Andrew Siañez-De La O and directed by Melinda Lopez
Saturday, July 23 at 7:30pm at The Calderwood/BCA
· Let’s Pretend We’re Married, written by Kate Cortesi and directed by Rebecca Bradshaw
Monday, July 25 at 7:30pm at The Calderwood/BCA
“One of our joys at The Huntington is bringing work by Playwriting Fellows to Boston audiences in Breaking Ground,” says Huntington Director of New Work Charles Haugland. “Each of these playwrights’ voices are effortlessly distinct, and I love these plays’ humor, insight, sorrow, and humanity. We’re also happy to welcome an incredible slate of directors both new and returning. We’ll be in great hands with the teams bringing these new plays to life.”
Breaking Ground is supported by the Harry Kondoleon Playwriting Fund and the Stanford Calderwood Fund for New American Plays.
MORE ABOUT THE PLAYS AND ARTISTS:
by Catherine Epstein
Directed by Morgan Green
Wednesday, July 20 at 7:30pm
For visitors to the arboretum, the trees are a place of escape, a slice of nature — but for those who work there, the park is everything. Amidst the glorious redwoods and cedars is the chaos of a single dog off a leash, a staff meeting nobody wants to attend, a daughter who won't call back, and somebody who keeps taking a dip in the pond! Catherine Epstein's Arbor is a funny and perceptive take on how we all respond to change, growth, and natural evolution.
Catherine Epstein (playwright) is a writer, an educator, and a Huntington Playwriting Fellow. She was a Humanities and theatre teacher in Massachusetts for nine years, and she now lives in Virginia and works for Facing History & Ourselves. Before classroom teaching, she also worked as a radio producer, editor, and museum educator. Catherine has been a resident at the Catwalk Art Residency in Catskill, New York.
Morgan Green (director) directs films, plays, and podcasts. They often use humor as a tool to investigate something true. Her work celebrates idiosyncratic goofiness, visual poetry, and surprise. Morgan is a co-founder of the award-winning theatre company New Saloon. Their deconstructed Uncle Vanya, Minor Character was part of the 2019 Under the Radar Festival at The Public Theater. Morgan is a co-artistic director at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, where she recently directed the Pulitzer Prize-winning production of Fat Ham by James Ijames.
by Fedna Jacquet
Directed by Stevie Walker-Webb
Friday, July 22 at 7:30pm
In this searing and haunted play, playwright Fedna Jacquet asks us to consider the gap between justice and responsibility. In life, Queen painted vivid portraits that captured the truth of her subjects — but when she is killed by police, her sister Princess hopes to keep Queen’s memory alive and their mother afloat. Intimate and emotional, Black Mother Lost Daughter shows how a national reckoning echoes in the lives of three women.
Fedna Jacquet was born in Boston to Haitian parents, and is a full-time director/writer/actor. She is a Huntington Playwriting Fellow, an inaugural Still I Rise Documentary Fellow, a National Black Theatre Playwright in Residence, and a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Playwriting/Screenwriting. Her plays include Pefeksyon, Inheritance, Civic Duty, Gurlfriend, and Heroes. Her written work for the screen includes Isaiah (ABFF/TVOne Screenplay Competition Finalist, Homebase (Juilliard/NYU Showcase), Inheritance (2020 Tribeca Chanel Through Her Lens Finalist, 2021 Urbanworld Film Festival), Circus (2020 HollyShorts Quarterfinalist) and Going Home. Fedna is currently recurring as an actor on “City on a Hill” (Showtime) and “FBI: Most Wanted” (CBS), and has appeared on “The Equalizer,” “New Amsterdam,” “Law & Order SVU,” “The Blacklist,” and many others. She received her BA from Brown University and her MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Stevie Walker-Webb (director) is an award-winning director, writer and cultural worker who believes in the transformational power of art. As a survivor of poverty and the associative violence that comes with growing up black and poor in America, he creates work that liberates and reframes the narratives of marginalized groups. He is a co-founder and executive director of HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS, an arts and advocacy non-profit that makes visual the suffering and inhumane treatment of incarcerated mentally ill people and the policies that adversely impact their lives. He is the recipient of an Obie Award for Directing (Ain’t No Mo at The Public), the Princess Grace Award for Theatre, The Lily Award in honor of Lorraine Hansberry awarded by the Dramatists Guild of America, a 2050 Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop and a Wellspring Scholar. He’s The Founding Artistic Director of the Jubilee Theatre in Waco, Texas, and has created art and Theatre in Madagascar, South Africa, Mexico, Mississippi and across America. His work has been produced by The Public Theatre, American Civil Liberties Union, The New Group, Cherry Lane, Zara Aina, Woolly Mammoth, Baltimore Center Stage, La Mama, and Theatre of the Oppressed-NYC. Along with his art and advocacy work, Stevie currently teaches and creates art at Harvard and NYU’s Tisch School for the Arts. steviewalkerwebb.com
by Andrew Siañez-De La O
Directed by Melinda Lopez
Saturday, July 23 at 7:30pm
A hurricane is raging in Houston, but that won't stop Miranda from breaking into her school's gym and enacting her master plan. She'll need her abuela's help, her best friend's guidance, and a nudge from a friendly ghost if she wants to survive this storm. Rough Magic is an intimate reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Tempest brought to life with a touch of brujeria and the warmth of a candle.
Andrew Siañez-De La O (he/they) is a Mexican-American stage and audio dramatist from the US Borderlands. His work, which often centers his borderland heritage and cultural diaspora, has been developed and produced across the country. He is an organizing committee member of the WGA Audio Alliance working towards an equitable future for audio drama writers. His audio work includes being a scriptwriter for “Timestorm” and an upcoming collaboration with Stormfire Productions, an audio series adaptation of his young adult fantasy play “The Ortiz Twins Are Coming Home.” He is currently writing for ZeniMax Online Studios’ MMO “Elder Scrolls Online.”
Melinda Lopez (director) is Artist-in-Residence at The Huntington. As performer: Mala (ArtsEmerson, Guthrie Theater, The Huntington, Audible, PBS), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Our Town, Persephone, Rose Tattoo, A Month in the Country (Huntington), Grand Concourse, Appropriate, The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Theatre District, Anna in the Tropics (SpeakEasy Stage), Many Colors Make the Thunder King (Guthrie Theater), Romeo and Juliet (Portland Stage), Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare & Company). As playwright: Mala, adaptation of Yerma, Becoming Cuba, Sonia Flew, audio series Dream Boston, Black Beans Project (The Huntington), Back the Night, Orchids to Octopi. Residencies: Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, Lark Play Development Center, New York Theatre Workshop. Awards: IRNE Award, Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence, October 29, 2016 declared Melinda Lopez Day in the City of Boston. Professor at Northeastern University.
by Kate Cortesi
Directed by Rebecca Bradshaw
Monday, July 25 at 7:30pm
Sabrina's an indoor kid. Literally. Her deathly allergy to the sun means if she takes a step outside, she'll be dead within the week. So when her mom leaves her home alone for the first time in her sunless 25 years, there's little danger of Sabrina sneaking out. But someone sneaking in? Enter Nic, the new kid in town with plenty of baggage. What ensues between these two young strangers might be the strangest one-day love story in the history of one-day love stories. A hilarious, heartsick tale that combines fairytale wonder and dystopian undercurrents, Let's Pretend We're Married pays tribute to the power of imagination to get us through dark times when we're stuck inside.
Kate Cortesi is a Boston area-based playwright from Washington, DC who writes about women, young people, liars, and the American psyche – with jokes. Her full-length plays include Great Kills (Princess Grace Award), A Patron of the Arts (Cherry Lane Theatre, South Coast Rep New Scripts Series, In Scena! Festival, Rome), ONE MORE LESS (NYFA award, Relentless Award finalist, Playwrights Horizons New Works Lab), Love (Sky Cooper New American Play Prize, Marin Theatre Company, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Kilroys List) and Is Edward Snowden Single? (The Jungle Theater, Single Carrot Theater, Dorset Theatre Festival, The Pool at The New Ohio). She is a Huntington Playwriting Fellow, a resident playwright at New Dramatists, and a New Georges Affiliated Artist. Kate wrote three theatre pieces in quarantine: an audio play called Radio Nowhere, produced by Keen Company, available wherever you listen to podcasts, a short monologue play, “I Love Parties” which raised money for The Homebound Project and won first prize in the Hear Me Out Monologue Competition, and Let’s Pretend We’re Married. katecortesi.com
Rebecca Bradshaw (director, she/her) is artistic director of Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY. She built her career in Boston as a theatre director, producer, educator, casting director, and advocate. She has directed full productions for Kitchen Theatre Company, The Huntington, Lyric Stage, The Nora Theatre Company, SpeakEasy Stage, Greater Boston Stage Company, ART Institute, Emerson College, Bridge Rep of Boston, Central Square Theatre/MIT, and The Umbrella Center for the Arts, among others. Before her current position, Rebecca was the associate producer of The Huntington, where she handled line producing, casting, and developing new work. She is a part of the affiliate faculty of Emerson College, teaching directing and producing, and has taught casting seminars at Harvard University, Suffolk University, Boston University, Brandeis University, Lesley University, and Boston Conservatory. She is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers union.
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY’S NEW PLAY INITIATIVES AND PLAYWRITING FELLOWS PROGRAM
The Huntington is a national leader in the development of new plays and has produced more than 120 world, American, or New England premieres. The cornerstone of activity is the Huntington Playwriting Fellows (HPF) program, a two-year fellowship for selected local writers that creates relationships between a local community of writers and a nationally prominent producing theatre, forges those bonds through authentic conversation and artistic collaboration, and encourages dialogue between local artists. The Breaking Ground festival of new plays allows selected HPFs and national writers to develop their plays in two and three dimensions.
The Huntington’s 22-23 season includes two plays by HPFs: The Art of Burning by Kate Snodgrass and K-I-S-S-I-N-G by Lenelle Moïse. Previous Huntington productions of plays by HPFs include Sonia Flew, Becoming Cuba, and Mala by Melinda Lopez; Common Ground Revisited, Our Daughters, Like Pillars, Milk Like Sugar and Luck of the Irish by Kirsten Greenidge; A Guide for the Homesick by Ken Urban; The Atheist, Brendan, and The Second Girl by Ronan Noone; The Bluest Eye, Stick Fly and Smart People by Lydia R. Diamond; Ryan Landry’s “M” and Psyched by Ryan Landry; Before I Leave You by Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro; The Cry of the Reed by Sinan Ünel; and Shakespeare’s Actresses in America by Rebekah Maggor.
Since 2003, the HPF program has invited writers to participate in two-year residencies, during which playwrights receive a modest honorarium, join in a biweekly writers’ collective with artistic staff, attend Huntington productions and events, and are eligible for readings and support through the Summer Workshop and Breaking Ground festival of new plays.
The primary focus of the program is creating relationships with writers at all stages of their careers, from emerging talent to established professionals. The program provides a framework for an in-depth, two-year artistic conversation and a long-term professional relationship.
Since 2009, the Huntington has instituted an
open application process with submissions from any writer primarily based
within commuting distance of Boston; applications are generally solicited every
18 months to two years, and the theatre selects two to three writers whose
terms overlap with adjacent cohorts.
AN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE ROMEO AND JULIET FREE ON THE
BOSTON COMMON LAUNCHES AN EXPANDED
BOSTON LYRIC OPERA SEASON AUGUST 11 and 13
Partnership with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC)
and the City of Boston yields a production accessible to everyone.
Charles Gounod’s operatic setting of the Shakespeare classic features
artists making company debuts, and Boston-trained singers.
Ricardo Garcia and Vanessa Becerra play the young lovers; CSC’s Steven Maler directs.
Production marks 20 years since BLO’s last Common appearance, 2002’s “Carmen.”
BOSTON, Mass. – June 29, 2022 – A free, public opera adaptation of Romeo & Juliet on the historic Boston Common opens Boston Lyric Opera’s 2022/23 Season with two performances August 11 and 13 at 8 PM. Based on Charles Gounod’s 1867 musical setting of the classic drama with a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, and an English translation by Edmund Tracey, the production is co-presented in partnership with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) and the City of Boston. Ricardo Garcia (l.) makes his BLO company debut as Romeo; Boston Conservatory at Berklee alumna Vanessa Becerra (r., photo by Coco Jourdana) is Juliet. CSC Artistic Director Steven Maler will direct the production and BLO Music Director David Angus will lead the BLO Orchestra and Chorus. The performance, sung in English with surtitles, coincides with the 20-year anniversary of BLO’s last free Boston Common show, “Carmen.”
Considered alongside Giuseppi Verdi’s Otello and Falstaff, and more recently Brett Dean’s Hamlet as among the most successful opera adaptations of Shakespeare, Gounod’s Romeo & Juliet highlights the story’s most operatic plot points: young lovers forbidden to be together and finding love against the odds, only to perish at their own hands. The story inspired more than two dozen opera treatments but Gounod’s lush music – in love duets like the one sung the morning after the young lovers’ first night together, arias like Juliet’s well-known waltz and Romeo’s passionate Act II declaration of love, and the scene-setting orchestral interludes and dramatic choral moments – ensures his version a place of continued prominence.
THE PRODUCTION
The libretto compresses Shakespeare’s storyline and cuts the number of roles nearly in half. The result is a brisk tale that moves from the rivalry between the Capulets and Montagues to the masked ball where the title characters meet and fall in love, through the lovers’ surreptitious courting and marriage, the street fight that sheds both families’ blood, and the tragic finale in Juliet’s tomb.
BLO Acting Stanford Calderwood General and Artistic Director Bradley Vernatter says the production draws distinctively on the strengths of both artistic institutions, and results in a unique version that blends the talents and storytelling of each. This opera production, for example, adds two actors to the staging who perform spoken text from the original play and add some of Shakespeare’s sonnets for context and texture.
“This bold interpretation of the classic tale of star-crossed lovers, told under a starry New England sky, celebrates the rich legacy of this opera in a modern context,” Vernatter says. “In collaboration with our friends at CSC, we are creating something completely unique for our city, something neither company could make on its own. These performances demonstrate the creative power of the performing arts in Boston and the importance of coming together as a community.”
Stage Director Steven Maler says the production is inspired by busker culture – and comprises a gathering of street musicians, singers and actors whose desire to entertain in public makes for surprising and spontaneous moments of joy. Performers play on three stage levels, with the full 47-piece orchestra in view and a 20-plus-member chorus enhancing scenes like the masked ball, the town plaza and others.
“CSC’s vision has always been to bring performances to the people’s park, the Boston Common, this shared public space and the nation’s oldest park,” Maler says. “Democratizing art is central to our mission. Early opera, like Shakespeare’s work, was populist in its time…vital and vibrant parts of the culture. I am happy we can do artistic collaborations with partners like BLO, which continues to democratize their artform and make it more accessible.”
CASTING AND ARTISTIC TEAM
The casting for Romeo & Juliet mixes company debuts with returning artists and artists whose musical training took place in Boston. Boston Conservatory at Berklee (BC@B) alumna and soprano Vanessa Becerra stars as Juliet, BC@B alum mezzo-soprano Mack Wolz (BLO’s 2022 operabox.tv film, “Svadba”) portrays Stéphano, tenor Ricardo Garcia is Romeo, BLO Emerging Artist alumnus and tenor Omar Najmi sings Tybalt, incoming Emerging Artist and tenor Fred C. VanNess Jr. portrays Paris, Rhode Island-born mezzo-soprano and BLO Chorus member Arielle Rogers-Wilkey sings Gertrude, and bass Joshua Conyers (seen recently in Odyssey Opera’s Malcolm X at the Strand Theater) is Lord Capulet. Emerging Artist Nicholas LaGesse (2022’s Champion) sings Mercutio, BLO Chorus member and incoming Emerging Artist baritone Junhan Choi is Gregorio, Berklee College of Music instructor and bass Philip Lima sings the role of Friar Laurence. Some singing roles have been changed or cut to accommodate a two-hour runtime. Additional casting will be announced later.
The Romeo & Juliet artistic and creative team includes conductor David Angus, stage director Steven Maler, dramaturg John Conklin, production and lighting designer Eric Southern, and costume designer Nancy Leary. Additional artistic team members will be announced later.
SEATING AND ACCESS
Romeo & Juliet will be performed on the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company stage, located north of the Parkman Bandstand in the Boston Common. MBTA access is at the Green Line Boylston Street stop, and the Red Line Park Street stop.
Audience members may bring blankets and chairs, or can rent chairs on site for $10. Picnics are permitted at the show. The Romeo & Juliet runtime is 2 hours.
The Boston Common is accessible. For help with special seating or mobility and access needs, BLO Audience Services can be reached at 617.542.6772 or boxoffice@blo.org.
Digital programs will be available in advance at blo.org. Weather alerts and other updates about Romeo & Juliet are available by signing up here.
A limited number of reserved seats are available in the Friends Section with a donation of $100 per seat to Boston Lyric Opera. Visit blo.org for details.
SPONSORS
Community events for this season, including this free presentation of Romeo and Juliet, are sponsored, in part, by the Cabot Family Charitable Trust. The 2022/23 Season is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, and by the Boston Cultural Council/Reopen Creative Boston Fund administered by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture. David Angus is sponsored this season by Linda Cabot Black.THE HUNTINGTON PRESENTS THE EXTRAORDINARY
THEATRICAL EVENT – WORLD PREMIERE OF
COMMON GROUND REVISITED
This highly anticipated stage adaptation examines J. Anthony
Lukas’ Pulitzer
Prize winner about busing in Boston with a contemporary lens
(BOSTON) – The
Huntington announces the world premiere of Common Ground
Revisited, a new play co-conceived by Obie Award-winning director Melia
Bensussen and Obie
Award-winning playwright and Huntington Playwriting Fellow Kirsten
Greenidge (Our Daughters, Like Pillars; Luck of the Irish; and Milk
Like Sugar at The Huntington). The production runs from May 27 – June 26, 2022 at The Huntington’s Calderwood
Pavilion at the BCA, with digital access to the filmed performance
available until July 10, 2022.
Having worked together on Luck of the Irish at The Huntington, playwright Greenidge and director Bensussen reunite to bring Boston’s history to life on stage with an intricately woven theatrical piece based in part on, and inspired by, the 1985 Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner for non-fiction, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families by J. Anthony Lukas.
Lukas’ iconic book follows three Boston families through the 1970s – the Divers in the South End, the Twymons in Roxbury, and the McGoffs in Charlestown – as they experience Boston’s attempt at school desegregation through court-mandated busing. Greenidge’s theatrical adaptation uses the book as a jumping off point to explore Boston’s history, as well as issues of race and class surrounding the integration of Boston Public Schools, and the impact of the past on the present day. Developed with ArtsEmerson, Greenidge and Bensussen first began collaborating on the play while teaching a course at Emerson College in 2011.
“The book Common Ground remains
incredibly relevant,” says Greenidge, “and really speaks to where we are today
in terms of our Boston public school system, the neighborhoods we inhabit, and
how we interact – the issues are complicated and very specific. I think
sometimes we can lose sight of what came before, and reexamining those
narratives is crucial to how we live our lives in this region.”
“Common Ground Revisited is a theatrical quilt capturing different moments of Boston’s past, seen through a variety of perspectives,” says Bensussen. “We hope to start conversations, and with our storytelling invite our audiences to think about those challenging times, and their impact on our contemporary assumptions and narratives.”
The cast of Common Ground Revisited features an ensemble of 12 actors, each of whom are from Greater Boston or who have strong Boston ties. The cast members have played a vital role in the development of the piece through workshops and readings, and a number of their personal stories and experiences have been incorporated into the script. They are, in alphabetical order:
· Marianna Bassham (Lisa McGoff/Ensemble; she/her) – Hurricane
Diane, Sweat, Luck of the Irish and many more at The Huntington; the
films Don’t Look Up and Moonrise Kingdom, and
“Olive Kittridge” on HBO
· Kadahj Bennett (Richard Twymon/Ensemble; he/him) – Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at The Huntington; People, Places, and Things and Pass Over at SpeakEasy Stage
· Elle Borders (Cassandra Twymon/Ensemble; she/her) – We All Fall
Down at The Huntington, Black Odyssey Boston at The
Front Porch Arts Collective/Central Square Theater
· Matthew Bretschneider (Ensemble; he/him) – Rosencrantz
and Guildenstern are Dead, Romeo and Juliet, Tartuffe, Dead End at The
Huntington
· Shanaé Burch (Rachel Twymon Jr/Ensemble; she/her) – Milk Like
Sugar and The View from Here at The Huntington
· Amanda Collins (Alice McGoff/Ensemble; she/her) – Miss
Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Merrimack Rep); The
Thanksgiving Play (Lyric Stage); Old Money (Commonwealth
Shakespeare Co.)
· Stacy Fischer (Joan Diver/Ensemble; she/her) – Our
Town and A Month in the Country at The
Huntington; Photograph 51 at Central Square Theater, The
Pink Unicorn at SpeakEasy Stage
· Michael Kaye (Colin Diver/Ensemble; he/him) – Dead End and Two
Lives at The Huntington; Admissions, Mothers and Sons, and Clybourne
Park at SpeakEasy Stage
· Shannon Lamb (Rachel Twymon Sr/Ensemble; she/her) – Letters to
Kamala (WAM), Joe Turner's Come and Gone (UMASS
Theater), It Happened in Little Rock, Because of Winn Dixie (Arkansas
Repertory Theatre)
· Karen MacDonald (Ensemble) – Ether Dome, M, Good
People, Before I Leave You, Bus Stop, All My Sons, A Civil War Christmas at
The Huntington; The Glass Menagerie on Broadway, 73
productions at ART
· Maurice Emmanuel Parent (Ensemble; he/him) – Sweat,
Merrily We Roll Along, Skeleton Crew and more at The Huntington,
Co-Producing Artistic Director of The Front Porch Arts Collective
· Omar Robinson (Ensemble; he/him) - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Tartuffe, and Romeo and Juliet at The Huntington
The creative team for Common Ground
Revisited includes scenic design by Sara Brown (Champion at
Boston Lyric Opera), costume design by An-lin Dauber (Paul
Swan is Dead and Gone, What You are Now with The Civilians), lighting
design by Brian J. Lilienthal (Awake and Sing, Yerma,
Quixote Nuevo at The Huntington), sound design by Pornchanok Kanchanabanca (Sweat at
The Huntington), projection design
by Rasean Davonté
Johnson (The March to
Liberation at New York Philharmonic), and hair, wig and makeup design by J. Jared
Janas (Man in the Ring, Indecent at The Huntington,
Jagged Little Pill on Broadway). The production stage manager is Emily
F. McMullen and the stage manager is Kevin Schlagle.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Kirsten Greenidge she/her (Co-conceiver, Adaptor) is The Huntington's 2022 Spotlight Gala Wimberly Honoree, a Huntington Playwrighting Fellow from 2007-2009 and the author of Our Daughters, Like Pillars, Milk Like Sugar and Luck of the Irish (The Huntington), as well as The View from Here (commission from The Huntington's Education Department). A Village Voice/Obie Award winner and a PEN/America Laura Pels Award recipient, she is also the author of Greater Good, Splendor, Bossa Nova, Rust, Sans-Culottes in the Promised Land, 103 Within the Veil, and The Gibson Girl. She has developed her work at Sundance (Utah and Ucross), Magic Theatre, National New Play Network, Page 73 Productions, Bay Area Playwrights, Playwrights Horizons, New Dramatists, ASK, McCarter Theatre Center, and New Georges. She is a recipient of an NEA/TCG residency at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and was playwright-in-residence at Company One Theatre. She received Sundance’s Time Warner Award for Bossa Nova. Ms. Greenidge attended Wesleyan University and the University of Iowa’s Playwrights Workshop. A member of Rhombus and an alumna member of New Dramatists, she is currently working on commissions from Goodman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Big Ten, The Kennedy Center, and Playwrights Horizons.
Melia Bensussen (Co-conceiver, Director,
she/her) Huntington: We All Fall Down, Yerma, A Doll’s House, Awake and Sing!, Luck of the Irish, and Circle Mirror Transformation. Other directing credits include work with Hartford Stage,
Shakespeare & Company, Trinity Repertory Company, Sleeping Weazel, Actors’
Shakespeare Project, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Baltimore
Center Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, New York Shakespeare Festival, MCC
Theater, Primary Stages, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and many others. She
has received two directing awards from the Princess Grace Foundation, including
their top honor, the Statue Award for Sustained Excellence in Directing. Ms.
Bensussen’s edition of Langston Hughes’ translation of Federico García
Lorca’s Blood Wedding is published by Theatre Communications
Group, and she is featured in Rebecca Daniels’ Women Stage
Directors Speak, Nancy Taylor’s Women Direct Shakespeare, and
in Jews, Theatre, Performance in an Intercultural Context. An Obie
Award-winning director, she is on the executive board of the Society of
Directors and Choreographers and serves as chair of the Arts Advisory Board for
the Princess Grace Foundation. A longtime Emerson College faculty member, Ms.
Bensussen is the Artistic Director of Hartford Stage.
WHEN
In-person performances: May 27 – June 26, 2022
Select Evenings: Tues. – Thurs. at 7:30pm; Fri. – Sat. at 8pm; select Sun. at 7pm
Matinees: Select Wed., Sat., and Sun. at 2pm
Days and times vary; see complete schedule above.
Digital: Available June 20 until July 10, 2022
Anticipated running time: 2 hours 30 minutes, including one intermissi
WHERE
The Huntington/Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
527 Tremont Street, South End, Boston.
TICKETS
Tickets to in-person performances and to a
digital recording of the performance start at $25. Season ticket packages and
FlexPasses are also now on sale:
online at huntingtontheatre.org
by phone at 617-266-0800; or in person at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, South End, Boston
Select discounts apply:
$10 off: season ticket holders
$30 “35 Below” tickets for patrons 35 years old and younger (valid ID required)
$20 student and military tickets (valid ID required)
ACCESS PERFORMANCES FOR COMMON GROUND REVISITED
Tickets are $20 for each patron and their
guests. To reserve tickets please email access@huntingtontheatre.org, call ticketing services at 617-266-0800, or
in person at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, South End,
Boston. Accessible performances are supported in part by the Liberty Mutual
Foundation.
ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE: Friday, June 10 at 8:00 pm. The Huntington offers American Sign Language interpretation at designated performances for patrons who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE: Tuesday, June 14 at 7:30pm. The Huntington offers open captioning at designated performances for any patron who benefits from having the text of spoken dialogue visible in time with the play.
AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE: Saturday, June 25
at 2pm. The Huntington offers audio description for patrons who are blind or
low-vision at designated performances. Please visit huntingtontheatre.org/visit/accessibility for
information.
Large Print and Braille Programs will also be
available for patrons at performances.
PODCAST: COMMON GROUND: IN PERSPECTIVE
During the past year, director Melia Bensussen and playwright Kirsten Greenidge created two podcast episodes for a series called Common Ground: In Perspective. Powered by The Huntington in partnership with Facing History and Ourselves, each episode features a short audio play followed by a conversation with local leaders and scholars to explore the history surrounding busing, school desegregation, education, and opportunity in the city of Boston. The podcast can be found at huntingtontheatre.org/plays-and-events/digital-events/common-ground-in-perspective.
Episode 1: The Mayor
This episode focuses on Mayor Kevin White and
his clash with federal authorities over sending national guard troops to
enforce busing, and features a panel discussion with Bishop John Borders
III, Dr. Karilynn Crockett, and Professor Matthew Delmont,
moderated by co-dramaturg Neema Avashia.
Episode 2: The Editor
This episode traces Boston Globe editor Tom Winship’s leadership of the paper through the busing era and discusses the role of media in shaping our perceptions, and features a panel discussion with veteran reporter Garry Armstrong and GBH reporter Phillip Martin, moderated by co-dramaturg Neema Avashia.
COVID SAFETY PROTOCOLS
The Huntington is committed to providing safe and healthy venues for our audiences, artists, staff, and community. All patrons must present either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test in order to enter the theatre, and masks are required to be worn throughout the theatre. More information can be found at huntingtontheatre.org/covid.
Our specific policies and protocols are evolving
and subject to change and will be communicated clearly to ticket holders in
advance of their performance. Anyone not complying with safety protocols will
not be admitted. The Huntington encourages any patrons who feel ill or test
positive for COVID-19, to refrain from coming to the theatre, and to
contact tickets@huntingtontheatre.org to
exchange their tickets into another performance or to a digital option.
DIGITAL INSURANCE
If patrons ever feel as if they would rather not see Common Ground Revisited in person – for any reason – they can easily exchange their tickets into a specially recorded version of this play. OR, they can purchase tickets to the digital version of Common Ground Revisited in advance.
The digital recording of Common Ground
Revisited will be available June 20 until July 10, 2022.
WITH AN EXPANDED 2022/23 SEASON, BLO RETURNS TO STAGES – INSIDE, OUTSIDE AND ONSCREEN
Onstage performances include a free outdoor Romeo & Juliet this summer,
a reverse take on La bohème this fall, a winter installation of Bluebeard’s Castle,
and a spring production of BLO’s co-commissioned opera Omar by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels.
Opera artist Nina Yoshida Nelsen joins BLO as Artistic Advisor.
MacArthur “Genius Grant” winner Giddens and Boston poet laureate Porsha Olayiwola collaborate on a BLO-commissioned concert premiere.
Digital offerings grow on operabox.tv streaming service, including new ASL aria series.
Subscriptions on sale today.
BOSTON – April 27, 2022 – In announcing its 2022/23 Season today, Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) unveils an expanded, year-round return to stages throughout Boston, starting with a free outdoor production of Charles Gounod’s Romeo & Juliet on the Boston Common this summer and culminating in a spring 2023 production of the new opera Omar, co-commissioned by BLO from composers Rhiannon Giddens (below, l.) and Michael Abels at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre.
This fall, BLO mounts a new time-flipped production of Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème by visionary director Yuval Sharon that opens with the opera’s tragic ending and moves backward in time to the carefree depiction of Parisian artists in love. The production, which BLO co-produced with Detroit Opera and Spoleto Festival USA, opens at the restored Emerson Colonial Theatre in an arrangement with Ambassador Theatre Group.
In early spring 2023, BLO presents a new production of Béla Bartók’s one-act psychological thriller Bluebeard’s Castle directed by Anne Bogart, whose 2019 production of The Handmaid’s Tale for BLO received universal acclaim. Bluebeard will be produced at The Terminal @ Flynn Cruiseport Boston and combined with the dramatic work Four Songs (Vier Lieder), a song cycle by composer Alma Mahler.
The 2022/23 Season includes the premiere of another BLO-commissioned collaboration – this one between 2022 Grammy Award winner Rhiannon Giddens and City of Boston Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola. The concert builds on previous collaboration between BLO and the City of Boston that brings together the words of prominent local poets and the music of contemporary composers to create entirely new works.
“In planning for this season, we felt a strong need to look at the impact BLO can make beyond the boundaries of a traditional season, and plan for an expanded artistic and programming footprint with a greater reach in our home community,” says Acting Stanford Calderwood General & Artistic Director Bradley Vernatter. “These works can enrich our lives every day in expanded ways, from free performances on Boston Common to operas in familiar theaters, public programming throughout the city, and cinematic works – making opera accessible year-round for everyone.”
[MEDIA: More info on BLO’s 2022/23 Season mainstage productions can be found below.]
DIGITAL OFFERINGS
BLO continues to create opera and opera-inspired online experiences for its operabox.tv streaming platform, this season and next. With this work, the company explores new ways of expanding the artistic expression of opera and access to the artform. The first in a new series of free digital shorts commissioned from the New York artist collaborative UP UNTIL NOW launched last week, centering American Sign Language (ASL) as both a medium and a new language through which to bring the artform to new audiences.
Called “SOUL(SIGNS): OPERA,” the series is developed by a diverse group of artistic collaborators from the Deaf and hearing communities whose work combines ASL, music and striking cinematic visuals to animate new recordings from three operas. “SOUL(SIGNS): OPERA” was commissioned by BLO with Opera Omaha, Opera Columbus and Portland Opera. More information about the ongoing series can be found here.
FREE COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING
Boston Lyric Opera will continue producing free artistic programs in Boston-area communities and invite people to engage with the company in new ways. “Our Street Stage mobile performances will resume this summer,” Vernatter says. “And we have plans to invite audiences into BLO’s expanded studio space in Fort Point. I look forward to sharing announcements on those activities soon.”
PERSONNEL NEWS
Nina Yoshida Nelsen Joins BLO Artistic Team
Brad Vernatter announced that opera artist Nina Yoshida Nelsen (r.) will join the company as an Artistic Advisor. In addition to her singing career (she was Mamma Lucia in BLO’s fall 2021 live production of Cavalleria Rusticana), the Boston University alum co-founded the Asian Opera Alliance, and is a featured artist in BLO’s “The Butterfly Process” initiative that explores and reconsiders Asian stereotypes in the traditional opera repertoire.
Along with Artistic Advisors John Conklin and Vimbayi Kaziboni, Nelsen will propose and weigh in on future artistic planning. She will contribute to the implementation of ideas that emerge from “The Butterfly Process” and from BLO’s commitment to increase representation of people and stories in its artistic, community-based, and administrative work.
“To me, joining Boston Lyric Opera means aligning myself with a team leading the change needed in our industry,” Nelsen says. “BLO is doing vital work to move opera forward – the right work, the groundwork that allows for thoughtful, intentional and socially responsible artistic decisions. It’s been amazing to see. This new position gives me the unique chance to work on my passion for opera and my passion for representation. I want diverse audiences to love the music they hear, and see people on stage they relate to.”
“I have been inspired by Nina’s work and her passion for opera since the moment we first met,” Vernatter says. “She is a wonderful artist, a leader for equity in our industry, and a force for real change. We are lucky to bring her onto our team.”
David Tompkins Becomes Chief Operating Officer
Vernatter announced today that David Tompkins (r.) will join BLO as Chief Operating Officer. A longtime nonprofit management consultant in New England with an extensive background in arts leadership, Tompkins served as Production Stage Manager for Sundance Film Festival, Executive Director at Ballet Arizona and General Manager of Boston Ballet for nearly six years, among other positions. Tompkins fills the role left vacant when Vernatter accepted the Acting General & Artistic Director position for the company.
“I am happy to welcome Dave to BLO,” Vernatter says. “His incredible resume complements the company’s leadership team, and his extensive experience in nonprofit arts operations makes him the ideal person to plan for and manage the day-to-day activities that support BLO’s ambitious artistic goals.”
MORE ON BLO’S 2022/23 MAINSTAGE SEASON
ROMEO & JULIET
August 11 and 13, 2022
FREE on Boston Common
Presenting in partnership with the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) and the City of Boston, Boston Lyric Opera returns to the Boston Common for the first time since 2002, with a production of Gounod’s operatic version of Shakespeare's most famous love story. With a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, this mid-19th Century take on the classic Montague-versus-Capulet story includes all the famous scenes, from the balcony to the sword fights to the fateful tombs. Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus supports the composer’s beautiful duets and arias.
This English language, English-surtitled production stars Ricardo Garcia in his company debut as Romeo and Boston Conservatory at Berklee alumna Vanessa Becerra making her company debut as Juliet. BLO Music Director David Angus will conduct; CSC Artistic Director Steve Maler is the stage director.
LA BOHÈME
September 23 – October 2, 2022
Emerson Colonial Theatre
A startlingly simple idea yields a new perspective on a tried-and-true opera favorite. Director Yuval Sharon’s production reorients Giacomo Puccini’s story from tragedy back to love by transposing the final act to the beginning and running the acts in reverse order. Each act retains its music as well as the Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. In a nod to a season that follows two years of an international pandemic, Sharon’s production tells a much-needed story that moves audiences from darkness to light. BLO Music Director David Angus will conduct. Stage design is by BLO Artistic Advisor John Conklin. Costume design is by Jessica Jahn.
Lauren Michelle (Nedda in 2019’s Pagliacci) returns to BLO to sing the role of Mimi. Matthew White will portray Rodolfo. Edward Parks is Marcello. Benjamin Taylor is Schaunard, and William Guanbo Su is Colline. David Angus conducts the BLO Orchestra. Sung in Italian with English surtitles, La bohème is a co-production of Boston Lyric Opera, Detroit Opera and Spoleto Festival USA.
BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE
March 22-26, 2023
The Terminal @ Flynn Cruiseport Boston
In spring 2023, BLO sheds fresh light on composer Bartók and librettist Béla Balázs’s early 20th century expressionist opera about a new bride, Judith, who visits her husband’s gothic home for the first time. Stage Director Anne Bogart (2019’s The Handmaid’s Tale) puts her distinctive stamp on the tale of a woman who, in exploring seven forbidden rooms – each more disturbing than the last – sacrifices more than she bargained for. The one-act, English-sung Bluebeard is combined with composer Alma Mahler’s Vier Lieder (Four Songs), a song cycle that links thematically to Judith’s plight, giving her an expanded world and a new voice. BLO Music Director David Angus will conduct.
OMAR
May 4-7, 2023
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
Inspired by an autobiographical essay of a Muslim man enslaved in America, Omar is the story of Omar Ibn Said, a prominent scholar of the Islamic faith and many other subjects, who was born to a wealthy West African family. Brought to South Carolina as a slave at 37 years old, Ibn Said escaped his first place of enslavement and headed to North Carolina where he lived as a slave until his death in 1864.
Grammy and MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship winner Rhiannon Giddens (a founding member of Carolina Chocolate Drops and Artistic Director of the locally based Silkroad) composed the music and wrote the libretto, in partnership with film and orchestral composer Michael Abels (“Get Out,” “Us” soundtracks and BLO’s desert in finale), for a production conceived by Kaneza Schaal. Omar is co-commissioned and co-produced by Boston Lyric Opera with Spoleto Festival USA, L.A. Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera. Sung in English with English surtitles.
SUPPORT FOR THE SEASON
BLO’s 2022-2023 season is funded, in part, by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. BLO’s production of La bohème is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Rhiannon Giddens/Porsha Olayiwola project is commissioned with support from the Merrill Family Charitable Foundation.
SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW
Subscriptions for Boston Lyric Opera’s 2022/23 Season start at $60 and are available beginning April 27 here or by phone at 617-542-6772.
# # #
MEDIA CONTACT:
An embeddable teaser video about the season is here.
For photos, interviews or more information, reach John Michael Kennedy, jmk@jmkpr.com, 781-620-1761 (office) / 212-842-1752 (mobile/text).
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FROM OUR STUDENTS OF CHUANG LAB@EMERSON!
THE HUNTINGTON ANNOUNCES THE WORLD PREMIERE OF OUR DAUGHTERS, LIKE PILLARS BY KIRSTEN GREENIDGE
A touching and uproarious family comedy that explores Black motherhood and sisterhood today
(BOSTON) – The Huntington announces the world premiere of Our Daughters, Like Pillars, written by Obie Award-winning playwright and Huntington Playwriting Fellow Kirsten Greenidge (Luck of the Irish, Milk Like Sugar at The Huntington). The production runs from April 8 to May 8, 2022 at The Huntington’s Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, with digital access to the filmed performance available until May 22, 2022.
Greenidge joins forces with director Kimberly Senior (Sweat, The Niceties at The Huntington; Disgraced on Broadway) to tell the epic and funny saga of one whirlwind week in the life of a contemporary Black family from Boston.
The story begins when Lavinia brings her sisters and mother on a much-needed family vacation. She has planned the week to the smallest detail - antiquing in the afternoons, grilled steaks for dinner, absolutely no cellphones allowed - and if Lavinia gets her way, they will stay forever. What will her sisters have to say? Our Daughters, Like Pillars asks about the ties that bind us to our families. How do sisters hold each other up and hold each other back? Will togetherness split this family apart, or can it bring them together?
Greenidge, who grew up near Boston, drew inspiration from her family when writing the show, but allowed the characters to take on a life of their own. “I do have sisters, and we are very close. But I really have to push myself to make Our Daughters, Like Pillars not autobiographical and allow all of these characters to do things and say things that are much funnier and meaner and far more audacious than we would all behave towards each other in real life,” she explained. “That is the delight of being an artist, a playwright.”
Originally scheduled to begin performances in March 2020, the cast and crew of Our Daughters, Like Pillars was about to start technical rehearsals in the theatre when COVID-19 shut down performance venues and much of the city, and the set remained on stage for several months until Huntington staff could remove and store it in the summer of 2020.
“Given how difficult the last years have been for so many of us, I hope this play offers an invitation to get lost in another space for a short bit of time,” Greenidge said, “I hope audiences enjoy the story of this particular family. I hope they laugh.”
The cast of Our Daughters, Like Pillars features, in alphabetical order:
Lyndsay Allyn Cox (Zelda; she/her) as the free-spirited, youngest sibling of the Shaw family. Credits include Witch (The Huntington), Bright Half Life (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), Three Musketeers (Greater Boston Stage Company).
Lizan Mitchell (Yvonne) as the matriarch of the Shaw family, who raised all three girls on her own after their father left. Credits include Electra, Having Our Say, So Long on Lonely Street (Broadway).
Julian Parker (Paul; he/him) as the romantic interest of Zelda, who he met two weeks before agreeing to accompany her on a family vacation. Credits include Pass Over, Gospel of Franklin and Blacktop (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), “The Chi” (Showtime), “Chicago PD” and “Chicago Fire” (NBC).
Postell Pringle (Morris) as Lavinia’s husband, who regularly assists in her antics. Credits include A Free Man of Color (Lincoln Center Theater), Q Brother’s Christmas Carol, Othello: The Remix and Funk It Up About Nothin’ (Chicago Shakespeare Theater).
Nikkole Salter (Lavinia) as the eldest sister, who has rented out a vacation house in New Hampshire under the guise of a family reunion. Credits include Luck of the Irish, Stick Fly (The Huntington), The Great Society (Broadway).
Cheryl D. Singleton (Missy; she/her) as the stepmother of the Shaw sisters, who arrives unexpectedly on their family trip. Credits include Sonia Flew (understudy) at The Huntington. The Boston Project: Project Resilience (SpeakEasy Stage Co.), The America Plays (Plays in Place), “Castle Rock” (Hulu).
Arie Thompson (Octavia; she/her) as the accomplished and intelligent middle sister, whose marriage is slowly falling apart. Credits include The Fifth Season (Institute for the Future of Storytelling, UCLA); Haymarket 8 (Steppenwolf Theatre); Twelve Volt Heart (Hartford Stage).
In alphabetical order, left to right: Lyndsay Allyn Cox, Lizan Mitchell, Julian Parker, Postell Pringle, Nikkole Salter, Cheryl D. Singleton, Arie Thompson.
The creative team for Our Daughters, Like Pillars includes set design by Marion Williams (The Wanderers at The Old Globe; King Lear at the Guthrie Theater), costume design by Sarita Fellows (Original Sound at The Cherry Lane Theater; The Haunted Life Merrimack Repertory Theater), lighting design by Mary Louise Geiger (Witch, Top Girls, Venus in Fur, Invisible Man at The Huntington), hair, wig, and makeup design by Tommy Kurzman (In Transit, The King & I National Tour with LCT Production), and sound design by Jane Shaw (The Killer at Theater for a New Audience; Actually at Manhattan Theater Club/Williamstown Theatre Festival). The production stage manager is Kevin Schlagle and the stage manager is Ashley Pitchford.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Kirsten Greenidge (Playwright, she/her) is a Huntington Playwriting Fellow from 2007-2009 and the author of Milk Like Sugar and Luck of the Irish (premiered at The Huntington in 2016 and 2012 respectively), as well as The View from Here (commission from The Huntington's Education Department). A Village Voice/Obie Award winner and a PEN/America Laura Pels Award recipient, she is also the author of Greater Good, Splendor, Bossa Nova, Rust, Sans-Culottes in the Promised Land, 103 Within the Veil, and The Gibson Girl. She has developed her work at Sundance (Utah and Ucross), Magic Theatre, National New Play Network, Page 73 Productions, Bay Area Playwrights, Playwrights Horizons, New Dramatists, ASK, McCarter Theatre Center, and New Georges. She is a recipient of an NEA/TCG residency at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and was playwright-in-residence at Company One Theatre. She received Sundance’s Time Warner Award for Bossa Nova. Ms. Greenidge attended Wesleyan University and the University of Iowa’s Playwrights Workshop. A member of Rhombus and an alumna member of New Dramatists, she is currently working on commissions from The Goodman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Big Ten, The Kennedy Center, and Playwrights Horizons.
Kimberly Senior (Director; she/her) is thrilled to return to The Huntington where she previously directed Lynn Nottage’s Sweat and Eleanor Burgess’ The Niceties. Broadway: Disgraced. Off-Broadway: Harvey Fierstein’s Bella Bella (Manhattan Theatre Club); Aasif Mandvi’s Sakina’s Restaurant (Audible Theatre); Discord (Primary Stages); Engagements (Second Stage). Regional: Support Group for Men; Rapture, Blister, Burn (Goodman Theatre); Buried Child; Hedda Gabler; Marjorie Prime and others (Writers Theatre); Byhalia, MS (Kennedy Center); Sex with Strangers (Geffen Playhouse) and many more. TV: Chris Gethard’s Career Suicide (HBO/Judd Apatow). Audio: The Wastelanders: Starlord (Marvel/Sirius XM); Ghostwriter (Cadence 13); Dan Rather’s Stories of a Lifetime; Margaret Trudeau’s Certain Woman of an Age (Audible) and many more. Kimberly is a member of Goodman Theatre’s Artistic Collective and a proud member of SDC. kimberlysenior.net
OUR DAUGHTERS, LIKE PILLARS PRODUCTION CALENDAR
WHEN
In-person performances: April 8-May 8, 2022
Select Evenings: Tues.- Sat. at 7:30pm; select Sun. at 7pm
Matinees: Select Wed., Sat., and Sun. at 2pm
Days and times vary; see complete schedule above.
Digital: Available until May 22, 2022
Anticipated running time: Three acts with two intermissions. An updated runtime will be available once performances begin and is anticipated to be approximately 2hrs 45mins.
Press Opening: April 20, 2022 RSVP here
For photos, click here
WHERE
The Huntington/Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA
527 Tremont Street, South End, Boston.
TICKETS
Tickets to in-person performances and to a digital recording of the performance start at $25. Season ticket packages and FlexPasses are also now on sale:
online at huntingtontheatre.org
by phone at 617-266-0800; or in person at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, South End, Boston
Select discounts apply:
$10 off: season ticket holders
$30 “35 Below” tickets for patrons 35 years old and younger (valid ID required)
$20 student and military tickets (valid ID required)
ACCESS PERFORMANCES FOR OUR DAUGHTERS, LIKE PILLARS
Tickets are $20 for each patron and their guests. To reserve tickets please email access@huntingtontheatre.org, call ticketing services at 617-266-0800, or in person at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, South End, Boston. Accessible performances are supported in part by the Liberty Mutual Foundation.
ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE: Friday, April 22 at 7:30pm. The Huntington offers American Sign Language interpretation at designated performances for patrons who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE: Tuesday, April 26 at 7:30pm. The Huntington offers open captioning at designated performances for any patron who benefits from having the text of spoken dialogue visible in time with the play.
AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE: Saturday, May 7 at 2pm. The Huntington offers audio description for patrons who are blind or low-vision at designated performances. Please visit huntingtontheatre.org/visit/
Large Print and Braille Programs will also be available for patrons at performances.
COVID SAFETY PROTOCOLS
The Huntington is committed to providing safe and healthy venues for our audiences, artists, staff, and community. Our specific policies and protocols are evolving, subject to change, and will be communicated clearly to ticket holders in advance of their performance. Currently, all patrons must present either proof of full vaccination or a recent negative COVID test in order to enter the theatre, and masks are required to be worn throughout the theatre. Up-to-date information can be found at huntingtontheatre.org/covid.
The Huntington encourages any patrons who feel ill or test positive for COVID-19 to refrain from coming to the theatre and to contact tickets@huntingtontheatre.org to exchange their tickets for another performance or a digital option.
DIGITAL INSURANCE
If patrons ever feel as if they would rather not see Our Daughters, Like Pillars in person – for any reason – they can easily exchange their tickets into a specially recorded version of this play. OR, they can purchase tickets to the digital version of Our Daughters, Like Pillars in advance.
The digital recording of Our Daughters, Like Pillars will be available until May 22.
MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA:
Any members of the media who are interested in speaking with the artists of Our Daughters, Like Pillars or attending or getting footage of The Huntington’s return to live, in-person performances, please contact Caroline Connolly, Publicist, cconnolly@huntingtontheatre.
Press night for critics is Wednesday, April 20, 2022. Please RSVP here
Production photos will be available for download online, and b-roll footage can be requested.
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating its 40th season, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community. Committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, The Huntington provides life-changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, acts as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA. Under the leadership of Managing Director Michael Maso and Artistic Director Loretta Greco, The Huntington is currently conducting a transformational renovation of the historic Huntington Theatre, a storied venue with a bold vision for the future. The project will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
Laila J. Franklin’s GRIEF OBJECTS: An invitation to heal by unpacking objects we’ve put away
Friday, March 11, 2022
• 6pm–7pm: GRIEF OBJECTS | Performance Cycle #1
• 7pm–8pm: Reception
• 8pm–9pm: GRIEF OBJECTS | Performance Cycle #2
Boston, MA (February 25, 2022) — Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) is pleased to welcome Laila J. Franklin as their latest Run of the Mills Resident. Franklin will be presenting her experimental work GRIEF OBJECTS on Friday, March 11, 2022 at 6pm and 8pm. A reception will be held on Friday, March 11 at 7pm. See full details here.
GRIEF OBJECTS is the “catharsis of dusting off that box that has been hiding under your bed for the last year or the one in your grandfather’s attic that has gone untouched for decades.” Franklin asks us to consider why we hold onto these objects. Why do we organize? What is storage versus an archive? How do the objects of grief constantly object to grief? When do they become gifts?
GRIEF OBJECTS is a multidisciplinary gallery walk and performance, and an invitation to enliven and reconsider the ways we engage with the various waves of grief that seem to engulf us so frequently right now. Franklin invites us to explore a collection of personal objects — physical and digital — that have been archived in grieving processes over the last 3 years in a space activated by dance and sound performers.
GRIEF OBJECTS seeks to hold space for grief, longing, and disarray while objecting to our traditional, cultural aesthetic assumptions of grief and the (perceived) excess that comes with it. This performance was developed in collaboration with Kate Gow and David Dogan.
The Run of the Mills Residency at BCA supports art that defies categorization. This series provides resources to produce trans-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary projects for site-responsive, short duration exhibitions, performances, and events of all stripes at the Mills Gallery at BCA.
Artists take over the Mills Gallery for one week between exhibitions to experiment and create a new work. This mini-lab offers artists the opportunity to experiment and share their work with the public in a unique setting. The Run of the Mills series features artist-driven projects exploring elements as varied as written word, dance, video, cooking, fashion, and interactive sound elements.
Quote from the artist Laila J. Franklin (she/her):
“It is my hope that this work, while deeply personal and specific to my own current experience of extended grief, can connect folks to alternative ways of grieving — of feeling the aliveness of objects we may quickly label “junk” that should be hidden or discarded. I believe that we can experience healing and community through our archiving and keeping our archives alive and accessible, and maybe by providing access to a part of my personal archive, other folks may feel enlivened to re-engage with theirs too as a means to process the waves of grief that seem to engulf us so frequently right now.”
Quote from Andrea Blesso, Director of Dance and Interdisciplinary Arts, Boston Center for the Arts (she/her):
“This project is a reflection of this current moment — an opportunity to connect with artists and audiences as we balance the pull between loss and hope — as we process the layers of grief and letting go while also dreaming and building hope for what's next.”
About artist Laila J. Franklin (she/her):
Laila J. Franklin (b. 1997) is a Boston-based (unceded Massachusett and Pawtucket Land) dance artist and movement researcher from the Washington, DC area (unceded Nacotchtonk and Pistacatoway Land). She is a co-founder and current performing member of Dance Farm Collective, an experimental dance group loosely based in Iowa City, Iowa (unceded Sauk and Meskwaki Land), alongside collaborators Michael Landez, Mariko Ishikawa, and Juliet Remmers. She is a current dancer and collaborator with little house dance company (ME) under the direction of Heather Stewart.
Her performance and collaboration credits include projects with Ruckus Dance (MA) and Haus of Pvmnt (NY) and projects with Miguel Gutierrez, Dr. Christopher-Rasheem McMillan, Jennifer Kayle, Melinda Jean Myers, and Stephanie Miracle. While an undergraduate student, Laila had the opportunity to perform work by Keith Thompson, Aszure Barton, and Mark Morris.
Laila’s choreography has been presented through Third Life Studios (MA), Public Space One (IA), the Boston Conservatory, and the University of Iowa. She is a recipient of a 2022 Run of the Mills Residency through the Boston Center for the Arts Mills Gallery. She is also a recipient of a 2022 Alumni Choreographic Commission through The Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
Laila has been working as a teaching artist since 2018. She has taught contemporary dance classes as a part of the Midday Movement Series (MA) and served as a teaching assistant at the University of Iowa for 2000-level dance studies courses. She is an SY2021/2022 adjunct professor of dance at Salem State University (MA) and is a teaching artist with VLA Dance (MA). Expanding this work, she also serves as a consultant and collaborator for social justice education projects and programming for Midday Movement Series.
She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance Performance from The Boston Conservatory and a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Iowa. She has completed additional training through the Trinity Laban Conservatoire (LDN), the Lion's Jaw Dance and Performance Festival (MA), Movement Research (NY), and the Bates Dance Festival (ME).
Instagram: @la.frank
Website: lailajfrankl
About Boston Center for the Arts:
Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) supports working artists to create, perform, and exhibit new works; develops new audiences; and connects the arts to community, and has for over five decades engaged the creative community for public good. While the organization’s physical residence is in the historic South End, BCA touches every part of Boston’s cultural ecosystem. A leading force in the city’s cultural community, BCA has supported thousands of individual artists, small organizations and performing arts companies, who add depth and dimension to the Boston arts ethos. Through residencies and programming, BCA serves as an epicenter for an expanding cohort of artists working across all disciplines, and has catalyzed careers by providing fertile ground for experimentation and artistic risk-taking.
Photography and more information:
· Photos
· Event Page for Run of the Mills performances and reception
THE HUNTINGTON ANNOUNCES LORETTA GRECO
AS NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR –
FIRST WOMAN IN THE ROLE IN HUNTINGTON HISTORY
Champion of new plays and passionate advocate for diverse artists
will lead the company during exciting time of transformational change
(BOSTON) – Chairman David Epstein and President Sharon Malt, on behalf of The Huntington’s Board of Trustees and Advisors, announced today the appointment of acclaimed stage director, producer, and community builder Loretta Greco as The Huntington’s next Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director. She will be the first woman in the role and the fourth artistic leader in The Huntington’s 40-year history. She will begin immediately on a consultant basis and join the company full time starting July 1, 2022.
In her 12-year tenure as artistic director of San Francisco’s Magic Theatre, she created an artistic home for a wide range of writers such as Luis Alfaro, Jessica Hagedorn, John Kolvenbach, Taylor Mac, Sam Shepard, Octavio Solis, Lloyd Suh, and Mfoniso Udofia. As a prolific freelance director, she has directed a wide range of premieres to reimagined classics and has been produced all over the country. Previously she was producing artistic director of the WP Theater (formerly known as the Women's Project) in New York City, and was associate director and staff producer of McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ.
Widely recognized as a passionate advocate for BIPOC artists and a champion of new plays, Greco has a track record of fostering a nurturing, inclusive environment for staff, artists, and their work, as well as engaging the community to create robust collaborations and partnerships.
Her artistic collaborators praise her for her authenticity, generosity of spirit, and infectious energy, in addition to her natural leadership and commitment to artistic excellence.
“Loretta is one of the great humans working in the American theatre. Inspirational, committed, so insightful, craft up the wazoo, years of experience demanding inclusion, and a blast to be with,” says author and performance artist Taylor Mac, author of Pulitzer finalist A 24-Decade History of Popular Music and Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus. “I couldn’t be more thrilled for The Huntington and their community. I’m so jealous they get to hang out with her every day.”
“Loretta Greco is a natural, transformative, and proven leader,” says Lloyd Suh, author of The Chinese Lady, American Hwangap, and others. “She works so hard and cares so deeply, not just about the work but about the people who make it. She's made an enormous impact on my life and career, and I'm confident she'll do the same for the entire Huntington community.”
“Loretta is a genuine champion of playwrights,” says playwright Joshua Harmon, author of Bad Jews and Prayer for the French Republic. “She takes big risks, she makes bold moves, and she does it with more heart than almost anyone I know. She is fiercely intelligent, passionate, and nurturing. I am thrilled for my friend, and even more thrilled for The Huntington, Boston, and the American theatre – it is a victory for all of us to have someone so excellent and so worthy at the helm of this wonderful institution.”
“Loretta is a collaborator to the core and a joy to work with,” says Carey Perloff, former Artistic Director of San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater where Greco frequently directed. “She has championed and supported a wide range of diverse work, and has as strong an affinity for classical work as for contemporary artists. She’s a big thinker and a caring human being with a wonderful sense of humor. I'm sure she'll be a great fit for Boston and for The Huntington because she's deeply engaged with audiences and is invested in becoming part of the community. Theatre is a community resource, and theatre and community are inextricably tied together for Loretta. I can't wait to see what she does in her new position.”
“Get your theatre and community ready for the liveliest blast of sunshine into your stages through her directing, programming, visioning, outreaching, and opening night dinners!” exclaims Sean San José, current artistic director of the Magic Theatre. “You are getting a leader of the loveliest, liveliest sort. Someone who loves writers, who lives to work, who was born to create, and who does it all like a family dinner – filled with excitement and energía.”
Emily Mann, former artistic director of the McCarter Theatre Center and mentor to Greco, says, "Loretta Greco is a consummate artist, a visionary leader, and a community builder of the highest order. She knows how to put theatre in the center of community discourse, and she will do so by bringing the finest artists to The Huntington. I could not be happier for the Boston community and for the American theatre at large."
Huntington artists such as actor Adrian Roberts and director Awoye Timpo, who both have previously collaborated with Greco, are enthusiastic about her appointment and what it means for Boston. Timpo is the director of The Huntington’s current hit production of The Bluest Eye, and Roberts has appeared previously at The Huntington in Ruined (directed by Liesl Tommy) and Raisin in the Sun (directed by Kenny Leon).
“Loretta has been instrumental in lifting me up as an actor of color. I’m indebted to her for much of the success I’ve had,” shares Roberts, who has appeared in many productions at the Magic and those helmed by Greco at ACT and Cal Shakes. “She will be brilliant in Boston when it comes to lifting up social justice for all. She champions everyone, and I mean everyone. What I love about her is that she deals with the times we live in both onstage and off.”
“Loretta Greco is a fearless leader, champion of artists, and brilliant curator,” says Timpo. “What a thrill to know that she will be taking the helm of the Huntington!”
Greco joins The Huntington at an exciting time of great transformation for the company and is eager to immerse herself in the Boston community. Alongside Managing Director Michael Maso, she will lead an organization of 120 full-time staff members with an annual budget of $18 million, producing 7-8 shows and serving 200,000 audience members in multiple venues each season. And she will play a leading role in The Huntington’s commitment to becoming a more equitable and antiracist organization, its navigations coming out of the pandemic, and the major renovation of the Huntington Theatre, currently well underway and scheduled to reopen in Fall 2022.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be named the next Artistic Director of this extraordinary theatre company,” says Greco. “I‘ve been so inspired by The Huntington’s commitment to animating impactful conversations between new and newly imagined work created by a wildly diverse array of world-class artists – and by the passionate, deeply mindful, and longstanding engagement within the community. It will be my great privilege to serve the magnificent city of Boston, alongside Michael Maso and the dedicated Huntington staff and board, as we conjure together a thrillingly inclusive, surprising, and transformative new era.”
“Loretta Greco is a proven, fierce, and passionate advocate for writers and a fearless theatrical producer,” says Maso. “She will bring an unmatched talent for true collaboration to The Huntington’s stage, to our staff and our board, and to the Boston theatre community. I could not be more delighted at her acceptance of this position.”
Greco’s appointment is the culmination of a six-month, national search, led by a 12-person Artistic Director Search Committee made up of Huntington board members, staff representatives, and community leaders, chaired by Huntington Trustees Betsy Epstein and George Yip, and working with consultants Tom Hall and Christine O’Connor of AlbertHall & Associates.
“We are thrilled to have played a role in bringing Loretta Greco to The Huntington and to Boston,” say Epstein and Yip. “Loretta is a natural leader and an inspiring artist with a strong commitment to lifting up artists, supporting staff, and advancing the cause of racial justice in the American theatre. She will make our theatre and our city a better place.”
Greco will begin at The Huntington immediately on a consultant basis, then will relocate to Boston and join the company full time on July 1, 2022. The Huntington’s three prior artistic leaders were Peter Altman (1982 – 2000), Nicholas Martin (2000 – 2008), and Peter DuBois (2008 – 2020).
ABOUT LORETTA GRECO
Loretta Greco is an artistic director, producer, and director with over two decades of artistic leadership experience. Her passion is championing groundbreaking artists whose work asks robust questions about our humanity, and fostering a nurturing, rigorous artistic home for extraordinary theatremakers and audiences.
Her freelance directing career spans the spectrum from reimagined classics to musicals and world premieres. Greco’s impact on the field is significant. 20 of the 26 world premieres she developed and produced have gone on to have to subsequent productions in New York and throughout the country (in 24 states) and internationally. Highlights include: the world premieres of Oedipus el Rey by Luis Alfaro; Hir by Taylor Mac; Don’t Eat the Mangos by Ricardo Perez Gonzalez; American Hwangap by Lloyd Suh; and the chamber opera Arlington by Victor Lodato and Polly Pen. Large scale productions include the Magic Theatre’s rolling world premiere of Taylor Mac’s five-hour allegory, The Lily’s Revenge with 36 performers and 6 women directors; the repertory of Mfoniso Udofia’s Sojourners and runboyrun; Jessica Hagedorn’s Dogeaters; and Barbara Hammond’s The Eva Trilogy among others. During her tenure at the Magic Theatre, playwrights have been recognized as Pulitzer finalists, Tony Award nominees, Herb Alpert honorees, Academy Award winners, and MacArthur “Genius” Award recipients.
Throughout her career, Greco has worked diligently to seek and create exciting community partnerships. Her community collaborations at the Magic included Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music in association with The Curran Theatre, Pomegranate Arts, and Stanford Live; the repertory of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Brother/Sister Plays with ACT and Marin Theatre Company, and the Sheparding America celebration with ACT, Campo Santo, Crowded Fire, and Word for Word, among others. A passionate community builder, Greco spearheaded Magic’s Tenderloin Arts and Community programs for youth and adults and the Magic Laney College collaboration.
Greco has directed both premieres and reimagined classics in New York, San Francisco, and throughout the country. She directed Calderon’s Life is a Dream for Cal Shakes, and critically acclaimed American revivals such as Fool for Love by Sam Shepard for Magic and Speed the Plow by David Mamet for American Conservatory Theater. She also developed and directed the world premiere of Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s Lackawanna Blues for The Public Theater and directed the national tour of Emily Mann’s Having Our Say and its international premiere at the historic Market Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In addition to her long tenure as Magic Theatre’s Artistic Director, she has served as Producing Artistic Director of New York’s WP Theater (formerly known as the Women’s Project) where she championed and produced a who’s who of theatre women including, Liesl Tommy, Annie Dorsen, Anne Kaufman, Lisa D’Amour, Katie Pearl, Leigh Silverman, and Diane Paulus, among many others. As Associate Director and staff producer of the McCarter Theatre Center, Greco originated their Second Stage-On-Stage festival, commissioning and producing plays from dozens of writers, including Nilo Cruz, Adrienne Kennedy, and Doug Wright, while line producing mainstage premieres such as Anna Deveare Smith’s Twilight, Athol Fugard’s Valley Song, Stephen Wadsworth’s The Triumph of Love, and Mann’s Having Our Say which then moved to Broadway.
Greco has taught at UCSD and at Brown University. She has served on TCG/Fox, ART/ New York, Pew Center for Arts, Drama League, and Herb Alpert Foundation panels. She is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect and the recipient of Bay Area Critic’s Association Awards, Drama League fellowships, the Princess Grace Award, a Sundance/Luma Director’s fellowship, the 2018 Zelda Fichandler Award, the 2019 Gene Price Award, an honorary Acting Degree from American Conservatory Theatre, and the 2020 Sam Shepard Legacy Award. She is the proud mother of Sophia Greco Brill.
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating its 40th season, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community. Committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, The Huntington provides life-changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, acts as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA. Under the leadership of Managing Director Michael Maso and Artistic Director Loretta Greco, The Huntington is currently conducting a transformational renovation of the historic Huntington Theatre, a storied venue with a bold vision for the future. The project will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
THE HUNTINGTON ANNOUNCES SMASH BROADWAY HIT
WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME
Jocelyn Shek (she/her) plays a debate performer on alternate performances. Shek is a high school junior from Los Angeles who is very excited to be returning to the national tour of What the Constitution Means to Me. She is passionate about theatre, with a love of stage shows and improv, and is dedicated to improving the world around her through debate and political activism. @jocelyn.shek
Emilyn Toffler (they/he) plays a debate performer on alternate performances. Toffler is an actor/debater from Los Angeles. They are thrilled to be a part of What the Constitution Means to Me! Favorite credits include school plays such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Twelve Angry Jurors, Guys and Dolls, Shrek the Musical, and Into the Woods.
In alphabetical order, left to right: Cassie Beck, Gabriel
Marin, Jocelyn Shek, Emilyn Toffler.
The creative team
for What the Constitution Means to Me features scenic design
by Rachel Hauck (Hadestown on Broadway, John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons), costume design by Michael Krass (Hadestown, Noises
Off, Machinal on Broadway), lighting design by Jen Schriever (Eclipsed, Lackawanna Blues, Grand Horizons, The Lifespan of a Fact on Broadway), and sound design
by Sinan Refik Zafar (Noura at The Guthrie, Seared at
MCC, The Vagrant Trilogy at The Public, Novenas
for a Lost Hospital at Rattlestick).
The play was
commissioned by True Love Productions. This production originated as part of
Summerworks 2017, produced by Clubbed Thumb in partnership with True Love
Productions. The national tour of What the Constitution Means to Me is
produced by Diana DiMenna, Aaron Glick, Matt Ross, and Level Forward & Eva
Price.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Oliver Butler (Director; he/him)
Broadway: What
the Constitution Means to Me.
Co-Artistic Director of The Debate Society: The
Light Years (Playwrights Horizons), Jacuzzi (Ars Nova), Blood
Play (Bushwick
Starr), Buddy Cop 2 (Ontological), Cape Disappointment (P.S.
122), You’re Welcome, The Eaten Heart,
The Snow Hen, A Thought About Raya. Off Broadway: What the Constitution Means to Me (New York Theatre Workshop), Thom Pain (based on nothing) (Signature Theatre), The
Amateurs (Vineyard Theatre), The Open House (Signature Theatre, Lortel Award Best Play, Obie Award Direction). Regional: The Plot (Yale Rep), The
Whistleblower (Denver Center), Thom Pain (Geffen
Playhouse), Legacy (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Bad Jews (Long Wharf), An Opening in Time (Hartford Stage). International: Timeshare (The Malthouse, Australia).
He is a Sundance Institute Fellow and a Bill Foeller Fellow (Williamstown).
Heidi Schreck (Playwright; she/her)
Schreck is a playwright, screenwriter, and
performer living in Brooklyn. Her
most recent play, What the Constitution Means to Me, was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist and
won the New York Drama Critics’
Circle Award for Best American Play. Schreck also received two Tony Award nominations for What the Constitution Means to Me for Best Play and Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play, the 2019 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award, the Horton Foote
Playwriting Award, the Hull-Warriner
Award, and an Obie. A filmed version of What the Constitution Means to Me, starring Schreck, premiered this past October exclusively on
Amazon Prime Video, and was
nominated for a Critics Choice Award, a PGA Award, and a DGA Award. Heidi’s other plays include Grand
Concourse, Creature, Mr. Universe, and There Are No More Big Secrets. Her screenwriting
credits include I Love Dick, Billions, and Nurse Jackie. Schreck has taught
playwriting and screenwriting at NYU, Columbia, Kenyon College, and Primary Stages.
WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME PRODUCTION CALENDAR
WHEN
In-person performances: February 22 – March 20, 2022
Select
Evenings: Tues. – Thurs. at 7:30pm; Fri. – Sat. at 8pm; select Sun. at 7pm
Matinees:
Select Wed., Sat., and Sun. at 2pm
Days
and times vary; see complete schedule above.
Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes, no intermission
Press Opening: February 23, 2022
For Production Photos, click here
For Press Night Tickets, RSVP here
WHERE
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont Street, Boston
TICKETS
Tickets to in-person performances start at $35. Season ticket
packages and FlexPasses are also now on sale:
· online at huntingtontheatre.org
· by phone at 617-266-0800;
· in person at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont
Street, South End, Boston
· in person at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, 2.5 hours
before showtime
Select discounts apply:
· $10 off: season ticket holders
· $30 “35 Below” tickets for patrons 35 years old and younger
(valid ID required)
· $20 student and military tickets (valid ID required)
ACCESS PERFORMANCES FOR WHAT THE
CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME
Tickets are $20 for each patron and their guests. To reserve tickets please email access@huntingtontheatre.org, call ticketing services at 617-266-0800, or visit us in person at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, South End, Boston. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, 2.5 hours before showtime. Accessible performances are supported in part by the Liberty Mutual Foundation.
ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE: Friday, March 11 at 8pm at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. The Huntington offers American Sign Language interpretation at designated performances for patrons who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE: Saturday, March 19 at 2pm at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre. The Huntington offers audio description for patrons who are blind or low-vision at designated performances.
Large Print and Braille Programs will also be available for patrons at performances.
COVID SAFETY PROTOCOLS
The Huntington is committed to providing safe and healthy venues
for our audiences, artists, staff, and community. As mandated by the city of
Boston, all patrons must present proof of full vaccination to enter the theatre
and must wear masks throughout the theatre. More information can be found
at huntingtontheatre.org/covid.
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ANCE SHEDS LIGHT ON THE UNIVERSAL STORIES AND EXPERIENCES WOMEN SHARE Three years in the making, the show opens Nov. 5 at Dedham’s Motherbrook Arts Center DEDHAM, Mass. -- revised Oct. 28, 2021* -- Choreographer Kimberleigh Holman of Luminarium Dance Company found the perfect spot for her new dance performance “Contradictions + Casual Self Loathing”: a former school gymnasium. That’s because many of the more than 50 women she interviewed about shame, guilt and awkward encounters while developing the piece told her stories centered on gym classes and school dances. Luminarium presents “Contradictions + Casual Self Loathing” for two performances, Nov. 5 and 6 (both 8 pm), at Motherbrook Arts Center, 123 High Street in Dedham. Holman began working on the piece three years ago during a residency at Endicott College. In hearing her dance students talk about themselves and their experiences, Holman decided to explore how women share stories across generations and demographics, and began having deep conversations with a wide range of women. Despite mining some somber and difficult topics, Holman says her conversations uncovered common intergenerational experiences that became the basis for an evening-length work with humor, levity and physical comedy inspired by the familiar, often funny reflections that came from examining painful topics. “Everyone’s got baggage — those minor mortifications that haunt us forever — like regrettable haircuts, or awkward hugs that were intended to be handshakes, but many of us also have childhood or relationship traumas that stay with us for a lifetime” Holman says. “We made a dance that uses humor to celebrate discomfort and awkwardness, that looks at why we carry shame for unimportant things, and inspires us to work our way out from under these issues.” -more- During early rehearsals for “Contradictions,” Holman (r.) says dancers told personal stories, many around awkward boyfriend moments and some of which are reflected in the show. “We joked how the discussions had ‘conjured’ people back into our lives,” she says. “So now there’s a running thread in the piece about conjuring up boys from middle school.” The performance space itself conjures up other memories tied to the work, Holman says. To heighten the experience for audiences, the Luminarium team incorporates vintage school equipment, such as overhead projectors, that light the stage and interact with the performers. (Much of Luminarium Dance’s work is built on exploring intersections of lighting and movement.) Holman commissioned artist Adria Arch to create a kinetic installation she says “looks like an exploding notebook” and will activate the space above the audience. A participatory pre-show “warm up” encourages attendees to share their awkward stories and play improv games that will underscore the commonality of personal experiences. Holman lives in Dedham. Dancers in “Contradictions + Casual Self Loathing” include Jessica Chang and Katie McGrail of Brookline, Melenie Diarbekirian of Somerville, and Amy Mastrangelo of Medford. LOCATION & TICKETS “Contradictions + Casual Self Loathing” will be performed Nov. 5 and 6 @ 8pm, at the Motherbrook Arts Center, located at 123 High Street in Dedham. General admission tickets are $25, $20 for students, seniors, Dedham residents and Boston Dance Alliance members. Tickets are available at LuminariumDance.org, and at the door. COVID SAFETY Attendees are asked to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test at the door, and current local guidelines require audiences to wear masks for the duration of the performance. SUPPORT “Contradictions + Casual Self Loathing” is supported by The Boston Foundation LAB Fund and the New England Foundation for the Arts New England Dance Fund.
BLO RETURNS WITH MASCAGNI’S ONE-ACT CLASSIC;
PRODUCTION MOVES TO OPEN-AIR LEADER BANK
PAVILION
Featuring fully live performances by Boston
Lyric Opera’s Orchestra and Chorus
MICHELLE JOHNSON, ADAM DIEGEL, NINA YOSHIDA
NELSEN, JAVIER ARREY AND CHELSEA BASLER LEAD THE CAST
DIRECTED BY GISELLE TY, CONDUCTED BY BLO MUSIC
DIRECTOR DAVID ANGUS
TWO PERFORMANCES ONLY: OCTOBER 1 & 3, 2021
BOSTON -- Updated September 22, 2021* -- Boston
Lyric Opera (BLO) opens its new season October 1 @ 7:30 PM and October 3 @ 3 PM
with the company’s first production of “Cavalleria Rusticana,” composer Pietro
Mascagni’s one-act verismo tale of love, betrayal and death in a
small Sicilian village. In a
change from its previously announced plans, and to ensure the safest possible performances for audience
members, artists, staff and backstage workers, BLO’s “Cavalleria” will open at the Leader Bank
Pavilion in Boston's Seaport District. The Pavilion's open-air structure allows BLO to produce
large-scale live performances, with full live orchestra and chorus; the venue’s
larger capacity means BLO will have two performances instead of the previously
announced four.
BLO
Music Director and Conductor David Angus will lead BLO’s Orchestra and
Chorus. Giselle Ty, who served as Assistant Director on BLO's 2016
production of "Werther," returns as stage director, replacing
previously announced stage director Sarna Lapine.
In
reflecting on BLO’s return to full performances, Stanford Calderwood
Acting General and Artistic Director Bradley Vernatter saluted not only
the resilience of the company’s artists, staff, board and supporters, but also
a shared belief in the power of music and storytelling. “We’re aiming to make
‘Cavalleria’ a thrilling return to live opera with full musical forces,”
Vernatter says. “The work required to pull off a production of this scale is
monumental; it requires an accomplished team and a supportive community. I’ve
been proud that BLO has kept artists employed through our digital projects and
Street Stage performances during the roughest days of the pandemic. But
it’s especially rewarding to provide so many opportunities for artists and
production personnel to join us for our first full-length opera, with a
complete orchestra and chorus for a live audience, since the pandemic
began."
Vernatter
also announced the company will implement COVID safety protocols that align
with other area performing arts organizations returning this fall and its own
Health Task Force for
Opera
Artists, the high-profile panel
of health-care professionals
formed last year to provide medical knowledge and protocol guidance. BLO
patrons attending “Cavalleria” at the Leader Bank Pavilion are required to show
either proof of full vaccination, a negative PCR
test taken within 72 hours of the performance, or an antigen test taken within
the previous 24 hours. Face masks are
required for all patrons except when eating and drinking.
CASTING
The full cast for
BLO’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” includes:
· Soprano Michelle Johnson, known for a
powerful voice and commanding dramatic presence -- and an alumna of New England
Conservatory and the Boston University (BU) Opera Institute -- will sing the
role of Santuzza;
·
Tenor Adam Diegel,
who has received international critical acclaim for his powerful performance of
Cavaradossi in Tosca at Glimmerglass Opera, will sing Turiddu.
· Mezzo-soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen, a
singer equally at home on opera and symphonic stages who has performed world premieres at Houston Grand
Opera and Seattle Opera, and a Boston University
graduate with a Bachelor’s in violin performance and a Master’s in Music
(Opera), returns to Boston to sings Lucia;
· Chilean-American baritone Javier Arrey
holds a Congressional Medal of Honor from the Chilean government both for his
career and his work bringing opera to people without access to live
performances. A veteran of opera productions and concerts alike, Arrey performs
here as Alfio; and
·
Grammy-nominated soprano Chelsea Basler, who has enjoyed a strong relationship with the
company since debuting as an Emerging Artist in 2014 most recently voiced the ethereal Madeline in BLO’s operabox.tv
production of “The Fall of the House of Usher” for BLO’s groundbreaking
operabox.tv streaming service earlier this year, sings Lola.
-more-
Cast changes have
occurred since BLO announced “Cavalleria” in May: Michelle Johnson replaces J’Nai Bridges; Javier Arrey
replaces Alfred Walker.
Three dancers featured
in the performance include Victoria L. Awkward, Michayla Kelly
and Marissa Molinar.
ABOUT “CAVALLERIA
RUSTICANA”
With
a score by Pietro Mascagni, and a libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti
and Guido Menasci, “Cavalleria Rusticana” tells a story of four lovers
that centers on a returning soldier who finds his fiancée has
married a different man. “Cavalleria” is loved for its passionate story and classic score, whose swooning
“Intermezzo” will be familiar to audiences, having been heard on numerous
cinematic soundtracks.
Young soldier Turiddu
learns upon his return home that his betrothed, Lola, has married another man
while he was away. Seeking revenge, he seduces Santuzza, who suspects him
of having an affair with Lola when he disappears after their time together. She
in turn takes her own revenge, telling Lola’s husband Alfio that his wife had
been unfaithful with Turiddu. Seeing his rage, Santuzza immediately regrets the
revelation. But it’s too late; Alfio challenges Turiddu to a duel and Turiddu
accepts, asking his mother Lucia to care for Santuzza if he should not return.
The unsurprising news of Turiddu’s death nevertheless shakes his mother, his
once-betrothed, and his lover to their cores. They respectively weep, collapse in
the arms of others, and faint away.
“Cavalleria” will be
sung in Italian, with English surtitles. The approximate run time of this
performance is 70 minutes, with no intermission.
PRODUCTION AND ARTISTIC
TEAM
Stage Director for
“Cavalleria Rusticana” is Giselle Ty. David Angus conducts the
Boston Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus, whose members are listed here. Brett
Hodgdon is Chorus Master. Stage Manager is Mike Janney.
Julia Noulin-Mérat is Designer for the production. Costume
Designer is Gail Astrid Buckley, Lighting Designer is Molly Tiede.
Wig and Makeup Design is by Ronell Oliveri. Choreography is by Levi
Marsman.
VENUE AND TICKETS
Boston Lyric Opera’s
“Cavalleria Rusticana” will be performed Fri., Oct. 1 @ 7:30 pm and Sun., Oct.
3 @ 3 pm at the Leader Bank Pavilion, 290 Northern Avenue in Boston’s Seaport
District.
Individual tickets
range from $10 to $180 plus fees, and will be available Fri., Sep. 10 at blo.org/tickets.
Information about “Cavalleria Rusticana,” next spring’s “Champion:
An Opera in Jazz,” access to a new digital production of “Svadba” this winter,
and all streaming content on BLO’s operabox.tv, is available at blo.org.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
PROTOCOL DETAILS
“Cavalleria Rusticana”
will be presented in an intermission-free production designed to ensure the
safest possible artist and audience experience, which Vernatter says is BLO’s
top priority. The company uses recommendations from its Health Task Force for
Opera Artists alongside CDC, City of Boston and venue protocols, and artist
union recommendations to develop plans for audience, staff and artists.
Boston Lyric Opera COVID-19 Policies can be found here.
· BLO will continue to monitor
public health conditions, refine protocols as situations change, and send
updated details to patrons in advance of their performance dates.
· BLO is committed to institutional
flexibility this season and will provide accommodations for patrons who are
feeling sick or need to pause their return to the theater.
· BLO will provide updated COVID and health
protocol information on its website, blo.org.
OTHER NEWS: NEW ADDRESS,
NEW NEIGHBORHOOD
Boston Lyric Opera has
moved its headquarters to a new office at Midway Artist Studios in the Fort Point Arts Neighborhood, joining the many artists and cultural
organizations that comprise that section of the city.
Acting General and
Artistic Director Bradley Vernatter says “BLO is excited and proud to join this
arts neighborhood, which is recognized as one of largest communities of artists
in New England. Making Fort Point our home, alongside so many other creators,
contributes to the vibrancy of one of Boston’s creative centers.”
Previously, BLO mounted productions of “Clemency” and “The Rape of Lucretia” in the neighborhood, at the Artists For Humanity EpiCenter, located near Midway Artist Studios
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THE HUNTINGTON RETURNS TO LIVE, IN-PERSON PERFORMANCES
WITH AWARD-WINNING COMEDY HURRICANE
DIANE
This brainy, 90-minute comedy
about gardening and global warming
blows into the Calderwood
Pavilion starting August 27
BOSTON: The Huntington announces
the cast and creative team of its first production of its 40th anniversary
season, Hurricane Diane by Pulitzer Prize
finalist Madeleine George and directed by Jenny Koons,
running from August 27 to September 26, 2021 at The Huntington’s Calderwood
Pavilion at the BCA.
The first performance of Hurricane
Diane on August 27 will mark The Huntington’s return to live,
in-person performances, 538 days since audiences were last welcomed to a
Huntington performance.
In the suburbs of the Garden
State, the Greek god Dionysus returns from the heavens in the guise of a lesbian
landscaper named Diane who is described as a “butch charm factory.” Hell-bent
on reversing climate change and restoring earthly balance and order, Diane
plots to seduce four suburban women into letting their passions, as well as
their well-manicured lawns, run wild.
Called “an astonishing new
play” and a Critics’ Pick by The New York Times, “hilarious,
shattering, and full of keen observation” by New York Magazine’s
Vulture, and “an enjoyably bonkers comedy” by San Diego Union
Tribune, this Obie Award-winning, brainy comedy about gardening and global
warming was first commissioned and produced by Two River Theatre in Red Bank,
NJ in 2017 and then performed Off Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in 2019
and at The Old Globe in 2020.
The cast of Hurricane
Diane features (in alphabetical order) Esme Allen (Much Ado About Nothing, The Cherry
Orchard with Actors’ Shakespeare Project) as hard-edged and proper
Carol Fleischer, Huntington regular Marianna Bassham (Sweat,
Romeo and Juliet at The Huntington) as poor Beth Wann whose husband
recently up and left, Jennifer Bubriski (To Kill a
Mockingbird at Umbrella Center for the Arts) as boisterous dynamo Pam
Annunziata who loves animal prints, Rami Margron (Hurricane Diane at
the Old Globe, Love’s Labour’s Lost Off Broadway) as the
eponymous, force-of-nature Diane, and Kris Sidberry (All
American Girls Off Broadway, The Cake and Intimate
Apparel at the Lyric Stage) as Renee Shapiro-Epps, an ambitious
executive at HGTV Magazine.
The action takes place around
the identical kitchens of the friends and neighbors in the cul-de-sac as they
gather over coffee or wine for gossip and camaraderie. The design team of Hurricane
Diane will each make their Huntington debut with this production:
scenic design is by Stephanie Osin Cohen (This American
Wife at New York Theatre Workshop, Men on Boats at
Baltimore Center Stage), costume design is by Hahnji Jang (Pan
Asian Repertory Theatre, Men on Boats at Baltimore Center
Stage), lighting design is by Jen Schriever (Grand Horizons,
What the Constitution Means to Me on Broadway), and sound design is
by Ben Scheff (Cirque du Soleil, Red Roses, Green Gold Off
Broadway). The production stage manager is Emily F. McMullen and
the assistant stage manager is Jamie Carty.
ANNOUNCES DIGITAL OFFERING OF A
CHRISTMAS CAROL
FEATURING TONY WINNER JEFFERSON MAYS
“Raise the Curtain” packages and
tickets to A
Christmas Carol are
now available for purchase and for
holiday gift-giving
(BOSTON) – Huntington Theatre
Company announces it has joined producer Hunter Arnold and
a consortium of theatres across the US to present a special filmed version of
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol this holiday season,
featuring Tony Award winner Jefferson Mays. Tickets are available
on the Huntington’s website (huntingtontheatre.org), and the film will be available for streaming from
November 28 through January 3.
In this special production of A
Christmas Carol, the timeless tale of Ebenezer Scrooge comes to thrilling
new life as Tony Award winner Jefferson Mays (I Am My Own
Wife, Oslo, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder on Broadway) plays
over 50 roles in a virtuosic, master class of a performance.
Staged exclusively for this film and
captured live at New York’s United Palace, this rousing streaming event
conjures the powerful spirits of Christmas and brings all the magic of live
theatre home for the holidays.
Directed by one of Broadway’s most
imaginative directors, two-time Tony Award nominee Michael Arden (Deaf
West’s Spring Awakening, Once on this Island on Broadway), adapted
by Mays, Susan Lyons (director of I Am My Own Wife on
Broadway), and Arden, and conceived by Arden and Tony Award nominee Dane
Laffrey (I Was Most Alive with You, God of
Carnage, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner at the
Huntington, Once on this Island on Broadway), the filmed
version is based on the highly acclaimed 2018 production which made its world
premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
When it played the Geffen Playhouse in
2018, A Christmas Carol was called “a stunning adaptation”
by The Hollywood Reporter, and Charles McNulty of the Los
Angeles Times raved that “Jefferson Mays not only got me to see A
Christmas Carol, something I’ve vowed never to do again. But he got me to
rave about it. For true theatre lovers, there can be no better gift this
season.”
Adaptor and actor Jefferson Mays says, “A
Christmas Carol was my first experience of living theatre. My
mother and father would read it out loud every year. My father would tell the
story with clarity and humanity, while my mother, eyes ablaze, would transform
into the characters, from the tortured Jacob Marley, to little Fan and the
entire Cratchit family. Both, in their ways, created magic. And now here we
are, aspiring to bring this magic to people across the country during this
challenging time.”
Director and adaptor Michael Arden says, “My
theatre career began when I was a 10-year-old Texan playing Tiny Tim in the
Midland Community Theatre production of A Christmas Carol. In a
time when theatres and arts workers across the country are in great need,
bringing a story that celebrates the power of creativity, community, and our
shared humanity is humbling.”
Producer Hunter Arnold says, “Due to
COVID-19, the country’s theatres have lost over 80% of their income, a number
that is devastating to our community. These theatres, the work they produce,
and the artists and workers they support are a fundamental part of our society.
We must fight for their survival.”
The creative team for A Christmas
Carol includes Dane Laffrey (scenic and costume
design), Maceo Bishop (director of photography), Ben
Stanton (lighting design, Man in the Ring and Love’s
Labour’s Lost at the Huntington), Lucy Mackinnon (projection
design, Ripcord at the Huntington), Joshua D.
Reid (sound design), Cookie Jordan (hair and makeup
design), James Ortiz (puppet design), and Nikki M.
James (assistant director). A Christmas Carol is
produced by Hunter Arnold with George Bamber, Kayla
Greenspan, Carl Daikeler, Roberto Quiroz Mata,
and Tom Kirdahy serving as Executive Producers for the film.
Huntington Theatre Company is a partner
through a joint project between Arnold's TBD Pictures, La Jolla Playhouse, and
On The Stage. Other partner theatres currently include Actors' Playhouse,
Geffen Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, Iowa Stage Theatre Company, La Jolla
Playhouse, Sankofa Collective, Shea's Performing Arts Center, South Coast
Repertory, Springfield Contemporary Theatre, Theatre Tallahassee, and
Vermont Stage.
TICKETS FOR A CHRISTMAS CAROL:
Tickets are $50 per household, with select
discounts for students and others, and are available online at huntingtontheatre.org/christmas-carol or by phone at 617 266 0800. (At least $20 per
full price ticket will benefit the Huntington Theatre Company.) Closed-captioning will be available.
Ticket buyers will receive an email from the
streaming company On The Stage with a viewing link, and beginning November 28
at 9pm through January 3, viewers will have 24 hours to watch the performance
once the link has been activated. The performance can be watched on any device
or cast to a television.
SPECIAL OFFER: The first 25 people to
purchase the “Raise the Curtain” package (details below) will receive
complimentary access to the digital streaming production of A Christmas
Carol this holiday season.
- D. Randolph (Randy) Peeler (Trustee) is a senior advisor at Berkshire Partners, having joined the company in 1996 and serving as managing director from 2000 until 2017. Previously he worked at Health Advances where he co-founded a privately-owned healthcare service company, as a special assistant for the assistant secretary of economic policy in the US Department of the Treasury, and as a consultant with Cannon Associates and Bain & Co. Currently, he serves on the board of several privately-held companies as well as National Vision Inc (EYE) and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston. He received an AB from Duke and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
- Evelyn Peterman (Advisor) is a philanthropist and activist with a passion for the arts and human rights issues. She is a stay-at-home mother and resides in Lexington, Massachusetts with her husband and twins.
- Billy Porter (Trustee) is a Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Award-winning entertainer and fashion icon. He is best known for originating the roles of Lola in Kinky Boots (for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical) and Pray Tell in the FX series “Pose” (for which he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor). At the Huntington, he has directed critically acclaimed productions of The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe (2015), Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks (2017), and most recently, the world premiere of The Purists by Dan McCabe (2019).
- Jacqueline Smethurst (Advisor) is the former head of Northfield Mount Hermon School and has consulted widely on non-profit governance, guiding the successful establishment of independent and charter schools in California and Louisiana. With her husband David Drinkwater, she founded Wingspan Partnerships, a non-profit that narrows the education gap through partnerships between public and private schools; in 2013, it became part of the National Network of Schools in Partnership. She holds BA and MA degrees from Oxford University and her doctorate from the University of Massachusetts, currently serves as president of the board of Peterborough Players, and is an honorary fellow of St. Hilda’s College, Oxford.
- Kate Taylor (Trustee) is an executive and life coach and also does media consulting. She retired from WGBH in 2014 where she had a long and distinguished career creating and producing many award-winning public media projects while in her position as Senior Executive Producer for Children’s Television and Media. She has also served on various boards including the Boston Children’s Museum, Wheelock College, and 826/Boston. She is engaged as a volunteer with Communities for Restorative Justice, working in the criminal justice system. She holds a BA and MSE from the University of Pennsylvania and is certified to coach by the Coach Training Institute. She lives in Brookline with her husband Ben.
- George Yip (Advisor) is emeritus professor of marketing and strategy at Imperial College London and a distinguished visiting professor at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of MIT Sloan Management Review and is former dean of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, in the Netherlands. He is a sought-after speaker on China innovation and global strategy, and is the author of several books, published in ten languages. He is also a former vice president and director of research & innovation at Capgemini Consulting, and has held faculty positions at Cambridge University, Harvard Business School, and UCLA. He received his BA and MA in economics from Cambridge University, and his MBA and DBA from Harvard. He grew up in Hong Kong, Myanmar, and England, and has dual citizenship in the USA and UK.
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- Oct 12, 2 pm – Rabb Hall, Boston Public Library Central Branch 700 Boylston Street, Boston
- Oct 16, 6 pm – Bunker Hill Community College, Charlestown
- Oct 17, 4 pm – Pierce Hall, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, Mass.
- Nov 13, 5:30 pm – Waltham Public Library, 735 Main Street, Waltham, Mass.
- Nov 14, time TBD – Boston Public Library Grove Hall Branch, 41 Geneva Ave, Dorchester
Sep 20-29, 2019
BLO’s season opens with
Ruggiero Leoncavallo’s indelible PAGLIACCI, starring
Mexico-born tenor Rafael Rojas as Canio and his murderous circus clown
alter-ego of the title. African American
soprano Lauren Michelle -- an alumna of Walnut Hill School in Natick, Mass. and a finalist in
2015’s BBC Cardiff Singer of the World contest -- plays Nedda. Tobias Greenhalgh sings the
role of Silvio, Nedda’s lover. Michael Mayes (2016’s Carmen and 2014’s
Rigoletto) returns as Tonio. BLO Emerging Artist alumnus Omar Najmi sings Beppe-Harlequin. BLO Music Director David Angus
conducts.
BLO’s deep bench of Emerging Artists is featured with returning artist
Jesse Blumberg in the New England premiere of composer Gregory Spears
and librettist Greg Pierce’s 2016 opera FELLOW TRAVELERS. This taut
political thriller is based on Thomas Mallon’s 2007 historical novel of faith, love, and politics during the McCarthy era, when
homosexuals were blackmailed and purged from U.S. government positions. In
the shadow of 1950s anti-Communist hysteria, powerful State Department
executive Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller seduces Washington, DC transplant Timothy
Laughlin, sparking a furtive romance after securing him a speechwriting job. Hawkins’
circle of friends and colleagues may—or may not—be keeping his secret from the
prying eyes of the House Un-American Activities Committee.
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