Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Fort Worth’s Jubilee Theatre announces 2009-2010 season

By Pegasus News wire

Jubilee Theatre Artistic Director Ed Smith announces the theatre’s 2009-2010 season, a lineup that opens with the sole North American production this year of The Dance on Widow’s Row by Samm-Art Williams. The season continues with Home for the Holidays, a new holiday musical by Ed Smith; Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland’s From the Mississippi Delta, originally directed by Ed Smith in 1988; One Mo’ Time -- An Evening at the Lyric Theatre in 1926 by Vernel Bagneriss; Gem of the Ocean by August Wilson; and Blues in the Night, a review style musical conceived and originally directed by Sheldon Epps.

Jubilee Theatre’s 29th season continues the organization’s mission of creating and producing theatrical works that reflect the African-American experience. Season tickets will go on sale July 14 and can be purchased by calling the Jubilee Theatre Ticket Office at 817-338-4411 or online at www.jubileetheatre.org. Season tickets can be purchased to include 4- or 6-performance packages and reflect up to a 17% discount from the listed single ticket price. Single ticket sales will begin for the season opener, The Dance on Widow’s Row, on September 15. For additional information, visit www.jubileetheatre.org.

Jubilee Theatre’s 2009-2010 Season

The Dance on Widow’s Row -- by Samm-Art Williams; directed by Ed Smith

Previews: October 16, 17, 18, and 22; opening: October 23; run: October 23 – November 8

Four wealthy widows in the fictional North Carolina coastal community of Port Town invite the area's four most eligible bachelors to an intimate soiree for eight. Having already buried nine husbands altogether, they know that the neighbors' tongues will wag like the tail of a starving dog with the key to the butcher shop; but they are willing to defy small-town mores and endure vicious gossip if there is a chance that they will meet Mr. Right tonight. The Dance on Widow’s Row is a comedy by Samm-Art Williams, who wrote the critically acclaimed Home and was a co-executive producer of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Home for the Holidays -- A New Musical by Ed Smith; directed by Ed Smith

Previews: November 28, 29, and December 3; opening: December 4; run: December 4 – December 27. (No performance on November 27 and December 24 and 25.)

When a group of travelers get stranded in the airport over the holidays, each one has their own story to tell about where they are headed and from where they have come. Among the group is a soldier eager to return home to his family and the hero’s welcome that awaits him. Will they let the stress that comes with the holidays take over or will they stay joyous by remembering the reason for the season? With heart-wrenching and uplifting stories, this original musical includes holiday music from hip-hop to gospel.

From the Mississippi Delta -- by Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland; director TBD

Previews: January 29, 30, 31, and February 4; opening: February 5; run: February 5 – 28

The journey begins in Greenwood, Mississippi — the Delta. Born in a rundown, drafty shotgun house to a poor but resourceful black woman, no one could have predicted the odyssey that would become Ida Mae Holland’s life. Curious, smart and precocious, young Ida learned from her mother how to dream big dreams, for herself and others, in their impoverished Delta community. From the Mississippi Delta has earned critical acclaim and has been nationally and internationally celebrated as an inspiring dramatic portrayal of the human experience, as viewed through the eyes of an African-American woman.

One Mo’ Time -- An Evening at the Lyric Theatre 1926 -- concept and book and original direction by Vernel Bagneris; directed by Tyrone King

Previews: March 26, 27, 28 and April 1; opening: April 2; run: April 2 – April 25. (No performance on April 4.)

This long running Off Broadway show revived, to acclaim in the 2002 Broadway season, has audiences rockin' the rafters and dancin' in the aisles, thrilling to this artful recreation of old time, 1920's Black vaudeville. This show’s powerful mix of music, including the Charleston, the black bottom, and the cakewalk, had one reviewer proclaiming the “the mercury leaves the thermometer. One Mo' Time is a hot, wild, ribald and rousing delight." --Time Magazine

Gem of the Ocean -- by August Wilson and directed by Akin Babatunde

Preview: May 21, 22, 23, and 27; opening: May 28; run: May 28 – June 20

Set in 1904, this is the haunting tale of a spiritually tormented young man who pays a visit to Aunt Ester, a former slave, on the eve of her 287th birthday. When Citizen Barlow comes to her home seeking asylum, she sets him off on a spiritual journey to find a city in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. On his way to the mythic city, he makes startling discoveries about guilt, duty, and redemption. Gem of the Ocean is the ninth work in Wilson's ten-play cycle that has recorded the American black experience and helped to define generations.

Blues in the Night -- conceived and originally directed by Sheldon Epps; original vocal arrangements and musical direction by Chapman Roberts; orchestrations and additional vocal arrangements by Sy Johnson; directed by Ed Smith

Previews: July 16, 17, 18, and 22; opening: July 23; run: July 23 – August 15

The universal language of the blues wails out full and strong in this dynamite “dramatic revue” of twenty-six hot numbers that tell of the sweet, sexy and sorrowful experiences three women have with the lying, cheating snake of a man who does them wrong. With little spoken text, the interweaving stories are defined through glorious songs which cover the range of this indigenous American art form, from Bessie Smith to Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Alberta Hunter, Jimmy Cox, Ida Cox and more, telling of the pain and misery of life and love and also of the dogged determination to get through it all that is the essence of the blues.

Source: Jubilee Theatre

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