It’s been described as “one of the best plays about racism ever written” – and it’s coming to Chapel Hill beginning this weekend.
The play is “Trouble in Mind,” and it opens on Saturday, January 24, at PlayMakers Repertory Company.
Written in 1955 by Alice Childress, “Trouble” is a comic drama set behind the scenes of a racially integrated Broadway play – in which the lead actress, an African-American, must make a choice between giving up her values or giving up the role of a lifetime.
Childress herself faced a similar choice: “Trouble in Mind” was set to become the first play written by an African-American woman to be staged on Broadway, but Childress refused to rewrite the ending as her producers demanded. (It did run Off-Broadway in 1955.) In addition to writing “Trouble,” Childress was also a Tony-nominated actress, a member of Harlem’s American Negro Theater, and one of the first African-American women to direct a show Off-Broadway.
Kathryn Hunter-Williams plays Wiletta Mayer, the lead actress. (She also played Cassandra in PlayMakers’ production of “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” earlier this season, among many other PlayMakers credits.) Tony-winning Broadway actor Roger Robinson appears as Sheldon Forrester.
Kathryn Hunter-Williams spoke to WCHL’s Aaron Keck earlier this week.
Previews of “Trouble in Mind” began Wednesday. Opening night is Saturday, January 24, with curtain at 7:30. The play runs through February 8, with shows at 7:30 Tuesdays through Saturdays and at 2:00 Sundays. For more information and to purchase tickets, call (919) 962-PLAY or visit PlayMakersRep.org.
http://chapelboro.com/news/arts/playmakers-trouble-mind/Head to PlayMakers Repertory Company this month and catch the opening play of its 2014-15 mainstage season: “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” a Tony-winning comedy by Christopher Durang.
Inspired by the Russian playwright Anton Chekov, “Vanya” won the Tony for best play in 2013. PlayMakers’ production is directed by Libby Appel – who has not only directed all of Chekov’s plays in the past, but also translated five of his plays into English.
Julie Fishell – last seen at PlayMakers as Sara Jane Moore in “Assassins” – plays Masha. Fishell spoke with WCHL’s Aaron Keck earlier this week.
Previews began Wednesday. Opening night is Saturday, September 20, and the play runs through October 5. For showtimes and tickets, visit PlayMakersRep.org.
http://chapelboro.com/news/arts/playmakers-opens-season-chekov-twist/Good morning, Baltimore!
PlayMakers Repertory Company’s Summer Youth Conservatory is staging the hit musical “Hairspray” this weekend at the Paul Green Theare in the Center for Dramatic Art on Country Club Road.
A story of inclusivity set in 1962 Baltimore, “Hairspray” is the story of plus-size teen Tracy Turnblad and her push to get recognized as a dancer on the “Corny Collins Show” – while joining the fight for racial integration.
The Summer Youth Conservatory brings area high schoolers together each year for an intensive five-week training program. “Hairspray” marks the culmination of this year’s conservatory.
Director Desdemona Chiang, choreographer Matt Steffens, and actors Sadie Frank and Daniel Johnson (both rising high school seniors) joined Aaron Keck on WCHL to discuss the show.
“Hairspray” opened on Wednesday and runs through Sunday, with shows at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $10-15; you can purchase them either by calling 919-962-PLAY, by visiting the PlayMakers box office, or online at PlayMakersRep.org.
http://chapelboro.com/news/arts/hairspray-arrives-playmakers/CHAPEL HILL – PlayMakers’ Summer Youth Conservatory will perform “Sweeney Todd” this Wednesday through Sunday at the Center for Dramatic Art at UNC.
The Summer Youth Conservatory consists of current high school students and recent high school graduates, giving them the chance to learn more from a professional aspect.
Student Emma Beck works on the play from the technical side and comments on her experience working with professionals in the Summer Youth Conservatory.
“Being there are so many people helping us, so many professional adults that we get so much one on one attention and we are able to learn so much more than we are in high school,” says Beck.
The program allows for high school students to gain experience working in a professional theatre environment and perform difficult shows like “Sweeney Todd.”
Director of the performance and artistic director of Cape Fear regional theatre in Fayetteville, Tom Quaintance, has worked with the SYC for four years and says he was astounded at the level of work the students were doing.
“I came up and I got to see You’re in Town and I saw that the program had grown to the point and the students were so talented, the training they had received, they absolutely can do Sweeney Todd, so we picked Sweeney Todd,” says Quaintance.
Quaintance says he had previously never expected to work with high school students on such a difficult performance, but after last years performance he thought they were ready.
“Really exciting play to be working on with students, it was something I never though I would want to do with students because it is one of the most challenging musicals ever, I’ve always loved it” Quaintance says.
The program began June 17, giving the students only one month to prepare for opening night. Quaintance says the level of work and commitment that the students put into this performance is unlike most high schools.
Star of last year’s “Urinetown,” Adrian Thornburg, again plays a spotlight role in this years “Sweeney Todd.” As an experienced member of SYC and star actor, Thornburg comments on his idea of this year’s performance.
“Well I’m playing Sweeney Todd and this has really been a very special experience, I really do think that this is easily the greatest show I’ve been apart of, both just on the merits of the show and on the merits of what we’ve put together,” says Thornburg.
For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.
http://chapelboro.com/news/arts/summer-youth-conservatory-to-perform-sweeney-todd/ 48.4°F |
| Today: 48°F / 31°F |  |
| Tomorrow | Wednesday | Thursday |
 | | |
| 44° / 26° | 46° / 27° | 50° / 34° |
