DC Theatre Scene

Historical Archive of Washington area theatre

facebook

twitter

Intersections . A New America Arts Festival

by

For the next three weekends, that gorgeous lobby of the Atlas Performing Arts Center will truly come alive  as musicians, dancers, actors, and poets join with their audiences to celebrate their individuality and commonality with INTERSECTIONS: A New America Arts Festival.
This is a major festival, with 21 events on the opening weekend alone.  We are highlighting the theatrical presentations here, but hope you will take time to explore all of the events.  To view the schedule and buy tickets, simply click here.
Note: Valet parking is not being offered for this event. Transportation and links to paid parking spots is here.

——————

A Theatrelovers Guide to INTERSECTIONS

——————

Kathleen Gonzales: The Bridge of Bodies

Kathleen Gonzales PhotoA benefit for Haitian Earthquake relief and recovery
The Bridge of Bodies, a one-woman, sixteen character unfolding of a Haitian-American’s mission of self-discovery.
Friday, Feb 19 at 7:30pm
Saturday, Feb 20 at 7:30pm
Sunday, Feb 21 at 4:30 and 7:30pm
Friday, Feb 26 at 7:30pm
Saturday, Feb 27 at 9:30pm
Sunday, Feb 28 at 7:30pm
Lab II
Tickets: $15
For audiences ages 13 and up.
After captivating critics in a successful run at the Flashpoint Theatre in the summer of 2008, actress/playwright Kathleen Gonzales brings her compelling solo performance to INTERSECTIONS. Inspired by her own personal history, Gonzales weaves a story about Marie-Therese Pierre who, haunted by recurring dreams and her mother’s silence about their shared past, journeys to her native Haiti in search of an identity. Upon arrival, she embarks on a magically realistic mystery tour, encountering long-lost family members, buried memories and strangers who seem to know her. The sites and sounds of Haiti’s troubled past are intimately captured in this moving, hopeful drama. Ms. Gonzales embodies sixteen different characters that all help Marie-Therese connect the dots of her past and discover her future. Be sure to see The Bridge of Bodies — one of the featured festival productions focusing on the lives of first and second generation Americans.  www.KathleenGonzales.com

—————

An Evening with Marva: Celebrating the Gospel Truth

An Evening with Marva: Celebrating the Gospel Truth, a rich musical journey through song with singer Marva Hicks from her gospel roots to Broadway and beyond.

Arena Stage's Marva Hicks in Gospel Truth Photo
Saturday, Feb 20 at 7:30pm
Sunday, Feb 21 at 2:00pm and 7:30pm
Sprenger Theater
Tickets:  $25
For audiences ages 13 and up.

Step inside the musical world of the versatile Arena Stage favorite, Marva Hicks. Listen to the voice that began in the church then went on to brighten Broadway and tour with Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston. This lively concert will include a first look at selections from Gospel Truth, Marva’s new world premier solo performance, commissioned by Arena Stage, the largest theater in the country dedicated to American plays and playwrights, celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2010. Enjoy a sneak preview of this upcoming theatrical event, crafted by an award-winning team that includes New York Times‘ Bestselling author Pearl Cleage and Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago Hudson.

Washington Savoyards: Treemonisha
Washington Savoyards Photo
Treemonisha by Scott Joplin An intersection of classical opera form and ragtime genius in a new production of a rarely performed American treasure, presented by Washington Savoyards, DC’s favorite light opera company.

Saturday, February 20, 8pm
Sunday, February 21, 2pm
Friday, February 26, 8pm
Saturday, February 27, 8pm
Sunday, February28, 2pm
Friday, March 5, 8pm
Saturday, March 6, 8pm
Sunday, March 7, 2pm

Lang Theater
Tickets: $15 – $38

For audiences ages 8 and up.

Heralded as “an entirely new phase of musical art” when Scott Joplin played for its first performance in 1915, Treemonisha was rediscovered in the 1970s and went on to triumph on Broadway. Last seen in DC in 1976, the Washington Savoyards will present an all-new production of this “thoroughly American opera” for a new generation, under the direction of Michael J. Bobbitt.

The Washington Savoyards production sets this opera in a Louisiana bayou. Treemonisha is an educated young African American woman who denounces the superstitutions of her community. In retaliation, local conjurers kidnap her and take her into a swamp teeming with animals. Remus, her beau, rescues her at the last moment and they return home. A champion now of the community, Treemonisha triumphantly espouses education as the key to African American success. www.savoyards.org

—————

In Pursuit of Me: The Story of Christylez Bacon

In Pursuit of Me:  The Story of Christylez Bacon, a world premier merging of music and theatre by one of Washington hip-hop’s rising stars.

Saturday, Feb 27 at 9:30pm

Friday, Mar 5 at 7:30pm
Saturday, March 6 at 9:30pm

Tickets: $15

For audiences ages 13 and up.

Take a ride from Southeast DC to the top stages in town in a musical extravaganza created by GRAMMY nominated, DC Native Christylez Bacon and award-winning director Patrick Crowley. Live music, dance and drama collide in this progressive twist on the classic hero’s journey.   Sure to be as captivating as Christylez’s sold-out performances as a resident artist at the Music Center at Strathmore Hall, this “hip hopera” will be a boundary-breaking event you will not want to miss.  Stay late on March 6th for a dance party featuring the versatile music of Christylez.

**Free Concert for Families by Christylez on February 20 at 1:30pm in the Atlas Lobby featuring songs from Banjo to Beatbox, his award-winning CD collaboration with Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer.

——————

 

Arena Stage’s Voices of Now Mentor Ensemble

Encounter, a musically poetic look at young peoples’ lives devised and performed by Arena’s top youth ensemble.

Sunday, Feb 28 at 2:30pm
Sunday, Mar 7 at 2:30pm
Sprenger Theater
Tickets: $5
For audiences ages 11 and up.
An ensemble of young performing artists vividly explore events that have shaped their lives in Encounter, a lively production that interweaves monologue, dialogue, poetry, movement and music to tell each teen’s unique story. An ideal event for young people and their families to experience together, Encounter celebrates the artistry of young voices and offers a compelling window into world of young people today. The talented young performers exuberantly embrace the opportunity presented by Arena Stage’s Voices of Now Mentor’s ensemble to be effective communicators and positive role models and create a production that will both delight and inspire. www.arenastage.org
 
——————
Vertical Voices Playback Theatre: Intersect: Let Your Life Speak

Vertical Voices Playback Theatre Photo

 

Vertical Voices Playback Theatre: Intersect: Let Your Life Speak

Intersect: Let Your Life Speak, an interactive performance created by DC’s Sidwell Friends School performers probing the festival theme.

Sunday, Feb 28 at 4:30pm

Sprenger Theater

Tickets: $5

For audiences ages 5 and up.

Let your stories be told through Playback Theatre, an international phenomenon inspired by the ancient practice of oral tradition as well as by contemporary forms of improvisational theatre. The Vertical Voices Playback Theatre of Sidwell Friends School honors the human experience by inviting audience members to share their personal stories and then watch as the actors use improvisation, careful listening and insight to bring these experiences to life. Imagine your stories of the intersections in your life and culture, being brought to life by these vibrant young performers. Celebrate and explore the festival theme through a theatre form designed to promote the dignity of the human experience and build community. And it’s fun! Come intersect with a style of theatre practiced in a global network covering six continents and more than thirty countries.

——————

David Emerson Toney and Chris Youstra: Elysian Fields
Elysian Fields, Act One of a vibrant new Toney-Youstra musical collaboration that resets Shakespeare’s King Lear in the deep South.

Sunday, Mar 7 at 7:30pm
Lab I Tickets: $10
For audiences ages 13 and up.
Be the first to experience the compelling words of playwright David Emerson Toney and the haunting music of composer Chris Youstra in a word premier reading of Act One of Elysian Fields. Actor/singers will bring to life the story an old freed black slave in the Civil-War-Era South who, after a windfall, divides his property among his children. Inspired by Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy, King Lear, this musical asks: “When can we no longer blame the world around us for our own shortcomings?” The audience will be invited to share their responses to this powerful new work in a post-reading talk-back. The Atlas is proud to welcome back the playwright-composer team who created its opening production, Coming Home.

Daily Posts Archive

February 2010
MTWTFSS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728

Reprint Policy: Our articles may not be reprinted in full but only as excerpts and those portions may only be used if a credit and link is provided to our website.