[NEohioPAL] BROADWAY AND LONDON STAR LEADS CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE PRODUCTION OF MAHALIA: A GOSPEL MUSICAL

[Lisa Craig]

MEDIA RELEASE

 

For photos, interviews, etc. contact:

Lisa Craig, Public Relations Manager 

(216) 795-7000 x236 

lcraig at clevelandplayhouse.com

 

BROADWAY AND LONDON STAR NATASHA YVETTE WILLIAMS LEADS 

CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE PRODUCTION OF MAHALIA: A GOSPEL MUSICAL

Kent Gash to Direct Musical Celebrating Gospel Singer Mahalia Jackson

 

January 30 – February 22, 2009

Opening Night / Media Night: February 4, 2009

 

Cleveland, OH (January 8, 2009) – Returning to Cleveland after acclaimed
performances in The Color Purple on Broadway and Gone with the Wind in
London’s West End, NaTasha Yvette Williams takes the stage in the lead role
of The Cleveland Play House production of Mahalia: A Gospel Musical. Since
1997, when she performed in The Play House production of (I Could) Stop On a
Dime and Get Ten Cents Change, Williams has also played in several Broadway
national tours and performed her gospel music all over the world.  Kent
Gash, Associate Artistic Director of The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA, is
directing Williams in this musical tribute to the most celebrated gospel
singer of all time. Mahalia: A Gospel Musical begins in the Bolton Theatre
at The Cleveland Play House on Friday, January 30 and runs through Sunday,
February 22, 2009.  Tickets are on sale now at The Cleveland Play House box
office by calling 216.795.7000 ext 4 or online at
www.clevelandplayhouse.com. Mahalia: A Gospel Musical is presented in
promotional partnership with Time Warner Cable and The Kulus Foundation. The
media sponsor for Mahalia: A Gospel Musical is 107.3 FM The Wave WNMV.

 

"In tradition of our fabulously successful show, Ella,” says Cleveland Play
House Artistic Director Michael Bloom, “this inspiring biography is another
musical gift to a city that knows how to sing.”

 

Director Kent Gash, an MFA Directing student of Bloom’s at UCLA School of
Theatre, Film and Television, remarks, “Mahalia Jackson was a unique human
being and this production celebrates the ministry of her music. The synergy
of doing this play in the community of Cleveland during this time in history
is such a worthwhile and fulfilling experience.” 

 

ABOUT THE PLAY 

A fusion of narrative, riveting dialogue scenes, and over two dozen songs,
Mahalia: A Gospel Musical traces the life and career of the world’s most
loved gospel singer from her birth in New Orleans as a grandchild of
plantation slaves through her rise to wealth and international fame. Mahalia
won her first success on the gospel circuit, then goes on to phenomenal
triumph at New York’s Carnegie Hall and the great concert stages of the
world. Mahalia also lent her songs and spirit to the struggle for civil
rights and became known as the "Voice of the Movement." 

 

In addition to the dynamic figure of Mahalia, the musical includes a host of
vivid characters including her squabbling family in New Orleans, the driven
and excitable gospel composer Thomas Dorsey, and her friend and mentor
Martin Luther King.

 

LOCAL CHOIRS TO JOIN WILLIAMS ON STAGE

Cleveland’s storied Gospel history is documented in Cleveland’s Gospel
Music, a book by Frederick Burton that describes the landscape of 1920s
through the 1980s when gospel quartet groups, radio announcers, solo
artists, and promoters established Cleveland as the gospel singers’
metropolitan hub. To celebrate this rich history, local choruses, choirs and

ensembles have been invited to join Williams and the cast of Mahalia: A
Gospel Musical on stage to perform the finale song, “Move On Up A Little
Higher.” Groups confirmed to perform include Wings Over Jordan, Holy Spirit
Catholic Church, Prayer Warriors, Inspirational Voices of Peace and The
Greater Cleveland Panhellenic Choir. 

 

MAHALIA: A GOSPEL MUSICAL Cast:

TERRY BURRELL (Aunt Duke/Mildred/Reporter) has many Broadway credits
including Thoroughly Modern Millie, Swinging On a Star, Into The Woods,
Dreamgirls, Honky Tonk Nights, Eubie, and the first London production of
Showboat. Burrell received a Helen Hayes Best Actress in a Musical
nomination for her portrayal of Queenie in Queenie Pie. Other regional
credits include Man Of La Mancha, Up From Paradise, Of Thee I Sing, The Wiz,
Bubbling Brown Sugar, Jar the Floor, Thunder Knockin’ At The Door,
Copacabana, The Women of Brewster Place, Cinderella, and Almost Heaven (the
latter at Promenade Theatre); Grand Night For Singing, Sweet and Hot, Ain’t
Misbehavin’, Time and Again, and The World Goes Round, West Side Arts
Theatre; Sheila’s Day, Sophisticated Ladies, and Smokey Joes Café. Burrell
has performed her cabaret act internationally and has performed in Jazz In
July concerts with Dick Hyman; Lyrics and Lyricists at the 92nd Street Y;
with The Duke Ellington Orchestra in Venice, Italy; and for the Oslo Jazz
Festival, Norway.

 

JMICHAEL (Francis/Music Director) holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Alabama State University and a Master of Arts degree from the University of
Michigan. He has produced corporate shows at The Mirage and Caesar’s Palace
Hotels in Las Vegas and was a featured performer for Disney Cruises and
Disneyland. His 21st Century Platters, a Platters tribute show, has
performed with the Pueblo Sy andmphony in Colorado, The Alabama Symphony,
and ten shows with the prestigious Pittsburgh Symphony—Marvin Hamlisch,
Conductor. The Jmichael SoundFlyte Big Band performs for events nationwide.
Black Nativity, Swimming Upstream, The Wiz, Blues in the Night, Ain’t
Misbehavin’, The Piano Lesson, and Mahalia are a few of the shows for which
Jmichael has served as Music Director/Arranger. He won kudos for his acting
performances in Mahalia (multiple roles) and as Wining Boy in The Piano
Lesson. Jmichael was co-writer and performed the title song for the movie
Olive Juice.

 

C.E. SMITH (Cousin Fred/Rev. Lawrence/Dorsey/Reporter) returns to The
Cleveland Play House where he was in the 1997-1998 season’s Blues in the
Night. Broadway credits include participating in the reading of the upcoming
Leap of Faith, The Full Monty (original cast member), It Ain't Nothing But
the Blues (Broadway cast album soloist), and Street Corner Symphony.
Selected regional credits are Crowns, The Denver Center for the Performing
Arts and Prince Theater; Aida and The Full Monty, Maine State Musical
Theatre; Once on This Island, Baltimore CenterStage and American Musical
Theatre of San Jose; Play On, Seattle Repertory Theatre; Don’t Stop the
Carnival (world premiere), Coconut Grove Playhouse.  Additional credits
include The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber (featured soloist), touring with
Lena Horne in The Lady and Her Music, and national tours of Ain't
Misbehavin’ (first national tour), Blues in the Night (first national tour),
Black Broadway, and The Full Monty. He has extensive international
theater/concert credits and has appeared in soap operas, movies, and
commercials.  

 

NATASHA YVETTE WILLIAMS (Mahalia) returns to The Cleveland Play House where
she was in the 1997-1998 season production of (I Could) Stop On a Dime and
Get Ten Cents Change. On Broadway, NaTasha Williams Played Sophia in The
Color Purple. She was in Dessa Rose at the Lincoln Center and played Mammy
in London’s West End Production of Gone with the Wind.  Selected national
tours include the following: The Drowsy Chaperone as Trix the Aviatrix, All
Shook Up as Sylvia, Seussical the Musical as Sour Kangaroo, Cinderella as
Grace, Parade in the ensemble, and The Goodbye Girl as Mrs. Crosby. Ms.
Williams has performed in regional theaters across the country and has a
gospel CD on www.digstation.com. Television and film credits include several
appearances on “One Life to Live,” Studio 54, and Trippin.  Ms. Williams is
grand prize winner of the first annual Kraft Foods New Voices of Gospel
Talent Search. 

 

MAHALIA: A GOSPEL MUSICAL Creative Team:

TOM STOLZ (Playwright) is an actor and veteran member of The Old Log
Theater, founded by Tom Stolz’s father Don Stolz in 1941. One of the Twin
Cities’ most popular actors, Mr. Stolz began his acting career as a child
and has since appeared in over 150 productions at The Old Log. He also has a
long list of credits as a scenic designer and director and is founder of
Promised Land Productions, which is dedicated to spreading the Gospel
message through the Theater Arts. Since 1984, Mr. Stolz has performed his
one man presentation The Gospel According To St. Mark in churches, colleges,

prisons, art centers, and theaters throughout the United States, Canada,
Switzerland, Israel, and of course, at The Old Log, where it is a Lenten
tradition. Inspired by his love of Gospel music, especially that of Mahalia
Jackson, Mr. Stolz wrote Mahalia: A Gospel Musical to bring a message of
love and hope to a world starved for good news.

 

KENT GASH (Director) is associate artistic director of The Alliance Theatre,
where he has directed and choreographed Radio Golf; Sophisticated Ladies
(Suzi Award, Best Choreography); Sleuth; Cuttin’ Up; Elliot, a Soldier’s
Fugue; Jelly’s Last Jam (Suzi Awards for Best Musical, Director and
Choreography); tick, tick
Boom; Top Dog/Underdog (Elliot Norton Award, Best
Director); Five Guys Named Moe; King Hedley II; Shakespeare’s R&J; Pacific
Overtures (Atlanta Journal Constitution citation for Best Show of the Year
and nine Independent Reviewers of New England Awards including Best Musical
and Best Director of a Musical); and A Lovely Sunday for Creve Couer. Off
Broadway credits include Call the Children Home, Miss Evers’ Boys, Home, and
Beggar’s Holiday. Mr. Gash is co-author of Langston in Harlem, featured in
the National Alliance of Musical Theatre’s 2004 Festival of New Musicals,
and Josephine’s Song. As associate artistic director of the Alabama
Shakespeare Festival he directed and choreographed The Negro of Peter the

Great, Guys and Dolls, Godspell, A Night in Tunisia, Troilus and Cressida,
Twelfth Night, and Five Guys Named Moe. Regional credits include Native Son,
Intiman Theatre; The Brother’s Size, McCarter Theatre; Pure Confidence,
Cincinnati Playhouse and The Denver Center for the Performing Arts where he
also staged Gee’s Bend and Crowns; Private Lives and Coriolanus, Shakespeare
Santa Cruz; the first African-American production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, TheatreVirginia; Harriet’s Return starring
Debbie Allen, the Geffen Playhouse and Kennedy Center; Ain’t Misbehavin’,
North Shore, Hartford Stage, Maltz-Jupiter Theatre, and Trinity Rep; and
>From the Mississippi Delta and A Christmas Carol, Trinity Rep. 

 

EDWARD E. RIDLEY, JR. (Organist) returns to The Cleveland Play House having
served as musical director for Gee's Bend; Regina Taylor's Crowns (directed
by Dianne McIntyre); and I Could Stop on a Dime and Get Ten Cents Change
(also directed by Dianne McIntyre); as well as Blues in the Night; Love,
Janis; and Ain't Misbehavin'. Other credits include Caroline or Change,
Cuttin' Up, Tony n' Tina's Wedding, A Brief History of White Music, and Five
Guys Named Moe. Mr. Ridley serves as music director for the Christian
Fellowship Center Church and is also on the music faculty at the Eastern
Campus of Cuyahoga Community College. His versatility and talent as a
performer have allowed him to accompany such great artists as Aretha
Franklin, Lauryn Hill, Walter Hawkins, and Clark Terry.

 

The design team for Mahalia: A Gospel Musical includes Emily Beck (Scenic
Designer), Austin Sanderson (Costume Design), William H. Grant III (Lighting
Designer) and James C. Swonger (Sound Design). The Cleveland Play House’s
Production Staff is responsible for the sets, costumes, lighting, props,
furniture, scenic painting, sound, special effects and/or wigs used in this
production.

 

Special Events

·        First Friday Tasting Series – Friday, January 30, 2009 – Mingle
with other theatre fans and enjoy drink tastings and complimentary hors
d’oeuvres starting at 6:30pm in our lobbies. Specially priced preview
tickets include this pre-show reception and admittance to the play.

·        Celebrating Cleveland’s Gospel Music – Listen to local choruses
performing in the theatre lobby 30 minutes before every performance.

·        Playbacks – Wednesday, February 11 and Sunday, February 15, 2009 –
Join actors from the cast for these post-play discussions moderated by a
member of the artistic staff.  

 

Ticket Information

Tickets for Mahalia: A Gospel Musical range from $42 to $64, with discounts
available for groups of ten or more, for senior citizens aged 60 and over,
and for military reservists and their families. Tickets are $10 for all
students under the age of 25. A limited number of $10 rush tickets go on
sale 90 minutes before curtain and remain on sale until 30 minutes before
curtain, based on availability. The Cleveland Play House is located at 85th
and Euclid Ave. next door to the Cleveland Clinic near University Circle. 

 

 

Founded in 1915, The Cleveland Play House is the first permanently
established professional theatre in the United States. More than 12 million
people have attended over 1,300 productions at The Play House – including
more than 130 American and/or World Premieres. Today, under the leadership
of Artistic Director Michael Bloom and Managing Director Kevin Moore, The
Cleveland Play House is an artist-driven theatre that serves the Greater
Cleveland community by holding true to its mission: To produce plays of the
highest professional standards that inspire, stimulate, and entertain our
diverse audiences, to conduct training and educational programs that enhance
the quality of life for those we serve and help to insure the future of
theatre.

 

The Cleveland Play House is funded through the generosity of Cuyahoga County
residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and The Ohio Arts Council helps
to fund The Cleveland Play House with state tax dollars to encourage
economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all
Ohioans.

 

 

# # #



 

 

FACT SHEET

 

What:                     Mahalia: A Gospel Musical by Tom Stolz

 

Where:                  Bolton Theatre, The Cleveland Play House, 8500
Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio

 

When:                   Preview Performances:                      Fri. Jan
30, Sat. Jan 31, Sun. Feb 1, Tue. Feb 3, 2009

                                Opening Night:
Wednesday, February 4, 2009

                                Final Performance:
Sunday, February 22, 2009

 

Who:                      Cast

Mahalia.....................................................................
... NaTasha Yvette Williams

Female Ensemble..................................................... Terry
Burrell

Male Ensemble.......................................................... C.E.
Smith

Male Ensemble..........................................................
Jmichael

Organist....................................................................
... Edward E. Ridley, Jr.

 

Creative Team

Playwright:
Tom Stolz

Director:
Kent Gash     

Scenic Designer:
Emily Beck

Costume Design:
Austin Sanderson

Lighting Design:
William H. Grant III

Music Director:
Jmichael

Resident Sound Designer:                                        James C.
Swonger

 

Times:                  Tuesday-Saturday Evenings
8:00 pm

Saturday Matinee                                                        3:00
pm

Sunday Matinee                                                          2:00
pm

Weekday Matinee                                                       1:30
pm, Thu, February 12, 2009

Early Curtain
7:00pm, Tue, February 17, 2009

 


Special Events

 

·         First Friday Tasting Series – Friday, January 30, 2009 – Mingle
with other theatre fans and enjoy drink tastings and complimentary hors
d’oeuvres starting at 6:30pm in our lobbies. Specially priced preview
tickets include this pre-show reception and admittance to the play. 

·        Celebrating Cleveland’s Gospel Music – Listen to local choruses
performing in the theatre lobby 30 minutes before every performance.

·         Playbacks – Wednesday, February 11 and Sunday, February 
15, 2009 –
Join actors from the cast for these post-play discussions moderated by a
member of the artistic staff.  

 

Prices:                  Regular ticket prices range from $42 to $64, with
discounts available for groups of ten or more, for senior citizens aged 60
and over, and for military reservists and their families. Tickets are $10
for all students under the age of 25. A limited number of $10 rush tickets
go on sale 90 minutes before curtain and remain on sale until 30 minutes
before curtain, based on availability.

                                

For Single Tickets: Call (216) 795-7000, ext. 4, or visit
www.clevelandplayhouse.com, For groups of 10 of more, call Cosandra Wheeler,
(216) 795-7000, ext. 180

 

 
 
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