[NEohioPAL] Celebrate the Blues - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at Beck Center, Jan 30-Feb22

[Fran Storch]

Beck Center for the Arts presents

August Wilson's Celebration of the Blues

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

January 30 - February 22

Directed by Sarah May

Featuring Angela Gillespie-Winborn

 

Lakewood, OH-It's 1927 Chicago, and these blues musicians have a story
to tell! The Beck Center for the Arts presents Pulitzer Prize-winning
playwright August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom on the Mackey Main
Stage, January 30 through February 22, 2009. This provocative drama,
featuring many of Ma Rainey's great hit songs, examines timeless African
American themes of suffering, endurance, and the audacity of hope in
Wilson's spellbinding voice. Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
and 3 p.m. Sundays. 

 

The often hilarious Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, which takes place in a
recording studio, deals with racism in the music industry as a metaphor
for the hopes, frustrations, and shattered dreams of the African
American community of the 1920s. Band members, waiting for Rainey to
arrive at the studio, banter and brag, joke, and share some of the
devastating tales of hard times and prejudice they have suffered. As
tensions escalate, the action can turn on a dime from funny to tragic. 

 

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, when it premiered on Broadway 25 years ago,
was the triumphant debut of the new playwright August Wilson, who would
go on to become one of the greatest voices in American Theater. The New
York Times called it "funny, salty, carnal and lyrical." 

 

Beck's production is directed by acclaimed local director Sarah May and
features Equity actor Angela Gillespie-Winborn in the title role.
Winborn most recently performed in The Cleveland Play House's production
of Crowns and has appeared in several area productions of Ain't
Misbehavin'. The strong supporting cast includes Michael May as Levee,
Anthony Elfonzia Nickerson-El as Toledo, and Robert J. Williams as Slow
Drag.

 

"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a perfect introduction to Wilson's unique
voice and his astonishing body of work documenting the African American
experience. Here is a play overflowing with blues music, robust humor,
vibrant storytelling, and a cast of colorful characters that bursts on
the stage like a buoyant jam session," says director May. "This first
professional Cleveland production of an August Wilson play since his
2005 death is a fitting tribute to one of the greatest playwrights of
the 20th Century. It is an honor to celebrate his amazing gift and share
it with admirers and newcomers alike.

 

This play is intended for a mature audience due to language and subject
matter.

 

Cast of Characters

 

Larry Arrington-Bey..........Cutler

Deja M. Foster..........Dussie Mae

Angela Gillespie-Winborn*..........Ma Rainey

Nathan A. Lily..........Sylvester/Choreographer

Michael May..........Levee

Anthony Elfonzia Nickerson-El..........Toledo

Michael Regnier..........Irvin

Lawrence Seman..........Sturdyvant

Dennis Sullivan..........Policeman

Robert J. Williams..........Slow Drag

 

*Member of the Actors' Equity Association (AEA), the union of actors and
stage managers.

 

Production Staff

 

Scott Spence..........Artistic Director

Sarah May..........Director

Ed Ridley..........Music Director

Tod Huffman..........Stage Manager

Richard Gould..........Scenic Designer

Aimee Kluiber..........Costume Designer

Michael Boll..........Lighting Designer

Richard B. Ingraham..........Sound Designer

Joseph Carmola...........Technical Director

Elisa Hanna..........Assistant Stage Manager

 

For complete cast and staff bios go to www.beckcenter.org and click on
Who's Who in the Company.

 

Beck Center's production of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is produced through
special arrangement with Samuel French Inc. and is sponsored by National
City, The WAVE 107.3, Cleveland Scene, Cox Communications, the Ohio Arts
Council, and LakewoodBuzz.com. Beck Center also gratefully acknowledges
the citizens of Cuyahoga County for their support through Cuyahoga Arts
and Culture. 

 

Tickets are $28 for adults, $25 for seniors (65 and older), and $17 for
students (22 and under with ID). An additional $3 service fee per ticket
is applied at the time of purchase. Preview night on Thursday, January
29, is $10 with general admission seating. Group discounts are available
for parties of 13 or more. To reserve tickets, call the Beck Center box
office at 216.521.2540 ext. 10 or visit www.beckcenter.org
<http://www.beckcenter.org/> . For group sales, contact Linda Hefner at
ext. 29. Beck Center is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood,
just ten minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free onsite parking is
available.

 

Beck Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that
offers professional theater productions on two stages, arts education
programming in dance, music, theater, visual arts, early childhood, and
creative arts therapies for special needs students, and gallery exhibits
featuring local and regional artists.

 

Posted by:

Fran Storch

Beck Center for the Arts

Publications Manager

17801 Detroit Avenue

Lakewood, OH  44107

(216) 521-2540 x20

 

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