Avant Bard’s acclaimed sold-out production of The Gospel at Colonus returns in a one-night-only concert staging at Lubber Run Park Amphitheater in Arlington, VA, Saturday, August 5, at 8 pm. FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

ABOUT THE SHOW: The legendary African American musical The Gospel at Colonus is a soaring celebration of transcendence and the fragility of life. The music is an inspiring fusion of Black church gospel with blues and Motown. The show’s message of redemption is sorely needed right now. With its epic poetry and magnificent score, The Gospel at Colonus reminds us that out of the deepest sorrows, the highest and most uplifting hope can emerge.

ABOUT THE VENUE: The main entrance to Lubber Run Park is at 200 North Columbus Street, Arlington, VA 22203. The Amphitheater has bench seating for roughly 700, plus there is plenty of room for lawn chairs and picnic blankets. THIS IS A PERFECT EVENT FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.

NO RESERVATIONS REQUIRED FOR CONCERT.

Pre-show SEASON 28 KICKOFF PACK-A-PICNIC PARTY

WHERE: The Lubber Run Picnic Shelter (click to download park map). WHEN: Before the Gospel at Colonus concert Saturday, August 5, 2017, at 6 pm. Bring what you want to eat and drink (sorry, alcohol is not permitted).

RSVP FOR PICNIC PARTY APPRECIATED. Email Quill Nebeker, Director of Audience Engagement, quill@avantbard.org.

The Free Summer Concert Series at Lubber Run Amphitheater is produced by Arlington Arts, the presenting arm of Arlington County Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with the Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation, and with the cooperation of the Lubber Run Amphitheater Foundation.

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Meet the amazing cast, choir, and creative team behind this powerful and uplifting gospel musical.

(For a synopsis, director’s note, and other background information, see What’s The Gospel at Colonus All About?

The Gospel at Colonus is a soaring celebration of transcendence and the fragility of life. The music is an inspiring fusion of Black church gospel with blues and Motown. The show’s message of redemption and hope is sorely needed right now.

CAST

Ashley Buster (Ismene) is a DC Metro native from Silver Spring, MD. She is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association and is currently completing her M.Ed. in Educational Leadership at Loyola University Maryland. Her area credits include Freedom’s Song (Ford’s), Elmer Gantry (Signature), and Go Dog, Go! (Next Stop). She is excited to be doing her first show with Avant Bard!

Tiffany Byrd (Antigone) is truly humbled to be apart of this groundbreaking work! She has performed professionally across the DMV as an actress and trained salsa dancer. Her credits include roles in Sister Act, Carmen, Caroline, or Change, and In the Heights. I thank Jesus for his continued blessings!  Instagram: tiffibyrd

A.J. Calbert (Theseus) hails from the cornfields of Illinois and is excited to make his debut with Avant Bard. A.J. studied acting at the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory and holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Yale University. His previous shows include: Romeo & Juliet (Capulet), Prince George’s Shakespeare; A Christmas Carol (Young Scrooge and others), Chesapeake Shakespeare Company; Oedipus the King (Creon, Teiresias), Lean & Hungry Theatre;  DC State Players present: Agamemnon (Agamemnon), Barrelhouse Theatre.

DeMone (Singer Oedipus) is thrilled to work with this incredible cast! He is an award-winning actor, singer, and producer whose numerous credits include Ragtime, Miss Saigon, Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar, Once on This Island, Sideshow (Jeff Award for Best Supporting Actor), The Full Monty, Elf, A Christmas Carol, and Ain’t Misbehavin. Film and TV credits include Person of Interest, Law and Order SVU, California Dreams, Amen, In the Eyes of God (Regional Emmy) and Bad Street.

e’Marcus Harper-Short (Creon), who is also Musical Director of The Gospel at Colonus, is a performer with extensive recording, touring, and television credits. Among the artists he has worked with as keyboardist, vocalist, or conductor: Carlos Santana, MC Hammer, Lionel Richie, David Murray, Davey Yarborough, Walter Hawkins, Tramaine Hawkins, Li’l Richard, Aretha Franklin, Billy Preston, and Michael Jackson.

Branden Mack (Chorus)  is a vocalist from Cincinnati Ohio. Branden graduated from Hughes Center High School and then attended The Ohio State University with a full academic scholarship. While at Ohio State, Branden joined the leadership of The African American Voices Gospel Choir, which allowed him to strengthen his vocal gift as well as mentor others in their spiritual and vocal abilities. After school at OSU, Branden moved to Michigan to attend graduate school at Wayne State University. He is now excited to continue his experience with artistic development through continued productions and performances in the DMV. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

Chauncey Matthews (Balladeer) won the hearts of millions when at age 11 he won the American Idol spin-off talent show, American Juniors, hosted by Ryan Seacrest. He was mentored by pop icons Debbie Gibson, Brian McKnight, and soul legend Gladys Knight, He and four other winners on the FOX Network TV show signed with Jive Records as the pop band, American Juniors. The group toured internationally performing with American Idol stars Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard, and Kelly Clarkson. Chauncey graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, where he began performing again with such world-renowned acts as Grammy Award–winning icon Lalah Hathaway, Billboard chart topper Halsey, and vocal powerhouse Alice Smith. YouTube channel: Chauncey Matthews. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixBHV9N8CN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_Z01lAas6g

William Thomas Newman Jr.  (Preacher Oedipus) is a busy and familiar stage, screen, TV, and voiceover performer. He most recently played the title roles in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and Shakespeare’s Othello with Lean & Hungry Theatre. He won critical acclaim as Jack in The Winter’s Tale. His theatre credits also include starring roles in Plaza Suite, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, and Let’s Get Sanctified. On network TV he played the role of Hal Johnson on the daytime serial Somerset, and his motion picture credits include Suspect and Lee Daniels’s The Butler.

Rafealito Ross (Chorus) is a lyric tenor and a Washington, DC, native. metropolitan area. He is a graduate of George Mason University (B.M., Vocal Performance) and Catholic University of America (M.M., Vocal Performance). Currently Rafealito teaches choral music in the Prince Georges County school system and private voice at Falls Church Music Conservatory, and he serves as the Director of Music at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Herndon, VA. As an emerging artist, Rafealito has performed the roles of Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte; The Conductor in Pasatieri’s La Divina; King Kaspar in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors; Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi; Eisenstein in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus; Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro and Tamino in Die Zauberflote, both by Mozart. In December 2003 Rafealito made his debut with the Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah and was invited to return for the 2004 performances. Rafealito has also had the opportunity to perform as a featured soloist in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Salzburg, Austria. More recently Rafealito has performed the roles of the Tin-Man in an Off-Broadway production of The Wiz, a leading soloist in Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity, Goro in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Camille in Lehar’s operetta The Merry Widow, Romèo in Gounod’s Romèo et Juliette, and Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. When Rafealito isn’t singing he enjoys exploring new restaurants and activities in DC; spending time with his dog Rocco, family, and friends; and watching marathons of A&E’s The First 48.  http://rafealitoross.weebly.com Twitter: @R2Tenor YouTube channel: Rafealito Ross

Greg Watkins (Polyneices), a born and bred Washington, DC, native, is a  well-respected artist and virtuoso singer, pianist, musical director, composer and arranger, actor, and voice talent and a brilliantly pure entertainer. A proud graduate of The Duke Ellington School of the Arts and The Howard University (BM, Music Education), he has opened concerts for six-time Stellar Award Winner Byron Cage, nine-time Grammy Award winner the late Natalie Cole, and the most awarded eclectic a’capella group in history: Take 6. Most recently Greg has been accepted to attend Catholic University as a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in Voice, and he will soon return to the Kennedy Center to reprise his role as iconic jazz musician Billy Strayhorn in Tom Minter’s newest adaptation of Blues for a Royal Flush. https://m.facebook.com/theofficialgregwatkins/

GOSPEL CHOIR

Minister Becky Mays (Founder and Director of the Women’s Ecumenical Choir) is a native of Alexandria, VA. She is also a remarkable minister and vocalist who has traveled extensively in various countries fulfilling the great commission of the Word of God. She has ministered throughout the United States and has traveled abroad to France, England, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Austria, Holland, and Norway. She has performed as a background singer for such legendary and stellar award-winning artists as Richard Smallwood, Edwin Hawkins, Walter Hawkins, Yolanda Adams, Jennifer Holliday, Tramaine Hawkins, Twinkie Clark, and Michael Jackson. She has also been a vocalist with such nationally acclaimed gospel groups as “The Wesley Boyd Gospel Music Workshop Choir,” “Jeremiah Murphy and Judah,” and “El Shaddai.” She has appeared on the dramatic stage with world-renowned actors such as Morgan Freeman, and Carl Lumbly and was part of the cast of the 1984 production of Gospel at Colonus presented at Arena Stage. She is a much sought-after music clinician, workshop facilitator, and motivational speaker.

The Women’s Ecumenical Choir of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA, was divinely inspired by God and placed on the heart of Minister Becky Mays. The initial purpose of the group was to provide music for the Women’s Day Service at Ebenezer in March 2007. Approximately 40 women, representing various churches throughout the faith community came together for the single purpose of lifting up the Name of Jesus through song. Since then the choir has traveled to Bear, Delaware; Edwardsville, Virginia; Albany, New York; Buffalo, New York; West Virginia; Hardeeville, South Carolina; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Atlanta, Georgia, ministering God’s Word through song. They were the featured artists at the City of Alexandria’s Mayoral Inauguration, the Alexandria Branch of the NAACP Officers Installation, and in August 2011, they ministered for the Tuskegee Airman’s Gospel Luncheon. The choir is the first Gospel Choir to be included in the Alexandria Performing Arts Society’s yearly calendar. There are currently more than 65 women from the Baptist, Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal, and Christian Methodist Episcopal religious backgrounds throughout the Washington, DC, Metropolitan area represented in the group. We are grateful for the support of all the Pastors of the churches represented. We are willing vessels with a strong desire to do God’s will. We are committed to carrying the Word through song and letting the lives we live speak for us.

Members of the Women’s Ecumenical Choir who will be performing with The Gospel at Colonus are Krystal L. Cottman, Laurese Gerald, Sandy Taylor Hawkins, Darci M. Perkins, Tranita A. Randolph, Robin Walker Shanks, and Kimberly A. Young.

MUSICIANS

Abdou “CleanHandz” (Percussion) has over 30 years’ experience playing the djembe. He has been fortunate to be taught and received extensive training from  Songa of the Valley, David Rock, Ezibu Muntu, Melvin Deal, Papa Aziz, and his godfather, Abdou Kounata.  At the age of 3, Abdou began learning the art of djembe from Songa of the Valley, who was the lead drummer for Baba Olatunji’s Company.  Abdou’s family moved to Richmond and he joined Ezibu Muntu.  He became the group’s lead drummer at the age 11 and held the position until he was 19.  Continuing his journey, Abdou moved to the Washington, DC, area where he was a member or performed with African Heritage, Coyaba Dance Theater, Soul In Motion, KanKouran, Elegba Folklore Society, Ezibu Muntu, Green Beats, The Washington Ballet, The Dance Place, Step Afrika!,  and many more.  Abdou has also opened for the Broadway musical Fela!, in DC, National Slave Ground Anniversary in Richmond, VA, Nigerian Embassy Celebration, NACA Conference, and at the National Cathedral School of Dance Performance. Abdou “CleanHandz” Muhammad aims to bridge the gap between the traditional African rhythms with modern genres of music like jazz, hip-hop, classical, funk, and reggae. Abdou “CleanHandz” Muhammad is drumming for Life, meaning drumming from one’s Spirit and not for the show of skill. When Abdou “CleanHandz” drums, he’s drumming for family, community, health, and spiritual elevation.

e’Marcus Harper-Short (Keyboard).  See his performing bio above under Cast and his musical direction bio below.

ABOUT THE CREATORS OF THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS

Lee Breuer (Book and Lyrics) is one of America’s most innovative avant garde theatre artists. He is a founding co-artistic director of Mabou Mines, where his adaptations and direction have received critical acclaim. Notable works include Mabou Mines’ Dollhouse, J.M.Barrie’s Peter and Wendy, and Samuel Beckett’s The Lost Ones. He has directed 14 Obie Award–winning performances; won Obies for writing, directing, and sustained achievement; and has been nominated for Pulitzer, Tony, Grammy, and Emmy awards. He has also been the recipient of a Chevalier Des Artes et Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture and the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellowship, among others. He has held positions at Yale University School of Drama and Stanford University.

Bob Telson (Music) has had a career as a composer and musician that has earned him an Academy Award nomination for his song “Calling You” from the movie Bagdad Café, as well as Pulitzer, Grammy, and Tony Award nominations for The Gospel at Colonus and Chronicle of a Death Foretold, an adaptation of the Gabriel García Márquez novel. Telson has composed soundtracks for American, French, German, and Argentinian films, as well as a ballet score for Twyla Tharp (Sextet). His songs have been recorded by many international artists, such as Barbra Streisand, Natalie Cole, George Benson, Joe Cocker, Celine Dion, Etta James, k.d. lang, Shawn Colvin, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, and George Michael.

CREATIVE TEAM AND PRODUCTION CREW

Jennifer L. Nelson (Director) is a Washington, DC-based theater professional committed to principles that value human dignity, justice, and compassion. She is Resident Director of Mosaic Theater Company and brings more than 40 years of experience as an actor, playwright, administrator, professor, director, and two-term president of the League of Washington Theatres. She is Senior Advisor for Programming at Ford’s Theatre, and previously served for 11 years as the Producing Artistic Director of the African Continuum Theatre Company, where she directed more than 20 full productions and readings. She is a 26-year veteran of Living Stage Theatre Company, the former community-outreach program at Arena Stage. Nelson has directed productions at Ford’s Theatre, Round House, Woolly Mammoth, Theater of the First Amendment, Theater J, and more. As a playwright, Nelson won the Helen Hayes/Charles MacArthur Award for Most Outstanding New Play for her play Torn From the Headlines. She has taught at UCLA, George Washington University, and American University, most recently teaching “Theatre for Social Change” as an adjunct lecturer at Georgetown University.

e’Marcus Harper-Short (Musical Director/Keyboard/Creon) received the Helen Hayes Award (2015) for Outstanding Musical Direction for Black Nativity by Langston Hughes (Theater Alliance); a Grammy Award nomination (1998) for Best Traditional Gospel Recording as Conductor for Love Alive V: Walter Hawkins and the Love Center Choir; and a Hollywood NAACP Theater Image Award Nomination (2004) for Best Musical Direction for Da Kink in My Hair by Trey Anthony. Other credits include Musical Arranger for Three Mo’ Divas (PBS Special National) conceived by Marion J. Caffey, and Musical Direction for Invisible Life (Apollo Theater, New York) based on a book by E. Lynn Harris.

Sandra L. Holloway (Choreographer) is delighted to work with the artistic team and cast of Gospel at Colonus!  Some of Sandi’s choreographic credits in musical theater include: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enough for Theater Alliance , Eyes at Howard University, I, Too, Sing America for the Howard Players, Alexander’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, tigertigertiger at Theater of the First Amendment, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Guys and Dolls for the GMU Players, among others.  Some of her concert dance works have been featured at the Lincoln Theater Black Choreographers Showcase, Dance Theater of Harlem’s 40th Anniversary Celebration, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Hi-Arts Hip-Hop Theater Festival, Hollow Dance In Concert at Howard University Cramton Auditorium and Ira Aldridge Stage, The 45 Degrees Project (a partnership between Joy of Motion DC and Deeply Rooted Dance Company in Chicago, IL), New World Dance Company in DC and is currently working with Hill Dance Academy  in Pittsburgh, PA.  Her work has been included in concert dance seasons for Collage Dance Company in Memphis, TN.  Sandihas worked with directors and choreographers including Mike Malone, George Faison, Diane MacIntyre, Kenneth Daugherty, Linda Gravatt, Nick Alcott, Ed Gero, Tom Prewitt, and other really interesting and influential artists. Sandi is the Artistic Director of City at Peace, a youth development organization that uses the arts to effect social change, and is the founder of the holloway arts project (the hap).  She is the recipient of the National Association of Regional Ballet Choreographers Conference Award, Mayor’s Arts Award in Arts and Education for City at Peace, GAEA Foundation Sea Change Artist Award for Arts and Activism, the 2015 Paula Giddings Arts Award and was a 2014 Presenter at Alternate ROOTS Festival Week.  Sandi is a graduate of the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA.

Keta Newborn (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be making her debut with Avant Bard.  As a freelancer, Keta has worked in the world of theatre for over 10 years. She has held several titles including Stage Manager, Assistant Stage Manager, Venue Manager, Production Assistant, and Light and Sound Board Operator.  Her past credits include Little Thing, Big Thing (Solas Nua), Yellowman (Anacostia Playhouse), Black Nativity and Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea (Theater Alliance), Leto Legend and Failure: A Love Story (The Hub), Secret Garden and Gidion’s Knot (Next Stop), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, How We Got On, and Gidion’s Knot (Forum), The Flick and How We Got On (Company One). Keta would like to thank the whole Avant Bard cast and crew and Gunston Arts Center Theatre Two for being a part of an amazing show!  She thanks G_d for the opportunity to be used as one of His vessels, working to bring His work of art into the hearts of many while doing what she loves.

ADDITIONAL CREATIVE TEAM FOR THE ORIGINAL PRODUCTION

Tim Jones (Scenic and Properties Designer) is presently the Props Shop Supervisor and an instructor at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland.  He has also worked as a freelance Scenic and Props Designer throughout the Washington, DC, area.  His design work has been seen on stage at African Continuum Theatre, Theater J, Kansas City Rep, Morgan State University, and Everyman Theatre, as well as the Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences.  Tim is a native of Prince Georges County, MD, but has lived and worked throughout the United States.  He holds an MFA in Scenery and Properties Design from the University of Memphis and a BA in Communication from Salisbury State College.

John D. Alexander (Lighting Designer) is excited to make his debut with Avant Bard. His recent designs include the national tour of The Migration: Reflections of Jacob Lawrence presented by Step Afrika!, Yellowman by Dael Orlandersmith, Blackberry Winter by Steve Yockey, Darius and Twig by Calette Jennings, and the national tour of Anne and Emmett by Janet Langhart Cohen. http://www.johndalexanderdesign.com

Danielle Preston (Costume Designer) is a costume designer based in the DC metro area. Recent design credits include: Other Desert Cities (Triad Stage), The Christians, The How & The Why (Theatre J), Darius & Twig (The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences), Where the Words Once Were (The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences), All the Way LIVE! (The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences/ B-Fly Entertainment/ TYA National Tour), Holiday Memories, TAME. (Avant Bard), A Bid to Save the World (Rorschach Theatre), Br’er Cotton & Picnic (Catholic University of America). Awards/ Fellowships: William R. Kenan Jr.  Fellowship at the John F. Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.  (2015–2016) and A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute Fellowship in Costume Design (2013–2014). Education: MFA in Costume Design from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Costume Design. www.daniellepreston.com

Justin Schmitz (Sound Designer) is thrilled to make his Avant Bard debut! As a Washington, DC-based Sound Designer and Theatre Artist, he recently completed the 2015–2016 William R Kenan Jr. Fellowship at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Justin is a member of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association as an Early Career Member and is also a part of USITT’s Professional Membership. His work on I Call My Brothers at Forum Theatre has been nominated for a 2017 Helen Hayes award.  His work has been featured at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Signature Theatre, Theater J, Studio Theatre, Forum Theatre, Olney Theatre Company, Round House Theatre, Imagination Stage, The University of Maryland, Catholic University of America, The Dixon Place Theater in NYC, Chautauqua Theatre Company in Chautauqua, NY, Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC, The Actors Guild of Parkersburg in WV, numerous education venues, and many other regional locations. He has received fellowships from The Chautauqua Theatre Company in 2013, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to attend The Orchard Project in 2011 and to work with Theater J in DC in 2015-2016.  Justin earned a Master’s of Fine Arts degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) in Sound Design in 2015. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from The University of Wisconsin – La Crosse in Theatre Design and Technology, where he specialized in Sound Design and Stage Management.

Kevin Maresca (Technical Director)

Maegan Clearwood (Resident Dramaturg) is in her second season with Avant Bard, where she is curator of Scripts in Play and has served as production dramaturg for five productions, including the premiere of TAME. She is also a teaching artist for The Highwood Theatre and Signature Theatre. DC dramaturgy credits include: Pinky Swear Productions: Lizzie: The Musical;  Rorschach Theatre: A Bid to Save the World; Source Festival: Static; Forum Theatre: World Builders; Olney Theatre Center: I and You, The Piano Lesson, The Tempest, Colossal. She was also the Literary Associate at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and the Dramaturgy Apprentice at the Olney Theatre Center. BA in Drama and English from Washington College.

Brett Steven Abelman (Assistant Dramaturg) is a DC-native creator of stories. He is a proud producing playwright with The Welders. Recent projects include co-creating Play Cupid and Balloon Plays at Capital Fringe Festivals. Brett also reviews at DC Theatre Scene and sometimes blogs at babelwright.wordpress.com.

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The Gospel at Colonus RETURNS February 22 to March 25, 2018, at Gunston Arts Center Theatre Two, 2700 South Lang Street, Arlington, VA. Tickets will be available online or by calling 703-418-4804.

 

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Meet the amazing cast and creative team
behind this once-in-a-lifetime production

An epic parent-child drama and then some, Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy begins as fairy tale (“Once upon a time there was an old king who had three daughters…”) and ends in nightmare—of homelessness, alienation, family strife, and civil war.  Starring local acting legend Rick Foucheux as Lear.

CAST

Sara Barker (Edgar) has worked with Avant Bard on Othello (Desdemona), Orlando (Orlando), Mary Stuart (Elizabeth), Six Characters in Search of an Author (Stepdaughter), The House of Yes (Jackie-O), The Cherry Orchard (Varya), The Mistorical Hystery of Henry (I)V (Hotspur), Lulu (Lulu), and The Miser (La Fleece). Credits also include Factory 449’s 448 Psychosis, Rorschach’s A Maze (Oksana), Scena’s The Importance of Being Earnest (Algernon). NYC credits include The Brick’s King Lear (King Lear), Hipgnosis Theatre’s The Winter’s Tale (Paulina), and Josh Fox’s Limitless Joy. Sara is a graduate of St. John’s College and a company member with Avant Bard, Rorschach Theatre, and Factory 449. www.sarabarker.com/acting

Frank Britton (Cornwall) is an eight-year member of Avant Bard’s Acting Company, and King Lear marks his 14th production with the company. A native Washingtonian,  and a nearly 15-year veteran of the DC and regional theatre scene, he is a two-time Helen Hayes Award nominee and a Founding Member of force/collision. He has appeared with many area theatres, most recently Washington Stage Guild (Back to Methuselah: As Far As Thought Can Reach); Imagination Stage (The Freshest Snow Whyte); Theater Alliance (Black Nativity 2016); 1st Stage (Floyd Collins, When The Rain Stops Falling), and NextStop Theatre Company (Deathtrap). Numerous other local appearances include productions with Arena Stage, Round House Theatre, Synetic Theater, Rorschach Theatre (Company Member), Spooky Action Theater, Theater Alliance, Firehouse Theatre (Richmond, VA), Forum Theatre, SCENA Theatre, Venus Theatre, Constellation Theatre Company, and Pinky Swear Productions. Regionally, he has appeared on stages from Raleigh, NC (Burning Coal Theatre Co.), Williamsburg, VA (Virginia Shakespeare Festival), Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, and New York City (La MaMa ETC). Many, many thanks to Tom, Keta, Kristina, and the Cast and Crew.

Tiffany Byrd (Doctor/Ensemble) is thrilled to return to the Avant Bard stage after an exhilarating run as Antigone in The Gospel at Colonus! A native of Northern Virginia, Tiffany has performed in and around the DMV as an actress, teaching artist, and salsa dancer. Her previous credits include Sister Act (Deloris), In the Heights (Vanessa), Caroline, or Change (Radio 3), and the world premiere of Carmen: an Afro-Cuban Musical directed by Moises Kaufman. Tiffany received her BFA in theatre from Virginia Commonwealth University. John 8:12.

Louis E. Davis (Oswald) is thrilled to be making his Avant Bard debut in this production of King Lear. You may have seen him at Imagination Stage: The Freshest Snow Whyte; Mosaic Theater Co.: Charm; Folger Theatre: Second Shepherd’s Play; Theater Alliance: Word Becomes Flesh, Dontrell Who Kissed the Sea; Rorschach Theatre: A Bid to Save the World, She Kills Monsters; and We Happy Few: CHALK. Some television credits include Investigation Discovery Channel’s, House of Horrors: Abducted & Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry… Louis holds a BFA from Howard University. “Thank you Ma for everything, I love you!”

Vince Eisenson (Kent) is pleased to return to Avant Bard, where he appeared in The Tooth of Crime. Recent productions include Fear at Longacre Lea, The Merchant of Venice at Faction of Fools, Wild Oats, Macbeth, and the title role in Richard III at Chesapeake Shakespeare, where he is a company member.  He has also performed with Shakespeare Theatre Company, Folger, Lean & Hungry, Synetic, Barrabas Theatre, and PlayMakers Rep.  TV credits include American Genius and Turn: Washington’s Spies.

Rick Foucheux (Lear) is very pleased to be making his Avant Bard debut and to be reunited with longtime friends and colleagues—artists with whom he has worked for the past 35 years. He has appeared at many of the area’s finest theatres playing a wide range of roles, including the title character in Woolly Mammoth’s Cooking With Elvis, which Tom Prewitt directed in 2003. Rick is a Helen Hayes Awardee, a Lunt Fontanne Fellow, and an adjunct member of the theatre faculty at George Washington University.

Christian R. Gibbs (Albany) is grateful to create with this phenomenal cast. Recently he understudied Tuzanbach in both Three Sisters and Aaron Posner’s No Sisters at Studio Theatre. With Avant Bard, Christian was last seen as Theseus and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and as Don Juan in Friendship Betrayed.

Christopher Henley (The Fool/The King of France), a founding Ensemble Member and Artistic Director Emeritus, directed our last Lear (1994), Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest (2004), and Richard III (2010), in addition to much else (including Caligula and Camille: a tearjerker). He has played for us Richard II, Falstaff, Henry IV, Lysander, Jacques, Horatio, Caska, Don John, Don Pedro, MacDuff, Son of MacDuff, Duncan, Donalbain, Cardinal Pandulph, and two Antonios, in The Tempest (1993) and The Two Gentleman of Verona (Bard on Wheels version), in addition to many other roles (most recently Truman Capote in Holiday Memories).

Cam Magee (Gloucester) is a company member of Avant Bard. She has appeared in and/or dramaturged 19 of Avant Bard’s Shakespeare productions. Her Avant Bard credits include Aurélie in The Madwoman of Chaillot, Eleanor/Pembroke in King John, Juno in Juno and the Paycock, the Countess in All’s Well That Ends Well, and Hannah Jelkes in The Night of the Iguana. She has appeared at The Folger Theatre, Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre, Rorschach Theatre, American Century Theatre, Theater J, Source Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, and the Washington Stage Guild (for which she received a Helen Hayes nomination for Mrs. Cheveley in An Ideal Husband).

Dylan Morrison Myers (Edmund) is thrilled to be making his debut with Avant Bard and chasing the storm with these players. Other recent work around town includes Hooded: Or Being Black for Dummies, Mosaic Theatre; Wild Sky, Solas Nua; When the Rain Stops Falling, 1st Stage.; Terminus, Studio Theatre. Dylan has also shared the stage with Folger Theatre, Theatre Alliance, Constellation Theatre, Washington Stage Guild, and Rorschach Theatre. BFA in Theatre from Western Kentucky U.

Alyssa Sanders (Goneril) is thrilled to be working with Avant Bard, especially as one of her favorite roles was Emilia in its production of Othello. Most recently she was seen as Beth in Peter’s Alley Theatre’s production of Dinner With Friends. Other local theaters she has worked for include Quotidian Theatre Company (company member), Lean & Hungry Theater (company member), Venus Theatre, Studio Theatre, Adventure Theatre. Training: American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Brandeis University, Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory. www.alyssasanders.com

Charlene V. Smith (Regan) is the Artistic Director of Brave Spirits Theatre. Directing credits include ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, Antony and Cleopatra (Helen Hayes Recommended), The Bloody Banquet (Co-Director), and The Two Noble Kinsmen. She has an MLitt and MFA in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin College in partnership with the American Shakespeare Center. This summer she can also be seen at the Capital Fringe Festival in LiveArtDC’s Clara Bow: Becoming It. www.charlenevsmith.com

Greg Watkins (First Servant and Ensemble), a born and bred Washington, DC, native, returns to Avant Bard after playing Polyneices in The Gospel of Colonus. He is a well-respected artist and virtuoso singer, pianist, musical director, composer and arranger, actor, and voice talent and a brilliantly pure entertainer. A proud graduate of The Duke Ellington School of the Arts and The Howard University (BM, Music Education), he has opened concerts for six-time Stellar Award Winner Byron Cage, nine-time Grammy Award winner the late Natalie Cole, and the most awarded eclectic a cappella group in history: Take 6. Most recently Greg has been accepted to attend Catholic University as a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in Voice, and he will soon return to the Kennedy Center to reprise his role as iconic jazz musician Billy Strayhorn in Tom Minter’s newest adaptation of Blues for a Royal Flush. https://m.facebook.com/theofficialgregwatkins/

Kathryn Zoerb (Cordelia) is thankful and thrilled to be making her Avant Bard debut. She is an Associated Artist with Faction of Fools and most recently appeared in its production of The Miser as Valère and La Flèche. Other recent credits include The Incest Rep: ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore and A King and No King (Brave Spirits Theatre) and The Second Shepherds’ Play (u/s Folger Theatre). She has also had the privilege of working with Rep Stage, Baltimore Shakespeare Factory, Imagination Stage, and Compass Rose Theater. Kathryn received her BA in Theatre and Music from the University of Pittsburgh and studied Physical Theatre and Commedia dell’Arte at the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy. She currently studies voice with Gran Wilson and is a proud Equity Membership Candidate. www.KathrynZoerb.com

CREATIVE TEAM AND PRODUCTION CREW

Thompson Prewitt (Director), now in his fifth season as Artistic and Executor of Avant Bard,, most recently staged Holiday Memories, Othello, and the Helen Hayes Award-winning production of Visible Language. Previous credits for the theatre include King John, No Man’s Land, and Six Characters in Search of an Author. Prewitt’s abiding interest in education and theatre for social change continues this year through partnerships he helped to develop with HB Woodlawn Secondary School as well as Arlington-based 296 Project, which works with veterans and their families, using the arts to overcome effects of PTSD and traumatic brain injury. He currently serves on the Board of Governors for theatreWashington/Helen Hayes Awards, the Artistic Advisory Panel for the Mead Theatre Lab Program (CulturalDC), and Arlington County’s Four Mile Run Valley Working Group.

Jonathan Dahm Robertson (Scenic Designer) is a scenic and projections designer for theater and opera. Opera credits: Peter Grimes (Princeton Festival); The Consul (A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute). Theater credits: The Christians (Theater J); Bloody Poetry (CUA); One Slight Hitch (Totem Pole Playhouse); Assassins, Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, All My Sons, When you Comin’ Back Red Ryder (HMTCA); Wish List , The Magi (The Hub); and Coolatully (Solas Nua). Jonathan is a graduate from UNCSA, and was a 2015-16 Kenan Fellow at the Kennedy Center. Upcoming work: Fidelio (Princeton Festival). He is also the Resident Scenic Designer at the In Series. For more: www.jdahmrobertson.com

John D. Alexander (Lighting Designer) is excited to make his debut with Avant Bard. His recent designs include the national tour of The Migration: Reflections of Jacob Lawrence presented by Step Afrika!, Yellowman by Dael Orlandersmith, Blackberry Winter by Steve Yockey, Darius & Twig by Caleen Sinnette Jennings, and the national tour of Anne and Emmett by Janet Langhart Cohen. http://www.johndalexanderdesign.com

Elizabeth S. Ennis (Costume Designer) is thrilled to be back in Arlington and working with Avant Bard again! After graduating with her BA from American University in 2010, Elizabeth spent five years freelancing in the DC Metro area as a costume designer, stitcher, and dresser. Highlights of her time in DC include working with Shakespeare Theatre Company, Synetic Theater, Gallaudet University, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and, of course, Avant Bard. This is her fifth show with Avant Bard, following Othello, Visible Language, Nero/Pseudo, and King John. Elizabeth is currently based out of Philadelphia where she is pursuing her MFA in Costume Design at Temple University. She returns this fall to complete her third and final year. www.esennis.com

Justin Schmitz (Sound Designer and Composer) is so thankful to be back with Avant Bard for King Lear! Justin is a proud member of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association and USITT. He has designed for The Kennedy Center and TYA, Signature Theatre, Round House, Theater J, Olney Theatre Center, Woolly Mammoth, Studio Theatre, Imagination Stage, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Rorschach Theatre, Forum Theatre, Avant Bard, Chautauqua Theatre Company, Triad Stage, Catholic University, Gallaudet University, The University of Maryland, among others. He is a Helen Hayes 2017 nominee for his work on I Call My Brothers with Forum Theatre. Design fellowships include The Kennedy Center in 2015 through the Kenan Institute, KCACTF to attend The Orchard Project in 2011, and Chautauqua Theatre Company in 2013. He holds an MFA in Sound Design from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and a BA from The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse in Theatre Design, Technology, and Stage Management. www.justinschmitztheatre.com

Audrey Bodek (Properties Designer) is a freelance set designer and props master in the DC area. Most recently she was a Kenan Fellow at the Kennedy Center for Scenic Design and the Resident Assistant Scenic Designer at Theater J. Props credits include City of Angels (Catholic University of America) and Coping (Capital Fringe Festival). www.audreybodek.com.

Casey Kaleba (Fight Director) returns to Avant Bard having worked on previous productions of Othello, Night and Day, and Lulu. Recent work includes productions at the Guthrie Theatre (King Lear), Signature Theatre (Jesus Christ Superstar, Midwestern Gothic), and Rorschach Theatre (Forgotten Kingdoms). www.toothandclawcombat.com

Christine Hirrel (Vocal Coach) has prevously worked with Avant Bard on TAME., Othello, Orlando, No Man’s Land, There Is a Happiness That Morning Is, and Equus, among others. Her area credits include The Kennedy Center, Theater J, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Christine holds an MA in Speech-Language Pathology and a BA in Theatre from the University of Maryland.

Keta Newborn (Production Manager/Stage Manager) is thrilled to be joining Avant Bard for her second production, having been the Stage Manager on The Gospel at Colonus. As a freelancer, Keta has worked in the world of theatre for over 10 years. She has held several titles including SM, ASM, Venue Manager, Production Assistant, Light & Sound Board Ops, and now Production Manager.  Her past credits include: The New Play Festival (YPT), Little Thing, Big Thing (Solas Nua), Yellowman (Anacostia Playhouse), Black Nativity and Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea (Theater Alliance), Leto Legend and Failure: A Love Story (The Hub), Secret Garden and Gidion’s Knot (Next Stop), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, How We Got On, and Gidion’s Kn0t (Forum), The Flick and How We Got On (Company One), to name a few.  Keta would like to thank the whole Avant Bard cast and crew and Gunston Theatre for being apart of an amazing show!  She thanks G_d for the opportunity to be used as one of His vessels, working to bring His work of art into the hearts of many while doing what she loves. www.newbornketa.com

Kristina Jackson (Assistant Stage Manager) is thrilled to be working with the wonderful and talented actors and crew on her first Avant Bard production. As a Stage Manager and Theatre Technician, Kristina has been in the theatre industry for six years, splitting between London and California working on productions including Wizard of Oz, Legally Blonde, Peter and the Starcatcher, South Pacific, Dodging Eden, The Glass Menagerie. She would like to thank Tom for all his support and is honored to be a part of this team.

Quill Nebeker (Assistant Director) recently returned to Avant Bard’s staff as Director of Audience Engagement, and serves as the Assistant Director for King Lear. He is also one of the Head Summoners for The Tarot Reading, a one-of-a-kind evening of revels and revelations (ask him about it!). Quill has worked on creative teams for The Source Festival, Capital Fringe, Theatre Alliance, Forum Theatre, Rorschach Theatre, and The Hub Theatre. Previously with Avant Bard, he assistant-directed King John (2013) and works regularly with the Scripts in Play series. He would like to thank his folks and Rebecca for their support, and his cats Eleanor and Juniper for their mild contempt.

Brett Steven Abelman (Dramaturg) is a DC-native creator of stories. He is a proud producing playwright with The Welders. Recent projects include co-creating Play Cupid and Balloon Plays at Capital Fringe Festivals. Brett also reviews at DC Theatre Scene and sometimes blogs at babelwright.wordpress.com.

King Lear plays May 25 to June 25, 2017, at Gunston Arts Center Theatre Two, 2700 South Lang Street, Arlington, VA. Tickets are available online or by calling 703-418-4804.

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By Brett Steven Abelman, Dramaturg

You might have it in your mind that King Lear is a big, difficult play, a challenge or a chore to attend and understand. But the basic story of Lear is as elemental and easy to relate to as any ever told, by Shakespeare or anyone else. It is not as violent as Macbeth, as philosophical as Hamlet, as torrid as Othello, or as adolescent as Romeo and Juliet. Anywhere there is family and age, inheritance and regret, King Lear can go.

It makes sense to think of the play’s web of betrayals not as political maneuverings amongst nobility, but rather as the problems of two unhappy families. The fact that Lear is a king might make him seem distant to us, but the fact that he is a father approaching his retirement brings him much closer.

It’s a familiar failing that he demands his daughters prove their love to gain a portion of their inheritance, and so a pity that, when youngest daughter Cordelia fails to flatter him, he disowns her only to be left out in the cold by his more flattering elder daughters. Meanwhile, Lear’s friend Gloucester is betrayed by his bastard son Edmund, who convinces him to cast out his kindhearted son Edgar. In the end, both fathers see the error of their ways, and die at the sides of their beloved children.

This simple plot has proven quite adaptable across pop culture through the centuries. And in every adaptation, the tale which seems so lofty to us now – even though it was quite familiar in the Bard’s time – is made all the more familiar for us.

It’s worth remembering that “familiar” and “family” have the same root; and each version of Lear comes down to one question: “who is the family?” The basic myth can be traced back to folk tales, those most homely of stories. Tales abound of kings who cast out a youngest daughter because she has failed to offer an over-the-top declaration of love. As you might expect with a fairy tale, these stories often have happy endings, with a reunion of the royal family, in contrast with Shakespeare’s tragedy.

By the late 19^th century, when the power of royalty had waned, adaptations of Lear began to appear that placed the story in new settings more familiar to the audiences of the time. One such work was The Yiddish King Lear, written by Jacob Gordin, which became a seminal production in the history of New York’s Yiddish theatre. He chose as his Lear figure a wealthy Jewish man, and replaced the daughters with sons-in-law of varying Jewish practice.

Novelist Jerome Weidman took a more roundabout approach to Lear in his midcentury novel I’ll Never Go There Anymore. He tied in Shakespeare’s subplot of good son Edgar’s betrayal by Edmund, making those characters the same children who the patriarch depends upon. The novel led to a series of film adaptations and re-adaptations, locating all sorts of families for the Lear-derived plot. House of Strangers, in 1949, may have been the first of this kind to use the criminal underworld as its setting, with a crooked banker as the ‘King’ and the good son an honest lawyer.

The next film adaptation, 1954’s Broken Lance, turned to the Old West, with a powerful rancher as its Lear. Two years later, Weidman himself re-adapted the tale for television, this time with the crystal-clear title The Last Patriarch. And finally, in perhaps the most unexpected version, there was 1961’s The Big Show, in which the patriarch was now a circus owner whose sons take his entertainment business from him. This Lear dies tragically like Shakespeare’s, but in a scene more reminiscent of the death of Gloucester: Despite his age, he vainly attempts to fly the trapeze again, fails to catch his son in the air, and then falls into the net, dead from seeming heartbreak.

Perhaps the most famous of all the Lear adaptations is Akira Kurosawa’s classic 1985 film Ran, which among other changes makes Gloucester’s family and Lear’s family related by marriage. Unlike the previous films, which found modern settings to make the story more familiar, this version is set in 16^th-century feudal Japan. Of course, when Shakespeare wrote his play around 1603-1606, the world he was depicting was a Britain of centuries before. In both cases, the historical setting spoke to its contemporary audience.

New envisionings of the Lear story have continued to appear through recent years. The 1990 film Where the Heart Is found comedy in the tale by having the patriarch, a businessman, kick out all of his children, forcing them to live together in a packed house. Jane Smiley relocated the tale to an Iowa farm in her Pulitzer-winning A Thousand Acres (also adapted to film). Smiley flipped the story by focusing on the older daughters, who in her complex, feminist version have very good reasons to turn against their father. With plot points such as the Cordelia character pursuing a law career and the decline of the Midwestern family farm, the tale was brought fully into the 90s.

Also finding another angle for us to understand the Lear story was Christopher Moore, recently, in 2009, with his novel Fool, focused on the title character who accompanies Lear throughout Shakespeare’s drama. And so on: The Lear figure was again a criminal in 2001’s My Kingdom, and once again a rancher in the 2002 TV movie King of Texas.

But it was only two years ago that perhaps the most prominent adaptation of Lear debuted. The still-running TV show Empire ­– in the top 10 ratings nationwide every season thus far – has explicitly based its plot on Lear, according to its co-creator Danny Strong. Taking place in the music business, with the Lear figure a former drug dealer who has made good in the entertainment world, it continues to bring the ancient tale to modern audiences.

Through all these reshapings, Lear has retained the themes that Shakespeare illuminated with his celebrated verse. Parents and children estranged, the decline of age, unappreciated loyalty and love, the desire for recognition and the desire for a legacy: from kings to clowns to criminals, families of every kind have wrestled with these everyday struggles. This coming May and June, Avant Bard leaps into this tradition of the familiar King Lear with our own version of the Bard’s story, featuring Rick Foucheux in his final acting role.

We’ll be changing Gloucester from a father to a mother, with Cam Magee helping us see that this is a story of parenthood, not just fatherhood. And we’ll be bringing in many members of the Avant Bard family, including Artistic Director Emeritus Christopher Henley (as the Fool) and company members Sara Barker (as Edgar) and Frank Britton (as Cornwall). We sincerely hope to bring this universal story to a new light, for a new audience.

Brett Steven Abelman is a DC-native creator of stories. He is a proud producing playwright with The Welders. Recent projects include co-creating Play Cupid and Balloon Plays at Capital Fringe Festivals. Brett also reviews at DC Theatre Scene and sometimes blogs at babelwright.wordpress.com.

Avant Bard’s King Lear starring Rick Foucheux as Lear plays May 25 to June 25, 2017, at Gunston Arts Center, Theatre Two, 2700 South Lang Street, Arlington, VA 22206. Tickets are available online or by calling 703-418-4808.

 

 

 

 

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