The Twin City Players (TCP) will host the first annual Twin Cities Theatre Festival August 26-28, 2016 at The Oak Room at the Citadel in the Benton Harbor Arts District.
The festival features three separate theatre performances over the course of one weekend. Three Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning works have been specifically chosen, as each is its own testament and celebration of the human spirit. They examine issues from the past, present and future which continue to call our attention no matter our race, class, sex or religion.
Performances include a staged reading of Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, directed by Paul Mow on Friday, August 26; Next to Normal, music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and directed by Paul Mow on Saturday, August 27; and, To Kill a Mockingbird based on the novel by Harper Lee, dramatized by Christopher Sergel and directed by Toni Mayberry on Sunday, August 28.
About Clybourne Park
By Bruce Norris
Warning: This play contains strong language and adult situations – for mature audiences only.
Borrowing elements from Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Bruce Norris’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play explores race relations and gentrification in the changing face of a Chicago neighborhood.
TCP will hold auditions for a staged reading of Clybourne Park on Wednesday, July 27 and Thursday, July 28 at 5:30 p.m. at the Twin City Players Studio at 600 West Glenlord Road, St. Joseph, Michigan 49085.
Clybourne Park offers a variety of roles for four men and three women. Actors are asked to prepare a dramatic monologue of no more than 90 seconds in length to perform in front of the directorial staff. Performers of all ethnic and racial background are encouraged to attend. This play contains adult language and themes that are not suitable for children.
About Next to Normal
Music by Tom Kitt; Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey
Warning: This musical contains strong language and adult situations – for mature audiences only.
A local revival of this rock musical whose story concerns a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effect that her illness and the attempts to alleviate it have on her family.
The cast of Next to Normal includes Meagan Francis as Diana, Josh Blair-Boger as Gabe, Joe Nolan as Dan, Lauren Kunkel as Natalie, Jake Zapor as Henry and Jason Cope as Dr. Fine/Madden.
Assisting Mow is Assistant Director Donna Metz. The orchestra for Next to Normal includes Brent Decker (Keyboard), Fangbo Yuan (Violin), Taylor Crow (Cello), Jarod Knuth (Guitar), Evan Rausch (Bass Guitar) and Adam Jones (Drums).
About To Kill a Mockingbird
Based on the novel by Harper Lee, Dramatized by Christopher Sergel
In this revival of the local TCP production, Atticus Finch is a lawyer in the fictional town of Maycomb, a racially divided Alabama town, set in the early 1930s. Finch defends a young black man on trial, accused of atrocities towards a white woman. How will the trial turn out—and will it effect changes in racial attitudes in Maycomb?
The cast of To Kill a Mockingbird includes Mary Deno as Jean Louise Finch, Steve Smith as Atticus, Malia Deno as Scout, Rowan Clark as Jem, Asher Prouty as Dill, Christine Smith as Calpurnia, Susan Graham as Stephanie, Kathleen Driscoll as Miss Maudie, Connie Glanzar as Mrs. Dubose, Jacob Holmes as Heck Tate, Alex Prouty as Walter Cunningham, Jim Richards as Bob Ewell, Coreana Frampton as Mayella Ewell, Andrew Glisson as Judge Taylor, Dave Wood as Mr. Gilmer, Craig Brent as Reverend Sykes, Dezahrae Burton as Helen Robinson, Kendall Rogers as Tom Robinson, Curt Goodrich as Boo Radley, Nathan Radley and Link Deas.
All Seats General Admission
Tickets for the staged reading of Clybourne Park will be $10, and tickets for Next to Normal and To Kill a Mockingbird will be $15. Patrons can save on the cost per show and see all three by purchasing a Festival Pass for $30. Tickets can be purchased online at twincityplayers.org or by calling the TCP Box Office at 269-429-0400.
Performances of Clybourne Park and Next to Normal will begin at 7:30 p.m. and To Kill a Mockingbird will begin at 4:00 p.m. at The Oak Room at the Citadel, 91 Hinkley St, Benton Harbor, MI 49022.
The Twin Cities Theatre Festival is presented by the Twin City Players and sponsored by the New Territory Arts Association, the Lake Michigan College Performing Arts department, TPC Technologies, Inc., The Schalon Foundation and Lakeland Health Foundations. Business and organizations interested in sponsoring the event may contact TCP Business Manager Kim Kidd at TCPBoxOffice@gmail.com.
CLYBOURNE PARK is produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service. NEXT TO NORMAL is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019, Phone: 212-541-4684, Fax: 212-397-4684, MTIShows.com. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is produced by special arrangement with The Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Illinois.
