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Peerless: A teen twist on Macbeth, Cut-Throat Tactics reign Supreme

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What would you do to get into your dream college? For twins M and L, the answer is…anything. Peerless by Jiehae Park tackles that question when it bursts onstage later this month at The Human Race Theatre Company. In this Macbeth-inspired satire, twins M and L’s dark and hilarious quest for college admission becomes a cut-throat exploration of ambition and high school drama.

“With shades of cult classics like Heathers, The Breakfast Club, and Cruel Intentions, Park’s incisive wit pokes at the achievement and over-achievements expected of teens today,” comments Emily N. Wells, The Human Race Theatre Company’s Artistic Director. “In addition, we are thrilled to be showcasing some of the fantastic talent emerging out of our SW Ohio training programs.”

Resident Artist and Artistic Director of Wright State University’s theatre program Marya Spring Cordes directs. The cast features current Cincinnati College of Music students Dinithi Fernando and Palini Sunkara as the twins, recent Wright State alum Matthew Shanahan (D and D’s Brother) and Sydney Freihofer (Dirty Girl/Preppy Girl), and University of Cincinnati grad Dominique Owen as BF.

Joining Cordes on the production team are: Ray Zupp, Scenic Design; John Rensel, Lighting Design; Maria F. Ortiz, Costume Design; James Dunlap, Sound Design; Sarah Gomes, Props; Alan Kim, Assistant Director; Mark Tynan, Production Stage Manager.

peerless will play in the Loft Theatre in downtown Dayton, April 25 – May 12, 2024.  Tickets are on sale through the Dayton Live box office, 937-228-3630, or online at www.humanracetheatre.org

The Human Race Theatre Company continues its commitment to high quality theatre with access points for all with two ticket initiatives sponsored by Morris Furniture Company: two sections of $20 seats available at any time through the box office, and ten $10 rush seats available 90 minutes before any performance.

Special Nights at The Loft: 

Pay What You CAN
Wednesday April 24, 8 pm – admission by non-perishable food donation for The Foodbank OR a cash donation to benefit DECA’s Senior Sendoff Bundles

Inside Track
Thursday, April 25, 8pm – Pre-show Discussion at 7:15pm

Post Show Discussion
Sunday, April 28, 2pm – Shakespeare and Adaptation

Industry Night/ Sawbuck
Sunday, April 28, 7 pm – $10 ticketsavailable at 5:30pm

While We’re On The Subject
Sunday, May 5, 2 pm – Post-Show Discussion with the cast

Parent’s Day Out
Saturday, May 11, 2 pm – Kids Separate Activities (5-12yo)

 

Human Race Debuts Show About A Mother Who’s A Fighter Pilot

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The Human Race Theatre Company opens the season with a play by Cleveland-based playwright George Brant –Grounded – playing September 8-25, 2022 at the Loft Theatre.  This gripping one-woman drama finds a fighter pilot caught between duty to her country and motherhood

 

The Pilot, a hot-shot F16 top gun, finds herself grounded when an unexpected pregnancy stalls her flying career. She reups with the Air Force in the hopes of once again flying her “Tiger,” but finds herself reassigned to a bunker outside Las Vegas. The Pilot struggles through dreamlike 12-hour shifts hunting terrorists by day and being a wife and mother by night, leading her into a downward spiral. The lines crumble between home and professional worlds, and a mistake on the job might just cost her everything.

This production marks The Human Race Theatre Company directorial debut of new Artistic Director Emily N. Wells. “This piece has been fascinating to me since it premiered in New York nearly a decade ago, and even more so after I became a parent,” she comments. “The pilot’s struggle to balance her duty to country and motherhood makes a profound internal conflict. Her ability to exercise control hangs in the balance,” Wells continues. The team has spent time researching women in the United States Air Force and pilot training with community partners including Sinclair Community College, National Museum of the United State Air Force, and retired officers living in the Dayton area.

The role of The Pilot will be played by extraordinary Cincinnati-based actor and playwright Maggie Lou Rader, who audiences will remember from last season as Marie Antoinette in The Revolutionists. “Maggie brings a grounded empathy for her characters that resonates powerfully on stage.

Joining director Emily Wells on the Grounded creative team is:  D. Tristan Cupp and Jeff Heater, Scenic Realizer; John Rensel, Lighting Designer;  Lianne Arnold, Projection Designer; Jay Brunner, Sound Designer; Production Stage Manager, Mark Tynan; and Andrew Ian Adams, Production Assistant. The team has spent time researching women in the United States Air Force and pilot training with the support of community partners including Sinclair Community College, National Museum of the United States Air Force, and retired officers living in the Dayton area.

Grounded will play at the Loft Theatre in downtown Dayton, September 8-25, 2022.  Tickets are on sale through the Dayton Live box office, 937-228-3630, or online at www.daytonlive.org/events/grounded/.  More details about the show can be found at www.humanracetheatre.org.

 

Special performances:   

Pay What You CAN –                Wed. September 7 at 8 pm – Non-perishable food donations will

benefit The Foodbank. All cash donations will go to American

Legion POST 644, the first AL POST for women veterans.

Inside Track –                            Thurs., September 8 at 8pm – preshow discussion at 7:10

Sawbuck Sunday –                     Sun. September 11 at 7 pm – $10 tickets available 5:30pm at the  door

While We’re On The Subject –   Sun. September 18 at 2pm – Audience Discussion follows performance

 

 

The Human Race Theatre Company Announces New Artistic Director

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The Human Race Theatre Company Board of Trustees, the Artistic Director Search Committee and Executive Director, Kappy Kilburn, are pleased to announce the appointment of Emily N. Wells as The Human Race’s next Artistic Director.  The Search Committee, comprised of artists, community leaders, Board members and Human Race staff voted unanimously to appoint Wells after a thorough nationwide search that began last summer.

“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we are so excited that Emily N. Wells will be leading The Human Race as the next Artistic Director,” said Board Chair Jaresha Moore Smith.  “Emily is an extraordinary artist, an advocate for inclusiveness and community engagement, and has a strong vision for The Human Race’s future while embracing the success of the past.  We are excited to see the innovation, the artistry, and excellence she will bring to The Human Race both on stage and off.”

Emily N. Wells is an award-winning theatre director, creative producer and educator with over 25 years experience including a significant emphasis on new plays and musicals. Joining Human Race Theatre Company as the new Artistic Director realizes a dream come true for Emily, as the company’s mission echoes her own: to open the doors of art and creativity to all people through stories that reflect our shared humanity.

While a senior producer for Houston Grand Opera, Emily focused on community building through new work development of pieces with significance to the 3rd largest Metro in the US. Her role at HGO encompassed producing a vast scale of works, including the Telly Award-winning Star-cross’d opera web series. Emily will direct the 2023 HGO world premiere of Another City, a new opera that tells the true stories of un-housed Houstonians and those who aid them. She also served as guest director and adjunct faculty at Houston’s prestigious Rice University, and led several fundraising efforts for congenital heart disease.

 

Prior to living in Houston, Emily’s other directing credits include Gulfshore Playhouse, Circuit Playhouse, Theatreworks/USA among others. She holds an MFA in Directing from the University of Memphis, a BA in Theatre from Washington University in St. Louis, and is an SDC and AEA Member.  In her early career, Emily stage managed on and off Broadway, regionally and on national tours -including a week for The Human Race’s production of Green Gables while in development in East Hampton during the summer of 2004.

 

Wells will join The Human Race staff remotely in January while she finishes some projects. After spending the last 5 ½ years in Houston, she looks forward to enjoying all four changing seasons in Dayton with her husband and daughter.  She plans to be full-time by the beginning of March, when she and Kevin Moore, founding member and retiring Artistic Director, will spend time together making a seamless transition into the “next act” while finalizing the 2022-2023 Loft Theatre season.

 

Emily Wells will be the fourth Artistic Director in the company’s 35 years, following founding Artistic Director Suzy Bassani in 1986, who passed the torch to founding member Marsha Hanna in 1993.  After Marsha’s untimely passing in 2011, founding Executive Director Kevin Moore became Artistic Director. Moore will officially leave the company in June, 2022.

 

The company is working on plans for several community introductions and engagement events with Emily and Kevin.  Stay tuned.

 

Adults Only Who’s Holiday Opens At The Loft Theatre

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If playwright Matthew Lombardo’s searing look at actress Tallulah Bankhead in Looped was the main course, then his spicy confection about Cindy Lou Who inWho’s Holiday! – playing this December at The Human Race – is the decadent dessert we have been waiting for.   Called a “raunchy riff on Dr. Seuss,” Who’s Holiday! is a wildly funny and heartfelt adult-only comedy about grown-up Cindy Lou Who, as she recalls that Christmas Eve when she first met the Grinch and the twisted turn of events her life has since taken.  Who’s Holiday! will fill the Loft Theatre with laughter, starting tonight and run through December 19, 2021.

“We have a bit of history of finding those off-center, holiday shows that make us laugh” states Human Race Artistic Director and Founding Member, Kevin Moore. “I recall the naughty elf in Santaland Diaries, and the crazy residents from A Tuna Christmas.  Who’s Holiday! continues this tradition.  It is definitely an irreverant, “adults-night-out.”

Actress Alex Sunderhaus (Cincinnati native – Wright State graduate – and last appeared on the Loft stage as the loveable dog Sylvia) is taking on the bottle-blond role of Cindy Lou Who, as she prepares for a holiday party in her trailer just outside of Whoville, and reminisces about that fateful Christmas eve.

Who’s Holiday! is directed by Human Race Resident Artist and Wright State Artistic Director Joe Deer.  Our Production Stage Manager is Jacquelyn Duncan; Costume Design by Zoe Still;  Scenic Design by Scott J. Kimmins;  Lighting Design by John Rensel;  Sound Design by Alexander Koker.

Tickets are on sale through Dayton Live box office, 937-228-3630, or online at www.humanracetheatre.org  All audiences are required to wear masks.

Human Race Theatre Company Debuts New Streaming Production

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The Human Race Theatre Company is excited to announce that you can experience the magic of local professional theatre from the comfort of your home. Love, time, and starting over is at the heart of Now and Then by Sean Grennan, filmed on location at Dayton’s own Mudlick Tap House, kicking off our 35th season by continuing our tradition of celebrating the best our community has to offer. It will be available exclusively on the streaming platform Broadway On-Demand starting April 28, 2021 – the 35th birthday of The Human Race.

 

In the face of an unprecedented year, we’ve needed to be more creative than ever before.  “Our timing of this first production marks both our commitment to keeping our artists safe while also celebrating our 35 years as Dayton’s professional theatre company,” states Human Race Artistic Director and Founding Member, Kevin Moore.  “Unlike previous ‘pandemic projects,’ this production is fully staged on location and filmed by another first for us.  This allows us to share our work with our audience while keeping everyone safe until we can return to in-person performances at the Loft Theatre.”   Local production company WorldStage Media did the filming.

The play takes us to a neighborhood bar in 1981 where Jamie is closing up when a last-minute customer enters and offers Jamie and his girlfriend Abby $2,000 to sit and have a drink with him.  Who wouldn’t take it?  But the unusual conversation, and the appearance of a second customer, make the unbelievable begin to look like it just might be true.

Director Marya Spring Cordes has assembled an amazing quartet of actors.  Playing the couple Jamie and Abby are a real-life married couple, Justin McCombs and Maggie Lou Rader. And as the unexpected customers are Human Race Resident Actor and Founding Member Scott Stoney, and local actress Libby Holley Scancarello.

The fifth character in the play is the bar, and we are grateful to Mudlick Tap House for providing the location for our production.  Our Director of Photography, Editor and head of film production is Shaunn Baker of WorldStage Media. Our production Stage Manager is Jacquelyn Duncan. Costume by Janet G. Powell;  Scenic Elements and Props by Alexander Capeneka; Lighting by John Rensel;  Sound by Jay Brunner.

Now and Then will be available on the Broadway on Demand platform from April 28 – May 9, 2021.  Current subscribers will receive an email with their personal link to watch the show.  Single tickets now available at Broadway on Demand by using this link:  https://livestream.broadwayondemand.com/human-race/

 

Human Race Announces 2020 – 2021 Loft Season

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The Human Race, Dayton’s premier professional theatre company, is excited to announce the 2020-2021 Season at the Loft Theatre. This, their 34th season of producing in the Miami Valley, emphasizes The Human Race’s mission – to explore the human experience and promote enlightenment, inclusion and understanding through quality entertainment – with their Dayton Premieres.

“Every show this season is a first in Dayton,” states Human Race Artistic Director and Founding Member, Kevin Moore. “This includes a collaborative world premiere, as well as multiple regional and local premieres that will stimulate the conscience of our community and the talents of our artists.”

”We are very excited about our 34th season because it exemplifies the work we are known for” said Executive Director, Kappy Kilburn. “It’s all new, smart, funny, touching, insightful, important and thought provoking.”

The 34th season kicks off early this year, in August, with the mysterious comic-drama, Now And Then by Sean Grennan. Then in October, they’ll rock the Loft Theatre with Airness, a new play by Chelsea Marcantel that follows whacky participants in the Air Guitar World Championship.  The winter brings us the thoughtful and timely drama of a family dealing with a transgender child, Everything That’s Beautiful by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder.  Spring blooms with laughter as the O’Shea family must confront the Incident At Our Lady Of Perpetual Help by Katie Forgette.  And closing the season in June is a new musical, co-written by a WSU grad and Human Race alum, Christian Duhamel, and composer Edward Bell – the title says it all – My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend.

Plus, there are two Human Race “Extras” this season.  The first is the eight-organization collaborative performance, The Art Of Us: A Dayton Mosaic on September 12 and 13 at the Schuster Center – which will include the commissioned World Premiere performance of “Miriam.”  And in December, the Dr. Seuss lampoon Who’s Holiday will play December 10-27 in the Loft Theatre for a hysterical look at what became of “Cindy Lou Who.”

Subscription renewal packets will be available at all performances of Gloria: A Life.  Subscribers will have until May 3rd to renew their subscriptions.  Subscribers will also be able to add the “Extras” at a special rate, but these are limited time offers.  The Art Of Us: A Dayton Mosaic discount is availble through May 30, 2020;  Who’s Holiday discount is available through August 17, 2020.

New subscribers can join anytime and enjoy all the benefits as well as the early discount ticket prices to the two “Extras.”  Contact Ticket Center Stage at 937-228-3630 or www.ticketcenterstage.com.

Join Dayton’s professional theatre for a season of Dayton Premieres.

Full descriptions of each show is included below.

The Human Race Theatre Company

2020-2021 Loft Theatre Season – Dayton Premieres

NOW AND THEN by Sean Grennan    Aug 20 – Sept 6, 2020

Sometimes what happens after last-call just might change your life forever.  One night in 1981, just as Jamie is closing the bar where he works, a desperate last-minute customer offers him and his girlfriend Abby two thousand dollars to sit and have a drink with him.  Who wouldn’t take it? As the trio swaps stories and Jamie considers the decisions he faces about his musical career and his future with Abby, the young couple begins to realize that this older man is unusually invested in their choices…and the reason he gives them is completely unbelievable. But when a very displeased second stranger arrives, the unbelievable begins to look like it just might be true. Now and Then is a heartfelt romantic comedy about the costs of the choices we make, and the people who make them with us.

AIRNESS by Chelsea Marcantel         Oct 15 – Nov 1, 2020

When Nina enters her first air guitar competition, she thinks winning will be easy. But as she befriends a group of charismatic nerds all committed to becoming the next champion, she discovers that there’s more to this art form than playing pretend; it’s about finding yourself in your favorite songs, and performing with raw joy. Will Nina be able to let go and set herself free onstage? Following her mission to shred or be shredded, Airness is an exuberant reminder that everything we need to rock is already inside us. A comedy about competition, completion, and finding the airness inside yourself.

EVERYTHING THAT’S BEAUTIFUL by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder     

Feb 18 – Mar 7, 2021

When Luke and Jess decide to allow their 8-year-old Morgan, who was assigned  male at birth, to identify as female, they relocate in order to give the family a clean start. Luke takes a job at the local waterpark, where he meets Gaby, the girl in the mermaid tank. With money tight, Jess starts working at a local coffee shop where she meets Will. These new relationships provide an escape from an already complicated family life. But when an accident threatens to expose the truth about Morgan, tensions run high. Luke finally admits the real reason they moved, a confession that could potentially destroy their family. Faced with losing his child and his family, Luke must decide what’s worth fighting for.

INCIDENT AT OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP by Katie Forgette                         Apr 15 – May 2, 2021

A money-strapped family tries to cope in 1973. 19-year-old Linda O’Shea is our narrator and she is attempting to re-enact the most turbulent day of her life, but her family keep interrupting to tell their side of the story.  The 70s were a time of old school living; no social media, and public ridicule in a close-knit community was the ultimate nightmare. When her parents ask her to explain to her younger sister about the birds and the bees, somehow the blunt explanation is overheard by the parish priest and he is not amused. When he confronts her parents about the “corruption of their eldest daughter’s very soul,” all “holy Hell” and hysteria breaks loose in this nostalgic comedy.

MY 80-YEAR-OLD BOYFRIEND: A New True Musical       Jun 10 – 27, 2021

Book & Lyrics by Christian Duhamel          Music & Lyrics by Edward Bell

Originally Conceived & Performed by Charissa Bertels

In this delightful new musical, Charissa, a quirky, twenty-something actress, meets Milton, a quick-witted, eighty-something millionaire who loves Schubert, Shakespeare, and Dallas BBQ. From a chance encounter to the unlikeliest of friendships, Charissa discovers there’s much she can learn from her surprising new companion. Based on the true story of performer Charissa Bertels, My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend reveals the thrill of chasing a dream, the power of living in the now, and all that can happen when we let ourselves say “yes.”

HUMAN RACE EXTRAS

THE ART OF US: A DAYTON MOSAIC                  Sept 12 and 13, 2020

The 2020–2021 season offers a truly spectacular event showcasing eight of Dayton’s cultural treasures. This collaborative performance highlights the Bach Society of Dayton, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Dayton Ballet, Dayton Opera, Dayton Philharmonic, Dayton Gay Men’s Chorus, Muse Machine and The Human Race Theatre Company. The Art of Us is made possible with generous support from the Miriam Rosenthal Foundation for the Arts.

This once-in-a-lifetime event at the Schuster Center will include The Human Race, DCDC and Dayton Ballet performing together in a new work, Dancing Dreams, and a commissioned world premiere that will feature performers from all eight organizations.

A special price of $25 for any seating is available to Human Race subscribers through May 30, 2020.

WHO’S HOLIDAY by Matthew Lombardo                   Dec 10 -27, 2020

Our special holiday show is a wildly funny and heartfelt adults-only comedy that tells the story of Cindy Lou Who as she recalls that Christmas Eve she first met the Grinch and the twisted turn of events her life has now taken.

You saw her last when she was just two
Celebrate the holidays with Cindy Lou Who
Pull up a seat and fill up your cup
‘Cause your favorite little Who is all grown up

A special price of $30 for any seating is available to Human Race subscribers through August 17, 2020.

(Rated R for adult language and sexual innuendo)

Regional Premiere of Gloria: A Life

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The Human Race Theatre Company is continuing its 2019-2020 “Women of Influence Season” with the Dayton premiere of Gloria: A Life, a new play celebrating the life and legacy of one of the most important figures of America’s feminist movement.

Fifty years after Gloria Steinem began raising her voice and advocating for others, her vision is as urgent today as ever. Described simply as “History. Her Story. Our Story,” Gloria: A Life is a richly detailed tapestry that’s both inspiring and remarkable.

The Cast. photo by Heather N. Powell

Written by Tony Award-nominee playwright Emily Mann, Gloria: A Life opened Off-Broadway in 2018 to critical acclaim. Kappy Kilburn, Executive Director of The Human Race Theatre Company, played an instrumental role in bringing Gloria’s story to the stage in New York City, and now to Dayton, Ohio. The Human Race Theatre’s production will mark the first performances of Gloria: A Life beyond its original creative team. 

“It was a privilege to be a part of the journey to the world premiere of Gloria: A Life as I packed up to leave NYC for Dayton,” said Kilburn. “And through that relationship, it is now my honor to present it here, at The Human Race Theatre Company, and continue the powerful conversation this play elicits.”

Gloria believes in the necessity of conversation as a catalyst for change, and the powerful play offers us all a path forward in a way that only live theatre can provide. This regional premiere features a dynamic all-female cast, led by Jennifer Johansen as Gloria Steinem and directed by Marya Spring Cordes.

“When we work together, anything is possible,” said Cordes. “While a good deal has changed for the better, every worthwhile fight is three steps forward and one step back. We are still fighting for a good deal of the same gender and civil rights issues all these years later.”

“Gloria: A Life humanizes and contextualizes the iconic history of Gloria’s life, shining as an example of how rewarding and challenging it can be to lead a fully human, active life,” she added.

The entire community is invited to join The Human Race Theatre in celebrating this award-winning journalist, social political activist, and nationally recognized leader of the American feminist movement and Toledo, Ohio native.

GLORIA: A LIFE is rated PG-15. Parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under the age of 15.

Biographies on the cast and creative team can be found on The Human Race Theatre Company’s website under GLORIA: A LIFE.

They Pay What You Can Preview is Wed, Feb 26th, Opening night is Friday, February 28.

Tickets for GLORIA: A LIFE start at $14. Prices vary depending on the day of the week and seating location. Group discounts are available for parties of 10 or more. Student tickets are available at 50% off regular adult prices and a student I.D. must be presented when picking up at the Box Office. The Sunday, March 1 7:00 p.m. performance is “Sawbuck Sunday,” when any available seat can be purchased in person for just $10 at the Loft Theatre box office two hours prior to the show. Discounts are subject to availability and some restrictions apply.

All performances are at the Metropolitan Art Center’s Loft Theatre, located at 126 North Main Street in downtown Dayton, Ohio. Show times for GLORIA: A LIFE are 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Performances on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings begin at 7:00 p.m., and at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday matinees.

Tickets and performance information for GLORIA: A LIFE are available at www.humanracetheatre.org or by calling Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630, and at the Schuster Center box office.

‘Lady Day’ Review – Human Race Theatre Company – Fragile Greatness

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Jazz phenom Billie Holiday’s influential imprint on American music coupled with her humorous, unsettling and resilient testimony as an African-American woman facing incredible adversity while consumed with addiction fuels the magnetism of Lanie Robertson’s 1986 play-with-music Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.

Tanesha Gary as Billie Holiday in the Human Race Theatre Company’s production of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.

Excellently presented by the Human Race Theatre Company at the Loft Theatre and set in 1959 Philadelphia, Lady Day brings forth the heartache and joys of Holiday’s career, spoken four months before her death at age 44, with bold, blunt and naughty purpose. Structurally, it’s easy to pigeonhole this play as far-fetched, especially when you consider the likelihood of any prominent celebrity in the 1950s sharing such personal, tragic details of their lives with relative abandon, including accounts of abuse, racism and imprisonment. But Holiday loved to sing, and truly loved her audience in return, so it’s not unsurprising that she would be a completely open book, especially in her drunken, drug-addicted haze. With assistance from her concerned, supportive accompanist Jimmy Powers (Keigo Hirakawa), Holiday (an absolutely luminous Tanesha Gary) transforms into a compelling storyteller, particularly and vividly reflecting on touring the segregated South with bandleader Artie Shaw and being denied access to a restroom.

Beautifully costumed in a gleaming white gown with matching gloves by David M. Covach, Gary, a terrific Caroline Thibodeaux in the Human Race’s 2011 production of Caroline, or Change, smoothly executes Holiday’s journey with colorful sting (director Scott Stoney astutely ensures her repartee is flavorful yet impactful) and stellar vocals. She notably resists providing a full-throttle impersonation of Holiday akin to Audra McDonald’s performance in the 2014 Broadway revival, but her work is effective nonetheless in terms of paying homage to the spirit of Holiday’s definitive magic. Backed by an exemplary jazz trio consisting of knockout keyboardist Hirakawa, percussionist/music director Deron B. Bell Sr., and bassist Eddie Brookshire, her many standout renditions include the swinging groove of What a Little Moonlight Can Do (impeccably bolstered by Hirakawa) and breezy Easy Livin,’ in addition to her outstanding phrasing within God Bless the Child and her powerfully descriptive, chill-inducing Strange Fruit. All of these tuneful moments and more are accented by the wonderfully intimate ambience established in the work of scenic designer Scott J. Kimmins, lighting designer John Rensel and sound designer Jay Brunner. In fact, the final seconds eerily transition into a gorgeously surreal dreamscape courtesy of Rensel.
Holiday left this world far too soon, but her iconic legacy unquestionably inspired an array of brilliant vocalists such as Diana Ross, Ledisi and Amy Winehouse. Her life was not in vain and her story deserves your attention.

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill continues through Sept. 29 at the Loft Theatre, 126 N. Main St., Dayton. The production is performed in 75 minutes without intermission. Performances are 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays; and 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Tickets: $19.50-$37. There are also select side-area seats available for $16 and $28 at all performances. In addition, all adult priced tickets are discounted at 50 percent for students with proof of a student I.D. Stage seating (five tables intended for couples) is also available for $27.50-$52. For tickets or more information, call Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630 or visit humanracetheatre.org or ticketcenterstage.com.

FYI: The Human Race Theatre Company is partnering with the Neon Movies for the Women of Influence in the Movies Series. On Monday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m., the Neon will screen a double bill of New Orleans, in which a gambling hall owner entertains his patrons with hot jazz by Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday, and the newly restored short film Symphony in Black, in which Billie Holiday makes her screen debut as Duke Ellington plays his symphonic jazz piece. Tickets are $8 each or $30 for a series pass, available at neonmovies.com.

 

 

‘Lizzie’ Review – Human Race Theatre Company – The Dark She Knows Well

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It’s been 126 years since Andrew and Abby Borden were gruesomely murdered in their Fall River, Massachusetts home on a relatively uneventful August morning. Their daughter Lizzie would go down in history as the prime suspect, but what in the world could’ve driven her to commit such an evil act with ax in tow? Reasons abound in the aptly titled Lizzie, an electrifying, compelling, disturbing, humorous, and unapologetically bad ass punk rock musical receiving a thrilling local premiere courtesy of the Human Race Theatre Company at the Loft Theatre.

Natalie Bird (Emma), Leslie Goddard (Bridget), Deanna Giulietti (Lizzie), and Michaella Waickman (Alice) in the Human Race Theatre Company’s production of Lizzie. (Photo by Scott J. Kimmins)

Featured at the 2010 National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival, premiering as a student production in 2012 at Baldwin Wallace University, and conceived with artistic license by composer/lyricist Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, composer Alan Stevens Hewitt and lyricist/librettist Tim Maner, Lizzie is an in-your-face, slickly irreverent look at a 19th century subject and framework reexamined within a 21st century context. Sure, we’ve seen this before (Spring Awakening and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson walked the same tight rope in 2006 and 2010, respectively), but it remains an attractive device, especially if musical theatre is to grow by appealing and connecting to a younger generation of artists and audiences open to embracing the untraditional (such as the current, daring and groundbreaking Tony Award-winning revival of Oklahoma!). And it certainly appeals here as microphone stands and hand held microphones heighten the inherent concert vibe fueling the angst, despair, resentment, and longing on display in the vein of Pat Benatar, Heart and Joan Jett among other legendary female rock goddesses. Stifled and silenced by society and disrespected and devalued in her own home, there’s no mistaking the fact that Lizzie Borden was simply driven to the point of no return.

(left to right) Leslie Goddard (Bridget), Michaella Waickman (Alice), Rachel Mary Green (Understudy), Deanna Giulietti (Lizzie), and Natalie Bird (Emma) in the Human Race Theatre Company’s production of Lizzie. (Photo by Scott J. Kimmins)

Skillfully staged with attention to movement and nuance by Human Race Resident Artist Jamie Cordes in his Human Race directorial debut, Lizzie is performed by four outstanding actresses. In the demanding titular role, New York-based Deánna Giulietti, a vocal powerhouse, is a true knockout. Her explosive rage in This Is Not Love, her opening solo detailing Lizzie’s sexual abuse, cuts deep in its heartache and emotional release, strikingly setting the dark, frank tone of the show. Wright State University alumna Natalie Bird, in a welcomed return to the area, is hilarious, biting, tough, and cynical as Emma, Lizzie’s blunt older sister who doesn’t fail to remind Lizzie of Abby’s shortcomings as a stepmother added to her belief that she’s trying to push them out of their father’s will. Emma is underwritten (she unfortunately leaves in the middle of Act 1 yet thankfully returns in proud profane fashion near the top of Act 2), but Bird’s scintillating stage presence is remarkable throughout. In fact, I couldn’t get enough of her during Lizzie’s intriguing if hurried trial (delivering lines with comically unassuming perfection) in addition to the sight of her reverently strolling through the audience alongside Giulietti delectably interpreting the solemn hymn Watchmen for the Morning (imagine Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly singing Amazing Grace in Chicago). Leslie Goddard, who notably appeared as Georgie in the Human Race’s The Full Monty, is enjoyably playful and sarcastic as Bridget Sullivan, Lizzie and Emma’s maid with a lot to say about the House of Borden. Michaella Waickman, a Wright State musical theatre major memorably seen this season as Fredrika in A Little Night Music, beautifully portrays sensitive, vulnerable Alice Russell, Lizzie’s close friend and neighbor who pines for her (tender ballad If You Knew is an Act 1 highlight). This fierce quartet repeatedly joins forces, but special mention goes to the back-to-back brilliance of the Hair-esque Burn The Old Thing Up (regarding Lizzie’s decision to destroy her blood-stained dress) and marvelously investigatory Questions Questions (bolstered by Katie Johannigman’s wonderfully fluid choreography). Rachel Mary Green, a dynamic vocalist who starred in Wright State’s local premiere of If/Then this season, serves as understudy.

Cordes’ splendid artistic team includes scenic designer Ray Zupp (incorporating an effective nod to the Ten Commandments), costumer Liz Bourgeois (providing an attractive mixture of leather, corsets, plaid, and denim for the ladies as well as a cool final look for Giulietti in flashy gold), lighting designer John Rensel (supplying expertly evocative and vibrant work), sound designer Brian Retterer (ensuring top-notch balance and clarity), and music director/guitarist Jay Brunner (assembling a phenomenal onstage band including percussionist Kevin G. Anderson, keyboardist Matthew Ebright, cellist Emsie Hapner, and Joel Greenberg on bass).

Lizzie isn’t perfect, but it’s bold, exciting, raw, and certainly one of the best productions of the season. Don’t miss it.

Lizzie continues through June 30 at the Loft Theatre, 126 N. Main St., Dayton. Performances are 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays. Act One: 50 minutes; Act Two: 35 minutes. Tickets are $37 for adults, $34 for seniors, and $19.50 for students. Prices vary depending on performance date. Select side-area seats available for $14 and $27 at all performances. “Sawbuck Sunday” performance June 16 offers $10 seats available for walk up sales only. Military discounts are also available. For tickets, call Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630 or visit humanracetheatre.org or ticketcenterstage.com. In addition, there will be a post-show discussion following the June 23 performance; Patrons are advised the show is rated PG-15 and contains strong language as well as references to abuse, murder and sexual situations.

 

‘Complete Works of William Shakespeare’ Review – Human Race Theatre Company – Three Noble Merrymen

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Incessantly silly and absolutely entertaining, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] cuts loose with energetic glee at the Loft Theatre courtesy of the Human Race Theatre Company.

Bruce Cromer, Jordan Laroya and Shaun Patrick Tubbs star in the Human Race Theatre Company’s production of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), [revised].” (Photo by Immobulus Photography)


Written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, Complete Works is an irreverent, witty tribute to the Bard’s 38 plays (give or take) solely relying on the improvisational and cohesive compatibility of only three actors. The script requires the cast to poke fun at the Bard and themselves with abandon, paying reverence when it’s due but also acknowledging the sheer artistic freedom derived from the zany pleasures of satire. As is humorously stated at one point, “We don’t have to do it justice – just do it!” Throughout the production, some jokes or bits land sharply while others feel strained, but that’s standard practice whether you’re at a comedy club or watching Saturday Night Live. It’s always dangerous when certain plays abide by an anything goes philosophy but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time watching it come to life. And a good time is on the menu as Bruce Cromer, Jordan Laroya, and Shaun Patrick Tubbs joyfully drive this wild ride through some of the greatest passages ever written.

Fittingly, the majority of the action covers Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and Hamlet, three iconic pieces ripe for playful rediscovery under Aaron Vega’s breezy, interactive (introverts beware!), inspired, and pop culture-tinged direction. Whether ensuring certain lines are filled with rousing gospel fervor or a thick Scottish brogue or humorously paying homage to Hamilton, Black Panther or the rock god aura of Prince, Vega creates a rollicking playground of fun, using every bit of the Loft space from aisles to props. In fact, scenic designer Eric Barker, properties master Heather Powell, and sound designer Jay Brunner gives Vega all the comical tools he needs, especially familiar props from past Human Race productions such as the enormous teddy bear from The House presented earlier this season.


Local audiences have grown accustomed to seeing Cromer, one of the most acclaimed and widely respected Shakespearean actors in our region, taking the stage in a surefire leading capacity, but he navigates well in this team effort. Aware that everyone is on equal footing, he smoothly blends with Laroya and Tubbs, helping establish a good-natured rapport suggesting the trio have been pals for years. In fact, Tubbs, a Wright State University alumnus previously seen in the Human Race’s outstanding production of Jitney, is one of Cromer’s former students which aids in their chemistry. Specifically, Cromer is featured to great effect when he breaks from the Hamlet storyline to venture on a nostalgic detour into the backstory behind characters from Downton Abbey, resulting in a hilarious nervous breakdown. The extremely personable Tubbs, conveying stand-up comedian ease even during the show’s curtain speech, keeps the comedy flowing from his valiant Romeo to his kooky and aloof Julius Caesar. Laroya, a Human Race newcomer taking on the persona of being dashing and daft, is an energetic delight who effortlessly brings the show’s absurd frenzy to a calming state of beautiful pensiveness during his dynamic rendering of a Hamlet monologue.

You don’t have to love or understand Shakespeare to enjoy this romp. Leave your troubles outside and let the laughs take over.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] continues through June 17 at the Loft Theatre, 126 N. Main St., Dayton. 8 pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings; 7 pm Tuesday and Wednesdays evenings; and 2 pm Sunday matinees. There will be a post-show talkback after the June 10 performance. Tickets are $35-$50 for adults; $32-$46 for seniors; and $17.50-$25 for students. Prices vary depending on performance date and seating location. There are a limited number of $12 and $25 side area seats available for each performance. For tickets or more information, call (937) 228-3630 or visit humanracetheatre.org or ticketcenterstage.com.

 

 

‘The House’ Review – Human Race Theatre Company – Suburban Hysteria

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A bitter real estate feud fuels the hilarious hijinks within Brian Parks’ kooky 2014 one-act comedy “The House,” currently receiving an outstanding Midwest premiere at the Loft Theatre courtesy of the Human Race Theatre Company.

Pictured (left to right): Vince Gatton, Alex Sunderhaus, Caitlin Larsen and Scott Stoney in The Human Race Theatre Company’s production of THE HOUSE.

Sharply staged with sitcom-esque flair by Margarett Perry, “The House” is a funny yet often uncomfortably nasty look at humanity at its worst. Martyn and Shanny Redmond sold their lovely dream home (attractively designed by Ray Zupp) to overeager thirtysomethings Fischer and Lindsay Libett, but are terribly concerned when the Libetts reveal their desire to make some previously unannounced home improvements. The Redmonds simply can’t fathom the idea of their history being destroyed for the sake of a breakfast nook among other questionable plans. In turn, absolute chaos erupts into a full-throttle tailspin ranging from outlandish accusations and hurt feelings to the mutilation of a large teddy bear (one of Heather Powell’s many great props including an asbestos-ridden pipe).

Thanks to Perry’s wonderfully crisp pace and character-conscious direction, Parks’ rapid fire dialogue doesn’t drag. Plus, the Race has assembled an exemplary quartet who gives their all to a deceptively demanding play that requires total physical commitment. Race resident artists Caitlin Larsen and Scott Stoney are delightfully compatible as the emotionally conflicted Redmonds, happily married but unable to let go of the things they believe their lives are built upon. Zany and unhinged, Larsen is a joy to behold. Due to her incredibly astute portrayal, it’s apparent long before the final seconds that Shanny is an unstable force to be reckoned with. Stoney’s role isn’t as showy as Larsen’s, but he enjoyably conveys Martyn’s sensible nature, especially his knack for mediation, as situations spiral out of control.  Dynamic duo Vince Gatton and Alex Sunderhaus are also perfectly cast as the Libetts, a pair of go-getters who have a lot to learn about compromise. Gatton, a New York-based actor/playwright whose promising new play “Wake” was featured last summer in the Dayton Playhouse FutureFest, terrifically reveals the privileged ugliness festering within Fischer’s personable aura. Sunderhaus, spinning comedic gold even when walking across the stage to obtain keys, effortlessly delivers one of her finest performances, particularly as the seemingly conservative Lindsay becomes increasingly cutthroat and loosens her inhibitions in the process.

Pictured (left to right): Vince Gatton, Caitlin Larsen, Alex Sunderhaus and Scott Stoney in The Human Race Theatre Company’s production of THE HOUSE.

“The House” could be considered a glorified “Saturday Night Live” sketch, but it’s an unforgettably wild ride with surprisingly thought-provoking undertones. Climb aboard, hold on tight, and watch the insults fly.

 

“The House” continues through Nov. 19 at the Loft Theatre of the Metropolitan Arts Center, 126 N. Main St., Dayton. Performances are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 pm, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, and Sunday at 2 pm. The play is performed in 90 minutes without intermission. Tickets are $40 for adults, $37 for seniors and $20 for students. Prices vary depending on performance date and seating location. There are a limited number of $12 and $25 side area seats available for each performance. For tickets or more information, call (937) 228-3630 or visit humanracetheatre.org or ticketcenterstage.com.

‘Legendale’ Review – Human Race Theatre Company – Reality Bites

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The Human Race Theatre Company enters its 31st season with the American premiere of composer/librettist Andrea Daly and lyricist/librettist Jeff Bienstock’s charmingly relatable and delightfully tuneful musical Legendale, an original story of a disillusioned gamer escaping the monotony of the real world by embracing the exciting camaraderie of the virtual world.

Twentysomething IT manager Andy survives everyday boredom and stresses by playing the titular online role-playing game even at his thankless job at Magnets “n” More. After all, in Legendale, Andy is the master of his domain, calling the shots and attempting new levels and challenges. In fact, the thought of winning a new competition with the grand prize of a million dollars and the title “Lord of Legendale” has him poised for greatness. However, when saddled with competing as a milkmaid (all other avatars were taken) his hopes are quickly deflated. But along the way, and from an unlikely source, Andy discovers the value of perseverance and self-esteem as romance and adventure spark refreshing possibilities.

Daly and Bienstock jump-started Legendale in 2015 when the show was featured in the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s Festival of New Works. Following a December 2016 workshop at the Human Race, it received its world premiere at Denmark’s Fredericia Teater. As it currently stands, the best attribute of the material, outside the realm of introducing musical theater to an untapped niche market, is its pop-infused if ballad-heavy score. Standouts include fantastic opener When We Play, introspective Dead Again, catchy anthem Lord of Legendale, striking duets Here and Now and Anticipation, and spirited Why Not Me? The score is splendidly orchestrated by Tony Award winner Bruce Coughlin (The Light in the Piazza, one of the most gorgeously orchestrated musicals of all time).

On the other hand, the book is underdeveloped. Andy is a likable focal point with palpable strife, but his scope is oddly limited. Whenever Andy is in Legendale, marvelously and inventively conceived by projection designer David Bengali (Dear Evan Hansen), the kookiness of the avatars and their situations only appeal for brief periods. As so, there needs to be additional investment in Andy and his backstory. Who is he? What makes him tick? What happened in his life pre-Legendale? He’s certainly more than a mere gamer and his journey should address matters greater than the fascination of online game culture. Perhaps the appearance of a Young Andy or Andy’s parents would better address any semblance of a past. Further, perhaps Andy shouldn’t live alone. It would be interesting to see his existence expand to include a roommate or an ex-girlfriend. Daly and Bienstock pepper their script with sound ideas recalling Dear Evan Hansen, She Loves Me, The Wizard of Oz, and Grey Gardens, but they’ve only begun to scratch the surface of millennials seeking connection in the digital age.

Nonetheless, off-Broadway director/choreographer John Simpkins, Head of Musical Theatre at Penn State University, brings Legendale forth with considerable style, skillfully contrasting the real and fantasy domains, particularly Legendale’s funny eccentricities. Simpkins’ entertaining, fully committed cast is also a plus. Max Crumm (Danny Zuko in Broadway’s 2007 Grease revival and Scott in the short-lived 2016 musical Disaster!) terrifically embodies the introverted, insecure and geeky Andy, conveying social detachment and the budding hope of relationship with endearing, nuanced finesse. Abby Church, perky and personable, engagingly captures the extremely specific vernacular and physicality of the Legendale universe as comical milkmaid-turned-fierce warrior Zelayna, Andy’s avatar and girl power sidekick. Rachel Flynn exudes lovely sensitivity as timid temp Beth, Andy’s co-worker who shares more in common with him than he initially realizes. Jesse Sharp, an exceptional Gomez Addams in the national tour of The Addams Family, supplies goofy charisma as grandstanding and devious Legendale creator Paul Jansen who particularly persuades Andy to join his tech-savvy team in Silicon Valley. (However, Jansen’s introductory number, I Make the Magic, could be cut.) Travis Mitchell is appropriately hardcore as Steve, Andy’s annoying boss. Nathan Robert Pecchia, Cody Westbrook and Colin Hodgkin, an excellently versatile trio connected to Wright State University, playfully appear in various roles from energetic gamers to freaky brain-craving zombie robots.

Scenic designer Michael Schweikardt’s efficient turntable in addition to a series of video and sliding panels propels the show’s cinematic fluidity, expertly heightened by John Rensel’s lighting design. Costumer Ayn Kaethchen Wood incorporates wardrobe from Denmark designers Anna Juul Holm and Lotte Blichfeldt, but her notable contemporary outfits are precisely true to character especially Andy’s casual attire and Jansen’s flashy pink jeans. Jay Brunner’s first-rate sound design, Heather Powell’s unique properties, and Gina Cerimele-Mechley’s vibrant fight choreography bolster Legendale’s fanciful aura. Music director Scot Woolley leads a remarkably solid and full-sounding seven-piece off-stage band.

Whether it’s the tale of a bachelor willing to give marriage a try or a group of outcasts demanding attention be paid, musicals about connection – to simply belong to someone or something or thriving to become somebody – will always have the power to resonate. “You’re alone. I’m part of a team,” Andy proclaims in a valiant moment of epiphany. “Opportunity is everywhere.” Like Legendale, Andy is still a work in progress, but it’s a pleasure watching him come to terms with the joys of being alive.

Legendale – A New Musical continues through Oct. 1 at the Loft Theatre of the Metropolitan Arts Center, 126 N. Main St., Dayton. Performances are Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Act One: 70 minutes; Act Two: 55 minutes. Tickets are $17.50-$50. There are discounts for select side-area seats available for $12 and $25 for all performances. For group sales, contact Betty Gould at (937) 461-8295 or e-mail betty.gould@victoriatheatre.com. For tickets or more information, call (937) 228-3630 or visit www.humanracetheatre.org or ticketcenterstage.com. In addition, there will be Young Professionals Board Game Night Saturday, Sept. 16 at 5 p.m., and a post-show talk-back following the Sunday, Sept. 17 performance. For more information about the Young Professionals Board Game Night, visit the Human Race’s Facebook page at facebook.com/humanracetheatre.

 

 

Human Race kicks off 17-18 Season with Legendale

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The Human Race Theatre Company kicks off it’s 2017-2018 Season with a fun performance for the next generation of theatre fans! LEGENDALE, an exciting new pop-musical where reality and the digital world collide, opens September 7 and runs through October 1, 2017. 
The story is based on Andy, whose favorite way to escape his miserable job and humdrum life is the online game “Legendale.” He dreams of victory in its new tournament and winning the grand prize to become “the Lord of Legendale,” but is stuck competing as a lowly milkmaid. When things in the online world suddenly take a strange turn, Andy and his avatar must both discover their inner warrior. A blend of romance, adventure and virtual reality with a pop-infused score, it’s an inspiring tale like no other that’s sure to delight!
 
Human Race is offering fun ways to celebrate this first performance, and American Premiere of LEGENDALE! They have two very special upcoming nights that are extra special:
  • HRTC is hosting their very first COSPLAY CONTEST NIGHT  on September 11 with more than $1800 worth of prizes (full list of prizes and rules are posted on the FB event page). Comedian Jessica Graue is MCing the event. $10 for participants, $5 for general audience. Kids can compete too! Registration starts at 6:15pm, pre-judging at 7pm, and parade of costumes at 8pm. All participants ages 13 and up will receive a ticket voucher good for and show on our 2017-2018 Loft season.
  • Young Professionals Night is Saturday, September 16. The pre-show party begins at 5pm in the HRTC rehearsal hall on the second floor below the theatre. They have a massive selection of board games to play, a taco bar, margaritas and craft beer. We will also be giving away prizes donated from 2nd & Charles, The Human Race Theatre, and Sixteen 37. (board games, gift certificates, and more!) Tickets are available at www.ticketcenterstage.com by entering code YPGAME. A value of $70+ for $35!
Don’t miss out on this cutting-edge new musical, that’s perfectly timed after Game of Thrones finale, and during Renaissance Festival season. Fall is the perfect time to let fantasy worlds come alive! So please get your ticket for the first of many amazing productions by our own, Human Race Theatre Company!

How to go?
Performances run Sept 7th through October 1st (Mondays off)
Tickets start at just $12 and up! Special $10 any seat nights also available.
For more info on tickets, click here or call box office: (937) 228-3630
DMM Ticket Give Away:  We’ve got a pair of tickets and winner can pick the date they attend (based on availability).  To enter our drawing, just like and share this post and leave a comment below on why you deserve to win!
We’ll name our winner here Thursday, so check back to see if it’s you!
 

Human Race Presents A Classic: The Glass Menagerie

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glass-menagerieThe Human Race begins the second half of its 29th season with Tennessee William’s first great masterpiece, The Glass Menagerie. Memories come alive and love becomes desperate in this shimmering drama of a family on the edge. Tom struggles to make it in a modern day world while his reclusive sister hides amongst the small glistening crystalline creatures she collects. Their mother holds tight to a fantasy of Southern gentility and the belief that a certain gentleman caller will be the answer to their problems. With an edge as sharp as broken glass, it’s a story that cuts deep into the longing of human hearts. The production at The Human Race’s downtown Dayton home at The Loft Theatre is directed by Greg Hellems and features actors Scott Hunt, Jennifer Joplin, Claire Kennedy and Drew Vidal.

Director Greg Hellems revealed his unique and exciting vision of the play:

Even before it opened on Broadway in 1945, The Glass Menagerie had proved itself to be a powerhouse hit with audiences and critics, quickly earning the then unknown Tennessee (real name “Thomas”) Williams national recognition as a voice of his generation. Considered to be semi-autobiographical in nature, the play takes elements of Williams’ own early life—growing up in St. Louis with an overprotective Southern mother and an emotionally troubled sister, toiling in a shoe factory, a difficult relationship with his father—and pours them into the tortured soul of its protagonist and narrator, “Tom Wingfield.” Described by the playwright as a “memory play,” The Glass Menagerie was unusual for its time, the script was filled with considerable and detailed stage directions from Williams to ensure its presentation in the manner he envisioned, the story is filled with intentional symbolism and its dialogue highly poetic and lyrical in nature. Even after Williams went on to win two Pulitzer Prizes for A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, his The Glass Menagerie was heralded as a defining work that changed the American Theatre and opened up new ways of writing dramatic literature.

In defining his vision of The Glass Menagerie for The Human Race, director Greg Hellems focused on Williams’ early life and how he sought to purge himself of guilt and regret, just as his doppelganger on stage, “Tom,” must do. “I see the theatre as Tom’s purgatory,” explains Hellems, “in which he must make his nightly confession to explain his actions and to justify his decision to abandon his mother and his disabled sister.” The story in the play is Tom’s memory, but it’s telling has an unintended consequence. “The ghosts of Tom’s illusion—his mother, his sister, his co-worker, Jim—respond with vitality and life, and won’t succumb to Tom’s conscious desire to win us over,” Hellems says. “Once Tom steps into his memory, it is no longer under his control, and he must face the reality of his past decision.”
12440517_10153973782553013_419460117151032450_oThe four-member cast of The Human Race’s production features two of the company’s Resident Artists, native Daytonian Scott Hunt (Rent and Les Misérables on Broadway, Big River and Shenandoah with HRTC) as the troubled son, “Tom,” and Cincinnati’s Jennifer Joplin (HRTC’s Miracle on South Division Street, Other Desert Cities and God of Carnage) as his mother, “Amanda,” as well as Wright State University graduate Claire Kennedy (HRTC’s Lend Me a Tenor, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet) as sister “Laura” and Ball State University assistant professor Drew Vidal (The Three Musketeers at Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Red Light Winter at Shafer Street Playhouse) as the gentleman caller, “Jim.”

Earlham College professor Eric Barker’s (The Repertory of St. Louis, CATCO, Richmond Shakespeare Festival) set combines a stylistic setting with real world furnishings in his first turn as scenic designer for The Human Race. Local artist/designer Ayn Kaethchen Wood (The Zoot Theatre Company, Yellow Springs Kids Playhouse, HRTC’s Under a Red Moon) serves as costume designer. Resident Artist John Rensel returns to set the mood as lighting designer. Sound designer Jay Brunner (HRTC’s The Santaland Diaries, The Full Monty, Family Shots) has created an original musical score to accompany the action onstage. Kay Carver is the production stage manager. The show’s producer is Human Race Associate Artistic Director Tara Lail.
Tickets for the preview performance of The Glass Menagerie on February 4 start at $35 for adults, $32 for seniors and $17.50 for students. For all performances February 5  – 21, single ticket prices start at $40 for adults, $37 for seniors and $20 for students. Prices vary depending on the day of the week and seating location. Group discounts are available for parties of 10 or more. The Human Race is offering a pair of discount ticket opportunities. Side-area seats are available at all performances for $25 each, on sale two weeks prior to performance. The Sunday, February 7 7:00 pm performance is “Sawbuck Sunday”, when any available seat can be purchased in person for just $10 at The Loft Theatre box office two hours prior to the show. Discounts are subject to availability and some restrictions apply.

All performances are at the Metropolitan Art Center’s Loft Theatre, located at 126 North Main Street in downtown Dayton, Ohio. Show times for The Glass Menagerie are 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday through Saturday evenings. Performances on Sunday and Tuesday evenings begin at 7:00 pm and at 2:00 pm on Sunday matinees.

Tickets and performance information on The Glass Menagerie are available at www.humanracetheatre.org or by calling Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630, and at the Schuster Center box office.

Young Performers Stage an Adventure at The Human Race’s Summer Theatre Camp

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SSK-Midas-photo-1The Human Race Theatre Company has opened registration for its June 2015 Summer Stock KIDS summer theatre camp for children ages 8 – 13.

 

A two-week program lead by Jene Rebbin Shaw, the Summer Stock KIDS camp teaches children how to develop many aspects of a play, including sets, costumes and props, all with the help of K12 Gallery for Young People. Campers rehearse daily, preparing for a performance in front of family and friends. This summer, the children will be performing The Adventures of Rose Red (SnowWhite’s Less-Famous Sister) by Sean Abley.

 

Camp dates are Mondays through Fridays, June 8 – 19 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Performances of The Adventures of Rose Red are Saturday, June 20 at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Daily classes and performances are held at The Caryl D. Philips Creativity Center at 116 North Jefferson Street in downtown Dayton. The Early Bird fee for Summer Stock KIDS is $395.00 per student if paid by May 15, and $425.00 after May 15.

 

Rose-Red-title-artAbout The Adventures of Rose Red (Snow White’s Less-Famous Sister)
Cinderella, Jack, Snow White, Prince Charming and Goldilocks all go into the woods to see their happy endings. But what happens next? How does fame and fortune get in the way of simple happiness? Many of your favorite characters find their stories tangled together as they try to find ways to celebrate their fame, but strive to live a “normal life.” Speaking of fame, what about Rose Red, Snow White’s less-famous sister? Rose has just turned 13 and is wondering what kind of life she will lead in the shadow of her well-known sister. This modern day fairy tale—complete with trendy teenage dialogue and I-Mirrors instead of I-Phones (And, oh! The spiders and frogs!)—explores the true meaning of “happily ever after.”

 

 

Registration and Scholarship Information

Registrations for Summer Stock KIDS are being accepted now. There are a limited number of partial scholarships available for qualifying families in need, made possible by the Frank M. Tait Foundation. Registration and more information can be found on The Human Race Theatre Company’s website at www.humanracetheatre.org/summerstock.php or by contacting Education Director Marilyn Klaben at 937-461-3823 ext. 3132 or marilyn@humanracetheatre.org.

Win Tickets For Human Race’s “Miracle on South Division Street”

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Fans of The Human Race’s 2008 production of Tom Dudzick’s national hit Over the Tavern will rejoice at the regional premiere of the playwright’s “rollicking” Miracle on South Division Street, directed by Human Race Resident Artist Richard E. Hess (Race, Red, Doubt). 60 years ago, Grandpa Nowak had a vision of the Virgin Mary in his Buffalo, New York barbershop and had an unusual statue of her made to commemorate the miracle. For decades, his family has faithfully tended to his quirky shrine—a source of hope and inspiration in an otherwise run-down part of town. That is until a deathbed confession knocks them for a loop in this hilarious hit comedy that proves when it comes to local legends, there’s more than meets the eye.  Opening night  for Miracle on South Division Street  is Friday, September 5.

MOSDS Press Photo 1 - low res

 

Dudzick calls the play a work of “pure fiction, based on a ‘true’ local legend” as he created the Nowak family to explain the unknown origins of an actual 20-foot-tall brick shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary in Buffalo built many decades ago by a now-deceased local barber. And while the neighborhood around the shrine has fallen into disrepair, a promise from City Hall has spared the shrine from destruction as it is maintained by local residents.

 

 

CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM

Director Hess, a native of Buffalo raised in a large Catholic family, firmly identifies with the blue-collar Nowaks and their devotion to their faith and history. For his four-member Nowak family, he has cast Wendy Barrie-Wilson (All My Sons and Our Town on Broadway) as mother “Clara,” Human Race Resident Artist Jennifer Joplin (Other Desert Cities, God of Carnage) as older daughter “Beverly,” Kyle Nunn (King Lear and The Three Musketeers at Hudson Valley Shakespeare) as son “Jimmy” and Lauren Ashley Carter (Lewis Black’s One Slight Hitch, film Jug Face) as younger daughter “Ruth.” Barrie-Wilson joins Joplin on The Loft Stage for a second time, having costarred in Hess’s 2009 production of Doubt, a Parable. Miracle on South Division Street marks the first appearance with The Human Race for Nunn and Carter, both graduates of University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where Hess was their professor.

 

The scenic designer is Human Race Head Carpenter and Charge Artist Eric Moore (Footloose and The Music Man at the Springfield Summer Arts Festival), making his Loft Stage design debut, the costume designer is Kathie Brookfield (Suessical, Jr. and Annie, Jr. at The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati) also with her first design for The Human Race, Resident Artist John Rensel (Play It by Heart, Fiddler on the Roof) is the lighting designer and Brian Retterer (Play It by Heart, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play) is the sound designer. Kay Carver is the production stage manager. Human Race Executive Producer Tara Lail is the show’s producer.

 

Biographies on the cast and creative team can be found on The Human Race Theatre Company’s website.

 

Performance and special event information

For all performances September 4 – 21, single ticket prices are $45 – $35 for adults, $41 – $32 for seniors and $22.50 ­– $17.50 for students. Prices vary depending on the day of the week and seating location. Group discounts are available for parties of 10 or more. The Human Race is offering a pair of discount ticket opportunities. Side-area seats are available at all performances for $25 each, on sale two weeks prior to performance. The Sunday, September 7 7:00 p.m. performance is “Sawbuck Sunday”, when any available seat can be purchased in person for just $10 at The Loft Theatre box office two hours prior to the show. Discounts are subject to availability and some restrictions apply.

 

All performances are at the Metropolitan Art Center’s Loft Theatre, located at 126 North Main Street in downtown Dayton, Ohio. Show times for Miracle on South Division Streetare 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday through Saturday evenings. Performances on Sunday and Tuesday evenings begin at 7:00 pm and at 2:00 pm on Sunday matinees.  “Lite Fare at the Loft” with food and drink provided by Citilites begins in The Loft Theatre lobby at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 9. The “While We’re on the Subject” post-show talkback is on Sunday, September 14, immediately following the 2:00 p.m. performance.  Tickets and performance information on Miracle on South Division Street are available at www.humanracetheatre.org or by calling Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630, and at the Schuster Center box office.

 

 

We’ve got 2 pairs of tickets for some lucky DMM readers.  Just “Like’ this post, fill out the entry form below and leave a comment about why you should win tickets to see this show below.

Congrats to ticket winners Harvey & Michael- check your email for info on how to claim your show tickets!