To Be Young, Gifted and Black (with Multi-Ethnic Theatre)
May – June, 2012
To Be Young, Gifted and Black: A Portrait of Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words.
directed by Lewis Campbell
produced by Multi-Ethnic Theater in association with Custom Made Theatre
Fast paced, powerful, touching and hilarious, this kaleidoscope of constantly shifting scenes, mood and images recreates the world of a great American woman and artist, Lorraine Hansberry. Uniquely and boldly, the play dramatically weaves through her life experiences and the times that shaped her. The actors slip ingeniously into and out of a variety of challenging roles spanning her life and experiences to the ultimate confrontation when cancer strikes her. Includes brilliantly high lighted scenes from her plays as well as letters, diaries, poems and personal reminiscences. A major statement of the American Black experience.
“An extraordinary achievement!… A whirl of probing, celebrating, hoping, laughing, despairing and moving on … so brilliantly and tenderly alive.” N.Y. Times.
“A milestone.” Time.
Posted by admin on 5:28 am in Little Brother | 2 comments
Little Brother Production Stills!
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Posted by Brian on 11:00 am in A Bright Room Called Day, Blog | 0 comments
Revelatory Moments! Director Brian Katz on seeing the forest for the trees after the designer run.
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Posted by Megan on 11:11 pm in A Bright Room Called Day, Blog | 0 comments
This is a big weekend for the Bright Room cast. It’s our first run through! It’s going to be a “rough draft” if you will, but I’m very excited to see how it’s all shaping up.
This is actually going to be the first time I’ve seen some of the other actors in rehearsal since the reading in January. Because of the way this play is set up, the rehearsal process has basically been broken down into three groups (and please note that these are the names that I have given these groups to help explain them): the “modern day” group,...
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Posted by Perry on 4:53 pm in A Bright Room Called Day, Blog | 0 comments
I was made aware of this prayer by Custom Made’s intrepid Artistic Director (and the director of our upcoming Production of A Bright Room Called Day), Brian Katz. It is the AIDS Prayer written by Tony Kushner in 1994, for The National Day of Prayer for AIDS.
First, here is a link to the first minute of Mr. Kushner’s Prayer, read by Meryl Streep (from the documentary Wrestling with Angels):
Tony’s AIDS Prayer
And here is the full text of the prayer:
Dearly Beloved, Let us pray.
God:
A cure would be nice. Rid those infected...
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Posted by Megan on 10:36 am in A Bright Room Called Day, Blog | 0 comments
It’s great to be back! Back at Custom Made Theater Company (last time I was here we were performing at the Off-Market Theater), back working on another fabulous Tony Kushner play, and back to the Berlin featured in “A Bright Room Called Day.” I had the pleasure of doing this show back in college and I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to get the chance to perform it again. I’m looking forward to seeing what new things I will be able to discover as Paulinka, and how some additional life experience will change the way I see...
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Posted by Brian on 1:43 pm in Little Brother, Reviews | 0 comments
Sam Hurwitt stopped by and said some very cool things about Little Brother. Great shout-outs to the cast, director and design team. We especially love the closing lines:
It’s a tense, power-packed play with some hilarious lines and stirring speeches, eloquent, touching and infuriating in all the right places. The show’s not just a pleasure to watch; it’s also a bit of due diligence that just may help preserve your democracy.
Read the entire review here!
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Posted by Brian on 4:41 pm in A Bright Room Called Day, Blog | 2 comments
Bright Room Called Day Blog #1 - Rehearsals Begin!
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Posted by Brian on 3:15 pm in Little Brother, Reviews | 0 comments
SFChronicle applauds for "Little Brother!"
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Posted by Brian on 11:25 am in Blog, Little Brother | 0 comments
Our uber taleted director, Josh Costello, put together this trailer for Little Brother . Check it out!
Little Brother photo trailer from Josh Costello on Vimeo.
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Posted by Brian on 5:57 pm in Little Brother, Reviews | 0 comments
We had another reviewer at previews, and didn’t even know it. Surprises like these don’t suck, especially both reviewers were careful to point out the shows were previews (a bit of a taboo in the theatre community.)
But -> no harm, no foul, right? Its another rave, and is 5/5 stars. What a great start!
Here’s a highlight…
…the play stays true to the voices of its young characters, who are a convincing mixture of precocious intelligence, naïve idealism, and adolescent cynicism
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Posted by Brian on 5:45 pm in Little Brother, Reviews | 0 comments
Charles Kruger wins the non-preview review race with this take on Little Brother, and it is a great review!
This is the best kind of political theatre. Thought provoking, suspenseful, emotionally real, uncomfortably close to the hard truth… This is an important production that is not to be missed. It is likely, I think, to remain a highlight of the 2012-2013 season. Very highly recommended!
Read more here!
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