American Prophet – Frederick Douglass in His Own Words
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater
Jordan Wright
August 1, 2022
Special to The Zebra
Cornelius Smith Jr. as Frederick Douglass (Photo by Margot Schulman)
Who could have imagined Frederick Douglass’s words set to music? Two men did. Director Charles Randolph-Wright (recipient of Arena’s 2022 American Artist Award) who co-wrote the book with lyricist and composer Marcus Hummon believed it could be done and to that end the two men have put forth a sweeping historical musical that will henceforth be a must-see tribute to the great orator’s legacy.
American Prophet – Frederick Douglass in His Own Words draws from Douglass’s powerful speeches and writings the very words that inspired men and women to rise up against slavery and fight for their freedom against the cruel yoke of racism. A former slave who was later manumitted, Frederick became lauded and revered in England and America. Along with the critical support of his beloved wife, Anna, he brought pressure upon the U. S. government to liberate the slaves. Douglass achieved so much notoriety and influence that he was ultimately granted an audience with President Lincoln to whom he presented his non-negotiable demands. Fact: Before freeing the slaves, Lincoln’s original plan was to “send the slaves back to Liberia – to their own native land.”
 Cornelius Smith Jr. (Frederick Douglass) and the cast of American Prophet (Photo by Margot Schulman) Capturing Douglass’s power in song would seem insurmountable, but Hummon gifts us with sweeping orchestration, impassioned ballads filled with the sweet-sounding harmonies of a gospel choir and a few well-known spirituals. The story guides us sequentially through the horrific realities of the American slavery system and up to the Emancipation Proclamation.
Beautifully cast with 23 musical numbers, its message is delivered both emotionally and at times tenderly. Cornelius Smith, Jr. as Douglass gives a commanding performance with his riveting delivery and smooth baritone voice. Kristolyn Lloyd as Douglass’s wife, Anna Murray Douglass, is the perfect complement to Smith with her pitch-perfect voice as melodic and soothing as a lullaby.
 Thomas Adrian Simpson (Abraham Lincoln / Garrison) and Cornelius Smith Jr. (Frederick Douglass) (Photo by Margot Schulman) Other characters who appear throughout his life are Lincoln (Thomas Adrian Simpson) and his wife Mary Todd (Erica Aubrey), John Brown (Chris Roberts), the noted firebrand of the failed Harper’s Ferry raid, and William Lloyd Garrison (also Thomas Adrian Simpson), Douglass’s first publisher and head of the Anti-Slavery Movement. It is entirely possible to envision a wide audience for this important era in our American history.
Randolph-Wright and Hummon worked with the Douglass family who were adamant about recognizing Anna’s not inconsequential contribution to the cause. In Anna’s early solo “Your Star” we are reminded in both words and song how she helped him escape the bonds of slavery. “Frederick’s ability to move to freedom was all her doing. I feel passionate about everything,” Hummon said, “but I feel intensely passionate about the Anna part of the experience.” Both men have expressed the relevancy of Douglass’s words in the face of the country’s recent events.
 Kristolyn Lloyd (Anna Murray Douglass), Cornelius Smith Jr. (Frederick Douglass), and the cast of American Prophet(Photo by Margot Schulman) With Kurt Boehm as Reverend Gore/Edward Covey/Sec. Seward/Ensemble; Cicily Daniels as Betsey Bailey/Elizabeth Keckley/Ensemble; Christopher B. Portley as Demby/Ensemble; Correy West as Bill/Garnett/Dance Captain; Curtis Wiley as Gabe/Ensemble; Kanysha Williams as Sally/Ensemble.
Assistant Director Allyson Tucker; Musical Director/Orchestrations/Conductor Joseph Joubert; beautifully choreographed by Lorna Ventura; Set Design by Dan Moses Schreier; Dramaturgs Jocelyn Clarke and Otis Ramsey-Zoë.
Exclusively in the Ensemble – Carolyn Agan, Zoë Bryant, Christopher Michael Richardson and Brendon Schaefer.
Powerful and inspiring. Highly recommended.
Through August 28th at Arena Stage, 1101 6th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information visit www.ArenaStage.org or call the box office at 202 488-3300.
Something Rotten! is a delightfully delicious, farcical musical
The Little Theatre of Alexandria
Jordan Wright
July 26, 2022
Special to The Zebra
 (Photo/Matthew Randall) Rarely does a non-union, Off-Off-Broadway, local community theater have the guts, the heart and the talent to pull off such a delightfully delicious, farcical musical as Something Rotten!. Welcome to the Renaissance at The Little Theatre of Alexandria. This show is on fire!
Set in 1595 in London down-on-their-luck brothers Nick (Matt Liptak) and Nigel (Jack Dalrymple) Bottom are eager to one-up Shakespeare with a showstopper of their own creation. Noah Mutterperi plays The Bard in leather chaps as a mashup of Elvis and Adam Lambert. Nigel is a playwright and poet falling for poetry-loving Portia (Katie Conn) whose father Brother Jeremiah (Paul Caffrey) is a bible-toting Puritan. Heaven forfend! Nick and his feminist wife Bea (Anna Phillips-Brown) support Nigel’s aspirations.
 (Photo/Matthew Randall) Pilfering from his wife’s savings, Nick pays Nostradamus (Chuck Dluhy) to divine a fresh idea for a play. The seer predicts it will be musicals. “Song and dance and sweet romance. No talking. All of the dialogue is sung,” he assures.
Convinced the idea will trump anything the Sultan of Sonnet could pen, Nick imagines a troupe of sexy Rockettes in giant ostrich feathers and gentlemen in codpieces. And, oh what swollen codpieces they sport! The show’s patron Shylock (Peter Fannon) has his doubts that “Ham Omelette: The Musical” will sell to the masses. Notwithstanding Shylock’s cautionary advice, critics agreed when this hilarious musical opened on Broadway nominating it no less than 34 times to garner two Tony Award wins. Here the fine cast is supported by an equally top-notch 12-piece orchestra and crew who handle over 200 light and sound cues. You know because I asked.
 (Photo/Matthew Randall) Groan-worthy wordplay, over-the-top pastiches and silly costumes abound along with plague doctors carrying scythes who afford a stunning entrance as do eggs who appear as both freshly hatched and prepared as Western omelettes. Egg-cellent, of course. It’s a mash-up of some of Shakespeare’s greatest lines cobbled together with the best of Broadway musical numbers and a tapping chorus line in a wild and crazy plot that fills the stage with ye olde rock and roll and vaudeville razzmatazz.
 (Photo/Matthew Randall) Broadway babies will recognize snippets from thirty-one of the top musicals of their day like Cats, The Sound of Music, Music Man, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, even Mary Poppins makes the cut. Twenty-three numbers sung and danced by a stellar cast under the brilliant direction of Frank D. Shutts II. You couldn’t do better if you were seeing it on Broadway.
If I handed out stars, which I don’t, I’d give it five stars. This will be sold out in a hurry. (N.B. Shakespeare invented the word “hurry” and I guess he meant get your tickets now!
With Book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, Music and Lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, and Produced by Rachel Alberts, Bobbie Herbst and Russell M. Wyland with Musical Direction by Christopher A. Tomasino, and Choreography by Stefan Sittig.
Additional Cast – Paul Caffrey as Brother Jeremiah, Brian Ash as Lord Clapham/Master of Justice, Luke Martin as Tom Snout, Evan Zimmerman as Robin, Daniel Boos as Quince, Andrew Sanchez as Snug, J. P. McElyea, Josh Mutterperl as Horatio/Bard Boy.
Bard Boys – Marcus Barbret, Luke Martin, Josh Mutterperl, Eddie Perez, Andrew Sanchez.
Additional ensemble – Amanda Mason, Mary Rodrigues, Lourdes Tumblom, Julia Hornok (Dance Captain), Brittany Bollick, and Odette Gutierrez del Arroyo.
Set Design by Robert S. Barr Jr., Lighting Design by Ken and Patti Crowley, Costume Design by Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley.
Through August 13th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For tickets and information visit www.TheLittleTheatre.com or call the box office at 703 683-0496.
SIX: The Musical
Broadway at The National
Jordan Wright
July 20, 2022
Special to The Zebra
 The North American Tour Aragon Company of SIX. (Photo/Joan Marcus) Six Tudor “roses” burst onto the stage with such fire and ferocity the audience breaks into cheers. From the opening number the cast of queens holds the audience in their thrall. Backed by a sizzling hot, three-piece band, the ex-wives of Henry the VIII seductively invite us to respond to their shout-outs to the crowd as they recount tales of their spousal experiences – divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. It’s a quirky mnemonic learned by British schoolchildren to recall the fates of all six wives.
 Olivia Donalson as Anna of Cleves (center) (Photo/Joan Marcus) It seems a quantum leap to take that device and turn it into a pop slash hip-hop slash rap musical, but it is what it is and as such it becomes the vehicle for female empowerment. Based on their individual experiences, they regale us with the cruelties and vagaries of a notorious king. But, as we all know, payback’s a bitch. Suffice it to say the from the get-go the audience is in on the fun… and what fun this crazy, amazing show is!
Here’s what I wasn’t expecting. SIX The Musical is a pop music concert – a flashy, splashy, glam and glitzy, rap concert with nine memorable numbers that toggle back and forth betwixt the wives’ accounts of what they suffered under the king’s edicts. Laid out as a contest for the audience to offer a final vote on which of the ladies suffered the worst injustices and penultimate punishments, they each make their case in a mix of street-smart jargon and Valley Girl slang. It’s “herstory” against “his-story” and now’s their chance to come back from the grave with a royal vengeance to weigh in. Breaking the fourth wall to appeal to the audience, the Queens settle their scores with song and dance while vying to win our vote. As these divas say, they have “the riffs to ruffle your ruffs”.
 The Aragon Company of SIX. (Photo/Joan Marcus) In sequential order we hear from Catherine of Aragon (Khaila Wilcoxon) who channels Beyoncé and Shakira in “No Way” to Anne Boleyn (Storm Lever) whose inspiration is Lily Allen and Avril Lavigne in “Don’t Lose Ur Head” to Jane Seymour (Jasmine Forsberg) in “Heart of Stone” who is inspired by Adele and Sia to rap/sing her story, to fourth wife Anna of Cleves (Olivia Donalson) in “Get Down” whose “Queenspirations” are Nicki Minaj and Rihanna to Katherine Howard (Didi Romero) with “All You Wanna Do” who nails a combination of Ariana Grande and Britney Spears, and lastly, survivor Catherine Parr (Gabriela Carrillo) with the killer ballad “I Don’t Need Your Love” and whose avatars are Alicia Keys and Emeli Sandé.
 Didi Romero as Katherine Howard (center) (Photo/Joan Marcus) With book, music and lyrics by Tony Marlow and Lucy Moss and directed by Lucy Moss, SIX has garnered a total of 23 awards including the Tony Award for Best Original Score (Music and Lyrics) and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical and the show’s album has reached stratospheric streaming heights in its first month.
Originally performed in England by the Cambridge Musical Theatre Society, the costumes are sensational, the lighting is laser-sharp and the onstage band is on point. And although I thought I heard shades of Madonna in the Catherine of Aragon character and Lizzo in Donalson’s portrayal of Anne of Cleves, you will no doubt detect the vocal stylings of some of your own favorite pop stars.
Choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, Scenic Design by Emma Bailey, Costume Design by Gabriella Slade, Lighting Design by Tim Deiling, Sound Design by Paul Gatehouse and Orchestrations by Tom Curran.
Highly recommended!!!
Through September 4th at National Theatre DC, 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information visit www.TheNationalDC.com or call the box office at 202 628-6161.
GRACE – Beyond the Stage
A Colloquium to Celebrate African American Foodways
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
at the REACH
Jordan Wright
July 17, 2022
Special to The Zebra
 Left to right – Carla Hall, Erin Tucker-Oluwole – Nolan Williams Jr., Furard Tate, Dr. Lance London and Rock Harper (Photo/Jermoni K Dowd – Courtesy of NEWorks Productions) As the rain poured down in sheets against the wraparound windows of the Reach, guests listened to vocals by local African American performers, bathed in the warm glow of storytelling and bonded together in recognition of shared experiences. During discussions and performances, we enjoyed samplings of African American cuisine with a modern twist, while panelists spoke on the history and culture of African American foodways.
The panels were led by Nolan Williams, Jr. who was appointed Social Practice Resident at the Kennedy Center in 2019. Williams, as you may recall, is the co-book writer, composer, lyricist and music director of Grace – the groundbreaking musical that ran from March to May at Ford’s Theatre. Williams is the recipient of ten Telly Awards including the Gold Prize for ‘Best TV Documentary”. Grace is a story of family, food and Black culture and references early African American chefs and modern Black restaurateurs who struggle against gentrification of their traditional Black neighborhoods.
 Nolan Williams, Jr (Photo/Marvin Joseph – Courtesy of NEWorks Productions_ Kennedy Center’s VP and Artistic Director of Social Impact, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, introduced the impressive lineup of panelists that included TV celebrity chef and author Carla Hall; Joanne Hyppolite, Supervisory Museum Curator of the African Diaspora at the National Museum of American History and Culture; Psyche Williams-Forson, Ph.D. Professor and Chair of the Department of American Studies at the University of Maryland; Furard Tate, Owner of Inspire Hospitality Group and Co-Founder and Organizer of DMV Black Restaurant Group; Erinn Tucker-Oluwale, Ph.D. Associate Professor of the Practice at Georgetown University, Director of the Global Hospitality Leadership master’s program at Georgetown University and Co-Founder of DMV Black Restaurant Week; and Dr. Lance London, Founder/Owner of The Carolina Kitchen. These speakers offered historical context and explored the social impact of food history.
In addition, there were soul-stirring performances of songs from the musical by well-known local singers Nova Y. Payton, who starred in Grace, Kevin McAllister, Monique Steele Griffiths and Anitra Raquel and conducted by pianist Leigh Delano.
Inaugural Grace Awards were presented to Dr. Lance London, Dr. 5, Chef Furard Tate and Culinary Pioneer Virginia Ali, Founder/Owner of Ben’s Chili Bowl. Ali opened Ben’s in 1958 when DC was a segregated city. “U Street was known as Black Broadway,” she recalled. “Now young, educated professionals have moved in and we’re no longer known as ‘Chocolate City’.”
Williams-Forson, who explained that “Soul food is an experience,” was pleased to announce the release of her new book, “Eating While Black: Food Shaming and Race in America”.
Carla Hall was one of my first interviewees and I am a huge fan of her work. In 2009 she invited a group of her friends to a watch party at CulinAirie, her DC-based cooking school. She was a finalist on the TV show Top Chef. She didn’t win that year but took it gracefully. “Winning to me was feeling good about what I did,” she told me that night.
During the discussions, Hall reminded attendees of the foods that originated from Africa like benne seeds, watermelon, yams (I learned “sweet potato” was a made-up name to please the American consumer.), bananas, millet, okra, sorghum and many more we take for granted in our American kitchens including the Coca-Cola and potato chips invented by a Black man and later stolen by Lay’s. Hall also spoke of the popularity of “Nashville hot chicken” created at a roadhouse called Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack. “I will always call it Prince’s Hot Chicken,” she promised.
Hall has graciously given me permission to publish three of her fabulous recipes for the dishes served at the event.
 (Photo/Jordan Wright) Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Fennel
Hot Sauce Vinaigrette by Carla Hall
8 servings
- 2 cans black-eyed peas, drained
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (1/4” cubes)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2 fennel bulbs, diced (1/4”)
- 1 lime, zest and juice
- ½ small white onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 sprig fresh thyme, leaves only
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- ½ cup finely cut chives or scallions
- ½ – 1 teaspoon salt
Hot Sauce Vinaigrette:
- ¼ cup hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- S&P to taste
Heat a large nonstick skillet to medium high.
Place the cubed sweet potatoes in a large bowl, then drizzle with the olive oil and toss with the salt and pepper until well-coated. In two batches, spread the sweet potatoes in a single layer in the hot pan. Leave them for 1 minute, toss the sweet potatoes, continue to allow them to brown. Cook for 3-4 minutes until they are dotted with color and al dente. Remove the potatoes from the pan and place on a sheet pan or large plate in a single layer to cool. Repeat with remaining potatoes.
Prepare the Hot Sauce Vinaigrette: Put all ingredients in a jar and shake to combine. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, toss the roasted sweet potatoes and diced fennel in lime zest/juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the black-eyed peas, onions, garlic, thyme, chili flakes and chives. Toss to combine. Start by adding ½ cup vinaigrette, and gently stir to combine. Add the sweet potato/fennel mixture to the black-eyed peas.
Add more vinaigrette, if desired, and salt and pepper to taste.
 (Photo/Jordan Wright) Potato Chip Shortbread Cookies by Carla Hall
Makes 2 dozen
- 1 cup butter (softened)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup crushed potato chips plus an additional 1/2 cup for garnish
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Confectioner’s sugar (for dusting)
- 1 cup chocolate chips (melted)
Preheat oven to 350°F. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add the 3/4 cup potato chips and mix until incorporated, and then add the vanilla, and mix until thoroughly combined. Add the flour and mix until just combined — do not over mix the dough!
Use a spoon to scoop small 1-inch balls of dough onto a lightly greased sheet pan, spacing them at least two inches apart. Dust each of the cookies with a bit of confectioner’s sugar, and press flat.
Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown, and allow to cool. Dip each of the cookies in melted chocolate. While the chocolate is still soft, dip the cookies in the crushed potato chips. Allow to set before serving.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Synetic Theater
Jordan Wright
July 7, 2022
Special To The Zebra
 Philip Fletcher as Oberon and Stella Bunch as Titania (Photo/Chris Ferenzi) Under a Maxfield Parrish moon faeries morph into fireflies casting a magical glow and transporting the audience into a stunning adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic love story. World renowned Synetic Theater presents a highly creative pantomime version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with an evening of visual drama, extraordinary athleticism and Chaplinesque slapstick. Performed around the world since its debut in 2009, this mega-sensory fantasy is one of Synetic’s premiere productions. For those unfamiliar with the company’s many wordless productions of reinterpreted classics such as The Servant of Two Masters, Phantom of the Opera, The Tempest (performed in six inches of water!) and countless mind-blowing presentations over their 20-year history, this richly visual production will make you a convert for life.
 Lev Belolipetski as Lysander and Aaron Kan (Photo/Chris Ferenzi) Set to a mix of electronika, tango, waltzes and original music by Koki Lortkipanidze (who as Starveling plays silent film music on an upright piano onstage), this beloved dramedy is directed by visionary co-founder Paata Tsikurishvili and choreographed by brilliant co-founder Irina Tsikurishvili. A sensory explosion of color and action, it transports the audience on a phantasmagorical voyage.
Surprises and plot twists will keep you in both suspense and amusement. In the scene where the lovers hide from one another they are discovered in the woods beneath golden lotus leaves in what is typically set in an English garden. Themes of the play-within-a-play are cleverly remixed and so is the relationship between Oberon and Titania. Here we find them as a sexy, belly-dancing Titania (Stella Bunch) and Oberon (Philip Fletcher) as a gladiator-inspired, superhero whose relationship reveals jaw-dropping fight scenes and sensuous tangos.
 Katie DuBois as Flute, Vato Tsikurishvili as Bottom, and Pablo
Guillén as Snug (Photo/Chris Ferenzi) As the devilish Puck, tiny redhaired Ariel Kraje’s sinuous and athletic moves reminded me of a Cirque du Soleil artist in flight. Clad in sky blue chiffon tendrils, she is as captivating as a butterfly on the wing. In yet another star turn as one of Synetic’s finest performers Vato Tsikurishvili (in dual roles as both the goofy donkey Bottom and conflicted Egeus) displays a breathtaking range of flips, leaps, fight skills and deadfalls enhanced by his comic facial expressions.
Frothy and fierce and highly recommended. Grab your tickets now!
 Nutsa Tediashvili as Hermia and Anna Tsikurishvili as Helena (Photo/Chris Ferenzi) With Irene Hamilton as Hippolyta/Snake; Kim-Anh Aslanian as Cobweb; Alissa Zagorski as Peaseblossom; Nathan Weinberger as Quince; Katherine DuBois as Flute; Pablo Guillen as Smug/Theseus; Josh Lucas as Snout; Lev Belolipetski as Lysander; Nutsa Tediashvili as Hermia; Anna Tsikurishvili as Helena; Aaron Kan as Demetrius; and Bengt-Erik Nelson as Tom.
Fight Choreographer Ben Cunis; Scenic Design by Phil Charlwood; Costume Design by Anastasia Rurikov; and Lighting Design by Andrew Griffin.
Through July 24th at Synetic Theater, 1800 South Bell Street, Arlington, VA 22202. For tickets and information visit www.SyneticTheater.org or call the box office one hour before showtime at 703 824-8060 (Extension #117)
The Band’s Visit
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jordan Wright
July 10, 2022
Special to The Zebra
 Sasson Gabay and Janet Dacal. (Photo by Evan Zimmerman, MurphyMade) The Band’s Visit is a timeless musical, a romantic intrigue and a wryly funny tale based loosely on a true story. You may have seen the movie, but the musical allows the story to be fully fleshed out bringing to life the story of a 7-piece Egyptian classical music band known as the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, and its conductor, Colonel Tewfiq, and their mistaken journey to a tiny, desert town in Israel where no one is expecting them. Winner of ten Tony Awards including “Best Musical” and “Best Original Score”, the sultry number “Omar Sharif” was performed on the night of the 2018 awards. Countless other prestigious theater awards have showered down upon this tenderhearted tale with original screenplay written by Eran Kolirin, book by Itamar Moses, composer/lyricist David Yazbek, and soulfully directed by David Cromer. It stars Sasson Gabay, who played Tewfiq in the 2007 film version and Janet Dacal as his love interest, Dina.
 The company of The Band s Visit North American Tour. (Photo by Evan Zimmerman, MurphyMade.) Tel Aviv 1996: Egyptian music and movies are now banned even though generations of Israelis have thrilled to the haunting voice of the internationally famous singer Umm Kulthum and films starring the suave Egyptian box-office idol, Omar Sharif who starred in Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago. It is a fraught time, not so different from today, when cultures separated by politics or war and borders, real or imagined, are redrawn or redefined. It is where Tewfiq and the beautiful and exotic Dina find their mutual connection to music.
 Joe Joseph. (Photo by Evan Zimmerman, MurphyMade.) When the flirtatious Haled (Ali Louis Bourzgui), distracted by a pretty ticket seller, miscommunicates the wrong name for their destination, it sends the musicians on a bus to Bet Hatikva, translation “House of Hope”, a tiny town where nothing ever happens and where the hilarious song “Waiting” describes the residents’ unrelenting boredom. At the café the Arabs meet the lovely and fiery Dina, owner of the town’s sole eatery. Dina finds the men homes to stay for a single night till the next day’s bus can take them to their correct destination in time for them to give a concert dedicated to Arab Israeli cultural exchanges.
 The company of The Band’s Visit (Photo by Evan Zimmerman, MurphyMade.) The musicians who play traditional Arab instruments perform all the numbers onstage in a sort of musical ballet upon a rotating stage. The beautifully expressed musical accompaniment weaves together the characters’ personal stories and enhances their shared communion with their temporary hosts. This deeply emotional, sweetly comic story centers around the initial awkwardness of the two cultures attempting to understand each other’s cultural differences, ultimately discovering that they are more similar than not, and that love, family and the universality of music are at the heart of the human connection.
With Clay Singer as Itzik; Coby Getzug as Papi; Yoni Avi Battat as Camal; David Studwell as Avrum; James Rana as Simon from the original Broadway cast; Billy Cohen as Zelger; Ali Louis Bourzgui as Haled; Joshua Grosso as Telephone Guy; Kendal Hartse as Iris; Layan Elwazani as Julia from the Broadway cast; Marc Ginsburg as Sammy and Ariel Reich as Anna.
The Band: Conductor/Keyboard – Adrian Ries; Associate Conductor/Keyboard – Jeff Cox; Violin – Yoni Avi Battat; Cello – Wick Simmons; Clarinet/Saxophone/Flute – Brian Krock; Darbouka/Riq – Roger Kashou; Oud/Guitar – Kane Mathis; Electric & Acoustic Bass – Mark Ziegler; Drums/Arabic Percussion – Shai Wetzer.
Choreography by Patrick McCollum; Scenic Design by Scott Pask; Costume Design by Sarah Laux; Lighting Design by Tyler Micoleau; Israeli Dramaturg and Dialect Coach Zohar Tirosh-Polk; Orchestrations by Jamshied Sharafi.
Through July 17th in the Eisenhower Theater at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20566. For tickets and information visit www.Kennedy-center.org or call the box office at 202 467-4600.
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