Perseverance Kicks Off the New Year with Katori Hall's THE MOUNTAINTOP, Now thru 2/1

Perseverance Theatre (PT) starts the New Year off with the award winning play The Mountaintop by Katori Hall. The Mountaintop runs on the Perseverance Theatre Mainstage tonight, January 9, 2014 - February 1, 2015. Tickets are available through Hearthside Books, the JACC, online at ptalaska.org or by calling 907-463-TIXS (8497). There is one pay-as-you-can preview on Wednesday, January 7 at 7:30 p.m. and two pay-as-you-can performances on Sunday, January 11 at 4 p.m. and Thursday, January 15 at 7:30 p.m.

After delivering the speech of his life, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. returns to his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis and is visited by a mysterious hotel maid who compares him in popularity to the Beatles while at the same time pointing out the holes in his socks. As they both acknowledge his morality, she pushes King to confront his destiny and his legacy to his people. Funny, moving and soul-stirring, The Mountaintop is an amazing look at the final night in the life of one of the greatest Americans of the 20th century.

Lydia Fort (Director) has directed productions for numerous companies including Women's Project Theatre, Women Center Stage, Urban Stages, freeFall Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre and Classical Theatre of Harlem. She has a BA from New York University and received both an MFA in Directing and a Certificate in Arts Management for the Performing Arts from the University of Washington's School of Drama. Lydia is currently the Executive Artistic Director at MO'OLELO Performing Arts Company in San Diego California.

Katori Hall is a playwright from Memphis, TN. Hall's plays include: The Mountaintop (2010 Olivier Award for Best New Play), which ran on Broadway at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre starring Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson, Hurt Village (2011 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Signature Theatre), Children of Killers, Hoodoo Love, Our Lady of Kibeho, and Pussy Valley. Hall's journalism has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, UK's The Guardian, Essence and The Commercial Appeal, including contributing reporting for Newsweek.

Two guest artists come to Juneau to make up the cast of The Mountaintop. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be played by Michael Flood* and the mysterious hotel maid, Camae will be played by Liz Morgan*.

Anchorage local Lauren Miller designs lights, Akiko Nishijima Rotch returns to Perseverance to design the set and guest artist Elisheba Ittoop designs Sound. Perseverance company designers include Kathleen Harper on props, Joshua Lowman for projections and costumes by Val Snyder.

Performances of The Mountaintop are 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with 4 p.m. matinees on Sundays. There is one pay-as-you-can preview on Wednesday, January 7 at 7:30 p.m. and two pay-as-you-can performances on Sunday, January 11 at 4 p.m. and Thursday, January 15 at 7:30 p.m. All performances take place at the Perseverance Theatre (Mainstage), located in Douglas, Alaska at 914 Third Street.

Perseverance Theatre was founded in 1979 in Juneau. Thirty-six years later, Perseverance has grown into the largest professional theatre in Alaska, recognized both statewide and nationally for its programming, training and new play development that is reflective of the Alaskan community, including over 70 world premieres by Alaskan and national playwrights. Perseverance Theatre's mission is to create professional theatre by and for Alaskans. We value community engagement, cross-cultural collaboration, professional rigor, and regional voice. This year, Perseverance launches its fourth season as a statewide institution, performing in Anchorage at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. Find more information on Perseverance Theatre at www.ptalaska.org. You can also follow Perseverance Theatre at facebook.com/PerseveranceTheatre and Twitter.com/PersevTheatreAK.

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