Hangar Theatre's Outdoor Production of QUEENS GIRL IN THE WORLD Opens Next Week

The Hangar Theatre's first ever outdoor summer season continues with Queens Girl in the World, a co-production with The Nora at Central Square Theater and The Front Porch Arts Collective in Cambridge, MA, running August 13-21, 2021.

The opening performance of Queens Girl in the World by Caleen Sinnette Jennings will begin Friday, August 13 at 7:30 PM. A preview performance will precede the opening on August 12; matinee and evening performances will run through Saturday, August 21.

In this dynamic solo show, Jasmine M. Rush (she/her) plays Jacqueline Marie Butler, a Black teenager coming of age in the 1960s, whose joys, challenges, and heartbreak play out against the backdrop of the civil rights movement. Rush embodies over a dozen different characters as she journeys from her familiar Queens neighborhood to a progressive, predominantly-Jewish private school in Greenwich Village. This funny, heartfelt, and entirely relatable show was performed virtually in the Hangar's 2020 Virtual Season, and Hangar audiences will now have the chance to experience a fully-realized live performance.

Rush is a Brooklyn based actor, director and writer born and raised in Milwaukee, WI. Classically trained, she has worked nationally on stage, film, and television. She holds a BA in Theatre Arts from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities and earned her MFA in Classical Acting from Shakespeare Theatre Company's Academy of Classical Acting at George Washington University. She is a proud member of both SAG-AFTRA and Actor's Equity Association. Rush will be the lead in the Hangar production this August, and the Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA from September 30 to October 31, 2021. In addition to her numerous regional roles, Rush appeared in Off-Broadway production As Much As I Can (Joe's Pub/The Public Theatre) and her TV credits include appearances in "Bull", "Blue Bloods", "The Sinner", and "Difficult People".

Director Dawn M. Simmons (she/her) is also the Co-Producing Artistic Director of The Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company committed to advancing racial equity in Boston through theatre. Simmons sees the challenges that Jacqueline faces as "not entirely removed from our current time". Simmons states, "Given the increased civil unrest this past year, it is hard but helpful to wrestle with the progress, or lack thereof. What I have learned in this time is that we are in this soup of a life together whether we like it or not. So I choose, and hope you will choose, to bear witness to the challenges of both of our lives and to celebrate the joys as a crucial part of our journey together. May we get through this together hand in hand, changed and strengthened by our shared experiences."

Simmons continues, "In the character of Jaqueline we see hope and possibility. She is a vessel within which we can see our shared humanity. Her struggles and her coming of age are ours, and that connection brings into full relief those moments of heartache and triumph. I invite you to let her pain wash into you just as you do her joy and light, so that you may more fully feel the power of her resilience, which is that of your own resilience."

Joining Simmons, the creative and production team includes Sound Designer Greg Smith, Set Designer Diggle, Lighting Designer Abigail Wang, Costume Designer Miranda Kau Giurleo, Production Stage Manager Lauren Burke*, Accent and Dialect Consultant Adi Cabral, Casting Director Michael Cassara, Assistant Stage Managers Daniella Berman (Hangar Theatre) and Shira Lederman (Central Square Theater), Production Managers Adam Zonder (Hangar Theatre) and Cassie Chapadoes (Central Square Theater), and Artistic Directors Shirley Serotsky (Hangar Theatre) Lee Mikeska Gardner (The Nora @ Central Square Theater), and Dawn M. Simmons (The Front Porch Arts Collective).

"We're very excited for this collaboration with The Nora at Central Square Theater and The Front Porch Arts Collective," says R.J. Lavine, Managing Director of the Hangar Theatre. "Not only do we share resources, talent, and ideas by working together, our respective companies gain visibility in new markets and enjoy a more sustainable framework for creating theatre. Essentially, we all benefit."

The Hangar's 47th Mainstage season closes with a final live, in-person outdoor production of An Odyssey, another co-production, in partnership with The Cherry Artspace. Serotsky programmed the 2021 outdoor season, helming the creation of an entirely new outdoor performance space and ensuring the return to live theatre in the Finger Lakes. The Hangar thanks Premier Performance Partner Tompkins Trust Company, Mainstage Media Sponsor Cayuga Radio Group, Partner In The Arts Ithaca College, Partner In Health Be Sure Testing, Associate Show Sponsors Cayuga Medical Center and CSP Management, and Media Show Sponsor Ithaca Times.

*Member of the Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Queens Girl in the World runs from August 13-21. Seats are limited, and available while supplies last. Student discounts and Pay What You Will tickets are available at every performance in 2021. Learn more or buy now at hangartheatre.org/queens

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