Capital Classics Announces Full Cast, Creative And Conversation Leaders For WATER BY THE SPOONFUL

Capital Classics Theatre Company announced today the complete casting, creative team and conversation leaders for its upcoming Contemporary Classics Conversations production of Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegría Hudes.

A full production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama will be combined with interactive conversations on the theme "From Adversity, We Advance." Performances will be held January 25-29, 2023, at the University of Saint Joseph's Hoffman Auditorium, 1678 Asylum Avenue in West Hartford, Connecticut.

The Cast and Creative Team:

The cast of Water by the Spoonful combines faces familiar to Capital Classics audiences along with talent that is new to the company. Veteran Capital Classics actors include Eddie Cruz, Jr.; Joslyn Eaddy Meléndez; and Joshua Eaddy. Actors making their company debut include Cin Martinez, Tim Diebolt, Amanda Kim Friedman, and Assef Badr. The creative team includes Christopher Andrew Rowe (director), Geoffrey Sheehan (producer), Vivianna Lamb (costume design), Kenneth Trestman (Hoffman Auditorium Director), Rachel Landy (sound design), and Heather Spiegel (stage manager).

About the Play:

Somewhere in Philadelphia, Elliot has returned from Iraq and is struggling to find his place in the world. Somewhere in a chat room, recovering addicts keep each other alive, hour by hour, day by day. The boundaries of family and community are stretched across continents and cyberspace as birth families splinter and online families collide. Water by the Spoonful is a heartfelt meditation on lives on the brink of redemption.

Water by the Spoonful was originally commissioned as part of Quiara Alegría Hudes' Aetna Voices Fellowship at Hartford Stage which subsequently produced the world premiere of the play in 2011. Spoonful received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In 2008, Hudes was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for In the Heights, which she collaborated on with Lin-Manuel Miranda. She adapted In the Heights for the screen. In 2021, Hudes released her memoir My Broken Language which she subsequently adapted for the stage, a production that recently concluded an acclaimed run at New York's Signature Theatre.

About Contemporary Classics Conversations & Conversation Leaders

Contemporary Classics Conversations uses the medium of theater as a springboard to explore topical and timeless social issues. In 2020-2021, Capital Classics performed scene readings from Athol Fugard's Victory for online book clubs, theaters, social groups, libraries, and schools to examine the long-term effects of institutionalized racism. In 2022, Capital Classics staged Sweat, the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama by Lynn Nottage, combined with moderated conversations during the show around the theme of "Power and Poverty."

Conversation Leaders for Water by the Spoonful include:

Wednesday, January 25 - Latoya Hinds, DSW, LCSW, assistant professor in the school of Social Work and Equitable Community Practice, University of Saint Joseph (USJ); and Angela Washington, LCSW, MSW, instructor and director of Field Education, USJ

Thursday, January 26 - Pablo Correa, PhD, assistant professor of Digital Media and Communication, USJ

Friday, January 27 - Melissa-Sue John, PhD, assistant professor of Psychology, USJ

Saturday, January 28 - Steve MacHattie, LCSW, owner of Charter Oak Family Center

Sunday, January 29 Matinee - Lynnette Colón, MS, director of Campus Ministry, USJ

The 2023 Contemporary Classics Conversations program is funded in part by Connecticut Humanities, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Department of Economic & Community, Development, and Connecticut Office of the Arts.

Capital Classics' Contemporary Classics Conversations: Water by the Spoonful will be held January 25-29, 2023, with performances offered Wednesday through Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the University of Saint Joseph's Hoffman Auditorium, 1678 Asylum Avenue in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Tickets will be sold at the door and in advance at CapitalClassics.org. Tickets are $20 for adults, $14 for students, seniors, and groups of 10 or more.

Capital Classics, a non-Equity professional theatre company, was founded in 1991 to enrich the cultural environment of Greater Hartford through the theatre arts. We are committed to providing classical entertainment that is affordable, accessible and engaging; serving the community with cultural and educational programming; and providing job opportunities and training to Connecticut's professional theatre artists. Learn more about Capital Classics, its Contemporary Classics Conversations program and the production of Water by the Spoonful at CapitalClassics.org.

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