Emerson Theatre Collaborative to Present HOUR FARTHER, 10/3-4

Emerson Theatre Collaborative (ETC), in association with Black Stars of the Great White Way - a Chapman Roberts and Richard Allen Center for Art & Culture, announces its production of the play, Hour Farther written by David Horace Greer, directed by Camilla Ross, and starring renowned stage and screen actor and singer, Kirk Taylor. Most recently, Mr. Taylor had the honor of working alongside the late Robin Williams and Mila Kunis in the film, The Angriest Man In Brooklyn directed by Phillip Alden Robinson.

Hour Farther, set outside a rural Kentucky town, is a play about Victor, an adopted-son waiting to meet his biological father for the first time who discovers how dangerous family truth can be. As he waits, Victor takes us on an odyssey with father-figures in his life: his adopted father, mother, and grandfather, as well as his reverend, step-cousin, step-dad, even Superman and Jesus. Hour Farther is an epic play with cosmic and biblical tones told through rural, gospel, and hip hop rhythms that explores themes of love, reconciliation, and redemption.

Said a member of Cincinnati Playwrights' Initiative reading committee, "HOUR FARTHER reminds me of Stanley Kubrick's A SPACE ODYSSEY. It is a beautifully constructed epic, yet humorous tale of the past, present, and future."

Cast: Elijah Manning, Nichelle Rollins, Menelik Nesmith, Kirk Taylor, & Derrick Williams.

On October 2, 2014 from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm, a "Meet and Greet the Cast" will be hosted by Dennis Sirrine of Sirrine Design at Velvet Mill Studios in The Gallery, located at 22 Bayview Avenue, Stonington, CT. Wine and cheese will be served. Free and open to the public.

Hour Farther will be performed October 3 - 4 at 8:00 pm and October 5 at 4:00 pm at First United Methodist Church in Mystic, CT. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at the door or on line at www.emersontheatercollaborative.org.

In addition, ETC announces a Free Reading of the play in New York City on Monday, October 6, 2014 7:00 pm at Manhattan Plaza, Ellington Room (2nd Floor), 400 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036. All Mystic cast members will participate. RSVPs are required and should be sent to dhgreer3@yahoo.com

David Horace Greer (Playwright) is a playwright, actor, and Tony-nominated producer. He was a member of the Broadway producer teams for Mountaintop (starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Basset), Gershwin's Porgy & Bess (starring Audra McDonald), and The Scottsboro Boys, which earned him a Tony nomination. In June, he joined Norm Lewis (THE Phantom of the Opera) and Chapman Roberts to produce Black Stars of the Great White Way Broadway Reunion Concert at the Carnegie Hall, which included appearances by Cecily Tyson, Bob Guillaume, Phylicia Rashad, and Ben Vereen. In film, David consulted an executive producer and casting agent of Universal Pictures' James Brown movie, Get On Up, and makes an appearance in the film as Jill Scott's "Apollo Theater Date." David will also appear in Don Cheadle's Miles Davis film, Miles Ahead (2015), and was offered a role in the Oprah Winfrey/ Brad Pitt- produced Selma film project.

As a playwright and stage actor, David wrote, co-produced, and acted in the musical Peculiar People at Hartford Stage as a fundraiser for Greater Hartford Urban League. He adapted for the stage Dr. Martin Luther King's 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail, which he has performed dozens of times for more than 20 years at educational institutions, sanctuaries, and MLK Day events. He has also performed in productions by Hartbeat Ensemble, Hartford Children's Theater, and Temple Beth Torah.

Originally from Oakland, KY, David is a University of Chicago Booth School of Business alum, was selected as a Rotary Scholar to attend the American University in Cairo (Egypt), graduated cum laude from KY's Centre College, a former Board Member of Hartford's TheaterWorks and Footlights Center for Performing Arts, has visited, worked, and/ or studied in 17 countries, and is a proud father.

KIRK TAYLOR (Walter, Wall Street Banker/ Seattle Trucker, Mr. Gordon, Poopie, and James). As a television actor, Mr. Taylor was seen on hit shows such as NCIS Los Angeles, All My Children, BET's One Special Moment, TNT's Freedom Song, Law and Order, Chicago Hope, and To Have and to Hold. Big screen credits include Stanley Kubrick's celebrated war drama Full Metal Jacket, box office blockbuster The Sum of All Fears, gritty urban drama MacArthur Park, as well as School Daze, Death Wish 3, and The Last Dragon, which celebrates its 30th Anniversary November 2014 as part of the Urban Action Showcase and Expo at AMC Theater Times Square/ NYC Hilton Midtown. Most recently, Kirk had the honor of working alongside Robin Williams and Mila Kunis in Director Phillip Alden Robinson's The Angriest Man In Brooklyn.

Mr. Taylor is also a soloist in the studio, on stage and screen, as well as in choirs and small groups under the direction of Mervyn Warren, Rose Stone, Scott V. Smith, and Chapman Roberts. Taylor first came to the West Coast in the Broadway musical 5 Guys Named Moe in the leading role of Nomax. Other West Coast credits include the role of General Vershinin in Three Sisters at Actor's Alley, Dr. Gibbs in South Coast Rep's production of Our Town with director Mark Rucker, and as the lead male vocalist with world-renowned Chaka Khan in Signed, Sealed, Delivered! - a musical tribute to Stevie Wonder at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. Other stage appearances include

the one man musical Jelly Roll! The Music & The Man, Off-Broadway productions of The War Party, King Lear, and Macbeth--directed by the legendary Geraldine Fitzgerald--as well as the Broadway run of What Men Don't Tell at The Beacon Theater. In June 2014, he performed among a Who's Who of Broadway's finest in Black Stars of the Great White Way: Broadway Reunion, at the iconic Carnegie Hall.

Kirk invests in mentoring the next generation of talent. Starting at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York City, his former students include Jessie L. Martin, Chandra Wilson, Gary Dourdan, Karina Lombard, Charles Malik Whitfield, Jose Zuniga, Beth Littleford, Ken Marino, Mari Morrow, and Benno Furmann. He continues to travel and teach, conducting Acting Intensives in Montreal, L.A., and most recently at the University of Nations Hawaii and Norway. Kirk will be seen acting (and singing!) as the Apostle Simon Peter in Harry Lennix' feature film Revival! slated to be released in spring 2015.

Mr. Taylor is a native son born and raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was there on Central High School's stage that his career had its genesis. He made his acting debut during his sophomore year, playing the role of the Master of Ceremonies in the musical Cabaret. In his senior year, he won the coveted title of Barnum Festival King: a statewide scholastic and leadership competition named after P.T. Barnum of Barnum & Bailey Circus fame. Selected from the best and brightest of high school seniors, he was the first Black American to ever win this prestigious award. After graduation, he moved to New York City where he trained with late luminaries Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Clay Stevenson, Elaine Aiken, and Lehman Engel. He earned a BFA from New York University with a Drama major and Music minor. His performance in Hour Farther will mark a homecoming over 30 years in the making!

Camilla Ross (Producer and Director) Outside of producing great theater, Ms. Ross is the current president and founder of the Emerson Theater Collaborative, and a graduate of Emerson College in Boston. Ms. Ross has produced Doubt, By John Patrick Shanley, Introducing Mr. Charles Dickens, Harriet2 (Pronounced Harriet Squared), two one-woman shows by Lisa Giordano and Emma Palzere-Rae, Picasso at The Lapin Agile by Steve Martin, Spinning Into Butter by Rebecca Giiman, Hate Mail By Bill Corbette and Kira Obolensky, Love Letters by A.R. Gurney, Chestina Vanessa Poulson By Melanie Greenhouse, Gray Matters, By Jacques Lamarre, Living In the Wind by Michael Bradford, The Big Bank (A musical) by Daniel and Jacob Seligmann (this musical made its NYC debut at the St. Clements Theater as part of the NY Musical Theater Festival with an amazing NY cast including Carly Rose Sonenclar - Xfactor runner up who played the role of Parsley), The Spitting Image, by Sophie Klein, Court Martial at Fort Devens, by Jeffrey Sweet, and many others for the ETC.

In addition, Ms. Ross was the theatrical advisor and acting coach for the SPAG Players at Three Rivers Community College in Norwich, CT and is a former board member and acting instructor for the Writer's Block, Ink of New London, CT. Camilla is a part-time business faculty member of the Three Rivers Community College, teaching a variety of business courses. She currently sits on the Emerson Alumni Board and is the president

of the CT Alumni Chapter. Her latest directing project was Waiting For Lefty by Clifford Odets. As an actress, she was seen most recently in Bob Gautreau's King of Beasts: Aesop's Fables in the role of the High Priestess.

Ms. Ross' Her favorite acting moments include Opening as Harriet Tubman, a role she continues to reprise, in Lisa Giordano's Harriet Tubman's Dream to a sold out house for The Hateful Things Exhibit at the Mark Twain House, and performing the role of Mabel in Jacob and Daniel Seligmann's new, original musical The Big Bank.

Emerson Theater Collaborative's (ETC's) mission is to serve youth, under- represented communities and artists with an emphasis on diversity, by producing innovative and exhilarating theater in Southeastern Connecticut. ETC explores timely themes and issues through new, original works and modern theatrical classics. ETC's goals include reaching inner city youth through educational theatrical programs, and supporting local communities by providing free admission to low-income families, and donating profits to humanitarian causes. Go to www.EmersonTheaterCollaborative.org.

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