CROWNS Plays the Houston Family Arts Center, Through 10/18

CROWNS, a theatrical experience of music, dance, spirituality, and fashion, is currently playing at the Houston Family Arts Center through October 18th. CROWNS, by ReGina Taylor and directed by Ron Jones and Lisa Garza, is adapted from a book of photography of the same name by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry.

A unique play with music, CROWNS celebrates the lives of the "church hat queens", six African American women of the South whose stories of love, loss, identity, and sisterhood are woven into the hats that crown their heads and the songs that speak their truth. Based on the acclaimed book of photography, CROWNS captures the thrill of self expression with a series of intimate gospel-infused musical portraits, as seen through the eyes of a Brooklyn teenager sent to live with her grandmother in South Carolina.

Photographer Michael Cunningham was inspired to create the book after hearing a story about a friend's trip home for a family reunion. "She told me how she had gotten a kick out of the big, fancy hats her relatives wore to Sunday services. Right then, I could see the book." Subsequently he photographed and included the women in his book. On average each woman has 54 hats, and seven of them own 100 or more. The woman with the least number of hats has three, and the woman with the most has 350. They represent different wallks of life and generations. The youngest two women in the book are 22 years of age; the oldest is 78.

The project grew when Craig Marberry joined the scene. He visited with Michael Cunningham and upon seeing his work declared, "This is stunning work. But there's important oral history under those hats. I'd love to interview these women."  Thereafter, the seeds for CROWNS were officially planted.

CROWNS plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets are available online from tickets.houstonfac.com or through the Houston FAC Box Office at 281-290-5201. Tickets are $16 for adults, $14 for seniors, and $12 for students or children.

A special night of dinner theatre is available on Saturday, October 17th, which will include a choice of meals along with the performance of CROWNS. Dinner theatre ticket prices are are $28 for adults, $26 for seniors, and $24 for students or children. Dinner reservations will close at noon on Friday,October 16th.

For more information, visit www.houstonfac.com.

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