Greenway Arts Alliance Announces 25th Anniversary Season & Mohammed Ali Ojarigi As Producing Director

Greenway Arts Alliance has announced its 25th Anniversary Season at Greenway Court Theatre along with the appointment of Mohammed Ali Ojarigi as Producing Director at Greenway Court Theatre.

The multi-award-winning theatre company's season will present the critically acclaimed WET: A DACAmented Journey written and performed by Alex Alpharaoh and directed by Daphnie Sicre in October 2022, followed by a Greenway Arts Alliance Resident Theatre Company Co-Production in January 2023, and concluding with the 7th Annual L.A. Get Down Festival, A Celebration of Hip Hop and Spoken Word in conjunction with National Poetry Month in April 2023. Festival co-directors are Shihan Van Clief and Arianna Basco. Greenway's 25th Anniversary Season memberships and single tickets for WET: A DACAmented Journey are now available at GreenwayCourtTheatre.org.

"Pierson and I are incredibly humbled and thrilled to be celebrating Greenway's 25th Anniversary season." said Whitney Weston, Greenway Arts Alliance Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director. "We are committed to continuing ourfocus on representing the voices of all Los Angeles. Our city is a great melting pot of exciting and diverse artists and Greenway's doors are always open to provide a platform for theater professionals to tell their enriching, relevant and impactful stories that align with what is currently happening in our city."

Pierson Blaetz, Greenway Arts Alliance Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director shared, "In addition to celebrating our 25th Anniversary season, we are also thrilled to have Mohammed Ali Ojarigi join the Greenway family. Mohammed embodies the Greenway mission of creating a welcoming and safe space for artists, especially the unheard voices of Los Angeles. Community building is in his DNA."

"I am delighted to join co-founders Whitney Weston and Pierson Blaetz and the very talented Greenway Arts Alliance staff," said Mohammed Ali Ojarigi, Producing Director, Greenway Court Theatre. He added, "As Producing Director of Greenway Court Theatre, my mission is to promote innovative and artistic collaboration across all spectrums of the Arts, while working with high school students, community artists, and professionals of diverse backgrounds. And to make Greenway Court Theatre a vital hub of excellence, which celebrates diversity and communities that are historically underrepresented."

Mohammed was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received his bachelor's degree in theater arts from UNLV. He is the founder/Artistic Director of the former Moments Playhouse Theater in East LA. A highly requested acting coach, Mohammed has helped introduce some of Hollywood's top rising stars through his academy (BizB4 Show). Mohammed is an award-winning actor/playwright for his theatre works that include Greenwood 1964 a fictional reenactment of a trip made by Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte, which was commissioned by the prestigious Guthrie Theater in May 2021 (virtually). Also, for his 2012 NAACP Theater Award play, now short film, Your Land(available on Amazon Prime).

GREENWAY ARTS ALLIANCE'S

25th ANNIVERSARY SEASON

WET: A DACAmented Journey

Written and Performed by Alex Alpharaoh

Directed by Daphnie Sicre

October 22 - November 13, 2022

Opening Night: Saturday, October 22 at 8:00 pm

After an 8-city national tour, the award-winning solo performance WET: A DACAmented Journey will see its first theatrical reboot at Greenway Court Theatre. WET is the story of what it means to be an American in every sense of the word except for one: on paper. Chronicling the story of Anner Cividanis' Journey as an undocumented American, the play captures the desperation that DREAMers experience with limited options of adjustment of status under a broken U.S. Immigration System. Praised as a deliverance beyond the scope of "movies, Netflix, video gaming, and cyber entertainment" by LA WEEKLY, WET unravels the mental, emotional, and psychological hardship in the thrills between hilarity and heartbreak.

ALEX ALPHARAOH (Playwright and Performer) is a multi-disciplined award-winning performance artist from Los Angeles. Alpharaoh earned his reputation as an emcee and spoken word artist by honing his skills in various venues throughout Los Angeles including Da Poetry Lounge, Project Blow'd, etc. He's performed in venues throughout the country including D.C.'s Busboys and Poets, and New York's renowned Nuyorican Cafe. Beyond his artistic talents, Alex is also an educator, social worker, and activist. Notably, Alex has been a resident teaching artist for Greenway Arts Alliance since 2017, sharing with hundreds of students his passion for poetry and vision for a more equitable future. In participation with "Greenway Reads," a program at Greenway Arts Alliance that engage high school students with experienced artists and literature, the theatrical reboot of WET will illuminate students on the current state of the nation and the lives of the often silenced and the forgotten.

DAPHNIE SICRE (Director) just finished directing the two musical monologues for So Proudly We Hail at the Hollywood Fringe (New Musicals Inc.), and two live stage readings Negra-the Musical (Robey Theatre Company) and You can cry if you want to by Natalie Camunas (The Road Theatre). Last summer she directed the live production of Waiting (Playwrights' Arena) by Daniel A. Olivas, prior to a year of Zoom productions: Black Mexican (San Diego Rep/Latinx New Play Festival), This Bitch by Adrienne Dawes (Austin Latinx New Play Festival), Diversity Awareness Picnic by Leah Nanako Winkler (LMU), Talking Peace by France-Luce Benson (Fountain Theatre) plus multiple stage readings. Teaching theatre at LMU, she directing debut was In the Heights before the pandemic hit, followed by Everybody by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins upon returning to campus. Select New York City directing credits include: Jose Casas's 14 (BMCC), Shower Me by Sheyenne Brown (FringeNYC), Stranger by Kendra Augustin (Stage Black), where she won Best Director and the AUDELCO nominated Not About Eve by Karl Williams.

This production is also the final component of Greenway's literacy program, GreenwayREADS, where LAUSD English and Drama classes work with Greenway Institute for the Arts' teaching artist and see a matinee performance of the play at the Greenway Court Theatre free of charge.

A Co-Production with a Greenway Resident Theatre Company

January 2023

Greenway Arts Alliances continues its ongoing partnerships with theatre companies throughout Los Angeles looking for a platform to present their work.

In 2019, Greenway co-produced the Los Angeles premiere of Lloyd Suh's The Chinese Lady with the critically acclaimed Artists at Play (Julia Cho, Stefanie Lau and Marie-Reine Velez, Producing Artistic Leaders).

The production and resident theatre company will be announced at a later date.

The 7th Annual L.A. Get Down Festival

A Celebration of Hip Hop and Spoken Word

Festival Directors Shihan Van Clief and Arianna Basco

Weekends in April 2023

The L.A. Get Down Festival is a celebration of hip hop and spoken word, which has been presented by Greenway Arts Alliance for seven years in conjunction with National Poetry Month. Da Poetry Lounge Co-Founder Shihan Van Clief and acclaimed spoken word artist Ariana Basco serves as the Festival Directors

Shihan Van Clief (Festival Director) Along with being the first and only poet to have a poem named 'download of the week' on iTunes; this National Poetry Slam Champion and 4X National Poetry Slam Finalist has been featured on a variety of media outlets including 7 appearances on 6 seasons of HBO's Def Poetry, NBC, Oxygen Network, Current TV, Nike Battlegrounds, Reebok, Adidas, NBA, CNN, ESPN, Complex and Billboard Magazine, several national commercial spots, 5 National Tours including the Tony Award Winning Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry Jam International Tour and 2 Spoken Word documentaries, SP!T and the sequel to 1997's cult doc Slam Nation, Slam Planet. Shihan was also the 1st 'Poet' to sign an exclusive Sponsorship deal with Sports Giant, adidas and he is the current voice for The Sprite Street Mix, a radio program broadcasted in over 14 countries in Africa. His abilities to transcend cultural and generational boundaries have made Shihan a much sought-after talent.

Arianna Basco (Festival Director) Arianna Lady Basco. Single mom. One ear. Cultural Architect. Founder of Palms Up Academy, author, filmmaker, actress, poet, and teacher. Recognized by the City of Los Angeles as part of the 'First Filipino Entertainment Family'. Her activism isn't just evident in building platforms - it is in the grassroots efforts she helms. Has been spotted singing and strumming guitar.

The full Festival lineup and schedule will be announced at a later date.

To purchase Greenway Arts Alliance's 25th Anniversary Season memberships or single tickets to WET: A DACAmented Journey, visit www.GreenwayCourtTheatre.org or call 323-673-0544.

Greenway Arts Alliance (GAA) was Co-Founded in 1997 by artists-activists Whitney Weston and Pierson Blaetz, both of whom serve as Co-Artistic Directors for the organization. The organization is a community-based nonprofit, whose mission is to unite communities through its art (Greenway Court Theatre), education (Greenway Institute for the Arts) and enterprise (Melrose Trading Post) programs. GAA is based on the campus of Fairfax High School. Greenway Institute for the Arts (GIA) fosters education through creativity by offering both in-school and after-school multidisciplinary arts programs. Classes and workshops are offered at no cost to Fairfax High School students. Presented with opportunities to engage with professional artists, young people can discover their individual voices and passions. Through Greenway's unique partnership with Fairfax High, students are exposed to a myriad of opportunities for creative collaboration through Greenway Court Theatre and at the Melrose Trading Post.

Greenway Court Theatre was initially built by Fairfax High School students in 1939 as a class project and used as a Social Hall by both students and faculty. It sat virtually unused for many years until it was finally renovated into a professional 99-seat theatre by Greenway Arts Alliance in 2000, to benefit both the school and the surrounding community. Greenway Court Theatre has a rich history of presenting and producing diverse bodies of work. Greenway has opened its door to many main-stage productions, weekly open mic poetry, festivals and world premieres that have moved to larger venues and toured across the country. Mohammed Ali Ojarigi serves as Producing Director of the Greenway Court Theatre.

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