Brett Myers Directs Street Theatre Company's JOHN AND JEN Opening 4/28

John and Jen - Andrew Lippa's musical about the relationship of two siblings by those names - opens this weekend as Street Theatre Company follows up its successful production of Lucky Stiff with a collaboration featuring interns from the Nashville Repertory Theatre Professional Intern Program.

Directed by Brett Myers, Lippa's original musical follows Jen as she deals with the difficulties in the relationship between brother and sister as well as parent and child. Travel back through the decades from 1950 to 1990 to watch both John and Jen handle the complexities of their own lives along with the challenges created by time moving forward. Family connections, commitments, and points of view are tested while these characters voyage through multiple stage of life.

"This story is about the people who - much like actors on a stage - take entrances and exits from our lives, and the moments we share together under the spotlight," says Myers. "I'm excited that composer Andrew Lippa gives us this unique two-person cast in John and Jen to dive deep into these roles and explore a story that is truly human."

The rather intimate show features Ryan Lynch as John and JorDan Scott as Jen.

"This beautiful chamber musical examines relationships in a unique and revealing way," say Jason Tucker, Street Theatre Company's artistic director. "I think because it's just the two actors, they actually end up building a relationship with the audience as they relate to each other."

John and Jen features original music by Andrew Lippa, lyrics by Tom Greenwald and story by Lippa and Greenwald. Directed by Brett Myers and Music Direction by Lee Druce. Designers include Jim Manning (Set Design), Caitlin Allen (Costume Design), Katie Gant (Lighting Design), Cassidy Parkison (Props Design), and Randy Craft (Sound Design).

This rarely produced musical is a very special piece of theatre, Tucker explains, that is an earlier work of one of Broadway's most popular modern composers, Andrew Lippa (The Addams Family, Wild Party, Big Fish).

Along with Street Theatre, this production is presented by the Nashville Repertory Theater's Professional Intern Program. Working along with these professional interns, Street Theatre provides the interns of costume, props, and marketing/development an opportunity to receive professional credit with this production.

John and Jen will be staged at Holy Trinity Community Church, 6727 Charlotte Pike April 28 through May 7. Tickets are $24 for adults and $20 for students and seniors, with a pay-what-you-can performance on Thursday, May 4.

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