LITTLE ROCK Begins Off-Broadway Premiere At The Sheen Center Tomorrow

Rebel Theatrical Management, LLC (Harvey Butler, producer), The Steward Family, in association with The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture, present the New York premiere of the new play Little Rock, written and directed by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj. Performances begin TOMORROW, June 8, 2018, for a limited engagement through September 8, 2018 at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street).

The nine-member cast features: Rebekah Brockman (The Bridge of Spies), Justin Cunningham (The Winter's Tale) Charlie Hudson III (A Raisin in the Sun), Peter O'Connor (The Flick), Ashley Robinson (A Clockwork Orange), Damian Jermaine Thompson (English Vinglish), Stephanie Umoh (Ragtime), Anita Welch (Avenue Q), and making her New York stage debut Shanice Williams (NBC's "The Wiz Live").

History called it heroism. They called it high school. Little Rock tells the riveting true story of The Little Rock Nine, the first black students to attend their city's formerly segregated Little Rock Central High School three years after the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision ruled separating students based on race was unconstitutional. What began as their quest for a better education soon became a national crisis, igniting the passions of a divided country and sparking a historic fight for justice in the Jim Crow south. On the cusp of the Civil Rights movement, a changing world watched as these nine children from Arkansas battled for their rights, armed with only a notebook and pencil. At once harrowing and hopeful, Little Rock brings urgently to life The Nine's untold personal stories of challenge and resilience, conjuring memories of America not so long ago. From writer and director Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, this deeply moving play honors the bravery of these young heroes and asks audiences: Would you have had the courage? "The task that remains is to embrace our interdependence - to see ourselves reflected in every other human being and to respect and honor our differences." -Dr. Melba Pattillo Beals. "If we have honestly acknowledged our painful but shared past, then we can have reconciliation."-Elizabeth Eckford

Little Rock received a developmental production as part of the 2011 New Works Festival at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, California. It went on to receive a production in 2014 at Passage Theatre in Trenton, NJ where it won the 2015 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Ensemble.

"We find ourselves, 60 years after 'The Crisis' in Little Rock, still struggling as a nation with segregated schools, inadequate academic resources, systemic gaps in achievement and unsafe schools" shared Harvey Butler, producer. "The Little Rock Nine as teenagers were a catalyst that helped accelerate potential resolution of these issues in 1957-58. We hope this play will honor their contribution to American history and encourage a movement that recommits the nation to the pursuit of academic excellence for all -- with deliberate policies and strategies that guarantee the right to a quality public education in an environment free of emotional, psychological and physical threat to our future leaders."

The creative team for Little Rock includes Darryl G. Ivey (music director), Rasean Davonte Johnson (scenic design), Leslie Bernstein (costume design), Anshuman Bhatia (lighting design), Lindsay Jones (sound design), Wendall K. Harrington (projection design), Marshall Jones III (creative consultant), Nikkole Salter (script consultant), Joshua Shain (production manager), Robert Westley (movement choreographer), and Amy Stoller (dialect design). The Production Stage Manager is Giles T. Horne with Theron Alexander, Assistant Stage Manager.

Little Rock plays the following performance schedule: Tuesdays - Thursdays at 7:30PM, Fridays at 8:00PM, Saturdays at 3:00PM & 8:00PM, and Sundays at 3:00PM & 7:30PM. Please note: There are special added performances on Monday, July 2 at 7:30PM. There will be no performances on Wednesday, July 4.

Tickets for Little Rock, NOW ON SALE are priced from $39 - $99, with Premium Seats priced at $119 - $125, and Student Tickets at $25, plus $2 facility fee & $6 convenience fee per ticket. Tickets may be purchased online at www.littlerockplay.com or at The Sheen Center Box Office (18 Bleecker Street, Monday - Friday 11:00AM - 5:00PM, and one hour prior to every performance), or by calling the Box Office at (212) 925-2812. All Group sales orders must be submitted directly through The Sheen Center Box Office. No paper orders will be accepted for Little Rock; only orders placed via email through boxoffice@sheencenter.org will be considered. For additional information, please visit the website at www.littlerockplay.com.

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