New York Premiere Of SUMP'N LIKE WINGS Enters Final Week At Theatre Row

This is the final week to see Mint Theater Company's acclaimed New York Premiere of Sump'n Like Wings by Lynn Riggs, author of more than thirty plays including Green Grow the Lilacs, the basis for Rodgers & Hammerstein's landmark musical Oklahoma! Written in 1925, Sump'n Like Wings was published in 1928. 

Raelle Myrick-Hodges directs a cast that features Julia Brothers (Broadway: Relatively Speaking, written and directed by Elaine May; Off-Broadway: Clever Little Lies), Andrew Gombas (Two Gentlemen of Verona, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It - The Drilling Company's Shakespeare in the Parking Lot); Traci Hovel (Off-Broadway debut!); Lukey Klein (Off-Broadway debut!); Richard Lear (The Normal Heart; God of Carnage Off Broadway revival with Christiane Noll & David Burtka); Mariah Lee (Broadway and National Tour: Mayella Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird); Leon Pintel (Cory in HBO Max's reboot of “Gossip Girl”); Mike Masters (Face the Music - City Center Encores!; National Tour: 101 Dalmatians: The Musical); Buzz Roddy (Off-Broadway: The Night of the Iguana. (A)loft Modulation, The Show-Off); Lindsey Steinert (Off-Broadway debut!); and Joy Avigail Sudduth (Off-Broadway: Leaving the Blues, Waiting for Giovanni, Walk Hard). 

Mint is offering audiences the rare opportunity to see this 99-year-old play, which remains a resonant and compelling story about love, family and home. This Off-Broadway engagement at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street), opening Thursday October 10th, continues a limited run through November 2nd.

Sump'n Like Wings is the story of Wille Baker, a 16-year-old girl too proud and too wild for the life she's living. Her mother runs the dining room in the hotel her uncle owns. Willie is stuck helping her, squirming under her thumb while her uncle argues for tenderness and compassion. Sump'n Like Wings is a story of the lessons learned by families about freedom and limits — about love, respect, and safety. It's a story about home and about leaving home.

Sump'n Like Wings is set in Oklahoma, six years after the Indian and Oklahoma Territories combined to become the 46th state in the Union in 1907. Lynn Riggs owes his lasting fame to the musical named after his home state, Oklahoma!, based on his acclaimed 1930 play Green Grows the Lilacs.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

Rollie Lynn Riggs (August 31st 1899 – June 30th 1954) An enrolled Cherokee of mixed descent, Lynn Riggs wrote about the people, places, and events of his childhood, growing up in Oklahoma in the eventful years at the turn of the century. Riggs attended the University of Oklahoma but left before graduating to pursue a career in writing and theater. He spent time in Santa Fe before moving to New York City in the 1920s, where he became part of the literary and artistic community of Greenwich Village. His first major play, Big Lake, was produced in 1927 in a production that featured a young Stella Adler. However, it was Green Grow the Lilacs, written in 1930 and produced by The Theatre Guild in 1931, that brought him the most recognition. The play served as the basis for Oklahoma! by Rodgers and Hammerstein in 1943, a milestone in musical theater history. As a gay man, Riggs lived cautiously and was discreet about his sexuality, but his plays reveal a deep understanding of the outsider and their complex relationship to the larger community. Some of Riggs's other notable plays include Rancor (1928), A Lantern to See By (1928), Roadside (1930), The Cherokee Night (1932),  Russet Mantle (1936), and Out of Dust (1940).  He continued to write until his death from stomach cancer in 1954 in New York City. By the end of his life, Riggs had written some thirty plays and scripts for fourteen films produced between 1930 and 1955. His works remain an important part of American literary and theatrical history, offering rich portrayals of rural life and cultural heritage, though they are seldom staged.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Raelle Myrick-Hodges has directed shows nationally and internationally. Recent projects have included: Father Comes Home for the Wars: Parts 1, 2, and 3 (Philadelphia Premiere, Quintessence Theater), Dirty White Teslas Make Me Sad (World Premiere, Magic Theatre/Campo Santo, San Francisco) and Pearl Cleage's Flyin' West (Indiana Repertory Theater, Indianapolis). She has recently been with MaYi Company working with playwright David Zheng on Kidnapping Jane Doe. She is a member of Under the Radar's Devised Working Theater Group (2023 season) with her work-in-progress about father/daughter relationships called He Had the Prettiest Handwriting which is a collaboration with her father Ray Hodges. She has directed at Playmakers Repertory Company, Arden Theater Company, Azuka Theater, National Black Theater, and The Public Theater, among others. She also is a curator of performance (Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans; Charles H. Wright Museum, Detroit). This is Raelle's first production for Mint Theater.

Tickets for Sump'n Like Wings start at $39 and may be purchased online at Theatre Row Box Office. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at 212/714-2442, ext. 45 (daily from 12 Noon to 5PM), or in person at the Theatre Row Box Office (located at 410 West 42nd Street). 

Service fees will apply for online or phone orders. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 7PM, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2PM. Theatre Row, located at 410 West 42nd Street (between 9th & 10th Avenues), is a fully accessible venue: all bathrooms are accessible; there is an elevator to all floors; the bar and lounge are fully accessible; assisted listening devices are available.

For more information, including photos and videos of previous Mint productions, visit minttheater.org.