Original Musical MARIAN Will Have Private Industry Readings This Week

Liquid Theatre Collective and Randy Donaldson, Executive Producer, will present two (2) private industry readings of MARIAN, an original musical based on the life of world-renowned contralto, Marian Anderson, with story by Elkin Antoniou G, Chelsea Marie Davis & Caleen Sinnette Jennings, music by Chelsea Marie Davis & Victoria Theodore, lyrics by Chelsea Marie Davis & Emily Ruth Hazel and book by Caleen Sinnette Jennings & Elkin Antoniou G. Directed by Tamara Tunie, with arrangements and music direction by Victoria Theodore, the readings will be held at Sunlight Studios (321 West 44th Street - Unit 202) on Friday, June 17 at 11am and 3pm.

Twenty-four years before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech, a Black woman stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and sang before an unprecedented, racially integrated audience of 75,000 people. After struggling against societal forces to fulfill her dream of becoming a world-class singer, Marian Anderson reaches her greatest potential as an artist, only to risk everything during the 1930's pre-civil rights movement. THIS IS HER STORY.

The Authors state "Marian Anderson rose from desperate circumstances to enrich, inspire, and enlighten the world with music. She sang and spoke in multiple languages to remind us that humanity has one, unified voice. In this tumultuous time in history, we need heroes to help us imagine and create a more just, inclusive world. Marian is a role model who healed through music and exemplified love, equity and the eternal, unbreakable connection between all people."

The cast of MARIAN is Jasmine Muhammad✶(Marian Anderson), Danielle Lee Greaves✶ (Anna Anderson), Lee Siegel✶ (Orpheus Fisher), Jonathan Burke✶(Billy King), Charlotte Odusanva (Young Marian/Ethel), Brennyn Lark✶ (Alyce Anderson/Alberta Hunter), Blake Friedman (Boghetti/Kosti), Eric Leviton✶ (Sol Hurok), Antoine L. Smith✶ (Roland Hayes), Rachel Policar✶(Glinda/"Bad Soprano"), Lavon Fisher Wilson✶ (Isabella Anderson), Kaye Tuckerman✶ (Eleanor Roosevelt), André Garner✶ (Walter White), Isaac Ryckeghem✶ (Kaminka/Ickes), Ashley Marie Arnold✶ (Mary Anderson), Molly Stilliens and Shawn Bowers✶ (Ensemble) and Victoria Navarrro✶ (Stage Manager) ✶Denotes member of Actors Equity Association.

The creative and production team includes Dave Tweedie (Drums), Brad Zuckerman (Sound Engineer), Amber Snead, CSA & Kendra Lynn Lucas (Binder Casting) (Casting), and Brierpatch Productions (General Management).

Bios

Elkin Antoniou G (Story/Book) began her career as a professional ballet dancer and musical theatre performer. Favorite credits: The Phantom of the Opera, (First National Company), Fame: The Musical (West Coast Premiere), Gypsy (w/ Bette Midler). She developed/co-produced the Academy Award nominated foreign film, Most. She co-wrote the films Teenage, Requiem, and The Magical Ingredients of Becoming a Somebody. Elkin co-wrote and directed Let Me Entertain You Again (Abingdon Theatre/54Below).

Chelsea Marie Davis (Story/Music/Lyrics) is a multi-genre songwriter & jazz vocalist. She studied Music and Psychology at Chapman University. She is an Artist-in-Residence with the Johnny Mercer Foundation and the All the Arts for All the Kids Foundation. Her original songs have been featured on Freeform, WB, CMT, CBS, and on NPR in LA Theater Works' production of the award-winning play The Whipping Man.

Caleen Sinnette Jennings (Story/Book) is an actor, playwright, director, and Professor Emerita of Theatre at American University. She is author of over 75 plays, seven of which are published by Dramatic Publishing Company. Her play, Queens Girl in the World, was produced off-Broadway in spring 2022. Arena Stage has commissioned her to write a play on Ruth Bader Ginsberg and she is currently a senior consultant to the Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Victoria Theodore (Music/Arrangements/Music Direction) Oberlin and Stanford graduate, was Music Director for SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical on Broadway, has toured extensively with Beyoncé and Stevie Wonder, and keyboardist on the 2013 "Arsenio Hall Show." She and Dave Tweedie are the band EnSPirits. Victoria also performs with Freestyle Love Supreme, was 1 pianist for Oscar winning Best Film CODA and is featured in Tick, Tick...BOOM, Lin Manuel Miranda's debut film!

Emily Ruth Hazel (Lyrics) is a cross-pollinating poet, writer, and lyricist. She was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship to develop a full-length poetry book manuscript during a residency at The Hambidge Center. A graduate of Oberlin College's Creative Writing Program, she has twice been awarded national Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prizes and has written more than twenty commissioned works. Her chapbook, Body & Soul (Finishing Line Press), was a New Women's Voices finalist.

Tamara Tunie (Director) directed Feelin' Good!, Tony Award-winner LaChanze's autobiographical, one-woman show. She produced and directed the feature film See You in September, directed and co-wrote the world premiere of Jazzland at The Harlem School of the Arts, and is directing the new musical Dorothy Dandridge, about the life of the legendary Hollywood movie star. Also, under Ms. Tunie's direction, Love and Southern Discomfort, a new musical currently in development, destined for Broadway.

Learn more at www.marianmusical.com

To post a comment, you must register and login.