Mama Foundation for the Arts to Present WE ARE! & ALIVE! this Fall

The Mama Foundation for the Arts proudly announces that two new musicals will open Off-Broadway this fall in Harlem: WE ARE!, an original musical about and starring the acclaimed Gospel for Teens Choir (first seen in an Emmy Award-Winning "60 Minutes" story), and ALIVE!, an original musical featuring a full company of performers who are age 55 and over. Both WE ARE! and ALIVE!, conceived, written and directed by Vy Higginsen and Ken Wydro, will join MAMA, I WANT TO SING: THE NEXT GENERATION and SING HARLEM SING in Repertory at The Dempsey Theater in Harlem (127 W. 127 St.). Performances for ALIVE! begin on Saturday, October 5th; performances for WE ARE! begin Saturday, October 12th. MAMA . . . will join the two new musicals in rep beginning Saturday, October 19th, and SING, HARLEM, SING will be performed on Saturday, November 16th. Tickets to all four musicals presented by The Mama Foundation at The Dempsey are $35 and are available by calling the Mama Foundation for the Arts at 212-280-1045, or online at SmartTix.com.

Says Mama Foundation for the Arts Founder and the musicals' co-creator Vy Higginsen, "On one end, we have a generation of teenagers born in the 1990s with their whole lives ahead of them. On the other end, we have a group of people over the age of 55-baby boomers who experienced the volatile, turbulent, and exciting 1960s, 70s, and 80s -people with a lot of life behind them to reflect on, but also with some amazing years still ahead of them. Both shows will allow the talented performers we assembled to lift our spirits through music, to express both our joys and our wounds, pains and worries. I'm so proud that The Mama Foundation for the Arts, the preeminent presenter of Black musical theater in New York City, continues to serve and represent the entire spectrum of our community and our city."

Says director Ken Wydro, "The two new shows that will be workshopped and rehearsed this summer will give very talented performers at both ends of the age spectrum an opportunity to recall, explore and express the inner landscape of their psyches. Both groups will get to sing songs that give their lives a dimension, depth and purpose. WE ARE! and ALIVE! will both bring true, personal stories, and amazing singing, to The Dempsey Theater in Harlem this fall."

Proceeds from Mama Foundation productions benefit The Mama Foundation for the Arts, cultural space in Harlem with a mission to present, preserve, and promote the history and fundamentals of gospel, jazz, and rhythm and blues music for current and future generations, as well as to provide quality training and employment in the performing arts to both youths and adults. A non-profit 501(C)3, the Mama Foundation for the Arts was founded in 1998 by Vy Higginsen, inspired by the worldwide success of her musical, Mama, I Want To Sing.

Through the Foundation's School of Gospel, Jazz and R&B and its Gospel for Teens program, instruction in these musical art forms has been offered to young people between the ages of 13 and 19 at no cost since 2006. The Gospel for Teens program has serviced hundreds of students in the past seven years, providing desperately needed support to musically gifted children and replacing arts programs taken out of many inner city schools.

Gospel for Teens was the subject of an award-winning "60 Minutes" feature story (two 2012 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Feature Story in a News Magazine; as well as a 2012 National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Award) that followed the program's students for a year - from auditions to the choir's victory at their very first competition, the open division at The Pathmark Gospel Choir Competition of Harlem, held at The Apollo in 2011. Students from GFT's "Performing Before Live Audiences" (PBLA) level comprise the Gospel for Teens Choir, a nationally recognized and award-winning ensemble whose members are featured in Mama, I Want to Sing: The Next Generation. In addition to "60 Minutes," Gospel for Teen Choir's other national TV appearances include performances on "The Celebrity Apprentice," "The CBS Early Show," and "The Nate Berkus Show." In addition to their acclaimed weekly performances at Marcus Samuelsson's Sunday Gospel Brunch at Red Rooster Harlem/Ginny's Supper Club, the Gospel for Teens Choir have recently performed at the prestigious TED Conference in Long Beach, CA; the Stellar Gospel Music Awards in Nashville, TN; and Moncler Grenoble's winter show at New York Fashion Week.

MAMA, I WANT TO SING: THE NEXT GENERATION is the revival of the classic 1983 gospel musical, the longest-running African-American Off-Broadway musical in history, which opened in Harlem in 1983 at The Heckscher Theater (eight year run with over 2,500 performances in NYC). This revival, directed by Mr. Wydro, opened at The Dempsey in April 2011. MAMA, I WANT TO SING: THE NEXT GENERATION tells the story of a talented young girl who dreams of leaving her church choir to pursue a life in popular music, despite strong objections from her mother. A tribute to the many African-American artists with church choir roots who rose to fame in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, creator Vy Higginsen based her musical on the life of her sister, Doris Troy, whose 1963 hit "Just One Look" launched her to international fame. Mama, I Want To Sing has book and lyrics by Ms. Higginsen and Ken Wydro, and original music by Wesley Naylor. The production stars Ahmaya Knoelle Higginson as Doris, Bettina Pennon as Mama, Sandra Huff as Sister Carrie, Tyrone Flowers as Reverend Winters, and Elijah Ahmad Lewis as the Minister of Music. The cast also features members of the Gospel for Teens Choir in the ensemble.

The Mama Foundation also presents SING HARLEM SING! created by Vy Higginsen and inspired by the many years she spent behind the microphone at major urban radio stations (such as WBLS-FM and Kiss-FM), SING HARLEM SING! is a celebration of African-American music (including R&B, jazz, early rock 'n' roll, and gospel), urban radio, and the energy of one of the world's most legendary neighborhoods.

THE MAMA FOUNDATION - IN REPERTORY AT THE DEMPSEY - FALL 2013 SCHEDULE

Saturday Oct. 5th ALIVE! @ 5:00pm

Saturday Oct. 12th WE ARE! @ 2:00pm; ALIVE! @ 5:00pm

Saturday Oct. 19th MAMA @ 2:00pm; WE ARE! @ 5:00pm

Saturday Oct. 26th ALIVE! @ 2:00pm; WE ARE! @ 5:00pm

Saturday Nov. 2nd MAMA @ 2:00pm; WE ARE! @ 5:00pm

Saturday Nov. 9th MAMA @ 2:00pm; ALIVE! @ 5:00pm

Saturday Nov. 16th SING, HARLEM, SING @ 2:00pm; ALIVE! @ 5:00pm

Saturday Nov. 23rd MAMA! @ 2:00pm WE ARE! @ 5:00pm

Saturday Nov. 30th Gospel for Teens End of Semester Holiday Concerts (times TBD)

In December 2013, The Mama Foundation and the cast of MAMA, I WANT TO SING . . . will travel to Japan for a touring engagement commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the musical's Japanese premiere, which is credited for introducing the local culture to gospel music.

Performances of Mama Foundation musicals will resume at The Dempsey in early 2014.

Tickets for all Mama Foundation shows are available by calling the Mama Foundation for the Arts at 212-280-1045 or through SmartTix.com (212-868-4444). Special rates for groups and parties are also available. For more information, please visit www.mamafoundation.org.

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