Stage Left Studio Presents HOME IN HER HEART, Now thru 12/17

Margaret Morrison's HOME IN HER HEART will open at Stage Left Studio tonight, October 16 and run through December 17. The play with music originally opened last April as part of Cheryl King's 2012 Left Out Festival.

Set against a backdrop of 1939 Nazi-threatened London, HOME IN HER HEART is the emotionally charged story of a loving relationship about to be torn asunder, not by the pending German bombs, but by the bias, racism and homophobia waiting for the couple on the other side of the Atlantic. For three years, Mrs. Claire Hicks and Miss Jimmie LeRoy have been living and performing together in the clubs of London. Jimmie has a lifetime of experience as a lesbian and as a male impersonator. Claire, a talented pianist, is with a woman for the first time, and a white woman, at that. When Hitler threatens war on Great Britain, the Embassy orders all Americans out of England and the women must face the harsh reality of returning to a segregated U.S. As they pack to leave, the specters of exile, external hatred, and internalized homophobia make the very dream of their love seem impossible.

Written by Margaret Morrison and directed by Cheryl King, HOME IN HER HEART stars Ericka L. Hart and Miss Morrision.

The play's soundtrack of haunting piano solos has been performed and recorded by Cynthia Hilts. The play also features the songs "Lady Be Good," "Embraceable You," and "They Can't Take That Away From Me," by George and Ira Gershwin and "I'm Gonna to Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" by Fred E. Ahlert and Joe Young.

The Sound Design is by Miss King and Joe Hutcheson. The Scenic, Costume and Prop Designs are by Miss King and Miss Morrison. Ellen Rosenberg is the Technical Director.

HOME IN HER HEART will play Stage Left Studio (214 West 30th Street, Sixth Floor) tonight, October 16 and October 24, November 2, 10, 13, & 27, and December 4, 11, & 17. All shows are at 7:30 PM. For tickets, priced at $20, and more information, visit www.stageleftsudio.net.

Margaret Morrison (Author/Miss Jimmie LeRoy) is a rhythm tap soloist, playwright, actor, and dance scholar. Critics have called her "feather-footed and musically astute." Margaret's performance and research projects explore gender, race, sexuality, and history in tap dance, and she is currently developing a Queer Vaudeville, "Miss Bert Whitman Meets Dyke Astaire." She has performed her tap-theater works at Duke University, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, PS122, BAX, Nuyorican Poets Café, Symphony Space, and Stage Left Studio. She's thrilled to have worked with Cheryl King since 2009 as a director, dramaturge, and writing coach. From 1986 to 2007 she toured internationally as a featured soloist with the American Tap Dance Orchestra, directed by Brenda Bufalino, and Tap City on Tour, directed by Tony Waag. She studied acting with Carol Fox Prescott, received her MFA in Dance from Hollins University/American Dance Festival, and is on the faculty of the Barnard College Dance Department. Home In Her Heart is her first full-length play.

ERICKA L. HART (Mrs. Claire Hicks) is an actor, singer, model, dancer, and sex educator. She recently sang at Amateur Night at the Apollo and, in 2010, traveled to Ethiopia to organize HIV/AIDS awareness plays for social change. She has performed lead roles in productions ranging from Shakespeare to Grease. Home In Her Heart is Ericka's NYC theater debut. She received her BA with a Minor in Theater from the University of Miami. When she's not on stage, Ericka teaches sex education to teens at Union Settlement Association in East Harlem.

Cheryl King (Director) is the creator and producing director of Stage Left Studio, in NYC, was resident acting coach at All My Children from 2007-2010, and is a playwright, director and actor. A director since 1999, she has directed over 30 productions, including Frank Blocker's Drama Desk-nominated Southern Gothic Novel, 180 Days, Taren Sterry's solo show about hospice care, and Theresa Gambacorta's The Vegas Project. She most recently presented her second solo show, Grapefruit, by Sally Lambert, at Stage Left Studio.

CYNTHIA HILTS (Piano Solos) is pianist, vocalist, composer, lyricist, bandleader, recording artist, teacher, musical director, and poet. She performs solo, trio, and with her chamber jazz octet, Lyric Fury, across the US and abroad. Award-winning composer and critically acclaimed pianist/songstress, she has also received several grants and commissions. Ms. Hilts has recorded three of her own CD's, and various other artists' CD's. Her musical persona varies from sultry jazz diva to songwriter (aka "Cincha"), to iconoclastic bandleader, to musical theatre director. Her students range from young beginners to world-class musicians seeking to expand their horizons.

Photo Credit: Ellen Rosenberg

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