The Billie Holiday Theatre to Stage The World Premiere of MAID'S DOOR, 3/6-3/30

The Billie Holiday Theatre continues its 42nd Season Generations United with the World Premiere of Maid's Door by Writers Guild Award winner and Emmy Award nominee Cheryl L. Davis; the show will be directed by the Theatre's Artistic Director Jackie Alexander. Opening Night will be Thursday, March 6; and the show will run through Sunday, March 30.

Performances are Thursday-Saturday at 8pm with matinees on Saturday at 3pm and Sunday at 4pm. All tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.thebillieholiday.org or by calling the box office at 718-636-0918 or 0919. A discounted rate of $15 is available for Children 15 and younger, Seniors, and Students with a valid ID.

Maid's Door is a heart-wrenching drama that centers around beloved matriarch Ida Farrell. Like many African-
American women in the 60's and 70's, Ida worked tirelessly as a maid for decades to provide a life for her daughters that was unavailable to her. Now that Ida is older and exhibiting signs of illness, it is her accomplished daughter Betty's turn to care for her mother and provide her with luxuries she never thought possible. However, when Betty moves into an Upper West Side apartment, Ida comes face to face with old wounds and broken dreams that have haunted her for years, while her illness causes her to become increasingly trapped between the past and the present. As Ida struggles to maintain her sanity, Betty stops at nothing to restore her mother's well being and preserve her legacy.

Playwright Cheryl L. Davis explains how the idea for Maid's Door was born: "In high school my family moved into an Upper West Side apartment, and I was intrigued with the fact that the kitchen had a second entrance door. My grandmother, who had been a maid for a family that lived only blocks away, explained to me that my prized second door was in fact a 'Maid's Door'. I immediately knew there was a story waiting to be told."

The cast features Joan T. Anderson, Nicola d'Alessandro, Nate James, Melissa Joyner, Scottie Mills, and Kimberlee Monroe. The creative team includes Patrice Andrew Davidson (Set Designer), Helen L. Collen (Costume Designer), and Avan (Lighting Designer).

Cheryl L. Davis is a musical theatre librettist and lyricist with a degree in English and a Certificate in Theatre and Dance from Princeton University. She is an alumna of the Playwrights' Lab of the Women's Project and Productions and the River Writers Unit of the Ensemble Studio Theatre, a member of the Dramatists Guild, and an associate artist of Milk Can Theatre Company. She is the Vice President of Theater Resources Unlimited, a producers' networking organization and the Vice President of Communications for the League of Professional Theater Women.

Ms. Davis is a recipient of the Kleban Award for her work as a librettist. Her musical Barnstormer, written with award-winning composer Douglas J. Cohen, received a Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award under the auspices of the Lark Play Development Center. Her play The Color of Justice about the desegregation of the nations' school system was commissioned by Theatreworks/USA and received critical acclaim in the New York Times and Daily News. Her play Winnie the Pooh KIDS is licensed by the Disney Theatrical Group, and her play Cover Girls, an adaptation of the Bishop T. D. Jakes novel, was produced and toured by ClearChannel Entertainment. She is the recipient of a commission from the Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science and Technology Project, and her work has been read and performed at theatres internationally including the Cleveland Play House, the Actors Theatre of Louisville, and the Kennedy Center.

Ms. Davis' talents extend beyond the stage as well. She is a Writers Guild Award winner and Emmy Award nominee for her work as a writer on the daytime dramatic serial As the World Turns. She is sole script writer for the health-related radio drama Staying Well in Camberwell and one of the writers of the web soap opera Our World. She is also a practicing attorney in Manhattan and is a partner with the firm of Menaker & Herrmann LLP.

The AUDELCO and Obie Award winning Billie Holiday Theatre, proud member of The Coalition of Theatres of Color, serves over 30,000 people annually and has garnered a well-earned reputation for providing outstanding professional theater productions. Under the leadership of Marjorie Moon, the 200-seat Theatre has a 40-week season dedicated to producing work relevant to the African-American/Caribbean-American experience. The Theatre is home to countless professional artists nationally and internationally including notable alumni Samuel L. Jackson, Debbie Allen, Samm-Art Williams, Weldon Irvine, and Tichina Arnold. The Billie Holiday Theatre is committed to providing quality theatre at affordable prices.

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