INSPIRA: THE POWER OF THE SPIRITUAL Premieres at Millersville University This Weekend

Activism and spirituality, theatre arts and history will all come together in the Lancaster premiere of "Inspira: The Power of the Spiritual," a new work by poet, playwright, performer and educator Amanda Kemp, to be performed at the Ware Center of Millersville University tonight, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m., and Feb. 15, at 3 p.m. "Inspira: The Power of the Spiritual," is a musical and spoken word program that presents spirituals for audiences aged 8 and up. A multi-media experience, "Inspira" encourages audiences to sing along as they learn about the power of the spiritual in the past and experience its power today. The Ware Center is located at 42 N. Prince Street, Lancaster.

Running about 45 minutes, "Inspira" tells the story of African-American spirituals, from their slavery origins to their use in the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and '60s. The performance also includes excerpts from Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech. With themes that touch upon remembrance and sorrow, anger and forgiveness, healing and transformation, the show's premiere commemorates this year's 150th anniversary of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery in the U.S.

Kemp, a resident of Lancaster, where she is founder of Theatre for Transformation and research associate of Africana studies at Franklin & Marshall College, will narrate the show, which will also feature a mixture of African-American spirituals, classical and contemporary jazz music performed by jazz saxophonist Francis Wong, a leader in San Francisco's jazz community where he is co-founder of the musicians' cooperative, Asian Improv Arts, and internationally acclaimed violinist Michael Jamanis, a founding member of the Lancaster-based music ensemble, Newstead Trio, and director of the Lancaster nonprofit Music for Everyone's Music in the Schools program.

Tickets for Saturday's performance are $15 general admission, $12 seniors, $5 students; tickets for Sunday'sperformance are pay-what-you-can. Tickets may be purchased at www.ArtsMU.com or by calling the Millersville University Ticket Office, at 717-871-7600, or the Ware Center, 717-871-7018, or at the Ticket Office, located in the Student Memorial Center on campus, or the Ware Center, located at 42 N. Prince Street, in Lancaster. (The Ware Center's doors will open one hour before the show for ticket sales, subject to availability). Discount parking vouchers for the Prince Street Garage (North Prince and West Orange streets) are available at the Ware Center for the day of the performance.

The Millersville University Visual and Performing Arts Season is made possible by a partnership with Season Partner Rogers & Associates and Season Sponsors: Aussie and the Fox, Clipper Magazine, Hagelgans & Veronis, The Hotel Lancaster, 12:34 MicroTechnologies, Ann B. Barshinger, Peggy Neff, Mary S. Burton & Laurent Horne, Linda Holman Marcks, Mary Kearns & Jon Walker, Carmen & David's Creamery, Fig Lancaster Magazine, and Fine Living Lancaster. Media Sponsors are Fig Lancaster Magazine and Fine Living Lancaster. The film series is sponsored by Carmen & David's Creamery.

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