HAIR Let's The Sunshine Into Burning Coal Theatre Company On 9/10

Burning Coal Theatre Company of Raleigh, NC will present Ragni, Rado and McDermott’s Hair September 10 – 27, 2009 at Meymandi Theatre at the Murphey School, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh.  Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm.  Tickets are $20 or $15 for students, Seniors and Active Military.  Thursday tickets are $10.  Sunday, September 13 at 2 pm in Audio Described for the Hearing Impaired and ‘Pay What You Can’ day.  For reservations, please call 919-834-4001 or visit us at www.burningcoal.org.  Show contains mature subject matter and brief nudity.

“The American Tribal Love Rock Musical” stunned New York when it opened in 1967 at Joseph Papp’s Public Theatre under the direction of Gerald Friedman (current head of acting at NC School of the Arts).  The following year, it moved to Broadway, where it played for 1,750 performances.  It produced several Top 40 hit songs, including “Aquarius”, “Let the Sun Shine In”, “Easy to Be Hard” and “Good Morning, Starshine”.  In 1979, a film version by Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus, Ragtime) appeared.  In 2009, a new Broadway production of Hair directed by Diane Paulus (The Donkey Show) won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.  Time Magazine declared “Today, Hair seems more daring than ever.”

Mark Sutch, visiting professor of Theatre at Davidson College in Davidson, NC will direct Hair.  Mark teaches acting, directing, voice, movement and play analysis at Davidson.  There, he has directed Hamlet, Women Beware Women and Dark Ride.  Previously, he was Artistic Associate of Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, RI, where he headed their annual Summer Shakespeare Festival, which toured throughout the Northeastern U.S. 

Robin Harris is Choreographer for Hair.  She head’s NCSU’s Dance Program.  Robin holds a BA in French and an MA in Dance from The Ohio State University, and has received certification from the Dance Notation Bureau as a Labanotation teacher.  A choreographer of over twenty-five major works, Robin is a recipient of two NC Arts Council Choreographers Fellowships, a recipient of the Raleigh Medal of Arts and, and an Indy Award.

Brad Gardner, a recent graduate of Campbell University, is Music Director.  Brad has regularly collaborated with the North Carolina Theatre and recently worked with Arena Stage in Washington, DC.

The design team includes Kelly Farrow (costumes), who has designed in some of the largest and most prestigious theatre in Australia, Chris Popowich (lighting), who has designed at Carnegie Mellon, the Irish & Classical Theatre of Pittsburgh, and the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.  Joe Gardner (scenery) has designed for Charlotte Rep, the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, Tarradiddle Players and CPCC Summer Theatre.  Joe is a Professor of Theatre at Davidson College.

The production stage manager is Elizabeth Gerhard of Raleigh.  Properties Design is by Elsbeth Turner or Raleigh and Rachel McCrain of Chapel Hill, NC.  Sylvia Mallory of Raleigh is Assistant to the Director.  Brittanye Batcheler will design wigs and makeup.  Curtis Jones of Raleigh is Technical Director and Simmie Kastner is graphics designer. Hayley Teater of Raleigh is ASM.

The cast of Hair will include eighteen actors from Raleigh, New York City and all over the state of North Carolina.  They include Joel Hughes (NYC), Aaron Pratt (Raleigh) , Mark St. Cyr (Elon), Sam Heldt (NYC), Katie Finan (Morrisville), Lormarev Jones (Raleigh), Chloe Oliver (Raleigh), Whitney Madren (ECU), Julie Oliver (Raleigh), Rob Jenkins (Raleigh), Jade Arnold (Durham), Thomas Weaver (Elon), Aurelia Belfield (Raleigh), Jennifer Mundia (Raleigh), Jonathan Fitts (Boone), Jackson Bloom (Raleigh), Betsy Newsome (Raleigh), and Kristen McCabe (Raleigh).

Reservations strongly recommended.  For further information, contact Burning at 919.834.4001.

Burning Coal Theatre Company is one of Raleigh's professional Equity theatre companies.  Burning Coal is an incorporated, non-profit [501 (c) (3)] organization.  Burning Coal's mission is to produce literate, visceral, affecting theatre that is experienced, not simply seen.  Burning Coal produces explosive reexaminations of overlooked classic and modern plays, as well as new plays, whose themes and issues are of immediate concern to our audience, using the best local, national and International Artists available.  We work toward a theatre of high-energy performances and minimalist production values.  The emphasis is on literate works that are felt and experienced viscerally, unlike more traditional linear plays, at which audiences are most often asked to observe without participating.  Race and gender non-specific casting is an integral component of our perspective, as well as an international viewpoint. For more information, visit www.burningcoal.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.