Celebration Arts Presents BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK, June 2- 25

Celebration Arts continues its 2023 Season with its third production, BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK, written by Lynn Nottage.

BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK is a journey back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, where we meet aspiring starlet Vera Stark, who works as a maid to Gloria Mitchell, an aging star grasping at her fading career.

Worlds collide when Vera lands a trailblazing role in an antebellum epic starring ... her boss. Yet, while Vera's portrayal of an enslaved person turns out to be groundbreaking, decades later, scholars and film buffs still grapple with the actress's legacy in Hollywood and race's impact on her controversial career.

Through the fictionalized characters, Nottage hints at both unknown and celebrated performers and Hollywood executives during that time, including Theresa Harris, Barbara Stanwyck, Hattie McDaniel, Carmen Miranda, Dizzy Gillespie, Aldoph Zukor, and Erich von Stroheim.

Directed by Nicole Limón (EVERYBODY, QUANTUM, DANCE NATION, BLOOD AT THE ROOT), BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK promises to be a charming and comedic play that Nottage says "focuses on African American women, or women from the African diaspora, who've been marginalized by circumstance and who are trying to assert their presence."

The cast includes Carla Fleming (WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN, BLACK PEARL SINGS, SISTER ACT: THE MUSICAL), Michelle Champoux (ADMISSIONS, CALIFORNIA SUITE, CRIMES OF THE HEART), Shaquarrius Calloway (WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN, HAIRSPRAY, RENT), Rachel Powell (AIN'T SUPPOSED TO DIE A NATURAL DEATH, LIL HAM), Jim Last (THE DINNER PARTY, ALL MY SONS, FOUR WEDDINGS AND AN ELVIS), David J. Stewart, and Alex Nye.

Performances run June 2 -June 25, 2023. Tickets and Season/Flex passes are available at celebrationarts.net.

Lynn Nottage is a noted playwright and screenwriter. She is the first and remains the only, woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and worldwide.

Most recently, Nottage premiered MJ THE MUSICAL, directed by Christopher Wheeldon and featuring the music of Michael Jackson, at the Neil Simon Theater on Broadway, CLYDE'S, directed by Kate Whoriskey, at Second Stage Theater on Broadway and an opera adaptation of her play INTIMATE APPAREL composed by Ricky Ian Gordon and directed by Bart Sher, commissioned by The Met/Lincoln Center Theater.

Her other work includes the musical adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's novel THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, with music by Duncan Sheik and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead (The Almeida Theatre/The Atlantic Theater), MLIMA'S TALE (Public Theater), BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK (Lilly Award, Drama Desk Nomination- Second Stage/Signature Theater), RUINED (Pulitzer Prize, OBIE, Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics' Circle, Audelco, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award- MTC/Goodman Theater); FABULATION, OR THE RE-EDUCATION OF UNDINE (OBIE Award - Playwrights Horizons/Signature Theater); CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY, LAS MENINAS, MUD RIVER STONE, POR'KNOCKERS, AND POOF!

Nicole C. Limón is an actor/director/playwright/dramaturg and theatre faculty at Sacramento State University. She is the founder of Matriarchy Theatre, a resident artist with Teatro Espejo, and has a special interest in directing diverse contemporary works for the stage.

Recent directing: EVERYBODY by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (CSUS,) QUANTUM by Tara Moses (Matriarchy,) DANCE NATION by Clare Barron (CSUS,) FADE by Tanya Saracho (Teatro Espejo,) BLOOD AT THE ROOT by Dominique Morisseau (Celebration Arts,) and WATER BY THE SPOONFUL by Quiara Alegría Hudes (Teatro Espejo.)

Her production of SWEAT by Lynn Nottage won six national awards at the 2021 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, including awards for Overall Production, Ensemble Collaboration, and Achievement in Directing.

She is a Theatrical Intimacy Director committed to creating consent-forward spaces for artists, a proud Stage Directors and Choreographers Society member, and a 2022-23 National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient through the City of Sacramento.

She holds an MFA in Acting from UC Davis and studied at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Follow her work @matriarchytheatre

Originally the Celebration Dance Company founded in 1976 by James Wheatley,

Celebration Arts became a 501c3 organization in 1986. For more than 30 years, Celebration Arts continues to be a cornerstone of music, dance, and theater for the Sacramento region's African American community bringing Black artists and stories to its stage at 2727 B Street. In addition, Celebration Arts provides educational programs to children through Kids' Time and dance training for teens, adults, and seniors. More information can be found at celebrationarts.net.

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