Han Ong's GRANDEUR World Premiere at Magic Theatre to feature Carl Lumbly
By: A.A. Cristi Apr. 26, 2017
The production is helmed by Magic's Artistic Director Loretta Greco. Tickets are on-sale now. The Company is led by Carl Lumbly (ABC's Alias, CBS' Cagney & Lacey) as "Gil Scott-Heron," and features Safiya Fredericks as "Julie Toussaint" and Rafael Jordan as "Steve Barron."
GRANDEUR imagines a meeting between an ambitious young journalist and the shape-shifting music legend, Gil Scott-Heron. Questions of legacy, art, hope, and redemption drive this funny and gut-wrenching exchange. It's a homecoming for MacArthur Genius award winner Han Ong, who returns to Magic after a 25-year hiatus.
"In 1992 Han Ong made his professional debut at Magic in 1992 with Reasons to Live," said Artistic Director Loretta Greco, who is directing GRANDEUR. "So, it is serendipitous that after a sojourn from the theater (in order to write his wonderful novels) he is returning home to Magic with his first play in 16 years! GRANDEUR is a stunning-- powerful ride; both wickedly funny and poignant in its social relevance, we are honored to be premiering it. GRANDEUR provides the rare opportunity to spend an evening with the shape-shifting titan of music: the great Gil Scott Heron (played with gusto by the exceptional Carl Lumbly). Just as Diebenkorn chasing the tail of Matisse has captured our collective imagination, Han has doggedly trailed and lovingly reassembled another artist of color's rise and fall in order to evoke perspective on some of life's larger questions and to leave a more intricate and complicated tale which asks us to reconsider what constitutes a man's worth."
In addition to Mr. Ong and Ms. Greco, the creative team includes Hana S. Kim (Scenic / Video Design), Alex Jaeger (Costume Design), Raymond Oppenheimer (Lighting Design), Sara Huddleston (Sound Design) and Jackie Scott (Props Design). Magic Theatre is located in the Marina District of San Francisco, at the historic Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture (Fort Mason, 2 Marina Blvd., Building D, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94123). The entrance to Fort Mason is at the intersection of Marina Blvd and Buchanan Street.
The performance schedule is Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday - Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. There is no Tuesday performance during Previews, and there will be two additional 2:30 p.m. performances (on Saturday, June 10 and Wednesday, June 14). There will be a Salon with the Director and Playwright following the 2:30 p.m. performance on Sunday, June 4, and Friday post-show Talkbacks with the actors following the 8:00 p.m. performances on June 9, June 16 and June 23.
Tickets, priced from $35.00 to $75.00, are available online at MagicTheatre.org; by calling Magic Theatre at (415) 441-8822; or visiting Magic Theatre's Box Office, Monday - Friday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during non-performance dates. On performance dates, the Box Office is open Tuesday - Saturday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Sunday one hour prior to the show. For more information, visit MagicTheatre.org. About Magic Theatre
Now celebrating its 50th year of continuous operation, Magic Theatre is dedicated to the cultivation of bold new plays, playwrights, and audiences - and to producing explosive, entertaining, and ideologically robust stories that ask substantive questions about our place in humanity. Magic provides a nurturing yet rigorous artistic home where innovative writers can create a body of work. We believe that developing an evolved artistic vocabulary with the playwright at our side, over a long period of time, greatly improves a playwright's chances to thrive.
From its earliest years, Magic Theatre has contributed to the richness and relevance of the national theatrical canon. Magic's impact on the field has resonated throughout the United States beginning in the 1970's with Sam Shepard's early Pulitzer and Obie-award winning plays to Luis Alfaro's world premiere of Oedipus el Rey in 2010, Taylor Mac's groundbreaking five-hour epic The Lily's Revenge in 2011, and Octavio Solis's Se Llama Cristina in 2013. Under Loretta Greco's direction, Magic is reviving and increasing playwright residencies and long-term artistic developmental efforts as it hones its focus on new play creation in concert with the playwright. 22 of the 25 new plays produced at Magic over the last five years have enjoyed extended life beyond its stage throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Magic Theatre has supported hundreds of artists since the indefatigable John Lion founded it in 1967. Michael McClure served as the first playwright in residence beginning in 1969 with his early plays. Sam Shepard cut his playwright's teeth at Magic, starting in 1975. His seminal plays were written and premiered during his decade-long residency, including Buried Child (Pulitzer Prize, 1979), True West (both directed by RoBert Woodruff), and Fool for Love. Martin Esslin, internationally renowned scholar and critic, joined the company as the first resident dramaturg in American theater in 1977, a position now integral to American new playhouses.
Soon 3, Athol Fugard, Mark O'Rowe, Nilo Cruz, Octavio Solis, Claire Chafee, Jon Robin Baitz, Paula Vogel, Anne Bogart, Stephen Belber, Basil Twist, and Rebecca Gilman are just a notable few of the formidable writers who have been a part of Magic's history. They have been joined in recent years by many of today's exciting playwrights, such as Taylor Mac, Linda McLean, Teresa Rebeck, Lloyd Suh, Julie Marie Myatt, Sharr White, Christina Anderson, and Luis Alfaro. Magic plays have received numerous awards, including Pulitzer Prizes and ten Obie Awards. Other honors include the Kennedy Center Award, PEN-West Awards for Drama, Bay Area Critics' Circle Awards, Los Angeles Drama-Logue Awards, and the NAACP Image Award. Oedipus el Rey was awarded the Will Glickman Playwriting Award for 2010 and Sharr White's Annapurna was a finalist for the 2012 Steinberg/ACTA New Play Award.
Comments
Videos