Photos: First Look at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's FANNIE

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer will run through April 2, 2023 at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. For tickets (starting at $30) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (877)-662-8978.

Check out production photos below!

Greta Oglesby, who starred in last season's critically acclaimed Gem of the Ocean, reunites with TheatreWorks Artistic Director Tim Bond, who will direct this stirring musical play about the famed civil rights activist. Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer traces Hamer's inspiring gospel journey to justice, from sharecropper to co-founding the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and becoming an outspoken voice for African American voting rights. Featuring songs including "This Little Light of Mine" and "We Shall Not Be Moved," this rousing call to action will ignite audiences to rise up and do their part to fight for what's right.

Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer was commissioned by the Goodman Theatre and Seattle Repertory Theatre and has performed at leading regional theatres around the country. Chicago Reader declared "Fannie is essential viewing. Fannie stiffens our backbones with a double dose of vigor and hope, reminding us that even when we are 'sick and tired of being sick and tired,' our vote and our voices matter."

TheatreWorks is committed to creating an environment that is accessible for all audiences in its community. American Sign Language interpretation will be available at the performance of Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer at 7:30pm Tuesday, March 21, 2023. In partnership with c2 Caption Coalition, TheatreWorks will offer open captioning (a screen displaying all dialogue and a description of sound effects) for the performances of Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer at 2pm & 7pm, Sunday, March 26, 2023 and 2pm Wednesday, March 29, 2023. TheatreWorks is partnering with Gravity Access Services in offering audio descriptions to assist patrons who are visually impaired. This service, which includes a pre-show talk, will be available 8pm Friday, March 31, 2023; 8pm Saturday, April 1, 2023; and 2pm Sunday, April 2, 2023. (To utilize audio description, patrons should pre-register at (877)-662-8978 after purchasing tickets). Assisted listening devices are offered at every performance with no advance registration required. For more information about accessibility programs at TheatreWorks the public may visit TheatreWorks.org/venues/accessibility/

TheatreWorks is also dedicated to engaging audiences through community programming and arts engagement, furthering its mission to develop programming that invests and amplifies the voices and experiences of the theatre company's diverse communities. For each of the shows in the 2022/23 season, TheatreWorks will host In Conversation events, a series of free community events allowing community members to be in conversation with artists and the works onstage. In Conversation events will be staged for Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer after the 2pm matinees on Saturday, March 18, 2023 and Saturday, March 25, 2023. Investing in the voices of the future, TheatreWorks will present a student matinee of Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer at 11am Thursday, March 30, 2023.

Greta Oglesby returns to TheatreWorks to star as Fannie following her acclaimed performance as Aunt Ester in Gem of the Ocean last season. Oglesby previously appeared as Fannie in Oregon Shakespeare Festival's production of Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer. An Ivey Award, Joseph Jefferson Award, and Black Theatre Alliance Award winner, Oglesby was the standby for Phylicia Rashad for A Raisin in the Sun on Broadway, originated the role of Aunt Ester in the World Premiere Production of Gem of the Ocean at the Goodman Theatre, and performed in "A Night with Jeanine Tesori" as part of Lincoln Center's American Songbook series. Her many theatre appearances include roles at The Public Theater, 92nd Street Y, Steppenwolf Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Royale Theatre, Penumbra Theatre, and Lincoln Center. Her film/ TV credits include Queenpins, CBS' "Early Edition," NBC's "Chicago PD," Into Temptation, Time Served, and Four Way Stop.

Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer features musical direction by Morgan E. Stevenson, scenic design by Andrea Bechert, costume design by Lydia Tanji, lighting design by Lonnie Alcaraz, sound design by Gregory Robinson, and projections design by Miko S. Simmons. Randall K. Lum serves as stage manager.

Called a "theatrical daredevil" by The New York Times, plays by Cheryl L. West (Playwright) include Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, Before It Hits Home, Last Stop on Market Street, Shout Sister Shout, Akeelah and the Bee, Pullman Porter Blues, and Jar the Floor, which was given its West Coast Premiere by TheatreWorks in 1992. Her plays have been produced in England, Off-Broadway, on Broadway (Play On!), and in numerous regional theatres around the country, including Seattle Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, The Old Globe, Goodman Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Minneapolis Children's Theatre, Seattle Children's Theatre, Chicago Children's Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre, Bay Street Theatre Festival, Syracuse Stage, Cleveland Play House, South Coast Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Off‐Broadway's Manhattan Theatre Club and Second Stage Theater. She has written TV and film projects at Disney, Paramount, MTV Films, Showtime, TNT, HBO, CBS, and BET, and is the Webby-nominated writer for the original web series "Diary of a Single Mom." West is currently preparing a revival of Broadway-bound Jar the Floor, and working on commissions for Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Minneapolis Children's Theater, Goodman Theatre, and Seattle Repertory Theatre.

Tim Bond (Co-director) is the Artistic Director of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Recent credits include the acclaimed productions of How I Learned What I Learned (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Gem of the Ocean (TheatreWorks), The Children (Seattle Repertory Theatre), and Pass Over (A Contemporary Theatre). He is an internationally known director and educator with past leadership roles as Producing Artistic Director at Syracuse Stage, Associate Artistic Director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Artistic Director at Seattle Group Theatre, and full Professor and Head of the Professional Actor Training Program at the University of Washington School of Drama. Tim has directed nationally and internationally at Market Theatre, Baxter Theatre Centre, Guthrie Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, The Wilma Theater, Arena Stage, GEVA Theatre Center, Cleveland Play House, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Pacific Conservatory Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, Dallas Theater Center, A Contemporary Theatre, Empty Space Theatre, Paul Robeson Theatre, and Seattle Children's Theatre. He is the recipient of two Backstage West Garland Awards, two Syracuse Area Live Theatre (SALT) Awards, and a Dallas-Fort Worth Critics Forum Award.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, led by Artistic Director Tim Bond and Executive Director Debbie Chinn, presents a wide variety of contemporary plays and musicals, revitalizes great works of the past, and serves more than 100,000 patrons per year. Founded in 1970 by Robert Kelley, TheatreWorks has grown from a truly original Silicon Valley start-up to become one of the nation's leading professional non-profit theatre companies. TheatreWorks was recently honored as the recipient of the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award. TheatreWorks also champions new work, offering artists support and a creative home as they develop new stories for the American theatre. Offstage, TheatreWorks' arts education programs in local schools and arts engagement programs in Silicon Valley neighborhoods uplift its audiences and strengthen community bonds. Whether onstage or off, TheatreWorks welcomes the mosaic of people that embody the Bay Area and beyond, celebrating the transformative power of theatre to ignite imagination, inspire conversation, and enliven our souls.

Photo Credit: Kevin Berne

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