The Marsh San Francisco to Present Kathryn Keats' THE HUMMINGBIRD in October
The Hummingbird follows the love story between Keats and her director, his descent into madness, and her attempt to save him.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Aug. 31, 2022
The Marsh San Francisco will take audiences through a harrowing and redemptive journey with Kathryn Keats' solo musical experience, The Hummingbird. This riveting work shares Keats' gripping tale of landing in New York City at the age of 17 to fulfill her Broadway dreams - only to be derailed by the irresistible and seductive invitation of her Off-Broadway music director to become his muse. The Hummingbird follows the love story between Keats and her director, his descent into madness, and her attempt to save him. Keats' terrifying experience culminated in an arduous jury trial, leading her to seek help from Victim Witness Assistance who helped her create a new life for Keats in order to evade his obsession. The Hummingbird will be presented October 14-November 18, 2022 with performances at 7:00pm Fridays at The Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia St., San Francisco. For information or to order tickets ($20-$35 sliding scale, $50 and $100 reserved), the public may visit www.themarsh.org.
Kathryn Keats began developing The Hummingbird as a multicast show at Berkeley Repertory's The Ground Floor. One day while driving, Keats tuned into KPFA and heard an interview with acclaimed Bay Area director David Ford, a frequent collaborator with performers at The Marsh. She connected with Ford and The Hummingbird became a solo beat musical under his tutelage and direction. The piece won Best Solo Musical during The Marsh's 2020 MarshStream International Solo Fest. The creative team includes director David Ford and composer/musician Kevin Gerzevitz.
ABOUT KATHRYN KEATS
Actor/singer/playwright Kathryn Keats, born Ellen Christian Munger, lived in anonymity for 20 years after her music and domestic partner lost his long battle with schizophrenia and held her captive for 54 days. With the help of Victim Witness Assistance, she put her promising career as a music artist on hold and went into hiding. Following the death of her former partner and abuser, Keats re-emerged into the world and completed her solo beat musical, The Hummingbird. She has been featured on various television, podcasts, and publications, and appeared as a keynote speaker for several organizations including the YWCA and Center for Domestic Peace, raising awareness to end domestic violence. Keats has released original music with Grammy Award-winning and nominated producers and musicians including Pete Sears, Narada Michael Walden, Michael Manring, and Aram Avagyan, among others. She has played in a variety of music halls - from Yoshi's Oakland Jazz Club to the Bitter End, Symphony Space NY, and the Great American Music Hall. In 1987, Keats co-founded Mark Monroe Studios in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The studio supported the development of over 600 students, many who have gone on to successful careers in the industry. Keats has been a Method Acting Teaching Artist since 1993 for film and television actors throughout the world.
ABOUT David Ford
David Ford has been collaborating on new and unusual theatre for three decades, and has been associated with The Marsh for most of that time. The San Francisco press has variously called him "the solo performer maven," "the monologue maestro," "the dean of solo performance," and "the solo performer's best friend." A week rarely goes by when residents of the Bay Area cannot enjoy one of his productions. Collaborators include Geoff Hoyle, Brian Copeland, Charlie Varon, Echo Brown, Marilyn Pittman, Rebecca Fisher, Wayne Harris, Jill Vice, and Marga Gomez. Ford's work has been seen regionally at The Public Theatre, Second Stage Theater, Theatre at St. Clement's, Dixon Place, Theatre for the New City (New York), Highways Performance Space (Los Angeles), and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co. (Washington, D.C.). His work has also been featured in most of the fringe festivals in North America, as well as at theaters around the Bay Area including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Magic Theatre, and Marin Theatre Company. Ford's directing has garnered several "Best of Fringe" Awards and a Goldie Award.
ABOUT KEVIN GERZEVITZ
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Kevin Gerzevitz is a professional musician, composer and teacher. He frequently performs as jazz organist with the B3B4 Organ Jazz Quartet, and as a pianist and bandleader with The KG Trio. In his hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Gerzevitz attended the University of Michigan School of Music, focusing on piano performance, jazz studies, improvisation, and composition while majoring in Music Theory and German. Upon earning his BMA in 1990, he relocated to the Bay Area where he worked as a freelance pianist, composer, and teacher. Gerzevitz attended Mills College from 2003 to 2005 to innovate his approach to teaching music, earning certifications in Levels I, II, and III as an Orff Schulwerk instructor. Since 2008, he has worked as the Music & Movement Specialist at Pacific Primary Orange Sun School in San Francisco. Gerzevitz has scored several independent films and has produced music for advertising, web, multimedia and theater.
ABOUT THE MARSH
The Marsh is known as "a breeding ground for new performance." It was launched in 1989 by Founder and Artistic Director Stephanie Weisman, and pre-COVID hosted more than 600 performances of 175 shows across the company's two venues in San Francisco and Berkeley. A leading outlet for solo performers, The Marsh's specialty has been hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as "solo performances that celebrate the power of storytelling at its simplest and purest." The East Bay Times named The Marsh one of Bay Area's best intimate theaters, calling it "one of the most thriving solo theaters in the nation. The live theatrical energy is simply irresistible." Since its launch in April 2020, the theatre's digital platform MarshStream has garnered more than 100,000 viewers. Notable MarshStream moments include the debuts of MarshStream International Solo Fests 1 and 2, The Marsh's first-ever digital festivals, and the U.S. premiere of The Invisible Line, a new documentary about one of the world's most famous social experiments gone wrong. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic MarshStream has hosted over 700 LIVE streams, providing some 300 performers a platform to continue developing and producing art. The Marsh will continue to offer digital content on MarshStream, as well as in- person performances.
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