Mike Sommers Returns with New Show at THT

Heart in the 'Hood is an autobiographical true story from Vermont native Mike Sommers, one of the stars of Netflix's revolutionary, inclusive series, Sense8. Heart won "Best of Fringe" in San Francisco, and it's played Rome, Italy; LA, Chicago.... to standing ovations!

Mike grew up tromping around the Old Fieldhouse and Rec Park in Middlebury; swimming in Lake Dunmore and under the bridge in East Middlebury - Mary Hogan, The Snow Bowl, Silver Lake, MUHS. Now he lives in a rather rough and tumble inner-city neighborhood in Oakland, California... 22nd Street, The 'Hood! Homelessness, drugs ... and he loves it there! Why? How is that?

"Let me explain, or better yet, let me show you," Mike offers. "22nd Street actually has plenty of things in common with Middlebury - self-reliance, lending a hand, a distrust of fancy titles and looking out for your neighbors."

Heart in the 'Hood was developed by recording interactions that actually happened between Sommers and his neighbors. The 17 different characters he portrays are all based upon people he personally knows and cares deeply for. Through Sommers' body, voice and harmonica, audiences will get clear picture of Mike's neighbors, the misunderstood & beautiful people of 22nd Street! Heart is Mike's sequel to his fish-out-of-water tale, Hick in the 'Hood which made its Vermont premiere at Town Hall Theater in 2014. "I don't have a message, a moral," says Sommers, "I have stories, real stories. 10 years ago I bought the only house I could afford and befriended the only people around... the homeless, drug dealers, prostitutes... my neighbors."

Sommers is coming off the most successful year of his acting career thanks in part to Sense8, the big budget NETFLIX series by The Wachowskis of The Matrix fame.

Sommers recently completed filming his third season portraying "Bug" the hacker with the heart of gold. This past fall, he shot for two months in Europe, where he was mobbed by fans and partied and filmed all night on The Eiffel Tower with Darryl Hannah, Lana Wachowski and others.

Sunday, May 6 at 2pm at Town Hall Theater. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased at www.townhalltheater.org or at the box office: 802-382-9222

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