Full Cast and Creative Team Set for THE GIRL WHO BECAME LEGEND at the Kennedy Center

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has revealed the full cast and creative team for the upcoming D.C. premiere of The Girl Who Became Legend, a co-commissioned and co-produced production with Austin-based ZACH Theatre. A modern-day feminist folktale adventure centered around bringing rain to the drought-stricken town of Dustbin, this new musical features direction by Liz Fisher, script and lyrics by Sarah Saltwick with music and additional lyrics by Helyn Rain Messenger, Amber Quick, and Paul Sanchez.

The town of Dustbin is known for two things: rules and dust, the kind you get when it doesn't rain for years and years. One day, Raina spies a cloud in the sky—but no one believes her. Determined, the young girl embarks on a great adventure filled with outlaws, folk heroes, and a thunderstorm to bring the cloud back home.

First workshopped at ZACH in 2022—and given its world premiere in the fall of 2023—this heartwarming tale about big dreams, tough gals, and the power of kindness includes Blakeny Mahlstedt (Raina), Amber Quick (Calamity Jane), Paul Sanchez (Rip Van Winkle), Helyn Rain Messenger (Paul Bunyan), Jeremy Rashad Brown (Johnny Appleseed), and Nathan Daniel Ford (Musician/Ensemble).

“The Girl Who Became Legend embraces many of my favorite things in theater—live music and transforming objects. Both are well loved in Austin and so I'm thrilled to bring that creative flavor to D.C.” said playwright and lyricist Sarah Saltwick. “One of the first things audiences will see when they enter the space are piles on stage—and all kinds of things will come out of those piles. The play is full of things that might feel almost impossible to stage from chasing a cloud, the appearance of a giant, to the loneliness at the bottom of a well. Staging those moments was full of surprise and joy. I hope audiences will be inspired by this tall tale and Raina and her fierceness and imagination, and I hope they'll be inspired by the way the story moves and sounds too. I hope it will encourage creative play of all kinds and for audiences of all ages to dream about what might just be possible after all.”

The full creative team includes costume design by Aaron Flynn; scenic and properties design by Lisa Laratta; lighting design by Rachel Atkinson; and sound design by Kellie Baldwin. Harriet Butler is the stage manager.

Tickets for the production are currently on sale via the Kennedy Center website, at the box office, or by calling 202-467-4600.

Following the performance on Saturday, February 3 at 1:30 p.m., patrons are invited to stay for a creative conversation where young audience members can ask questions and hear stories from the show's artists and creative team.

The Sunday, February 11, 1:30 p.m. performance is a sensory-friendly performance designed to create a performing arts experience that is welcoming to all families, including those with children with autism or other sensory sensitivities.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM: 

Sarah Saltwick (script and lyrics) a writer based in Austin, Texas. She is a graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at UT Austin and was a Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis. Her plays have been produced nationally and received critical acclaim from the Austin Critics Table and B. Iden Payne Committee. Recent productions include The Pleasure Trials at Amphibian Stage in Fort Worth, Texas, Moxie Theatre in San Diego, California, and Dramashop in Erie, Pennsylvania and Egress, co-written with Melissa Crespo, produced by Amphibian Stage, SLAC in Salt Lake City, TheaterWorks in Hartford, Connecticut, and Cleveland Playhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. Other plays include A Perfect Robot, Tender Rough Rough Tender, an adaptation of The Scarlet Letter. She is also a Co-Director of Holden & Arts Associates, a theatrical booking agency. She shares her home with her husband, musician and visual artist Toto Miranda, their daughter Beatrix, and their cat Lulu. 

Liz Fisher (director) is an interdisciplinary theater maker and educator based in Central Texas. She has collaborated with prestigious organizations such as the Kennedy Center, Fusebox Festival, Pittsburgh Public, The Tank [NYC], National Black Theatre, ZACH Theatre, Penfold Theatre, National Women's Theatre Festival, The Playwrights' Center, University of Texas at Austin, James Madison University, Mary Baldwin University, Southwestern University, and the University of Arkansas. Her work has been screened on the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Emmy OTT platform and won the Broadway On Demand's Stage/ Screen Short Film Festival. She is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award in Theatre, the SDC National Directing Award, and an Eugene O'Neill Theater Center fellowship. Fisher is an Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of the Incarnate Word and an Associate Artistic Director of Penfold Theatre. MFA: Texas State University. www.lizfisher.net

Photo credit: Suzanne Cordeiro

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