MetroStage Announces Fall/Winter 2017 Lineup and Summer Return

Producing Artistic Director Carolyn Griffin has just announced the 2017 fall/winter season at MetroStage, which actually begins with a limited engagement weekend reprisal of Anne & Emmett in July.

You may notice that we do not have anything announced beyond Dec. 2017. The reason being is that the property where the theatre is located at 1201 N. Royal St. is being sold and ultimately will be torn down and turned into condominium units with some mixed use. This means packing up the theatre and being temporarily dark. The good news is that the developer has committed to providing space for a new theatre on the same property or a nearby property that is also being redeveloped in North Old Town. We will keep you posted as plans are finalized. (THIS JUST IN-I have just received confirmation from the developer that we will be able to stay through June so there will be a spring season---to be announced later.)

In the meantime we have four exciting shows to announce. Returning to MetroStage is Anne & Emmett by Janet Langhart Cohen July 28-30, 2017. Seen at MetroStage in 2015 this play is based on an imaginary conversation between Anne Frank and Emmett Till, both teenage victims of racial intolerance and hatred. Anne is the 15 year old Jewish girl whose diary offered the world a gripping perspective of the Holocaust and touched the hearts of humanity. Emmett is the 14 year old African American boy whose brutal murder in Mississippi sparked the modern civil rights movement. Anne & Emmett is an uplifting tribute, a timely reminder and a call to action "tikkun olam" to repair the world. All ages should see this powerful tribute to two teens who changed the course of history. We are pleased that it is returning to MetroStage for a limited run after a tour to Indianapolis, Chicago and NYC, and performances at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (July 24 and 25). Talk backs will be offered following some of the performances (Friday July 28 at 8pm, Saturday July 29 at 3 and 8, and Sunday July 30 at 3). Anne & Emmett will travel directly from MetroStage to the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC.

The 2017-18 season formally begins with the reprisal of Thomas W. Jones II performing his iconic one man show the Wizard of Hip (or When in Doubt Slam Dunk), book by Thomas W. Jones II and original music by William Knowles, starRing Thomas W. Jones II as Afro Jo August 17-September 17, 2017. This is a non-stop comic journey...follow an African American "everyman" as he travels from adolescence to adulthood in search of the ultimate state of "hip", a place of comfort and peace in an ever confusing and changing world. It is a fast paced journey crossing bounds of race, class and gender. After 15 cities (including Studio Theatre in Washington DC) and an off Broadway run. Wizard of Hip returns almost 30 years later. A little greyer, a little older and, hopefully, a little wiser, but still crackling with the revelatory journey that made it an audience favorite more than two decades ago. Last Time Jones toured the country with a chair! This time Afro Jo will have two back-up singers, Kanysha Williams and Jasmine Eileen Coles, and original music by William Knowles, who will be at the keyboard, and Greg Holloway on drums.

Are You Now or Have You Ever Been..., written and conceived by Carlyle Brown and directed by Thomas W. Jones II, with original music by William Knowles, will follow from October 5-November 5, 2017. This important, very timely play is a fictional account of the demons and dilemmas faced by Langston Hughes while attempting to write a poem on the eve of his appearance before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations led by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Other characters include Everett Dirksen, Roy Cohn, David Schine and Langston's lawyer, Frank Reeves. Are You Now or Have You Ever Been... will be performed against a backdrop of searing blues and the ever-present "poetic hues" of Langston. McCarthy, Dirksen, Cohn, Reeves and Schine serve as a blues chorus supporting Langston's poetry when not interrogating Langston himself. Director Tom Jones brings his usual innovative, dynamic, inspired and lyrical sensibilities to this important, historic and relevant work. William Knowles will be at the keyboard.

MetroStage is delighted to bring back the beloved holiday favorite Christmas at the Old Bull and Bush, a British Variety Old Tyme Music Hall Entertainment, written and directed by Catherine Flye from November 17-December 24, 2017. It is Christmas 1912, and The Old Bull and Bush Public House, Hampstead, London, is alive with British music hall songs and Christmas carols. Audiences will enjoy a pint or two, eat mince pies and sausage rolls, laugh at corny jokes and funny sketches, toe-tap to tuneful melodies and join in the sing-a-longs.

Characters include The Chairman; Miss Florrie Forde, The Queen of the Halls; Mr. George (Georgie) Lushwood, The Beau Brummel of the Halls; Mr. Bertie Ramsbottom, The Little Lump of Fun; Mr. Charles Archibald Potts, Cheeky Charlie the Bubbly Barman; Miss Daisy May, The Belle of the Barmaids; and Maestro Marmaduke, The Prestigious and Pianist of Panache. A special guest may be joining this merry crew to be announced shortly. Christmas at the Old Bull and Bush was a staple at the Old Vat Room at Arena Stage for many years. This season MetroStage welcomes Florrie Forde, the most famous music hall star of the era, and her troupe of British performers as we celebrate the holidays with family and friends. Cast members include some of the Bull and Bush originals and some MetroStage favorites from Broadway Christmas Carol.

This season the three plays in the season are available with our FLEX PASS so that there is Maximum Flexibility and Maximum Savings. You can come to every play, pick and choose, bring friends, come back for a return viewing, and buy more flex passes throughout the season for these great reduced prices. It has never been easier, and cheaper to see great plays, amazing talent and support MetroStage.

Performances are Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8, Saturdays at 3 and 8, Sundays at 3 and 7. Tickets are $55-60 with student and active military discounts and group rates available. For ticket reservations call the theatre at 703-548-9044 or go online to www.metrostage.org. For information and group sales call 703-548-9044, or email info@metrostage.org. MetroStage is located at 1201 North Royal St. in North Old Town Alexandria. There is a free parking lot and fine dining nearby. The theatre is handicap accessible.

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