Castillo Theatre Will Open 2013-14 Season With STEALIN' HOME

On Friday, April 5, 2013 the Castillo Theatre announced that it would open its 2013-2014 theatre season with Stealin' Home, written in 1997 by Castillo's late artistic director and playwright-in-residence FrEd Newman to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball.

This year brings several cultural offerings about Robinson. The major motion picture, 42, premiering on April 12, will tell "The True Story of an American Legend." Rumor has it that this fall may see a Broadway play with Robinson as a character. Off-Broadway, Castillo's Stealin' Home opens on October 11.

Stealin' Home has three main characters: Jackie, Pee Wee and a woman named Sojourner. The character of Sojourner transforms from scene to scene - from waitress to prostitute to Black Panther to journalist - bearing witness to Robinson as he struggles to navigate the predominantly white world of baseball, and later in his life, of business and politics.

Stealin' Home has had three earlier productions in New York, as well as one in Philadelphia. Ava Jenkins, a two-time winner of the AUDELCO "Viv" Recognition Award for Excellence in Black Theatre, will be performing the role of Sojourner.

The Castillo Theatre (artistic director, Dan Friedman; vice president for theatre, Diane Stiles) is located at 543 West 42nd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues, New York, NY, 10036. For additional information about Stealin' Home, please contact Gail Peck at 212.356.8449or gpeck@allstars.org.