Crossroads Theatre Company Announces 2009-10 Season, Features New Works By Berry And Beaty, 3 MO' DIVAS & More

Crossroads Theatre Company announced their 2009-2010 season today. The New Jersey-based organization will see three world premieres, a musical celebration, the CommonGround: Festival of the People, and the Genesis Festival of New and Emerging Voices. The Theatre Company is also unveiling a new Membership Program.

"Standing solidly on the ground 30 years has laid and poised at the threshold of yet another journey's start, the Crossroads Theatre Company views the horizon ahead with renewed confidence and vision. In the upcoming 2009-2010 season, we build upon and preserve the rich artistic legacy of this award-winning company, inspired by the stories in our history as of yet untold and by those that are our classics. Through the production and presentation of four plays and two Festivals of new plays and new American voices, we seek to accomplish our goals both artistically and institutionally and hold true to our company's mission," said Founding Artistic Director, Ricardo Khan.

Fly
By Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan

October 1-18 (World Premiere)
Opening Night: October 3

With a focus on hope, endurance, and accomplishment, Fly is a vivid play that brings to life the famed African-American Army Air Corp fighters known as the Tuskegee Airmen who flew over the skies of Europe and North Africa during World War II. Originally commissioned by Lincoln Center Institute as an educational play, Fly premieres as a full length play that dramatizes the historic contributions made by the Tuskegee Airmen to the desegregation of the American military and furthering civil rights.

3 Mo'Divas
Conceived and Directed by Marion J. Caffey

November 19-December 6
Opening Night: November 21

3 Mo' Divas is a theatrically staged concert that showcases the extraordinary versatility of African-American female performers spanning some four hundred years of music. These classically trained and gifted divas move easily from the opera of Puccini to the jazz of Ellington while maintaining the integrity of each musical style. Billed as a celebration of "sass, class, and style," 3 Mo' Divas is a musical journey that exhilarates with jazz, soul, R & B, blues, gospel and opera along with Broadway showstoppers that appeal to a diverse audience not bound by age, race, or gender.

Through the Night
Written and Performed by Daniel Beaty

February 11-21 (World Premiere)
Opening Night: February 13

A health food store is the setting for Daniel Beaty's new play that explores how the lives of African-American males intersect when the stakes are high. A series of events brings together the six males who span the ages from ten to sixty and who are in different life stages across American society. Beaty first came to Crossroads with his highly acclaimed Emergence-SEE! and continues on his artistic journey with the Theatre in this latest provocative and powerful play.

The Last Fall
By Stephanie Berry

April 15-May 2 (World Premiere)
Opening Night: April 17

Set in New York, this romantic comedy uses a series of dramatic flashbacks to follow the relationship of two fifty-somethings and the difficult truths they must face. Obie Award winner Stephanie Berry presentedThe Last Fall as a reading at the 2009 Crossroads' Genesis Festival where this exceptional and charming story was a rousing success.

CommonGround: Festival of the People (2010)

Making its debut in 2008, CommonGround serves as a spotlight for extraordinary community talent and features selected works by organizations of the central New Jersey community as a means of providing them a creative outlet.

Genesis Festival of New and Emerging Voices (Spring 2010)

The Genesis Festival began in 1990 as the brainchild of Artistic Director Ricardo Khan and then New Play Development Director Sydne Mahone as a means of giving voice to young writers and new, cutting edge forms of theatre in a nurturing and creative environment. Among plays that have found their way from Genesis to the world's stages are George C. Wolfe's Spunk, Anna Deveare Smith's Dream, Linda Nieves-Powell's Yo Soy Latina and original works by Ntozoke Shange, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis

Crossroads Theatre Company Membership Program:
Three Levels

Basic Membership: Annual Fee: $50, 50% discount on up to 4 tickets, 25% discount on an additional 4 tickets

Opening Night Membership: Annual Fee: $275, Tickets to all Opening Night Performances and 25% discount on 4 additional tickets

Premium Membership: Annual Fee: $325, 50% discount on 4 tickets, 25% discount on 4 additional tickets, and exclusive entry to Premium Lounge

Membership forms can be found at the website www.crossroadstheatrecompany.org.

Crossroads Theatre is located at 7 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Single tickets are priced at $40-$65. To purchase tickets, or for more information, call 732-545-8100 or visit www.CrossroadsTheatreCompany.org.

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