WorkShop Theater to Stage RHAPSODY IN BLACK, 1/30-2/9

Rhapsody in Black, conceived, written and performed by Leland Gantt (Requiem for a Dream, Malcolm X and Presumed Innocent ) with directorial consultation by Estelle Parsons (notorious for her Oscar-winning performance as Blanche Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde) opens in the WorkShop Theater Company's Jewel Box Theater, 312 W. 36th St., on Thursday, January 30th at 8:00PM.

Rhapsody in Black began its journey a few years back as a concept from the brilliant mind of Leland Gantt with a first reading at theWorkShop Theater Company before moving to The Actor's Studio for further development where it had the incredible fortune to pick upEstelle Parsons' tutelage. Her respect for the piece and loving guidance fine-tuned it for the next leg of the journey, a two-week run at the WorkShop.

A glimpse into cause and effect, a window onto some foreign landscape, a lens for self-examination; Rhapsody in Black aims to illuminate the dark corners where fact and fiction meet fear and ignorance in the hope that it makes us all question some things wethought we already had the answers to. "I'm just trying to start a conversation."

Production Stage Manager is Chelsea Parrish, Lighting Design by Diana Duecker, Technical Director is Richard Kent Green, and the production is produced for the WorkShop Theater Company by Jeff Paul.

Scheduled performances are Thursday, January 30th at 8PM, Friday, January 31st at 8PM, Saturday, February 1st at 8PM, Sunday, February 2nd at 2PM, Thursday, February 6th at 8PM, Friday, February 7th at 8PM, Saturday, February 8th at 8PM, and Sunday, February 9th at. 2PM

Tickets are $18 general admission and $15 for students and seniors. For tickets and information go to www.workshoptheater.org/jewelbox/2014/rhapsody_in_black or call 866-811-4111

WorkShop Theater Company's mission is to provide a creative home for a diverse group of playwrights, directors and actors. The WorkShop has developed hundreds of plays, among them Eddie Antar's NY Times Critic's Pick, Drama Desk nominated and NY Innovative Theatre Award-winning hit, The Navigator ("cruises in entertainingly high gear" - NY Times), Ken Jaworowski's Interchange, (NY Times Critic's Pick) and Allan Knee's The Man Who Was Peter Pan, which became the Academy Award-nominated Finding Neverland, produced by Nellie Bellflower and receiving an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay by David Magee, both of whom are WorkShop Theater Company alumni.

Photo Credit: WorkShop Theater Company