Anika Noni Rose to be Featured in THE MOUNTAINTOP at William Inge Theater Festival, 4/23

The multi-talented Anika Noni Rose-Grammy nominated singer, Tony Award-winning actress- is on stage at the William Inge Theatre Festival to undertake one of the most anticipated new roles of theater today.

Noni Rose-outstanding singer of Disney's "The Princess & the Frog" and the film "Dreamgirls"-is featured in "The Mountaintop" at the 29th Annual William Inge Theatre Festival in Independence, Kansas.

The performance of this exhilarating story about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is Thursday April 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the William Inge Theatre at Independence Community College.

Most recently, the public may have heard Noni Rose as the voice of Princess Tiana in Disney's animated feature "The Princess & the Frog." Her performance helped the film to three Oscar nominations, including Best song-"Almost There"-sung by Noni Rose. The film also received best Animated Feature nomination.

The Tony Award winner was classically trained at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater. She transitioned to the Broadway stage a couple of months after moving to New York, with a featured role in "Footloose." She followed that with Off-Broadway's Laura Nyro retrospective, "Eli's Comin' ", for which she garnered an Obie Award.

Her next stage project was Tony Kushner's "Caroline, or Change" which went from The Public Theater, where she earned a Lucille Lortel award for her portrayal of Emmie Thibodeaux then to Broadway in the Spring of 2004. There, she earned the Tony Award for featured actress in a musical, The Theater World Award, The Clarence Derwent Award, and a Drama Desk nomination. She took the play to the West Coast where she picked up The Los Angeles Critic's Circle Award and an Ovation Award.

Noni Rose made her first trip to Africa with "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency," portraying secretary Mma. Makutsi. Shot entirely on location in Botswana, it was director Anthony Minghella's last project and was aired on HBO and the BBC.

On the big screen, Noni Rose played Lorrell Robinson in Bill Condon's "Dreamgirls." The movie received an AFI ensemble award, and was nominated for a SAG award. Noni Rose herself was nominated for an NAACP award and both the soundtrack and the song "Patience" were nominated for Oscars. 

From there it was back to Broadway, where she starred as Maggie in Deborah Allen's acclaimed production of "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof."

Noni Rose has sung all over the world, including the 79th Annual Academy Awards, and at The Vatican.

"The Mountaintop" takes place in Memphis, Tenn., April 3, 1968. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has returned to the Lorraine Motel after delivering his stirring speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop" to a church congregation. In an imagined scenario, Dr. King encounters a hotel maid (Noni Rose), whose identity is puzzling, which leads him to confront his past and his legacy.

It is a powerful, heartbreaking, and also humorous and exhilarating play. "The Mountaintop," written by Katori Hall, has earned numerous awards and productions since its London world premiere in June 2009, which subsequently transferred to the West End.

Katori Hall is the celebrated playwright of "The Mountaintop" and she will be attendance. Hall will accept the Inge Festival's Otis Guernsey New Voices Playwriting Award. This award recognizes outstanding emerging playwrights, of whom Hall certainly qualifies. The award is named for the heralded theater writer and scholar Otis L. Guernsey Jr., a frequent visitor to the Inge Festival and an advocate of quality new plays.

Hall's plays earned numerous awards and productions prior to the London world premiere of "The Mountaintop" June 2009, which subsequently transferred to the West End.

Hall, also an actress, grew up in Memphis as a child of the post-civil rights era. She is a recent graduate from the Juilliard School playwriting program. She is an alumnus of both Harvard and Columbia Universities.

"The Mountaintop" was a sensation in London and earnEd Hall the Best New Play honor of the 2010 Olivier Awards (England's version of the Tony Awards.) A fall Broadway production has been announced.

Veteran director Chay Yew helms the concert reading at the William Inge Theatre Festival.

Tickets to "The Mountaintop" are $20 and are available online at www.ingefestival.org, or by phone at (800) 842-6063 x5491.

The William Inge Theatre Festival is named for the late William Inge, an Independence native who won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama ("Picnic") and Oscar for Best Screenplay ("Splendor in the Grass.")

Each year the Inge Festival salutes an outstanding playwright: in 2010, the Honoree is Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paula Vogel. The Inge Festival finale April 24 is a star-studded multi-media Tribute to Vogel's many renowned plays. Titled "A Hot Waltz with Paula," the Tribute takes place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday April 24. Tickets are $30. The writer/director is Esquire Jauchem.

The Festival opens Wednesday April 21 at 7:30 p.m. with "A Civil War Christmas," written by Paula Vogel. Inspired by actual events of Christmas Eve 1864, the story intermingles the tales of ordinary soldiers and civilians with President and Mrs. Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, Clara Barton, and other historical figures. This musical is suitable for the entire family. The director is Mark Brokaw. Tickets are $20.

Following "The Mountaintop" performance April 22, the Festival hosts "A Musical Gala Dinner." The 2009 Honoree, Tom Jones ("The Fantasticks," "110 in the Shade") returns to the Festival. Jones and special guests will perform his song cycle "Time Goes By: A Few Amusing Songs about Aging and Death," in a tongue-in-cheek revue. Tickets, including meal and show, are $45.

A Director's Package all-festival pass is $195, which includes all evening performances, the Gala dinner, and attendance at the daytime workshops and panels. April 22-24, dozens of accomplished professionals in the performing arts share their expertise.

Photo: Andrew Macpherson