RPR Productions Presents BIG MAMA AND ME At Episcopal Actors Guild In NYC

Richarda Abrams new play celebrates an intergenerational relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter that withstands the test of 99 years.

Big Mama born in the south, migrated to the midwest with her family because of an incident that was never spoken about until now. She lived life fully as a patented inventor and accomplished composer. She loved fearlessly and effected many lives. This solo play tells the story of one of those lives impacted by her infinite wisdom.

RPR Productions presents Big Mama and Me. The production runs March 6 - 9 at the Episcopal Actors Guild at 1 East 29th Street in New York City. Abrams is an award-winning actor/playwright who previously performed her solo show First By Faith: The Life of Mary McLeod Bethune which won numerous awards and had a sold-out run at the National Black Theatre Festival and recently BETHUNE: Our Black Velvet Rose at TheaterLab NYC. Music direction by NEA Jazz Master Amina Claudine Myers (First By Faith: The Life Of Mary McLeod Bethune, BETHUNE: Our Black Velvet Rose). Also joined by Co-Producer Peggy Abrams (First By Faith: The Life Of Mary McLeod Bethune, BETHUNE: Our Black Velvet Rose).

Abrams shared, "I am very excited about my new solo show "Big Mama and Me", a multi media, multi character, solo show about my grandmother." I had a very profound relationship with my grandmother. She had much wisdom to share based on her life experiences. She was so generous and loving with people. I always told my grandmother that she was a combination of Mother Teresa and Florence Nightingale. However, I must now add Joan of Arc because she was fearless. Big Mama and Me, is based on real events and the wisdom and faith in Big Mama and her songs."

A woman while cleaning out her deceased 99 year old grandmother's apartment encounters her grandmother's spirit. Before final boxes are taped, popcorn and potato salad fly and the granddaughter learns she too can go on and live life fearlessly.

THE CAST: Richarda Abrams* (4-time AUDELCO award-winner)

The creative team includes set and projection design by Anna Kiraly http://www.annakiraly.com/ (59E59), costume design by Sally Lesser www.Sallylesserdesigns.com (3 Emmy Awards/One Life to Live), dramaturgy by A.J. Muhammad (The Fire This Time), and Production Stage Manager Lawrence Floyd (Co-Founder of Genesis East and West, Inc.)

Performances are Wednesday, March 6, 2024 through Saturday, March 9, 2024 at 7:30 pm Performances take place at The Episcopal Actors' Guild (EAG)/Guild Hall: 1 EAST 29th STREET, (lift accessible) New York, NY 10016, (mid-block between Madison and Fifth Ave. Enter through the main gate and go through the garden to the door marked Guild Hall. (By subway: R/W or 6 at 28th Street or B/D/F/M or N/Q/R/W at 34th Street/Herald Square. By bus: M1, M2, M3, M5, M6, or M7.)

Tickets are $15 Early Bird Special, $20 Students/Seniors, and $30 General Admission and are available at https://ticketstripe.com/Big-Mama-And-Me. (Running time 90 minutes without intermission).

BIOGRAPHIES

Richarda Abrams*: (Playwright, Solo Artist, Co-Producer)is a 4-time AUDELCO award-winning actress/singer/playwright/producer of First By Faith: The Life of Mary McLeod Bethune. The solo show won a 2019 AUDELCO VIV Award for Solo Performance of the Year and was named the Best of Solo Theatre in the Last 10 Years United Solo Theatre Festival (USTF). Other awards include USTF 2018 Best Educational Show Award and sold-out the National Black Theatre Festival. Memberships: AEA, SAG-AFTRA, Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Actors Studio, Dramatists Guild, Episcopal Actors Guild, A.R.T./New York, New York Women in Film & Television, and League of Professional Theatre Women. Richarda is fiscally sponsored by NYFA, received 2 NYSCA Theater Artist Commissions and numerous LMCC grants. She has performed all over the world and recorded Song for All (Black Saint Records) with her father Dr. Muhal Richard Abrams co-founder of the AACM, Member of Amina Claudine Myers' Generation IV and Voice Choir. Education: NYU's Tisch School of the Arts' BFA in Acting, and MA in Educational Theatre, NYU's Steinhardt School of Education, drama/theatre in education at University of Leeds, ENGLAND. Richarda was last seen in New Federal Theatre's Telling Tales Out Of School directed by Woodie King Jr. and next will be seen in American Rot directed by Estelle Parsons at La MaMa ETC. www.richardaabrams.com

Amina Claudine Myers (Music Director) 2024 NEA Jazz Master, has a B.A. Degree in music education, Philander Smith College. She moved to Chicago, Illinois where she taught music in the public school system for six years. Myers began playing jazz in and around Chicago and was brought into the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. There she began composing for large and small ensembles, instrumental and choral music. Myers moved to New York in 1976. She was the Assistant Musical Director for the Off-Broadway production of Ain't Misbehavin. She taught choral music at Sony Westbury. Amina continues to perform in Europe and all over the world with her Trio, Voice Choir, Generation IV, and solo performances. Her composing and music directing in theater includes Off-Broadway The Ladder, Occasional Grace, and Myers I Dream. Myers co-starred with Joseph Jarman in Dr. Muhal Richard Abrams theater work The Dream and she co-starred with David Murray in Primitive World by Amiri Baraka. She continues to tour on piano, voice, organ, and pipe organ while teaching privately in NYC. www.aminaclaudinemyers.com

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