THE HIGH PRIESTESS OF DARK ALLEY Returns To Brooklyn 4/30 For 9 Week Engagement

Following a six week sold-out run earlier this year, Brooklyn's famed Billie Holiday Theatre will present a nine week return engagement of THE HIGH PRIESTESS OF DARK ALLEY, a new play by playwright/director Jackie Alexander.

The production will run April 30 through June 28, 2009. The performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. and Sundays at 4:00 p.m. Tickets are $15-$23, with additional discounts available for seniors and students. Tickets can be purchased online at www.zerve.com/BHolidayInc/DrkAlley by phone at 212.209.3370, or at the theatre's box office at Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton Street.

Divorced and waging a battle with time that has scarred her soul, Claire Charbonet had long turned her back on love. But on her thirtieth birthday, and with the encouragement and support of her sister and sole confidant, Janee, she reluctantly opens her heart to the possibility

Enter the girls' mother, Celeste, referred to by those who know her best as The High Priestess of Dark Alley; a moniker garnered due to her disdain for any in the African American community not of Creole descent. Arriving unannounced at her daughters' home with plans to repair Claire's marriage, Celeste is appalled by her daughters' new choice for a relationship. Iron-fisted as always, Celeste unapologetically sets out to show Claire the error of her ways. Janee, always the rebel, comes to the defense of her sister; laying much of the blame for Claire's troubles in life firmly at Celeste's doorstep.

As layers are stripped away from the three women, we discover each to be shackled in their own way by societal mores. But when an outsider attempts to sever the blood bond they share, the three women rally around each other; their love lighting a path to redemption for all.

Set in present-day New Orleans, THE HIGH PRIESTESS OF DARK ALLEY is the story of three creole women, Celeste Thibedeaux and her two grown daughters, Claire and Janee Charbonet. Trapped by the conventions of intra-racial divisions within the African-American community, the sisters are pitted against their mother regarding issues of color, class, sexuality and generational differences.

Intra-racial prejudice - light-skinned blacks versus dark-skinned blacks - has had little exploration on the theatrical stage. "As society finally begins to embrace the rainbow of colors encompassed in the African American community, it's baffling that some within still cling to age old prejudices and myths that serve only to create division among us," playwright/director Jackie Alexander said. "African Americans are conquering what were once unthinkable heights. I hope this play is a reminder that the biggest hindrance to that progress is often self-imposed."

Nicoye Banks (Sweet)-Theatre credits: Zooman and the Sign, A hatful of Rain, Death of a Salesman, Trapped, Same Train and Greenwood and Soil. Film credits include G, Invincible, Hope and a Little Sugar, Pride and Glory, and the upcoming films Green Zone starring Matt Damon, and Brooklyn's Finest starring Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes. Television credits include One Life to Live & Law and Order.

Michael Chenevert (Charles)-Theatre credits include One Monkey Don't Stop No Show and The First Lady. In New York, Michael has worked with New Federal Theatre, The Negro Ensemble Company, Take Wing and Soar Productions, Naked Angels, The Barrow Group, Here, Absolute and now the great Billie Holiday Theatre. His television credits include; Guiding Light, One Life to Live, and Unsolved Mysteries. Michael's film credits are; Breathing Room, which appeared on Sundance, Jam Session, Star Gazing, Julie Taymor's Across the Universe, Sexina: Popstar P.I., and Ahead of The Game. He has a BFA from University of Detroit Mercy.

Marcelle Gover (Celeste)-Film credits include the award winning film Joy. Theatre credits: Imperfection Flawed, Monkeys, and The Phantom Sword's Revenge. She has performed with Lee Jackson Dancers and Penney de Jaeger throughout Europe, and was a regular on television (music & variety, and games shows) in Belgium, Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, and her native Holland.

Zeb Hollins III (Franklin) is a native of Baton Rouge, LA where his professional career as an actor began in children's theatre with PlayMakers. Currently, Zeb works as a workshop facilitator, and teaching artist throughout NYC. He has appeared in numeroUs Productions including Indians, Julius Caesar on Wall Street, The Execution, Golliwhoppers, Camp Logan, Almost September, White Chocolate, Faith On Line, Storm Stories; and National Tours of Platanos and Collard Greens, and A Soldier's Story. He can be seen as Dr. Bingham Wattney, in the upcoming Independent Feature film Battle of Pussy Willow.

Aura Vence (Janee)- Aura was born in the beautiful country of Panama and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Favorite credits include The Savage Roses (Flatiron Theatre) and For Colored Girls... (Zoelller Theartre). TV & Film: Law & Order: Criminal Intent, 100 Centre Street, As the World Turns, Empire, Nora's Hair Salon, Silence, The Hustle, as well as various PSAs and commercials. She is a graduate of Lehigh University with a BA is Psychology and Spanish.

Mari White (Claire)-Film/Television credits include ESPN host, NYCTV's Summer Stage, and the soon to be released film Preacher's Kid along side Le Toya Luckett and RaéVen Larrymore Kelly. She currently hosts NET's New Evangelization Television) most popular show IcthusEq a Christian teen music video program. www.myspace.com/mariwhite, www.facebook.com.

"The High Priestess" Writer/Director
Jackie Alexander is an award winning actor, writer, producer, and director. His debut feature film Joy, on which he served as actor, writer, and director was awarded Best Feature Film 2002 by the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, and named one of the Top Five Independent Films 2002 by Blackfilm.com, which sponsored a national tour of the film that included screenings at the Director's Guild of America in Los Angeles, the Museum of Modern Art in Chicago, the French Embassy in Washington D.C., and the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center in New York. The film also earned Best Actor and Best Screenplay honors for Jackie on the festival circuit. His second screenplay, Legacy, was a finalist at the 2003 Hollywood Black Film Festival Storyteller's Competition, a semi-finalist for the 2003 Chesterfield Writing Fellowship, and was a winner in Blackfilm.com's The Next Fifteen Minutes Screenplay Competition, resulting in its production as a Staged Reading at the Tribecca Film Center.
Stage directing credits include the Billie Holiday Theatre's World Premiere of his critically acclaimed plays The Desire (Six 2007 AUDELCO Nominations including Best Playwright & Best Director) and Birthright, the Off-Broadway World Premiere of Plenty of Time at Primary Stages in New York (AUDELCO Nominee-Best Director), Lemon Meringue Façade by Ted Lange, Losing The Light (AUDELCO Nominee-Best Director), and Video Direction for the World Premiere of Judi Ann Mason's multi-media play Storm Stories-True Stories From Hurricane Katrina. Jackie's direction of Plenty of Time was also honored with a production at the 2005 National Black Theatre Festival.

A short list of stage acting credits include: Acted Within Proper Departmental Procedure, Losing The Light, Imperfection Flawed (Audelco Nominee-Best Actor, Winner-Best Play), The Death of Bessie Smith, Romance, Revolution, & War, Tell Pharaoh, The Authors Voice, which his company produced on Theatre Row, and the originating role of "Prophet Solomon Jones" in Raisin' Hell, a musical premiere by Motown Legend William "Smokey" Robinson.

Jackie has been featured on two recordings Spoken Melodies and 1999's critically and socially acclaimed The Price of Freedom-The Amadou Project, both produced by the late jazz great Weldon Irvine.

Recently, Jackie completed work on his debut novel, Our Daily Bread. Projects in development include his award-winning screenplay Legacy, and The Prophet of Zongo Street, a screenplay based on the critically acclaimed book of short stories of the same name by Mohammed Naseehu Ali. He is also at work on his second novel, The Do-Right Benevolent Society. For more information please visit www.jackiealexanderproductions.com.

"The High Priestess" Producer

Marjorie Moon is the President and Executive Director of the AUDELCO and Obie Award winning Billie Holiday Theatre - a position she has held for more than 30 years. Most recently, Ms. Moon directed Judi Ann Mason's Storm Stories; Lorey Hayes' PowerPlay and Bless Ji JaJa's M. She also directed Bless Ji Jaja's Barberdashers and Birth; Celeste Bedford Walker's Reunion in Bartersville; White Chocolate by Samuel L. Kelley; Leslie Lee's Spirit North and John Henry Redwood's Acted Within Proper Departmental Procedure.

Additionally, during her tenure, she has directed productions to include Weldon Irvine's Young, Gifted and Broke; Donny's House; Between Now and Then; Satan Never Sleeps; Over Forty; Lotto ‘91, Acres of Diamonds; Smokey Robinson's Raisin' Hell (co-directed) and Brothers and Sisters, Husbands and Wives. Ms. Moon also directed the latter production starring Ella Joyce (Roc) and Count Stovall (All My Children) at Houston Texas' Music Hall. She directed a production of Over Forty at The New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia.

Ms. Moon has produced more than 150 productions including the regional touring productions of Lotto and Over Forty to Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall; Washington, D.C.'s Warner Theatre and Historic Tacoma Theatre; Baltimore's Lyric Opera House; Philadelphia's Plays and Players and Good Black Don't Crack to the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. On Broadway, Ms. Moon co-produced Inacent Black starring Melba Moore. After earning her MFA from Temple University, Ms. Moon joined the Speech and Drama Department at Hampton (Institute) University.

She later served as adjunct lecturer at Brooklyn College. She has served on panels for the New York and New Jersey State Arts Councils and on various advisory panels for the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; the National Endowment for the Arts and Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). Ms. Moon is the proud recipient of the National Black Theatre Festival 1999 Larry Leon Hamlin's Producer Award.

The Billie Holiday Theatre
Restoration Plaza
1368 Fulton Street
Brooklyn, NY

Performance Schedule:
April 30-June 28, 2009, Thursday-Saturday at 8pm; Saturday at 3pm, Sunday at 4pm
Special Showtimes: Mother's Day, May 10, 2:30pm & 6pm,

Tickets:
$15-$23
Student & Seniors: $12
All seats $25 for Mother's Day performances on May 10 at 2:30pm & 6pm
Online: www.zerve.com/BHolidayInc/DrkAlley
By Phone: 212.209.3370
Billie Holiday Theatre Box Office: Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY

SUBWAY DIRECTIONS TO THE THEATRE
Take the A train to Nostrand Avenue (25 minute ride from midtown). Take the stairs to the left when exiting the station, and when you come up to the street make a right on Fulton. Walk down one block past the first traffic light. You will see an Applebee's on the right, Burger King directly across the street. Keep walking about 100 feet, and you'll see revolving doors leading into Restoration Plaza. Go in and up the stairs. The BOX OFFICE will be right in front of you. There is also PARKING available at the theatre for $7.

For more information, please visit www.thehighpriestessofdarkalley.com, or www.thebillieholiday.org.

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