ALLIANCE THEATRE's production of Avenue X will close on February 7 at the Alliance Stage.
The scintillating sounds of doo-wop and R&B will collide on a street corner in 1960's Brooklyn during the ALLIANCE THEATRE's production of Avenue X. Award-winning composer Ray Leslee wrote the music for this revolutionary a cappella musical in which two young men search their divided community for harmony in more than just their music. ALLIANCE THEATRE Artistic Director Susan V. Booth will direct eight actors in this ambitious work that combines a variety of musical genres and rhythms to tell a compelling story of racial struggle in a New York neighborhood. .
"Jesus Christ Superstar GOSPEL taught me the power of the voice in a way that defies explaining," comments Booth, referring to the 2008-09 Season hit she brought to the Alliance Stage. "To dive into a project that is pure voice-no band, just voice in song-is wildly appealing."
Avenue X examines the deep emotions, combustible tensions and human struggles of two neighborhoods separated by a street in Brooklyn. From an African-American community on one side of the street and an Italian-American neighborhood on the other emerge two young men drawn together through their love for music and a desire to compete in an amateur singing contest. They soon discover a shared dream of escaping the limitations and intense struggles of their two very race conscious communities.
"Our audience has told us loud and clear that they love musicals with story and substance," notes Booth, referring to earlier Alliance productions of The Color Purple (Sept. 2004) and The Women of Brewster Place (Sept. 2007). "Avenue X uses a glorious vocabulary of musical styles to tell the story of a changing community-and does so with deep heart and true harmonies."
The production encompasses a rich range of musical styles including doo-wop, rock-and,-roll, R&B, Italian folk tunes, jazz and gospel. Booth continues, "We talk-a lot-about differences and unity in our city. Avenue X uses divergent musical styles and tightly woven harmonies to have that conversation, and as a result, the conversation sits not just in our heads, but in our hearts."
Avenue X was first produced in 1994 at
Playwrights Horizons in New York. After an extended off-Broadway run, it was staged in more than 50 theatres around the world, winning Best Musical awards in Dallas, Seattle, Austin, Los Angeles and Philadelphia where it received the Barrymore Award for Best Musical 1997.
The Alliance continuously brings Atlanta the finest talent and finest art-proving once again that the Alliance is where great theatre lives. 404.733.4650 or www.alliancetheatre.org
