Huntington Kicks Off Special Events, Discussions for HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED

In conjunction with its upcoming production of August Wilson's HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED, the Huntington Theatre Company will host a number of special events and post-show conversations.

Admission to onsite post-show events is free with a ticket to HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED, available at www.huntingtontheatre.org/season/2015-2016/how-i-learned-what-i-learned, by phone at 617 266 0800, or in person at the BU Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue) and Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA (527 Tremont Street) box offices. Tickets start at $25, with performances from March 5 through April 3, 2016 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre.

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POST-SHOW CONVERSATION WITH CO-CONCEIVER AND DIRECTOR TODD KREIDLER AND CREATIVE CONSULTANT AND COSTUME DESIGNER CONSTANZA ROMERO

Tonight, March 8, following the 7:30pm performance

Join Constanza Romero, creative consultant, costume designer, and the executor of the estate of August Wilson and co-conceiver and director Todd Kreidler for a post-show discussion about the legacy of August Wilson.

Constanza Romero's work at the Huntington includes The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, and Gem of the Ocean (2004 Tony Award nomination), all of which continued on to Broadway. Additional Broadway credits include the 2010 production of Fences with Denzel Washington (Tony Award nomination, associate producer) and The Mountaintop. Her regional theatre credits include productions at Seattle Repertory Theatre (associate artist), Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Goodman Theatre, Mark Taper Forum (2003 Ovation Award for Best Costume Design for Gem of the Ocean), and Yale Repertory Theatre. She currently serves as the executor of the estate of August Wilson and has ushered many productions in the American Century Cycle both domestically and abroad. Collaborating with her dear friend and colleague, Todd Kreidler, she has been lovingly shaping August Wilson's HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED for many audiences to enjoy. She currently resides in Seattle with Azula Carmen Wilson, her daughter with her late husband August Wilson. She holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

Todd Kreidler served as dramaturg for August Wilson's Radio Golf and Gem of the Ocean in their early productions at the Huntington and other regional theatres and on Broadway. His stage adaptation of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner appeared at the Huntington in the fall of the 2014-2015 season and has been produced by True Colors Theatre Company, Arena Stage, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, and Asolo Repertory Theatre. He originally directed and co-conceived August Wilson's HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED with August Wilson performing at Seattle Repertory Theatre. Re-imagined for an actor, it premiered at Off Broadway's Signature Theatre and has been produced by True Colors Theatre Company and Pittsburgh Public Theater. Mr. Kreidler wrote the Broadway musical Holler If Ya Hear Me, an original story featuring the lyrics of Tupac Shakur, and is currently writing several projects including a musical with Nikki Sixx, based on Sixx's memoir and music, The Heroin Diaries; a one-man show featuring David Foster and his music; and a play about two law titans, Melvin Belli and his protege, Robert Leiff. He also co-founded the August Wilson Monologue Competition, a national program aimed at integrating August Wilson's work into high school curriculum, of which the Huntington facilitates the Boston competition.

COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIP RECEPTION

Thursday, March 10, 6pm in the BU Theatre lower lobby

A pre-show reception with refreshments for members of the Huntington Community Membership program. Community Membership is an initiative designed to reduce the cost barrier of attending live theatre for those with limited income and to diversify the Huntington's audience to better reflect the city of Boston. Members can purchase best-available tickets to any performance without restriction for just $20. Membership is free and available through partnerships with agencies and organizations that serve limited-income populations.

AUDIO-DESCRIBED PERFORMANCES

Friday, March 11 at 10am (student matinee)
Saturday, April 2 at 2pm

The Huntington Theatre Company offers audio description for blind and low-vision patrons at designated performances. Tickets are $20 for each patron and a guest. To reserve tickets, contact Access Coordinator Meg O'Brien at mobrien@huntingtontheatre.bu.edu.

STUDENT MATINEES

Friday, March 11 at 10am

Thursday, March 31 at 10am

For students in grades 9-12. Tickets: $15. Includes pre-show workshop, curriculum guide, post-show Actors Forum, and Dramatic Returns card for each student. Call Manager of Education Operations Meg O'Brien at 617 273 1558 for more information.

ACTORS FORUMS

Friday, March 11 after the 10am performance (student matinee)

Wednesday, March 23 after the 2pm performance

Thursday, March 31 after the 10am performance (student matinee)

Meet Eugene Lee from August Wilson's HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED and ask him your questions at the Actors Forum, following the performance.

HUMANITIES FORUM WITH DIRECTOR OF THE WILLIAM MONROE TROTTER INSTITUTE AT UMASS BOSTON & AUGUST WILSON SCHOLAR BARBARA LEWIS

Sunday, March 13 after the 2pm performance

Join Huntington dramaturg Charles Haugland and Barbara Lewis, August Wilson scholar, historian, and director of the William Monroe Trotter Institute at the University of Massachusetts, for an in-depth discussion about August Wilson's HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED, following the 2pm performance.

Barbara Lewis, PhD, heads the Trotter Institute for the study of black history and culture at UMass Boston, and is an associate professor in the department of English. As a Francophone scholar, she co-translated Faulkner, Mississippi by Edouard Glissant and published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. As a cultural historian, she has published on lynching in drama, the minstrel stage, the black arts movement, and playwright August Wilson. For over 15 years, she wrote theatre, film, and art reviews and covered the creative arts scene in New York, writing for Essence Magazine, Amsterdam News, Soho Weekly News, and Ms. Magazine. Dr. Lewis has taught at City College, Lehman College, and New York University, and was chair of the department of theatre at the University of Kentucky. As a blogger, she writes about women, race, and the arts.

COOLIDGE CORNER SCREENING OF KILLER OF SHEEP

Monday, March 14 at 7pm

Killer of Sheep examines a black LA ghetto in the mid-1970s through the eyes of a sensitive dreamer, growing detached and numb from working at a slaughterhouse. Join us after the screening for a conversation with Lisa Simmons, founder of The Color of Film Collaborative, and WGBH's Phillip Martin.

Part of the Stage & Screen series, a collaboration between the Huntington Theatre Company and the Coolidge Corner Theatre.

Lisa Simmons has been involved in the production, support, exhibition, and distribution of film and theatre in and around the Boston area for over 25 years. In addition, Ms. Simmons is the founder and president of The Color of Film Collaborative, Inc. (TCOF), an organization of actors, producers, directors, and others with an interest in creating and supporting positive images of people of color in film, theatre, and other media. The Color of Film Collaborative produces the Roxbury International Film Festival, a film festival that celebrates diverse images of people of color in the world. In addition, TCOF produces a Dinner and a Movie (DAAM) series four times a year. Ms. Simmons is currently working on a documentary about the Negro Theater Project during the Works Progress Administration.

Phillip Martin joined WGBH in the spring of 2010, and has since reported on human trafficking in southern New England, the Boston Marathon bombing, Whitey Bulger, carbon offset schemes, police shootings, training and race, the Occupy movement, and the fishing industry in New England, among other topics. He is a regular panelist for "Basic Black" and an occasional panelist for "Beat the Press," and hosted the World Compass 2012 presidential primary coverage. He is a senior fellow with the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism and a 2012 International Center for Journalists Ford Foundation Fellow. Mr. Martin has worked as a supervising senior editor for NPR and was NPR's first national race-relations correspondent, from 1998 to 2001. In 1995, in his role as a senior producer, he helped create "The World." He earned a master's degree in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and studied international protection of human rights law at Harvard Law School as well as journalism at the University of California at Berkeley in the Program for Minority Journalists.

ACTORS FORUM WITH "CITYLINE" HOST KAREN HOLMES WARD AND EUGENE LEE

Thursday, March 17 after the 7:30pm performance

Karen Holmes Ward, host of WCVB's "CityLine, will moderate a talkback with HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED actor Eugene Lee, following the performance.

Karen Holmes Ward is WCVB's director of public affairs and community services as well as host and executive producer of "CityLine," the station's award-winning weekly magazine program which addresses the accomplishments, concerns, and issues facing people of color living in Boston and its suburbs. Her career as an award-winning journalist has spanned nearly four decades and has brought her to far reaching places across the globe including Israel, the Soviet Union, and South Africa. "CityLine" has been a recipient of the Associated Press Massachusetts/Rhode Island 'Best' Public Affairs Program and numerous Emmy Award nominations. Many notables including, Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Congressman James E. Clyburn and Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, have been interviewed by Ms. Holmes Ward for "CityLine." In addition, from the world of stage and screen, Oscar winners Lupita Nyong'o, Octavia Spencer, Lou Gossett, and Denzel Washington as well as Oscar nominees Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oprah Winfrey, and Quvenzhane Wallis, have been interviewed as well.

Eugene Lee previously appeared at the Huntington in Fences, Radio Golf, and Gem of the Ocean. He also appeared on Broadway in Gem of the Ocean. His Off Broadway credits include A Soldier's Play (original cast), Home, Manhattan Made Me, Nightline, Eyes of the American, The Redeemer, and Back to Back. Mr. Lee's regional credits include Stop. Reset; August Wilson's HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED; Miss Ever's Boys; Fences; Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates; Split Second; Every Tongue Confess; Guess Who's Coming to Dinner; The Kennedy Center Presents August Wilson's Century Cycle; Ceremonies in Dark Old Men; The Piano Lesson; Two Trains Running; Jitney; Joe Turner's Come and Gone; and Radio Golf. Film and television credits include Wolf, Coach Carter, An American Dream, God of Carnage, The Book of Grace, Eden, One Monkey Don't Stop No Show, The Tell-Tale Heart, "Lying Game," "American Crime," "The White Shadow," "Good Times," "NYPD Blue," "Guiding Light," "The Women of Brewster Place," "The Jacksons," "The District," and "Gospel at Colonus." Mr. Lee has written several plays, including Killingsworth, East Texas Hot Links, Fear Itself, Twist, Somebody Called (a tale of two preachers), and Lyin' Ass. Television writing credits include "Homicide: Life on the Streets," "Turks," "The Journey of Alan Strange," "Port Chicago," and "Walker Texas Ranger." Mr. Lee is artist-in-residence in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Texas State University and serves as artistic director for the Texas State Black and Latino Playwrights Conference. eugeneleeonline.com.

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCES

Friday, March 18 at 8pm

Thursday, March 31 at 10am (student matinee)

The Huntington Theatre Company offers ASL interpretation for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing at designated performances. Seating for each ASL-interpreted performance is located in the orchestra, house left. Tickets are $20 for each Deaf patron and an additional $20 ticket can be purchased for a guest. To reserve tickets, please contact Access Coordinator Meg O'Brien at mobrien@huntingtontheatre.bu.edu.

POST-SHOW CONVERSATION WITH TUFTS UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR & AUGUST WILSON EXPERT MONICA NDOUNOU

Saturday, March 19 after the 2pm performance

Join literary apprentice Phaedra Scott and Tufts University associate professor and August Wilson expert Monica Ndounou for a discussion about August Wilson's legacy after the 2pm show.

Monica Ndounou was a Jacob K. Javits Fellow and an OSU Presidential Fellow. Her interdisciplinary research projects span a broad range of topics. Her forthcoming book, Shaping the Future of African American Film: Color-coded Economics and the Story Behind the Numbers, identifies the intersection of race, culture, and economics as the critical site for determining the future of African American film according to narrative, production, marketing, and distribution patterns of nearly 2,000 original films and cinematic adaptations featuring African Americans since 1980. Her most recent publications include: "The Paradox of Acting for an African American Actress" in Consciousness, Theatre, Literature, and the Arts, "The Nice-Nasty Politics of Fragmenting August Wilson's Legacy" in the New England Theatre Journal, "Encountering Black Culture in Acting Classrooms and Beyond" in Theatre Topics, and "Early Black Americans on Broadway" in The Cambridge Companion to African American Theatre. Her article "Drama for 'Neglected People': Recovering Anna Julia Cooper's Dramatic Theory and Criticism from the Shadows of WEB Du Bois and Alain Locke" in The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism was nominated for the American Theatre and Drama Society's 2013 Vera Mowry Roberts Research and Publication Award.

AUGUST WILSON MONOLOGUE COMPETITION FINALISTS PERFORMANCE & PANEL DISCUSSION

Saturday, April 2 after the 2pm performance

Over the past six years, the Huntington has hosted the Boston regional finals of the August Wilson Monologue Competition. After HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED, 2016 Boston national finalists Staceyanne Burrell (Boston Arts Academy) and Victoria Omoregie (Snowden International School at Copley) will perform their winning monologues. After their performances, a member of the Huntington's Education department will host a panel conversation with the students regarding their experience learning about August Wilson and his work.

POST-SHOW AUDIENCE CONVERSATIONS LED BY MEMBERS OF THE HUNTINGTON STAFF

After most Tuesday - Friday, Saturday matinee, and Sunday matinee performances

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HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED runs March 5 - April 3, 2016. Playing: Select Evenings: Tues. - Thurs. at 7:30pm; Fri. - Sat. at 8pm; select Sun. at 7pm; Matinees: Select Wed., Sat., and Sun. at 2pm; Press Opening: Wednesday, March 9, 7pm. RSVP online. All performances take place at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston.

Single tickets starting at $25 and FlexPasses are on sale: online at huntingtontheatre.org; by phone at 617 266 0800; or in person at the BU Theatre Box Office, 264 Huntington Ave. and the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA Box Office, 527 Tremont St. in Boston's South End.

Recipient of the 2013 Regional Theatre Tony Award and named Best of Boston 2013 and 2014 by Boston magazine, the Huntington Theatre Company has developed into Boston's leading professional theatre and one of the region's premier cultural assets since its founding in 1982. Bringing together superb local and national talent, the Huntington produces a mix of groundbreaking new works and classics made current to create award-winning productions, runs nationally renowned programs in education and new play development, and serves the local theatre community through its operation of the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. Under the direction of Artistic Director Peter DuBois and Managing Director Michael Maso and in residence at Boston University, the Huntington cultivates, celebrates, and champions theatre as an art form. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.

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