Moonbox Productions To Present The Award-Winning Gospel Musical CROWNS

Moonbox Productions, winner of numerous IRNE and Elliot Norton Awards, will present the award-winning gospel musical Crowns by Regina Taylor adapted from the book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry. 

Directed by Regine Vital with musical direction by David Coleman, Crowns opens April 11th and runs through May 4th at Arrow Street Arts performance venue located at 2 Arrow Street in Cambridge.  Tickets are $55 for general admission, $45 for seniors and $25 for students with Pay-What-You-Wish options available for each performance, while supplies last.  Tickets available at https://bit.ly/CrownsTix.   

Winner of the Helen Hayes Awards for Best Production and Best Musical, Crowns is a moving and celebratory musical play in which hats become a springboard for an exploration of history and identity as seen through the eyes of a young African American woman.  When Yolanda's brother is killed, she has to leave her vibrant, beloved Brooklyn and move in with her older relatives in the stale and stuffy South.  Black women here are nothing like the ones back home, and that starts from the top down, as she watches her aunties move through their lives under a series of ever-more-elaborate hats.  But beneath those hats are real women and real stories that Yolanda needs to hear.  As her Southern sisters trace their hats' rich history from Gullah to Gospel and from Sunday School to Saturday night, Yolanda must come to terms with her own multifaceted identity – one as complex, colorful, and vibrant as the hats that surround her.

The cast of Crowns includes Mildred Walker (Mother Shaw/Obatala), Cortlandt Barrett (Mabel/Shango), Lovely Hoffman (Velma/Oya), Cheryl Singleton (Wanda/Oshun), Janelle Grace (Jeanette/Yemaya), Mirrorajah Metcalfe (Yolanda/Ogun), Kaedon Gray (Man/Elegba), Elijah Brown (Swing), and Aliyah Harris (Swing).  

“We are thrilled to be bringing this gorgeous gospel musical to Arrow Street Arts,” said Producer Sharman Altshuler.  “I can't think of a better way to herald in the spring than a beautiful, inspiring story, phenomenal music, and, of course, HATS,” said Altshuler!

The creative and design team includes Sharman Altshuler (Producer), Regine Vital (Director), Davron Monroe (Associate Director), David Coleman (Music Director), Kurt Douglas (Choreographer), Caitlin McFann (Stage Manager), Al Shea DiBiase (Assistant Stage Manager), Andrea Sala (Production Manager), Sean Watkins (Assistant Production Manager), Isaak Olson (Lighting Designer), Baron Pugh (Scenic Designer), Payton Tavares (Assistant Scenic Designer), James Cannon (Sound Designer), Angela He (A2), E Rosser (Costume Designer), Ailey Rivkin (Assistant Costume Designer), Schanaya Barrows (Wig Designer), Athena Parkman (Wardrobe Supervisor), Danielle Ibrahim (Properties Designer), Andrew Reynolds (Assistant Properties Designer), Jeffery Peterson (Technical Director), and Baz Kouba (Production Electrician).

With each show, Moonbox Productions partners with a local non-profit, to raise awareness for their cause, create connections for them within the community, and increase the reach and impact of their work.  For the production of Crowns, Moonbox will be partnering with Rosie's Place.

Rosie's Place was founded in 1974 as the first women's shelter in the United States.  Fifty years later, Rosie's Place not only provides meals and shelter but also creates answers for 12,000 women a year through wide-ranging support, housing, and education services.  Their mission is to provide a safe and nurturing environment to help poor and homeless women maintain their dignity, seek opportunity and find security in their lives.  Rosie's Place relies solely on the generous support of individuals, foundations, and corporations to fund its operations.  They do not accept any city, state, or federal funding.  For more information about Rosie's Place, please visit https://rosiesplace.org/.

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