ELEMENTAL Finds Its Mother Nature
By: A.A. Cristi Oct. 06, 2017
Director Adam Adolfo is proud to announce that ELEMENTAL: Nature's Rhapsody has cast Kimberly M. Oliver as "Mother" in the production receiving its premiere this spring as part of the AT&T Performing Arts Center Elevator Project Season. Ms. Oliver was recently seen onstage as Ursula in Disney's When You Wish at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. She was also featured as Vivienne Kensington in Theatre Arlington's Legally Blonde The Musical, also directed by Adolfo. Kimberly is also the host of "Broadway On Tuesdays" at Alexandre's Bar. ELEMENTAL: Nature's Rhapsody is still casting its principle 19 performers via video submissions. For more information on auditioning via video submission please visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/1459361837478857/
Adam Adolfo, who is penning the book for the production, shared that the role of "Mother" was being written specifically with Oliver in mind. "Kimberly is a powerhouse performer, with an impressive voice and dynamic stage presence. What a lot of people don't realize unless they get the opportunity to work with her is how she is such a strong mother figure to her casts. That inherent leadership, devotion, and care was part of what made me realize she'd be the perfect 'Mother Nature' for ELEMENTAL," said Adolfo, who is wearing multiple hats as Creator, Producer, Director, and Costume Designer.
ELEMENTAL's central allegory follows "Mother" and her children (Fire, Water, Earth, and Air) and how they influence a young "Poet" to create his 'masterpiece. The two characters of "Mother" & "Poet" travel on a parallel journey through the elements discovering their power and beauty while trying to identify the fifth element, 'aether' - the basis of life and creativity, the spark of creation.
This is the third season of the Elevator Project and the first time one of its productions is staged outside under the stars on the Donor Reflecting Pool. ELEMENTAL: Nature's Rhapsody was one of 41 proposals submitted to be a part of the season and only one of 2 in the season to be produced by an individual artist, not an arts organization.
The production, directed by Adam Adolfo, is staged on the Donor Reflecting Pool in Sammons Park at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Austin Ray Beck serves as Assistant Director and Choreographer. Musical direction is by Kristin Spires with new vocal arrangements, also by Spires. The production features Lighting Design by Kyle Harris & Sound Design by Mark Howard. Adam Adolfo also serves as Costume Designer.
ELEMENTAL: Nature's Rhapsody will have 3 performances on Friday, April 20, Saturday, April 21, and a special "Earth Day" performance on Sunday, April 22. All performances are at 8:00 p.m.
Tickets are now available online at www.attpac.org, by telephone at 214-880-0202 or in person at the AT&T Performing Arts Center Winspear Opera House Box Office at 2403 Flora Street. The Box Office will open 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and before performances - closed Saturdays and Sundays.
William Shakespeare wrote "there is not anything which returns to nothing, but all things return dissolved into their elements." Conceived by Producer / Director Adam Adolfo, ELEMENTAL explores the five classical elements of the world around us through song, dance, spoken word, and theatre. Created specifically for The Elevator Project, with staging in Sammons Park's Reflecting Pool, this evening salon takes its audience on an expressive journey from our humble beginnings as 'star stuff', to the first drop of water needed to sustain life, through earth as we cultivate our own bones so that W. May fly through air only to see our spark of creation and our own internal fire doused by time. Featuring music ranging from opera to pop, modern dance and ballroom, and Shakespeare to hip-hop, this is a night to celebrate our lives in the world around us.
Adam Adolfo is a gay Latino stage director, choreographer, and producer having directed Shakespeare, musicals, opera, and staging several world premier plays. In recent years he was honored with a Fort Worth Weekly VISIONARY AWARD, for his outstanding contributions to the Artistic Community in Tarrant County, Mr. Adolfo is the first performing arts professional to receive this distinction. Formerly the Artistic Director for Artes de la Rosa and mind behind its 5 Year American Classic's Initiative, previously the Artistic Director of The Living Opera, he directed the regional premiere of the Pulitzer Prize nominated opera, Henry Faust. Recently he served as the General Manager for the Award-Winning Weathervane Playhouse and as a Production Associate at the Arizona Theatre Company. A graduate of Stephen F. Austin University, Adam has studied with the Texas Shakespeare Festival. Amongst his favorite credits are Into the Woods, Standing On Ceremony, Sweet Eros, Much Ado About Nothing, A Streetcar Named Desire, Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, Dora the Explorer Live! Baltimore Waltz, She Loves Me, Howie Takes a Trip, Brigadoon, Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Women on the Verge... and In the Heights. Despite having directed throughout North Texas for the last 10 years including Plano, Richardson, Frisco, Mesquite, Addison, Grapevine, Grand Prairie, Bedford, Arlington, and Fort Worth, ELEMENTAL: Nature's Rhapsody marks Adam Adolfo's Dallas directing debut.
The AT&T Performing Arts Center is a nonprofit foundation that operates and programs a 10-acre campus comprised of three premier performance venues and a park in downtown Dallas. Opening in October 2009, the Center has helped complete the 30-year vision of the Dallas Arts District. Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons Park is an urban park with native plants and grasses, landscaped lawns, performance spaces, a reflecting pool. Sammons Park was designed by Michel Desvigne. The Center's mission is to provide a public gathering place that strengthens community and fosters creativity through the presentation of performing arts. For more information about the AT&T Performing Arts Center visit www.attpac.org.
The Elevator Project is a series of performances by Dallas-based arts groups, presented on the AT&T Performing Arts Center campus. The series provides performance space in the Dallas Arts District to local talent, while giving audiences exposure to the vibrant arts scene around them. Drawing from all genres of performing arts, the projects are chosen through an annual submission process and curated by an independent panel of arts professionals. The Elevator Project was created in 2014 by the AT&T Performing Arts Center and is presented with support from the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs.
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