Bristol Theatre Welcomes Donald Byrd for 08/09 Season

Bristol Riverside Theatre welcomes Donald Byrd, acclaimed choreographer of Broadway's The Color Purple for its 2008-2009 Season.  Byrd is collaborating with BRT Artistic Director Keith Baker on the February 2009 World Premiere of What You Will, a BRT original adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night.  Byrd's Spectrum Dance Theatre will also perform at a special event in January.  Bringing together the worlds of modern urban and classical theatre, What You Will blends Shakespeare's original text with dance and music by composer and hip hop producer Justin Ellington for a distinctively contemporary American take on Shakespeare.

"We are thrilled to welcome Donald Byrd to BRT this season to explore how the energy of hip hop and spoken word interact with the classic language of Shakespeare," says Baker.  "As we've been working on the project we've found that the young actors who have classical training but have grown up with hip hop are bringing in a fresh perspective, making the verse reverberate in a new way.  Likewise, we're excited to host a remarkable group of artists who will bring to our audiences an in-depth understanding of urban theatre and diverse interpretations of classic work."
 
To illuminate the unique concept of What You Will, BRT will also present the Bridges Informance Series bringing nationally renowned theatre artists to the Philadelphia area.  Beginning in September and running through January, the informances are part-performance, part-discussion and offer audiences new perspectives on theatre today.  Featured artists are Guggenheim Fellow Fred Curchack who will share his inventive one-man adaptations of Shakespeare's work; Puerto-Rican born actor/writer/director Ted Castellanos whose work fuses world cultures, religion and music; New York-based award-winning actor, rapper, playwright, and educator Will Power, a pioneer of hip-hop theatre; and Donald Byrd's Spectrum Dance Theatre who will present an evening of dance on the BRT stage.

The season kicks off with the quintessentially American musical, The Spitfire Grill by James Valcq (music & book) and Fred Alley (lyrics).  Next is the classic comedy Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn, the author of BRT's acclaimed production of Communicating Doors, and then BRT's Winter Musicale featuring favorite classic and contemporary holiday songs for the family.  The World Premiere of What You Will is followed by the Philadelphia Premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner John Patrick Shanley's Defiance, the second play in his Doubt trilogy.  Closing the season is the musical A Man of No Importance, taking BRT's audiences to 1960s Dublin, with a book by Terrance McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.

The America Rising: Voices of Today series of staged readings will showcase some of the country's brightest up-and-coming playwrights.  Presented in partnership with Temple University, the series will include plays by Guggenheim Fellow Bridget Carpenter, Michael Elyanow, Zakiyyah Alexander, Brett Neveu, and Pulitzer Prize finalist Quiara Alegría Hudes, whose In the Heights won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical.

Photo by Walter McBride/ Retna Ltd.

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