The Bridge Initiative Announces Charity Theatrical Event

The Bridge Initiative: Women+ in Theatre (TBI) announces its next production, ROAR! A Celebration, to be presented at Tempe Center for the Arts, Saturday, September 14th, 7:30 p.m. This one-night-only event offers original music, dance, spoken word, and testimony to what it means to be women and non-binary individuals in America today. A portion of all proceeds will be donated to Southwest Indigenous Women's Coalition (www.swiwc.org) and TBI is also partnering with Arizona Jews for Justice to collect goods for asylum seekers.

TBI solicited performance pieces for the event through a national contest, garnering over 60 submissions. The chosen selections cover topics as varied as body shaming, foster care, sexual harassment, motherhood, gun violence, and yoga. The evening will also include testimony from Eddie Chavez Calderon of Arizona Jews for Justice, and a collection of goods will be collected in the lobby for asylum seekers. Instructions on items to bring at www.bridgeinit.org/roar.

More than 30 local creatives are working on the project, including production supervisor and director Daniela Crispo; directors, Lizbett Benge, Marina Blue Jarrette and Maybe Stewart; performers Breona Conrad, Rachelle Dart, Taylor Moschetti, Shari Watts and more performing work by local and national artists such as Diana Burbano, Athena Hueber, M.J. Kang, Ashley Naftule, Nan-Lynn Nelson, and more.

TBI Artistic Director Brenda Jean Foley explains the choice of charity partner SWIWC: "We were looking for a local charity to give back to our home community. One of our board members raised the idea of working with indigenous groups, and the rest of the board jumped in wholeheartedly. Indigenous women and the LGBTQ population are unfortunately too often targets of underreported violence and SWIWC works with both groups, which speaks directly to the populations we look to serve at TBI. The synergy is right and we're honored to be able to help advance this important work being done in Arizona."

ROAR! A Celebration is possible in part through funding received from Arizona Commission on the Arts. 7:30pm Saturday, September 14th, 2019, at Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 W. Rio Salado, Tempe, AZ 85281. Tickets $12 students/seniors; $18 general admission; $25 VIP seats (service fees: $3 online or $1 by phone/in person); tcaticketforce.com