Black Rep Kicks Off Holiday Season with BLACK NATIVITY 11/27 at the Grandel for a Four Week Run

The St. Louis Black Rep will kick off the holiday season Nov. 27 at the Grandel Theatre with a four-week run of Black Nativity, the legendary Broadway hit written by Langston Hughes.

Adapted and directed by Black Rep producing director Ron Himes, Black Nativity tells St. Luke's story of the birth of Christ with an ensemble cast that features inspiring gospel songs and graceful dancing.  The Black Rep first produced Black Nativity 20 years ago, and will reprise the play as a prelude to its 33^rd season, which begins in January. 

Performance Schedule:

Thursday performances at 7:00pm

Friday and Saturday performances at 8:00pm

Sunday matinee performances at 3:00pm

Student Matinee performance December 9, 2009 at 10:00am

Special Thanksgiving Weekend price $25.00 

"We are thrilled to bring this lively production back to the Black Rep after more than two decades," Himes said.  "We are fortunate to have a play and a cast that can deliver the real meaning of the season through song and dance."

Actors slated to deliver the story in the two-act play include Janessa Morgan as Mary, Herman Gordon as Joseph, and Heather Beal and Iyun Harrison as the dancing Mary and Joseph.  The play will tell the nativity story with a full ensemble that features dancing and singing, as well as the celebration of the nativity story in the black church.

Musical director Diane White-Clayton returns to the Black Rep to arrange and compose a wide range of music, including spirituals, anthems, and contemporary gospel.  She worked on the project 20 years ago as an undergraduate student at Washington University.  Choreography will be conducted by two-time Kevin Kline winner Keith Tyrone Williams, who won the Kevin Kline Award for best choreography for Sarafina!

The cast for Black Nativity includes Karen Hylton, Brian Owens, Tyler White, Alexis White, Dominique Milam, Leslie Johnson, Jennifer Kelley, Annetta Flowers, Chuck Flowers, John Reed II, Crystal Holliway, Nakischa Joseph, Leah Stewart, Kevin Bailey,  Joel King, Tre'von Griffith,  Tatyana K. Bell, Ma'ri Byrd,  and Mesha Brown.

Production staff:   Ron Himes, Director, Brian Purlee, Set Design, Reggie Ray, Costume Design, John Wiley, Lighting Design, and Tracy Holliway-Wiggins.

For ticket information for Black Nativity, contact the Black Rep at 314-534-3810.

The Black Rep is the country's largest and premier professional, African-American theatre, providing platforms for interpretation of theatre, dance and other creative expressions from the African-American perspective.  The Company is committed to entertaining diverse audiences, educating promising youth and enriching our community through its mainstage productions and educational programs that touch the lives of more than 150,000 people each year. The Black Rep receives sustaining support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Missouri Arts Council, Regional Arts Commission, and the Arts and Education Council.  For more information call 314.534.3810 and www.theblackrep.org. 

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