Producers Proteus Spann and Pro2Play Productions are pleased to announce the Washington-area premiere of the award-winning new gospel musical comedy Sanctified. Written by Javon Johnson, with original music by Rollo A. Dilworth, and directed by Derrick Sanders, Sanctified will play the historic Lincoln Theatre for a limited engagement, October 21 through November 14. Casting will be announced next month.
Tickets for Sanctified are priced $37.00 to $47.00 (plus applicable service and facility charges). Tickets are available at the Lincoln Theatre Box Office, online at www.Ticketmaster.com, and via phone at (202) 397-SEAT (7328). Discounts are available for groups of 20 or more by calling (202) 635-0785. For more information, call (202) 328-6000 or visit www.letsgetsanctified.com or
www.thelincolntheatre.org.
Winner of six 2009 Black Theater Alliance Awards including the
August Wilson Award for Best Writing of a Play (Musical / Adaptation), Best Production (Musical or Revue), Best Direction (Musical or Revue), and Best Musical Director, Sanctified shines a light on the African-American church and the congregations that sustain it. When the East Piney Grove Baptist Church falls on hard times, their last chance may be the upcoming 30th annual gospel revival. Desperate, the ambitious new pastor calls on his diva-esque cousin to help update the choir's staid repertoire (and lend her extraordinary voice), but the church elders are not moved.
Playwright Javon Johnson explains: "This is a warm, joyous, hymn-filled show that bears witness to the trials and triumphs of the African-American church. The project set out to explore the traditional world of gospel music and how it has been twisted, turned, and constantly revolutionized by the hip-hop and the R&B sound."
Considered by many to be a protege of the late
August Wilson, Johnson has written such plays as Breathe, Recipes for Love, Whatever She Wants, Cheaters, Hambone, and Cryin' Shame, among others. He has also performed on stage, including locally in Joe Turner's Come and Gone at Baltimore's CenterStage, as well as on screen and television (Friends and Lovers, Barbershop 2, Prison Break, and more).
The Lincoln Theatre, built in 1922 and located at 1215 U Street NW, once hosted the likes of Washington natives
Duke Ellington and
Pearl Bailey, as well as nationally acclaimed artists such as
Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, Nat King Cole, and
Louis Armstrong. The legacy continues as the U Street corridor experiences a renaissance, and the Lincoln Theatre provides a cornerstone for culture and entertainment.
www.letsgetsanctified.com
Biographies
Javon Johnson (Playwright), a native of Anderson, S.C., is gaining worldwide recognition as a multi-talented actor and playwright. Javon's television credits include Prison Break,
Tyler Perry: House of Payne, One Life to Live, Porgy: A Gullah Version. He has performed on film in The Poker House, Barbershop 2,
Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls,
The Temptations, and Dogma. He is a member of The Dramatist Guild, Screen Actors Guild,
Actors' Equity Association, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. In addition to film, Javon delivers critically acclaimed performances on stage. He is a founding ensemble member/resident playwright of Congo Square Theatre Company in Chicago and has acted in off-Broadway productions such as Stick Fly, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Seven Guitars, Ali, Before It Hits Home, Cryin' Shame, Deep Azure, Amistad Voices, A Raisin in the Sun, Fences, Pericles, Macbeth, and Pill Hill. Javon's dedication and riveting performances led to his most recent honor: the 2007
Sidney Poitier Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his role in
August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone. Coupled with his extraordinary acting talent, Javon has garnered national attention as an award-winning playwright. His plays include Hambone, Cryin' Shame, Breathe, Eighty-Six, Runaway Home, Sanctified, The House That Jack Built, The Pawn, Homebound, Hobo King, The Spanish Jade, and Papa's Blues. Johnson's plays have received productions around the country and appeared in several theater festivals. His awards and honors (among others) include the most recent six Black Theater Alliance Awards for Sanctified in 2009, as well as the 2004 Black Theatre Alliance
Lorraine Hansberry Award for Best New Play and a 2003 New Professional Theatre Playwriting Award.
Rollo A. Dilworth (Composer) A native of St. Louis, MO, composer, conductor and educator Rollo A. Dilworth has written and/or arranged more than 150 vocal and choral works that are currently in print. His musical scores can be found in the catalogs of Hal Leonard Corporation, Santa Barbara Music Publishing Company, and Colla Voce Music Company. Throughout his career, he has written or arranged African American spirituals, gospel songs, Broadway selections, art songs, vocal exercises, and a musical-all of which are frequently performed by school, church, community, university, and professional choirs in the United States and abroad. Dilworth currently serves as Associate Professor of Choral Music Education at Temple University's Boyer School of Music in Philadelphia, PA. In addition to university teaching, Dilworth maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor and clinician for various types of conferences, festivals, concerts and productions. He is a member of and an award recipient from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). He also holds active memberships with the Music Educators National Conference (MENC), the National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and Chorus America. Dilworth has released a commercial recording entitled Good News, which features 12 of his choral compositions. The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and IN UNISON® Chorus recently commissioned and premiered his choral-orchestral work entitled Freedom's Plow, which is based on the text of a
Langston Hughes poem that bears the same title.
Derrick Sanders (Director) has had the pleasure of performing and directing across the globe. His most recent credits include Jitney at True Color's Theatre; Topdog/Underdog and Five Fingers of Funk at Minneapolis Children's Theatre;
August Wilson's 20th Century Cycle at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; Joe Turner's Come and Gone at CenterStage; Elmina's Kitchen and Stick Fly with
True Colors Theatre in Atlanta; and his off-Broadway debut of King Hedley II at
Signature Theatre, for which he received a
Lucille Lortel and a Audelco nomination. In Chicago, he received three Jeff Award nominations for the production of Joe Turner's Come and Gone, and directed the world premiere of the Jeff Award-nominated Deep Azure. He also received the Jeff and BTAA Awards for Best Director for Seven Guitars, as well as a Black Excellence Award for Best Producer. Sanders was part of
August Wilson's world premiere productions of Radio Golf and Gem of the Ocean on Broadway, and at the Huntington Theatre,
Mark Taper Forum, and The Goodman. He was named the 2005 Chicago Tribunes' Chicagoan of the Year: Theater, and was the Founding Artistic Director of Congo Square Theatre Company. He received his training from Howard University (B.F.A) and the University of Pittsburgh (M.F.A).
Sanctified Performance Schedule
October 21 - November 14
Thursdays* through Saturdays at 8p
Sundays at 2p ad 7p
*Exception - Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7:30p
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