Anika Noni Rose Set for Concert Reading of THE MOUNTAINTOP, 4/3

Tony Award winning actress Anika Noni Rose will perform in a concert reading of THE MOUNTAINTOP by Katori Hall. The reading will take place at 7:30 PM on April 3 at the Independence Community College as a part of the William Inge Theatre Festival. Chay Yew will direct.

Taking place on April 3, 1968, The Mountaintop is a gripping reimagining of events the night before the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., as he retires to Room 306 in the now famous Lorraine Motel in Memphis, after delivering his legendary ‘I've Been To The Mountaintop' speech to a massive church congregation. When room-service is delivered by a young woman, whose identity we puzzle over, King is forced to confront his past, as well as his legacy to his people.

The show is scheduled to play on Broadway next season.

Anika Noni Rose most recently performed as the voice of Princess Tiana in the Disney movie "The Princess & The Frog" which has been nominated for three Oscars, including Best Animated feature and Best song.

Anika first appeared on Broadway in FOOTLOOSE. She followed that with Off-Broadway's Laura Nyro retrospective, ELI'S COMIN', for which she garnered an Obie Award. Her next stage project was Tony Kushner's CAROLINE OR CHANGE, which went from The Public Theater, where she earned a Lucille Lortel award for her portrayal of Emmie Thibodeaux, to Broadway, where she received the Tony Award for featured actress in a musical, The Theater World Award, The Clarence Derwent Award, and a Drama Desk nomination. Anika took the play to the west coast where she picked up The Los Angeles Critcs' Circle Award and an Ovation Award.

Her next stop was the big screen, playing Lorrell Robinson in Bill Condon's "Dreamgirls." The movie received an AFI ensemble award, and was nominated for a SAG award. Anika herself was nominated for an NAACP award. Anika has sung all over the world, including the 79th Annual Academy Awards, and The Vatican.

Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist Paula Vogel is the Honoree Playwright of the 29th Annual William Inge Theatre Festival, in Independence, Kansas, produced by the William Inge Center for the Arts at Independence Community College, Independence, KS.

Vogel will be present all four days of the Inge Festival, April 21-24, of 2010. At the Tribute ceremony April 24, Vogel will accept the annual Inge Festival Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre Award.

Vogel joins the list of previous celebrated Distinguished Honorees, which includes Arthur Miller, August Wilson, Neil Simon, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim. She is the fourth woman to be named Honoree, preceded by Betty Comden (1990), Wendy Wasserstein (1993), and Tina Howe (2005).

For more information or to order tickets, visit online at www.ingefestival.org.

 

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski

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