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Event
UpRise! Productions presents A Raisin in the Sun
UpRise! Productions proudly presents Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun for 3 weeks only at The VORTEX, directed by Laurie Carlos, one of America's seminal theatre artists. Produced in association with VORTEX Repertory Company. Zell Miller III comes full circle with this production, starring as Walter Younger. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play that Zell ever performed back at Capital City Playhouse in Austin in the 1980's. Zell's long-time friend and mentor, Laurie Carlos, guest artist from Minneapolis, joins UpRise! to direct this innovative production at The VORTEX. Laurie brings a totally new vision and interpretation to A Raisin in the Sun, a play that she never thought that she would be doing. But because of Zell Miller III's relationship to this play and to his hometown of Austin where he is raising his children, Laurie was pleased to come and direct this dynamic new production of a classic.
The cast features Zell Miller III, Jolia Jones, Anne Wynter, Sade Jones, Brentom Jackson, Brian Ridley, Mick D'Arcy, and Zhane Hall.
Zell Miller III (UpRise! Artistic Director) is an award-winning playwright, poet, community activist, teacher, and youth counselor. He is an interdisciplinary theater artist and a spoken word performance poet. "An enticing, seasoned, and charismatic performer" says The Nokia Observer. Zell is also an accomplished playwright/director/educator and mentor. "His work reflects the ancestor storytelling and carries the rhythm's of a hip-hop version of a Sekou Sundiata, or an Amiri Baraka." says Tongue Magazine. His work has appeared in the Huston Tillotson University Lit Magazine and has been featured in several issues of the on-line Map of Austin Poetry section. Although his written words can inspire great passion and emotional reactions, it's nothing in comparison to his live performance energy. This is where you get the full no holds barred impact of this command performer. The Villager Newspaper says "there is no choice but to bear witness to his lyrical gymnastics. I thought I was going to detonate listening and watching him turn phrases and words into atom bombs of truth." His one man show my Child, my child, my alien child, won Best Original Script by the Austin Critics Table Awards in 2007. His play Radio Silence won the B. Iden Payne Award for Best Original Script in 2008. Zell was nominated for his last production, for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf, for a 2011-2012 Austin Critics' Table Awards for best director.
Laurie Carlos (Director) is an original player in the New York avant-garde performance scene where she has developed new characters and new aesthetics for the stage. Her oft-anthologized pieces writing includes White Chocolate, The Cooking Show, and Organdy Falsetto Laurie is an OBIE Award-winning actor, who created the role of Lady In Blue in for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf. She received two Bessie Awards for White Chocolate and Heat. Laurie is a unique director, who has helmed the premieres of new work by award-winning writers including Sharon Bridgforth, Carl Hancock Rux, Florinda Bryant, Suzan-Lori Parks, Zell Miller lll, Djola Branner, and Daniel Alexander Jones. She is project manager for The Naked Stages at Pillsbury House Theater where she curates the celebrated performance series Non-English Speaking Spoken Here. She has worked with many theatres and companies throughout her career including The Guthrie,Penumbra, Movin' Spirits Dance Theater, Pangea World Theatre, Ananya Dance Theater, Teatro del Pueblo, Stepping Stone Theatre, Urban Bush Women, and Trinity Rep.
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LocationThe VORTEX (View)
2307 Manor Rd
Austin, TX 78722
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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