THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY Executive Artistic Director, Crystal Field
Presents
A Rome Neal Banana Puddin’ Jazz Production
Soraya
BROOKLYN-BASED R&B • SOUL • JAZZ
Monday, November 23, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Tickets: $20 General Admission
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003 Directions
ABOUT THE BAND
Soraya is a Brooklyn-based R&B and soul band bringing together seasoned musicians, expressive vocals, and a shared love of the timeless traditions of soul, rhythm and blues, and jazz. Rooted in classic sounds and energized by contemporary influences, the group combines warm melodies, rich harmonies, compelling musicianship, and deep grooves into a distinctive live experience.
The band’s collective sound reflects the individual journeys of its members—artists whose experience spans live performance, touring, recording, education, and collaboration across multiple musical styles.
MEET THE MUSICIANS
Leslie De’Jesus — Vocals
Leslie brings soulful expression and melodic warmth to Soraya’s vocal sound, helping shape the band’s character and connection with its audience.
Shawn Sabb — Vocals
Shawn adds vocal depth, versatility, and a strong sense of soul, complementing the group’s arrangements and live performance energy.
Khadri Smith (Khadri Kareem) — Guitar
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Khadri began studying violin at age eight and moved to guitar at ten. His performance history spans R&B, classic soul, jazz, rock, and smooth jazz. He has played with groups including Chill Factor, Lifeline, North-Winds, Stock Exchange, Acoustic Black, and The Players Club, and toured with R&B artist Chandra Simmons. His playing is grounded in classic soul and shaped by a love of expressive jazz and smooth grooves.
Bill White — Guitar
Bill White is a guitarist, vocalist, composer, producer, and educator with a wide-ranging career in R&B, soul, funk, jazz, and rock. His performance credits include Chaka Khan, Hall & Oates, Daryl Hall, Me’Shell NdegeOcello, Patti Austin, Freddie Jackson, Average White Band, Bernie Worrell, Ray Chew, Lonnie Liston Smith, Bobby Lyle, Chico Freeman, David Murray, Dave Koz, Alex Bugnon, Brian Jackson, Onaje Allan Gumbs, and Gordon Chambers. He holds a master’s degree in education and has also worked as a music educator, teaching guitar, bass, piano, and music theory.
Ron Small — Bass
Ron provides the low-end foundation that anchors Soraya’s sound, connecting the rhythm section to the band’s melodies and harmonies with a steady, soulful groove.
Ron Thompson — Piano & Keyboard
Ron Thompson is a versatile pianist and keyboardist whose musical work spans jazz, R&B, soul, blues, and contemporary music. His performance associations include Hugh Masekela, Tom Browne, Tom Scott, Mikki Howard, Vivian Sessoms, Paula Atherton, Cheryl Pepsii Riley, Alyson Williams, The Main Ingredient, Blue Magic, Rose Royce, and Musique. His broad musical experience brings harmonic depth, expressive keyboard work, and soulful color to Soraya’s sound.
Tony Lewis — Drums
Bronx-born drummer, recording artist, producer, and educator Tony Lewis brings more than five decades of musical experience. A graduate of LaGuardia High School of the Arts, he earned an early place in the McDonald’s All-American High School Jazz Band and performed on The Merv Griffin Show with Dizzy Gillespie. His performance and recording associations include Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Sting, Little Richard, Sam & Dave, Cyndi Lauper, The Temptations, Rakim, and MC Lyte. His versatility and command of groove help drive Soraya’s dynamic sound.
EXPERIENCE THE SOUND OF SORAYA!
Brooklyn’s own Soraya unites soulful vocals, accomplished musicianship, and decades of musical experience. Blending classic R&B, soul, jazz, and contemporary grooves, the band delivers a live experience rooted in tradition and driven by passion.
REAL MUSICIANS. REAL SOUL. ONE UNFORGETTABLE SOUND.
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY Executive Artistic Director, Crystal Field
Presents
FRAGMENT FIFTEEN
December 26, 2026 – January 10, 2027
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM
Tickets – $20, Students & Seniors $15
Run time: 60 minutes with no intermission
COMMUNITY SPACE
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003 Directions
There is a content warning for simulated violence, blood, needles, and minor gore.
FRAGMENT FIFTEEN is a scientific horror that follows an authoritarian project to create an obedient super soldier from the fossilized bone fragment of a prehistoric human. As the fragment grows into a living being, the limits of control and power are tested against emerging humanity. The struggle between what becomes of the fragment and those in control asks what it means to be human in the void of having any humanity, and what it means to want connection in an environment that imposes individuality.
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY Executive Artistic Director, Crystal Field
Presents
A New World
November 27, 2026 – November 29 2026
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM
Tickets – $25, Students & Seniors $15
Run time: 1 hour 30 minutes with a 15 intermission
CINO THEATER
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003 Directions
This Thanksgiving load up your plates with a delicious helping of dance storytelling from Glitter Kitty Theater. The Kitty’s are back with 3 performances at TNC! Down home, at our favorite venue, for an event that will launch you from the the old world right into the future. Join co-directors Jeff Davis and Emily Vetsch as we catch up on stage with our cherished friends in a cornucopia of live music and movement. Comedy, romance and whimsy are on the menu, so bring your family and friends to our table for this not to be missed performance!
Cast:
Allison Feller
Zoe Farago
Jeff Davis
Cori Kresge
Michael Aromando
Emily Vetsch
Eliano Braz
Mel “Cello” Greenwich
Production team:
Stage Manager- Benjamin Vigil
Lighting Designer- Dani Jeannette Draper
Directors- Jeff Davis and Emily Vetsch
Emily Vetsch – 2026 marks Emily’s 20th year as a NYC dance professional. Thus far, many adventures have been had along the unexpected and exciting path of her career, and she’d gladly regail you with a tale or two over coffee had she the time. Maybe in retirement (haha.) Some highlights include her work as Co-Director of Glitter Kitty Theater (est. 2010); her work with Labyrinth Dance Theater, choreographer Naomi Goldberg Haas, the Hudson Vagabond Puppets, Anabella Lenzu Dance/Drama, The Wendy Osserman Dance Company, NYC Children’s Theater, choreographer Cori Kresge, musician Abby Payne, and The Marcos Duran Performance Group. Emily also values being a teaching artist and is currently working with Dances for a Variable Population. She is a graduate of the Dance programs of NCSA and SUNY Purchase. Last and honestly first, she’s a proud mom of 2 boys :))) ‘Thank you for having us back at TNC! I consider it Glitter Kitty’s home.’ -EV
Jeff Davis is a NYC based Dancer, Choreographer & Visual Artist. He is Co-Director of Glitter Kitty Theater and Director of Jeff Davis Dance. Fusing art, musical theater, contemporary and jazz dance to tell unique stories. His background in dance, theater, opera and puppetry have led to multifaceted, thought provoking & highly entertaining performance pieces. As a performer he has been featured with Labyrinth Dance Theater, JCE Jazz Dance Project, Hudson Vagabond Puppets, NYC Children’s Theater, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, Broadway Dance Lab, Zullo/Raw Movement & Attack Theatre.
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY Executive Artistic Director, Crystal Field
Presents
SantaCon: The Play
December 3, 2026 – December 20, 2026
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM
Tickets – $25
Thursdays: Pay-what-you-can
Run time: 90 minutes, no intermission
CINO THEATER
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003 Directions
New York City’s annual SantaCon. Many residents consider it the worst day of the year. Who among us hasn’t been going about their life on a brisk December morning only to realize, with slowly encroaching dread, that there are an unusually high number of Santas about? And in the blink of an eye you’re fighting for your life.
The lives of the plastered, the merry, and the not-so-bright converge for an evening of harrowing holiday hell in this scathing new comedy, which parodies the infamous yearly event.
Notice: This production is an independent work of fiction and is not affiliated with or endorsed by SantaCon or its official organizers.
CAST
Greg Horton*
Anna Lei Negrin*
Mackenzie Menter
Levi Penley
Jenna Janet
Austin Reynolds
Katie North
Danielle MacMath
Christopher McIntyre*
Nick Bettens*
Mary Lane Townsend
Franklin Ferrer
Daniel Yaiullo*
*Denotes a member of Actors’ Equity Association
PRODUCTION
Stage Manager: Gabi Benintendi
Lighting Designer: Sara Hansen
Assistant Director: Daniel Yaiullo
Props/Costumes: Mary Lane Townsend
Social Media: Danielle MacMath
Producers: Katie North, Danielle MacMath, Michael Gardiner, Daniel Yaiullo
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY Executive Artistic Director, Crystal Field
Presents
A Rome Neal Banana Puddin’ Jazz Production
“JAZZY THESPIANS NIGHT”
Dedicated to AUDELCO
Monday, October 26, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Tickets: $20 General Admission
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003 Directions
Theatre Folk Get Their Jazz on as we celebrate AUDELCO with a Jazz Concert & Jam at Theater for the New City
AUDELCO-nominated actors Hollie Harper, Ria Alexander and C. Kelly Wright join the bill. Monday, October 26. – 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM
NEW YORK, NY – Theater for the New City, led by Executive Director Crystal Field, presents Rome Neal’s Banana Puddin’ Jazz, an evening of live jazz and celebration on Monday, October 26, 2026, honoring AUDELCO (the Audience Development Committee, Inc.), which has championed Black excellence in theatre for more than five decades. The concert and jam session takes place just weeks before AUDELCO’s [annual awards ceremony] on November 16 at the Alhambra Ballroom.
Guest vocalist Vondie Curtis Hall, the actor and director known for *Chicago Hope*, *Daredevil*, and *Gridlock’d* and an original cast member of Broadway’s *Dreamgirls*, will sing a couple of jazz standards.
Joining the evening are three artists with 2026 AUDELCO nominations:
Hollie Harper, actress and comedian, nominated for Featured Actress in Melanie Maria Goodreaux’s *Popes of Farragut Street* (TNC)
Ria Alexander, actress and costume designer, nominated for Costume Design for Felix Omozusi’s “Watch The Throne” (BST)
C. Kelly Wright, actress and vocalist, nominated for Supporting Actress in Anthony Mapp’s “Skin Folks” (NEC), will perform vocal selections. Along with past AUDELCO “VIV” Awardee Mr. Taptastic (Brian Davis), who will tap and sing!
Other JAZZY THESPIANS include: Aziza Miller ( Hell’s Kitchen), Lee Summers (Dreamgirls), Perri Gaffney, Daralyn Jay, and Rob Fulton
Musicians: Marcus Persiani (piano), Melissa Slocum (bass), Dwayne Cook Broadnax (drums), Patience Higgins (sax)
My Banana Puddin’ JAZZY THESPIANS NIGHT has always been my way of showing love to AUDELCO which has celebrated my work over the years.” said Rome Neal, multi-AUDELCO Award-winning actor, director and lighting designer, and creator of the long-running series Banana Puddin’ Jazz.
EVENT DETAILS
When: Monday, October 26, 2026. Doors 7 PM; music 7:30–10:30 PM
Where: Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue (at 10th Street), New York, NY
Tickets: $20
Box office: 212-254-1109 | theaterforthenewcity.net
Early reservations: Rome Neal, 718-288-8048
About AUDELCO (Audience Development Committee, Inc.)
AUDELCO acknowledges and honors Black theatre and its artists in New York City. It was established and incorporated in 1973 by Vivian Robinson (1926–1996) to stimulate interest in and support of the performing arts in Black communities.
About Theater for the New City
Founded in 1971, Theater for the New City (TNC) is an award-winning community cultural center dedicated to producing innovative theatre and fostering diverse artistic voices. Under Crystal Field’s direction, TNC remains a vital East Village institution where art and activism meet.
About Rome Neal
Rome Neal is a multi-AUDELCO Award-winning actor, director and lighting designer. He is known for his Banana Puddin’ Jazz series, which brings together jazz artists, poets and actors, and he directed the jazz plays Laurence Holder’s MONK, about Thelonious Monk, and Samuel Harp’s Don’t Explain, about Lee Morgan.
Media Contact: Rome Neal, romeneal25@gmail.com, 718-288-8048
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY Executive Director, Crystal Field
Presents
BREAD + PUPPET
The Upside Down World Circus
-and-
Woyzeck
December 2 – 13, 2026
Tickets $20, Students, Seniors, Children $15
Run Time: Both shows are about 1 hour
JOHNSON THEATER
No one turned away for lack of funds. We mean it. If you need assistance with a ticket, please email tickets@breadandpuppet.org.
The Upside Down World Circus
Wednesday, December 2 @ 8pm Thursday, December 3 @ 8pm Friday, December 4 @ 8pm Saturday, December 5 @ 3pm & 8pm Sunday, December 6 @ 3pm
Get ready for a paper mache spectacle featuring puppets big and small, acts serious and silly, and performances slapstick and sublime. Stilt dancers, paper maché beasts, and a riotous brass band make a raucous, colorful circus of protest and celebration.
In this year’s circus, director Peter Schumann asks “Is it or is it not? Am I asleep or am I awake? Am I a cockroach or am I a me?” He further urges us Possibilitarians to “demonstrate humanity’s upside-down situation in the face of the government’s depraved falsehoods. Luxury silence and despair must be replaced by revolt orchestras that radically oppose the radically wrong system. It is time to unforget the revolution-in-progress!”
Woyzeck
Thursday, December 10 @ 8pm Friday, December 11 @ 8pm Saturday, December 12 @ 3pm & 8pm Sunday, December 13 @ 3pm
Nearly 200 years after Georg Büchner wrote his searing social critique and 50 years after Peter Schumann adapted it for a tour of Germany, Bread & Puppet presents an urgent revival of Woyzeck. “When the whole world seems to be going up in flames I’ve heard a terrible voice talking to me” cries Woyzeck. The script remains “unfortunately more than relevant” notes Schumann, who says of Büchner, “I don’t know how he does it, but what he does is totally real, it’s the language of the proletariat, of poverty, of deprivation. Obligatory viewing for all citizens and migrants to this country.”
As always, the shows will include puppets large and small, music, up-to-the-minute politics, and spectacles not to be missed. After the show Bread & Puppet will serve its famous sourdough rye bread with aioli, and Bread & Puppet’s “Cheap Art” – books, posters, postcards, pamphlets and banners from the Bread & Puppet Press – will be for sale.
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th & 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003 Directions
212-254-1109
JOIN US FOR THE STAGED READING PREMIERE (in New York City) OF THIS NEW DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY DRAMEDY with a cast culled from stage, screen and film including Mitch Poulos, Marilyn Chris and Liz Keifer.
Saturday, October 31, 2026
Outdoor attractions (Free) 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Indoor attractions ($20) 7:00 PM to Midnight Costume or Formal Wear are requested.
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003 Directions
Halloween spot from 1010 WINS:
NEW YORK — Fifty Halloweens after it began, Theater for the New City’s Village Halloween Costume Ball is still conjuring up the unexpected. On October 31, TNC will celebrate the 50th incarnation of its famously eccentric East Village tradition with an extravaganza of theater, music, dance, aerial performance, cabaret, food and flamboyant costumes. A large outdoor festivity will be held from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM outside the Theater on East Tenth Street between First and Second Avenues (or if it rains, in a big tent), featuring performances and a costume competition for kids. The celebration moves inside into TNC’s four-theater complex from 7:00 PM to midnight . There will be nonstop performances (by Austin Pendleton and over 40 others), ballroom dancing (to Art Lillard’s Heavenly Swing Band and MisterPablo, a Latin Dance band), an aerial dance concert (by Caytha Jentis), and dining in a pop-up restaurant (The Witch’s Cauldron) where for $5, guests can savor a complete dinner donated by local restaurants. The evening culminates in a costume judging with prizes at midnight. Admission is free for the outdoor program and $20 for the indoor festivities. Costumes or formal wear are required.
On every Halloween since 1974, TNC has transformed its theater complex and surrounding streets into a carnival of the unexpected, where neighborhood families, artists, and revelers come together for an evening of spirited fun, live music, and avant-garde theater. This extravaganza has been a point of origin for many of the City’s most original entertainers. Six full-length plays have grown out of playlets written for the fest and it is probable that the theatrical movement in Performance Art began there. It has been a launching pad for such formative artists as Paul Zaloom, Alice Farley, Bloolips, The Red Mole, Penny Arcade, Basil Twist, Alien Comic Tom Murrin, Zero Boy, Charles Busch, Eduardo Machado, Moises Kaufman, Maria Irene Fornes and Phoebe Legere. Each year, many acts, skits, sketches, and skadoodles go on to become the basis of larger theater works.
The world-famous Village Halloween Parade began in 1974 as a production of Theater For The New City in collaboration with block associations of the West Village. The procession wound its way through the Village from TNC’s second home at the corner of Jane and West Streets to Washington Square Park. In the Parade’s second year, 1975, TNC won an Obie for the production. When organization of the parade was formally handed to the local block association in 1976, the event had forked into two parts: an informal parade of puppets for Greenwich Village children and a late-night dress-up ball for grownup villagers. Crystal Field wrote in 2001 in New York Theatre Wire, “We had planned to have a later night Ball for adults (Gretel Cummings’ idea, as I recall) — a Village Halloween Costume Ball– so that when the little ones slept, the adults could go dancing and partying in an indoor, more sophisticated set up. The ball has endured. We now serve a thousand to two thousand people with our four-theater ‘Village Halloween Costume Ball.'”
In 2020, due to the Covid shutdown, TNC maintained its Halloween tradition by presenting the entire event virtually. In 2021, it was mounted entirely outdoors. In 2022 TNC recaptured the event’s intensity and traditional magic by bringing it back inside. The decision was made to count 2020 as a “year uncounted” and to celebrate 2026 as the festival’s fiftieth incarnation.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (as of October 1)
PART 1 – OUTDOOR EVENTS
3:00 – 7:00 PM
ADMISSION FREE
Attractions will include:
Variety performances by Carol Tandava, Arley Trice, George Belleci, Joe Bendik, and musical group Star ’69.
Child Costume and others. Emceed by T. Scott Lily.
Children’s Costume Contest judged by Crystal Field, T. Scott Lilly and Terry Lee King. Winners will receive prizes.
The Red and Black Masque: an annual Medieval ritual ensemble theater piece which is performed by torchlight with audience participation. (7:00)
At 7:00, the celebration goes inside the four-theater complex for food, fun, and exciting new theater works, culminating with a costume contest at 12:00 AM midnight, whose winners will each receive a bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne and a year’s free pass to TNC.
PART 2 – INDOOR EVENTS
7:00 – 12:00
ADMISSION $20
CABARET PERFORMANCES (7:00 PM to 12:00 PM)
A succession of live, 10-minute performances staged in the Community Theater. Performing artists will be, among others: Austin Pendleton, Richard West, Yip Harburg Rainbow Troupe, Stephan Morrow, John Grimaldi, Carol Tandava (Belly Dance), Michael Christian, TNC Street Theater Enemble, Inma Heredia, Peter Dizzoza, Alessandra Belloni, Emilio Garcia, Asher Cohen (“Egg Eats Chicken”), JC Augustin, Fairy Tale Marionette and Wise Guise.
Scream contest hosted by Didi Champagne. (10:24 PM)
Emceed by Melanie Maria Goodreaux.
BALLROOM DANCING:
Art Lillard’s Heavenly Big Band, a 17 piece swing orchestra performing an extensive repertoire of songs from swing to samba to jazz ballad to Bossa Nova with a swinging singing soloist (8:00 – 10:00)
Aerial Dance with Caytha Jentis, performing high over our heads in exciting new challenges to eye and ear (10:00 – 10:30)
Mr. Pablo’s Latin Dance Band, a five-piece fusion band with vocalist, mixing Salsa, Samba and Flamenco with Rock, Reggae and Funk (10:30 – 12:00)
DINING IN THE WITCHES’ CAULDRON
Downtown’s most sensational Halloween cafe, featuring a variety of American and international delicacies at peoples’ prices ($5 for a full dinner). Holiday dishes are contributed by neighboring East Village restaurants, some with celebrity chefs. You can gobble couscous from a coffin lid beginning at 8:00 pm while enjoying spine-tingling performances by performance artists, songwriters, poets and variety artists including: Rome Neal, Smokey Stevens, Lei Zhou, Zero Boy, Sylvain Leroux, George Belleci, Sarah Lilly, Ellen Steir, The Head Peddlers, Stefan Morrow (8:00 – 11:20).
MONSTERS AND MIRACLES COSTUME PARADE
The annual costume contest hosted by Crystal Field. All costumed attendees are invited to march past a panel of celebrity judges. Winners receive one-year passes to TNC and a bottle of Moet & Chandon Champagne. Attendees will be judged in such categories as “Most Politically Relevant,” “Most Gluten Free,” “Most Uncompromised,” Most Non-AI,” “Most Visionary,” “Most Presidentially Honest,” “Most Oxygenated” and “Most Likely to be Extinct.” Judged by Melanie Maria Goodreaux, John Gilman, Sabura Rashid, Joe Battista, Crystal Field, Phillip Hackett and others.
THE WOMB ROOM
Vaudeville in The Womb Room (Basement Cabaret Theater). Performers include Star ’69 (band), WillieAnn Gissendanner, Pamela Enz, Joe Bendik, Claude Solnik, Lei Zhou, Rocco Nicholas, Terry Lee King/ Billie Little and Danielle Aziza (8:00 – 10:00).
LOBBY EVENTS
Performances by Cobu (all-women Taiko drum group), Hellsouls, flute-playing goblin Kahley Mitchell, tap dance with Laraine Goodman and The Mad Tappers, Fish Pond (casting for giveaway gifts), Fortune Teller Penny Diora (free readings), Champagne Bar served over a coffin with a live vampire inside.
HALLOWEEN DECOR
Murals painted by Olga Castillo, Gilma Diaz, Sean Finnerty and many others.
Theater for the New City (www.theaterforthenewcity.net) is located at 155 First Avenue, at the corner of East Tenth Street. Reservations are optional. The TNC box office number is (212) 254-1109.
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY Executive Artistic Director, Crystal Field
Presents
How to Get to Heaven from the Crawfish Pond
November 5, 2026 – November 22, 2026
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM
Tickets – $25, Students & Seniors $15
Sundays: Pay-what-you-can
Run time: 2 hours
COMMUNITY SPACE THEATER
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003 Directions
Playwright and director, Melanie Maria Goodreaux returns to her longtime creative home, Theater for the New City (TNC), with the world premiere of HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN FROM THE CRAWFISH POND, a darkly comic Louisiana love story about death, desire, family, faith, and the possibility of redemption.
The production marks a milestone for Goodreaux: 2026 is her 25th year of writing and directing plays. HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN FROM THE CRAWFISH POND follows her recent TNC productions, including The Popes of Farragut Street, The White Blacks, and the AUDELCO-nominated Rita Is the Goat.
Crawfish farmer Earl Roussel has been dead for ten years when he suddenly wakes up in a “Purgatory” that happens to be his front yard. He longs for his beloved wife, Ruth, who is on her deathbed but escapes at night to see him so they can make love. Meanwhile, their estranged sons and daughter are at odds over money ‘stolen’ from the family, and a pair of nuns, who may be more con artists than women of God.
Set in Louisiana and infused with Goodreaux’s blend of magical realism, surreal comedy, spirituality, and poetry, HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN FROM THE CRAWFISH POND asks what we owe the people we love before, and perhaps even after, death. As Earl and Ruth refuse to let something as inconvenient as mortality separate them, their children must confront old wounds, family secrets, and the question of whether reconciliation is still possible when time is running out.
The new play continues Goodreaux’s exploration of New Orleans and Louisiana culture, Black life, spirituality, family, and the complicated ways people search for love and redemption.
Written by Melanie Maria Goodreaux
Directed by Melanie Maria Goodreaux with Christopher Bello
CAST
Arlene A. McGruder
Alan Walls
Jasmyn Unique Tilford
Javán Robinson
Riyadh Rollins
Tabitha Bradley
Mary-Linda Greene
PRODUCTION
Set & Props: Lytza Colón, Gregory Paul
Lighting Design: Alex Bartenieff
Sound Design: Luke Santy, Boston Fielder/Urb Alt, Anthony Harper, Christopher Bello
Visuals/Projections: Anthony Harper/Christopher Bello
Casting: Mary-Linda Greene
Costumes: Billy Little
Graphics: Diane Sullivan, Christopher Bello
Producers: Mark Holloway, David Kahl, Anthony Harper, Bruce Morrow, Norah Lawlor
