Black Pearl Sings! May 28, 2010

InterAct Theatre Company presents
BLACK PEARL SINGS!
A Play with Music by Frank Higgins
Directed by Seth Rozin
Featuring C. Kelly Wright & Catharine Slusar
May 28 – June 27, 2010
Short Description:
Featuring beautiful, live, a capella renditions of little-known American folk songs, BLACK PEARL SINGS! chronicles a powerful story about being a woman in a man's world, being Black in a White world, and fighting for one's soul in a world where anyone can become a commodity.
Long Description:
Featuring beautiful, live, a cappella renditions of little-known American folk songs, Frank Higgins’ play with music follows the Depression-era journey of two extraordinary women, each of whom is dependent on the other to gain acceptance in society. In 1935 Texas, Susannah, a Caucasian academic and song collector for the Library of Congress, visits a high-security prison where she meets Pearl, an African-American woman imprisoned for murder. Hoping to record the treasure trove of spirituals and African folk songs that only Pearl knows, Susannah bargains for Pearl’s parole and arranges for several public performances. The two women soon find themselves walking a delicate line between exposure and exploitation. BLACK PEARL SINGS! chronicles a powerful story about being a woman in a man’s world, being Black in a White world, and fighting for one’s soul in a world where anyone can be a commodity.
Reviewer Quotes:
"BLACK PEARL really sings ... [it] reaches into the soul of a nation and pulls at the heart and mind ... poignant and often funny ... involving and emotionally charged."-Sarasota Herald-Tribune
"… songs like 'Hard Times in Old Virginia' and 'Do Lord Remember Me,' ... conjure something akin to an exquisite agony, the sense of a trapped people, finding ways to transform unfathomable pain into beauty."
-The Washington Post
"BLACK PEARL SINGS! is a wonderful jewel box of a show, a play that seems quite simple and uncluttered at first glance, but unfolds and blooms and blossoms ..."-Metro Weekly
Show Dates, Times & Location:
Performances for BLACK PEARL SINGS! are Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. There will be one Saturday matinee performance on Saturday, May 29 at 2:00 p.m. All performances will be held on the Mainstage of The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA.
Tickets:
Individual tickets, which are on sale now, are $16.00 for preview performances; $25.00 for Tuesday through Thursday performances; and $29.00 for Friday & Saturday evenings and Sunday matinee performances. Discounts are available for groups (10 or more), seniors (65 and older) and students (with valid I.D.). Students with valid I.D. may also purchase Student Rush tickets for $10.00 five minutes before curtain (based on availability). Tickets may be purchased by calling InterAct’s box office at 215-568-8079, visiting InterAct’s website at www.InterActTheatre.org or by dropping by InterAct’s offices at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., Philadelphia