(PATERSON, NJ) -- Poetry + Jazz = PoeJazztry! PoeJazztry is a new stage production written, directed and produced by playwright Lavene Gass. This production infuses original poetry and classic jazz pieces into a 90-minute powerful production that discusses a cornucopia of themes that include the raw and uncut emotion of love, self-awareness and race relations. This show is also punctuated with live jazz music and original tap and jazz choreographic sequences.
Inspired by the Harlem Renaissance and the glitz and glamour of The Roaring '20s, PoeJazztry is an epic theatrical production that utilizes aesthetic and rhythmic poetry, fluid choreography and harmonious music to evoke a feeling, while telling a story under the auspice of art.
Classic jazz tunes by Gregory Porter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald are interwoven throughout the play and serve as a backdrop to the themes of each poem.
The cast includes Freedom Allah (Poet), Ashley Bazemore (Poet), Quatarra Benjamin (Poet), Marlo Cozart (Soloist), B. Keith Evans (Saxophonist) Anaya Gass (Dancer), Terrence Gilbert (Poet & Soloist), Melanie Jones (Choreographer/Dancer), David Kline (Music Director & Drummer), Courtney McCain (Keyboardist), Brenda Mickens (Soloist), Mildred Rivers (Soloist), Michante Stuart (Poet), April May Webb (Soloist) and Twanna White (Poet).
PoeJazztry will premiere on Saturday, September 24 at 7 p.m. at The Nu Majestic Theatre in Paterson, New Jersey. Tickets are $33 online and will not be sold at the door. For tickets, please visit: www.lavenegass.com.
This is Lavene's second stage play. Her first stage play, Pearls premiered in 2014 to a sold-out audience (300 theatergoers) at the Westminster Arts Center in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Due to popular demand, it appeared in 2015 at the Rosen Performing Arts Centers in Wayne, New Jersey (over 300 theatergoers attended this show). She also wrote, directed and produced a short-film entitled Consciously Unconscious. This film was featured in the 2015 Passaic County Film Festival.
originally published: 2016-08-04 17:23:24
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Theatre Preview: June 2018
A look at plays coming to stages around the Garden State. Remember to add your shows to the NJ Stage event calendar. Listings are always free and seen by thousands each week.
Theatre Preview: May 2018
New Jersey Stage takes a look at shows coming to stages around the Garden State with our monthly theatre preview in NJ Stage Magazine. Issue 46 also contains features on The Nerd at George Street Playhouse and Turning Off The Morning News at McCarter Theatre. The magazine is available for free at www.NJArtsMag.com and readable on any PC, tablet, or smartphone.
Turning off the Morning News
The award-winning playwright and New Jersey native, Christopher Durang, is back with Turning Off The Morning News - his third World Premiere commission for McCarter Theatre in Princeton. It serves as a follow up to his Tony Award-winning play Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and runs from May 4th through June 3rd.
