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Crossroads Theatre Company presents the 2023 Spring Festival

originally published: 04/26/2023 

(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- The Spring Festival returns to Crossroads Theatre Company, at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC) and runs through June 11, 2023. Off the heels of the nationally acclaimed Genesis Festival, the Spring festival of plays and musicals closes out the Crossroad’s 44th season, kicking off with Starchild- the Ballad of Debbie Walker, an electrifying new play by Divinity Roxx, former Beyoncé musical director, Grammy-nominated musician, author, and composer. This world premiere will hit the stage, May 24 - June 3.

In this original play driven by her own awesome music, Divinity Roxx takes the audience on a powerful autobiographical journey and coming-of-age story- her experiences growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, and her journey to becoming a world-renowned musician.

“I am overjoyed to have our Spring Festival return with the spring,” says Artistic Director Ricardo Khan. “We’ve created a unique community-inspired experience offering world class artists and amazing performances that will be illuminating and inspiring, fun and exciting for our loyal long-time Crossroads supporters as well as theatregoers new to Crossroads. We want to see everyone there!”

Lady Day At Emerson's Bar and Grill starring Terry Burrell as Billie Holiday will join the lineup May 31 - June 8. The powerful musical production, written by Lanie Robertson and directed by Count Stovall, takes place in a bar in Philadelphia that will make captivated audiences laugh, cry and reminisce as we journey through Billie Holiday's legendary canon of music including "God Bless the Child", "When a Woman Loves a Man" and "Ain't Nobody Business If I Do".

Crossroads will wrap the Spring Festival with I Got Life: The Music of Nina Simone June 10 -11. The two-day production pairs legends of jazz and soul music to celebrate an iconic artist. More than a concert, "I Got Life" is an event that explores the powerful music and empowering messages of Nina Simone. The presentation moves through four aspects of Ms. Simone's songbook: Quest, Passion, Fury, and Hope. Vocalist Carol Riddick and bassist Gerald Veasley lead an ensemble that re-images Nina Simone's work with inventive energy.

 

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This program, Our Heritage in Jazz, is made possible in part by a grant from the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation.

Crossroads thanks their sponsors, County of Middlesex,  The  Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation,  and  National Endowment for the Arts for helping make this possible.

Tickets are on sale now and are $20-$55 per person. All Spring Festival events will be ASL-interpreted. To view the full schedule of events or for more information, visit Crossroadstheatrecompany.org. 

Crossroads Festival Theatre is made possible by support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts; The Blanche Bank of America; The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; Ocean First Foundation; New Jersey Historical Commission.

In 1978, Ricardo Khan and the late Lee Richardson founded the Crossroads Theatre Company in New Brunswick, NJ as a place of creative expression, discovery and cultural pride, where trained black and brown artists could engage in substantive, non-stereotypical roles in the theatre, and where artists and craftspeople of all colors could work together for the good of art and community. Since then and with an enduring devotion to that foundational vision, Crossroads built a national reputation as an artistic home for some of the most important, transformative voices in the American Theatre, honoring Black culture, spirit and history, and giving voice to that experience in order that people of all backgrounds can meet, appreciate, discover and celebrate in a place of healing and joy- the Crossroads.

The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC) has propelled New Brunswick’s Downtown Cultural Arts District into the spotlight as the region’s most exciting and dynamic performing arts center. NBPAC features two state-of-the-art theatrical venues in the Elizabeth Ross Johnson and Arthur Laurents Theaters, dedicated rehearsal studios and collaborative workspaces for arts organizations across the region.