An original show looking at contemporary music and life in New Orleans neighborhoods will hit the stage this week, culminating an intensive workshop.
On Da Block!
Noted local writer and director Anthony Bean put together a cast of more than 75 young faces to star in the premiere of his hip-hop musical.
Set in the Crescent City, Bean’s story tags along with the cast as they traverse the worlds of friendship, family expectations, young love, peer pressure, social media and hopes for the future.
Melding music, dance, comedy and storytelling, the show unites generations in a celebration of culture, community and resilience.
“This production is about much more than entertainment,” Bean said. “It gives our young people a professional stage on which to discover their voices, build confidence, and believe in themselves. Our goal is to show them that their stories matter.”
The production is the result of the Anthony Bean Performing arts Summer Camp, a six-week intensive program that highlights young artists from throughout the metro area and helps explore their lives withing their contemporary neighborhoods.
Assisting Bean is Ateja Lewis, with Mecca Notes as music director and Real Washington as choreographer. The New Orleans Opera Association designed and constructed the sets for the show.
The show will be 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at Southern University of New Orleans Performing Arts Center, 6400 Press Drive, at the lakefront. Tickets are $20. Visit anthonybeantheater.com.
In production July 9-15
‘La Cage aux Folles,’ the mythical St. Tropez, France, nightclub in the upcoming production at Tulane, is a dazzling spectacle each night. This production marks the fourth time the show has been part of the season.
“LA CAGE AUX FOLLES:” 7:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; Tulane’s Summer Lyric Theatre, Dixon Hall on Newcomb Circle, Uptown campus. The gender-bending love story about a young couple in love who want to get married, so it’s time for all the in-laws to meet. But his parents are a nightclub owner and his longtime gay companion (who’s the star of the cabaret show). Her parents are ultraconservative. Tickets start at $32. liberalarts.tulane.edu/summer-lyric-theatre.
Beau Moss, Kerry Lambert and Nina Ballon hold up ‘Legally Blonde’ title character Elle played by Victoria Ventura for the upcoming production at Kenner’s Rivertown Theater for the Performing Arts, opening July 9.
“LEGALLY BLONDE:” 7:30 p.m. Thursdays to Saturday, plus July 15, 2 p.m. Sundays, and 1 p.m. Saturday, through July 19; Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts, 325 Minor St., Kenner. When a vivacious, rich, California sorority girl gets dumped by her East Coast snob boyfriend, she makes it her business to not only learn the law. She rescues the day, finds out she deserves “so much more,” and saves a woman from getting railroaded in court. Tickets start at $52. rivertowntheaters.com.
‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ will continue the season at the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane.
“MACBETH:” 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday; Lupin Theatre in Dixon Hall Annex, Tulane’s Newcomb Circle. The New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane presents the shortest of the Bard’s tragedies; there’s mayhem and murder to keep things moving along, as well as madness just to make things more Shakespearean. There are more prophecies and conniving and bewitching as life gets messier for all concerned. Tickets start at $25. Visit neworleanshakespeare.org.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nola.com ’
