SummerStage has announced the continuation of their first theater season with blood pudding, written by Sharon Bridgforth and Directed by Baraka de Soleil. This show is a part of SummerStage's summer-long FREE theater program and will take place on Friday, July 23rd and Saturday, July 24th at Springfield Park, Queens and Friday, August 6 and Saturday, August 7 at Marcus Garvey Park, Manhattan at 8:00 p.m.
blood pudding celebrates the history of Black people in New Orleans. Through blood memories of a girl born in Congo Square, blood pudding explores a landscape of magic made of Ancestral Love. In this interdisciplinary piece, the blues is sacred, narrators are holy, Indigenous people are honored, and the drum shapes reality. blood pudding is ritual jazz theatre.
"blood pudding is a truly innovative piece that blurs the lines between theater, song and dance," said City Park Foundation's Director of Theater Programs, Freedome Bradley. "Through this original and emotional exploration of the history and ancestry of African-Americans and indigenous peoples during the era of slavery in New Orleans, we hope that the audience will gain a deeper understanding of the African American experience and think more about the differences and the similarities between people of all races."
The full cast of blood pudding includes Ted Cruz, Helga Davis, Omi Osun Joni L. Jones, Jimmy Lopez, Monica McIntyre, Pam Patrick, Francine Sheffield, Baraka de Soleil and Negaysha Walcott.
The creative team for blood pudding includes Sharon Bridgforth (Playwright), Baraka de Soleil (Director/Choreographer), Helga Davis and Jimmy Lopez (Composers), Kay Ulanday Barret (Stage Manager) and Lisa Lamothe (Costume Designer).
This year in honor of the 25th anniversary, SummerStage is excited to have expanded from Central Park to encompass all five boroughs, and will feature productions in Von King Park, Brooklyn, Betsy Head Park, Brooklyn, St. Mary's Park, Bronx, Crotona Park, Bronx, Springfield Park, Queens, Marcus Garvey Park, Manhattan and East River Park, Manhattan.
For the most up-to-date SummerStage scheduling and line-up for SummerStage programming, visit http://www.SummerStage.org.
Sharon Bridgforth (Playwright) New Dramatists member, 2010 - 2011 Multicultural Faculty member at DePaul University's Theatre School. She is author of the Lambda Literary Award winning, the bull-jean stories, and love/conjure/blues, both published by RedBone Press and is one of the editors of Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academia, and the Austin Project, University of Texas Press. Her work has been presented around the country at venues including the Walker Art Center, and La Pena Cultural Center. blood pudding was developed in a retreat at the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, Malcolm Ewen, Tim Fort & Steve Stettler, Producing Directors, Stuart Duke, Managing Director, in 2010. For more go to: www.sharonbridgforth.com
Baraka de Soleil (Director/Choreographer/Performer) received a Jerome Foundation Travel & Study Fellowship to travel to Ghana to research & experience the spatial configurations of historic slave routes and castles for the upcoming work "Water Moves the Soul." He has received a McKnight Choreography Fellowship, an AUDELCO nomination for Obatala: King of White Cloth[2004], commissions by Walker Art Center, Southern Theatre (Mn)and Dixon Place [2009], and residencies through Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Ontological Hysteric Theatre and Queens Museum of Modern Art . For his choreographic work on Sango: Lord of Thunder, Baraka was awarded the prestigious Katherine Dunham Choreography/AUDELCO for excellence in Black Theatre. Baraka is founder of D UNDERBELLY, a network of interdisciplinary of artists of color. For more go to: www.dunderbelly.com.
Ted Cruz (Musician/Performer) Since graduation from the University of North Texas in 1990, Mr. Cruz has been active with both recording and performing with various jazz, rock, R&B and classical music artists all over the world. His production and arranging work has been recognized and acclaimed by Billboard, Downbeat, Vibe and Rolling Stone magazines. He also composed the music for the opening and closing ceremonies of the millennium celebration in Times Square, New York City. Mr. Cruz's recent forays into film and television music have his work featured on ESPN, NBC, MTV and HBO television.
