for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf |
||
by Ntozake Shange |
||
directed by Tim Rhoze |
||
|
|
||
|
|
Ashli Rene Funches Jenise Sheppard |
|
Follow Us:
Director's Note:
Ntozake Shange was an African American playwright, poet, and feminist. She is best remembered for this work, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When The Rainbow Is Enuf. Born Paulette L. Williams on October 18, 1948. Shange passed away on October 27, 2018
For Colored Girls was first performed by Shange and four other artists at women's bar, Bacchanal, which is located outside Berkeley, California. It was later produced Off-Broadway in 1975 at the New Federal Theatre in New York City, moving to the Public Theatre in 1976, and premiering on Broadway at the Booth Theatre later that same year. The play went on to win the Obie Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, and the AUDELCO Award.
I'll leave you with this quote by Ms. Shange... “Where there is a woman there is magic. If there is a moon falling from her mouth, she is a woman who knows her magic, who can share or not share her powers. A woman with a moon falling from her mouth, roses between her legs and tiaras of Spanish moss, this woman is a consort of the spirits.”
-Tim Rhoze
poems by title:
dark phrases
graduation nite
now I love somebody more than
no assistance
I’m a poet who
latent rapists’
abortion cycle #1
sechita
Toussaint
one
I usedta live in the world
pyramid
no more love poems #1
no more love poems #2
no more love poems #3
no more love poems #4
somebody almost walked off wid alla my stuff
sorry
positive
a nite with beau willie brown
a layin on of hands
Cast
Jazzma Pryor
Lady in Red
Jenise Sheppard
Lady in Orange
Ashli Rene Funches
Lady in Yellow
Candice Jeanine
Lady in Green
Tuesdai B. Perry
Lady in Blue
Angelena Browne
Lady in Purple
Nehanda Julot
Lady in Brown
Jasmine "Jaz" Robertson
cover
Creative Team
Tim Rhoze
Producing Artistic Director, co-Set Designer, Director
Rich Oliver
Stage Manager
Shane Rogers
co-Set Designer, Technical Director
Qiana McNary-Licorish
Music Director
Marsae Lynette Mitchell
Choreographer
Levi Wilkins
Lighting Designer
Rick Sims
Sound Designer
Kate Parker-Barrows
Costume Designer
Sam Onche
Muralist
Lexx Dyer
Social Media Manager
John Olson
Press Representative
Bria Walker-Rhoze
Artistic Associate
Meet the Company
Jazzma Pryor
Lady in Red
(she/her) is excited to perform on the FJT stage again! Her Chicago credits include: The Light, Twilight: Los Angeles,1992, Sunset Baby, and From The Mississippi Delta (Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre); JUMP, STEW, Hannah and Martin, and Crime and Punishment (Shattered Globe Theatre); Doubt: A Parable (Irish Theatre of Chicago); Phillis: The American Revolutionary (Redd Opera); Insurrection: Holding History (Stage Left Theatre); Marisol (Promethean Theatre); and Prelude to a Kiss (The Comrades). Jazzma has a M.S. in Leadership for Creative Enterprises from Northwestern University and B.A. in Production Studies with a theatre concentration from Clemson University. She is an ensemble member with Shattered Globe Theatre and is represented by Grossman & Jack Talent. Live, Laugh, Love.
Jenise Sheppard
Lady in Orange
(they/them) is overjoyed to be part of this production of Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls. Jenise’s Chicago credits include Ruined (Invictus Theatre), A Raisin in the Sun (Beverly Arts Center), and From the Mississippi Delta (Lifeline Theater Company). Other credits include In My Granny’s Garden (Metro Theatre Company) and for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf (The Black Rep). Jenise holds a Drama and Environmental Analysis Honors BA from Washington University in St. Louis.
Ashli Rene Funches
Lady in Yellow
is currently working as an Actor, Educator, and Florist. They are from Birmingham, Alabama but she considers Chicago her artistic home. Ashli’s recent credits include: IS GOD IS (Red Orchid), Native Son (Lifeline), Notes from the Field (Timeline), Stew (Shattered Globe), and Detroit 67 (The Theatre School). Ashli received their BFA in Acting and an BA in African Diaspora from DePaul University. She wrote, produced, and portrayed Amari in the film, A yellow circus. Ashli also portrays Z in a feature entitled, The lapse. Both films are set to premiere in 2024. @ayellowcircusofficial
Candice Jeanine
Lady in Green
is thrilled to be a part of this historic and transformative production. She is an actor, educator, and writer. Candice received her B.A. in theatre from Saint Louis University and her M.S. in Leadership for Creative Enterprises from Northwestern University. Some of her favorite past works include Sarafina!, A Song for Coretta, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Piano Lesson ( St. Louis Black Rep); Twelfth Night ( Shakespeare Festival St. Louis); and Repairing A Nation ( eta Creative Arts). She has appeared in print ads, commercials, short films, and the web series, Art is Charisma. She has also made an appearance on NBC's Chicago Fire. She is a native of East St Louis but currently resides in Chicago with her crowns;-). Candice is grateful for this new season of creativity! www.candicejeanine.com
Tuesdai B. Perry
Lady in Blue
is beyond grateful to return to Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre! Previous FJT credits: OBAMA-OLOGY; HOME; CROWNS; THE NUTCRACKER(ISH). Hailing from Gary, Indiana, she holds a BA in Directing and Writing from Western Illinois University. In addition to being a performer, she is an active director, choreographer, and educator in the Chicagoland area and surrounding suburbs. "This show is for all in pursuit of their own rainbow. And to all: love, light, and solidarity." #RepresentationMatters
Angelena Browne
Lady in Purple
is excited to make her Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre debut in For Colored Girls! She is a performer from New Jersey and Saint Kitts & Nevis currently studying Acting, Musical Theatre, and Marketing at Northwestern University. Her recent credits include Lena in City Kid: The Musical at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and also she’s been seen in Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Play (Van Helsing), Sweat (Cynthia), Violet (Lula), Last Stop on Market Street (Nana), and Me...Jane (Ensemble) at Northwestern's Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts. She is very thankful for her family and friends' support and all the wonderful collaborators on this show!
Nehanda Julot
Lady in Brown
Nehanda resides in Evanston with her husband (Barthelemy), toddler (Sage) and soon to be Baby #2. She is a financial planner and theatre artist. She has published articles on theatre and is an ensemble member of Chicago Playback Theatre. Her play, 3 Sisters Forced to Face the Sky, had a staged reading at Fleetwood Jourdain Theatre’s
Gloria Bond Clunie Playwrights Festival. It was also selected for the Garland Lee Thompson Sr. Reader’s Theatre of New Works at the International Black Theatre Festival. She is founder of Wealth I Am (wealthiam.net), which teaches financial empowerment through
techniques in storytelling.
Jasmine "Jaz" Robertson
cover
Jasmine "Jaz" Robertson is a multi-hyphenate artist from Memphis, TN. In her 3 years as a Chicago local, she has been seen onstage in various productions such as Beyond The Garden Gate (Impostors Theatre), Regression (Redtwist Theatre), Ruined (Invictus Theatre), Notes & Letters (Underscore Theatre), The Revolutionists, Failure: A Love Story, and Shipwrecked! An Entertainment (Oil Lamp Theater), as well as many other workshops and independent productions around the city. She is also an aspiring playwright/lyricist, an inaugural ensemble member with Oil Lamp Theater, an alumnus of The American Theatre Wing's SpringboardNYC program, and a very passionate dog mom. Jaz is absolutely elated to make her debut with Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, and hopes you will enjoy the fruits of the labor put forth by each artist on this stage. And she thanks YOU, specifically, for being here & helping to keep live theatre alive! This performance and all of her others are dedicated to her mother, Sharal Patrice Robertson.
Tim Rhoze
Producing Artistic Director, co-Set Designer, Director
Tim Rhoze has been the Producing Artistic Director of Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre since 2010. His directing credits include: THE BALDWIN|GIOVANNI EXPERIENCE, THE LIGHT, AMERICAN SON, HOME, TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES 1992, THE MEETING, FIRES IN THE MIRROR, BLACK BALLERINA (co-writer), NUTCRACKER(ISH), CROWNS, HAVING OUR SAY, FROM THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA, FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, WOZA ALBERT!, GOING TO ST. IVES, SINGLE BLACK FEMALE, A SONG FOR CORETTA, YELLOWMAN, SWEET, LADY DAY AT EMERSON BAR & GRILL, BEAR COUNTRY, NOBODY, FENCES, THE PIANO LESSON, AIN'T MISBEHAVIN, K2, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, et. al.; PASSING STRANGE at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theater. Tim was the co-creator and the director of FJT’s recent THE BALDWIN | GIOVANNI EXPERIENCE and was also the writer/director of WHY NOT ME? A SAMMY DAVIS JR. STORY, and MAYA’S LAST POEM, both produced at FJT; and BLACK BALLERINA, produced at FJT and Pittsburgh Public Theatre. He was co-writer and director of A HOME ON THE LAKE, co-produced with the Piven Theatre Workshop.
Rich Oliver
Stage Manager
Rich Oliver is a MFA graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul. He is an actor, writer, currently working on his first full length play. He is happy to be returning to Fleetwood-Jourdain as stage manager for this production. His Chicago credits include The Light (Rashad) at Fleetwood-Jourdain, U/S (Billy/John) in Birthday Candles at Northlight and U/S as (Ace)in Congo Square’s world premiere of How Blood Go. His Theatre School select credits include Topdog/Underdog (Lincoln), Good Grief (Papa/Zeus). Rich would like to thank his family, his wife Jazmin and his son Naim.
Shane Rogers
co-Set Designer, Technical Director
This is Shane’s second season with Fleetwood-Jourdain. He has worked in professional theatre as an actor and/or stage technician for over 25 years at places including: the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon; the Classical Theatre Company in Houston, TX; Pioneer Theatre Company, Salt Lake Acting Company, and Plan-B Theatre in Salt Lake City,
Utah; Shadowland Stages and Bard College in the Hudson Valley in New York.
Qiana McNary-Licorish
Music Director
is excited to return to Fleetwood-Jourdain as the music director! She has performed in numerous opera and musical theater productions in and out of the country. Qiana’s regional theatre credits include Ghost the Musical (Louise/Oda Mae U/S) Theatre at The Center (IN) and Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Armelia) Portland Stage Company (MN). Her Chicagoland credits include The Other Cinderella (Queen), Crowns (Mabel), Hairspray (Motormouth), The Little Mermaid (Ursula), Caroline or Change (Caroline) and Sister Act (Deloris). When she’s not performing in a production, she sings with her band, The McNary Experience (www.themcnaryexperience.com). @songbirddivaq @themcnaryxp
Marsae Lynette Mitchell
Choreographer
is an interdisciplinary artist, activist, and educator currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Northwestern University. Marsae has earned an M.F.A. in dance at the University of Michigan in 2023 and a B.F.A. in dance at Marygrove College. She has both choreographed and taught at Interlochen School for the arts and the University of Michigan. She’s also had the honor of choreographing ‘Hastings Street’ which premiered at the Detroit Music Hall, and ‘Magnolia Ballet’ for both Williamston Theater and Plowshares Theater. Marsae’s award winning interdisciplinary choreographic series “Reconnecting Currents” merges her scholarly research, environmental activism, ritual, and artistic practice. https://www.marsae-eleda.com
Levi Wilkins
Lighting Designer
(He/Him/His) Born and raised on the southwest side of Chicago, Levi has been a member of the Chicago Theater community since age 6. Currently the lighting director at The Faith Community of St. Sabina. Exit Strategy at Northwestern University Theater, What to Send Up When it Goes Down with Congo Square Theater & Lookingglass Theater Company, Brother Sister Cyborg Space at Raven Theater, Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Invictus Theater, The Mountaintop at Constellation Stage & Screen, Into The Side of A Hill with Flint Rep, Is God Is with A Red Orchid Theater, Once on this Island at Pulse Theater, A Raisin in The Sun with Indiana University NW and Stew, London Road and Jump with Shattered Globe Theater For more info about Levi visit www.fresherlight.com
Rick Sims
Sound Designer
Rick has composed and designed sound for numerous Chicago-area theaters, including Steppenwolf, Lookingglass, Northlight, Congo Square, Writers, Chicago Children's Theatre, Court, and American Blues. Regional credits include Arena Stage and Roundhouse Theatre in Washington D.C., Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, South Coast Rep in Southern California, The Getty, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia, 2nd Stage and Playwrights Horizons in New York City, Actors Theatre of Louisville and Portland Playhouse. He is an artistic associate of Lookingglass, an artistic affiliate with American Blues. He composed the music for The Thanksgiving Play at 2nd Stage Theatre on Broadway. Sims won a Jeff Award for sound design for Lookingglass' Moby Dick, Frankenstein, and Hephaestus, and a BTA award for Congo Squares Brothers In the Dust. Sims also wrote the book, music, and lyrics for Lookingglass Hillbilly Antigone.
Kate Parker-Barrows
Costume Designer
Kate Parker-Barrows is delighted to be working with Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre for the first time. Kate costumes for Niles West High School and has been in the Chicagoland theater and comedy community since 2000. She is Executive Producer and a founding member of Improvised Jane Austen. She is grateful to Tim for this incredible opportunity to work on this amazing project. Thanks to her family for their constant support and love.
Sam Onche
Muralist
Storytelling is central to Sam Onche’s work. Now based in the Chicago area, his story started in Nigeria, where he grew up in a household that valued family and art. Onche’s vibrant oil paintings, mostly portraits, employ careful colorful abstraction. He uses Ankara fabric in the backgrounds of his portraits, a nod to his heritage and sourced from his sister’s fashion design company. Onche uses color generously and symbolically, painting his rich cultural experiences into each portrait.
He sees art as his way to give back to the community that inspires him. Beyond original paintings, Onche’s work includes illustrations for album covers, books, posters, and prints.
Lexx Dyer
Social Media Manager
Lexx is thrilled to join the Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre team as the Social Media Manager this summer. A recent graduate of Illinois State University, she brings a passion for storytelling and a keen eye for digital engagement. Lexx is excited to connect audiences with the productions they will be seeing this summer season through creative and dynamic social media strategies.
John Olson
Press Representative
provides marketing and public relations services to a variety of theaters and arts organizations in the Chicago area. He followed a career as an account manager and media planner in Chicago and Milwaukee advertising agencies by moving into arts marketing and publicity in 2010. He worked at ComedySportz Chicago as Marketing Director and Raven Theatre as Director of Marketing and Press before founding John Olson Communications in 2017. Additionally. John has served as Associate Editor for The Sondheim Review and Chicago reviewer for TalkinBroadway.com.
Bria Walker-Rhoze
Artistic Associate
Bria Walker-Rhoze is a multidisciplinary artist and educator. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Acting at Carnegie Mellon University and is the Artistic Associate at Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre (FJT). She has performed at various theatres such as City Theatre, The Rep at St. Louis, Triad Stage, and Pittsburgh Public Theatre’s Playtime Series (to name a few.) Selected directing credits: Obama-ology, co-director of Crowns (FJT), Fury (Parker Theatre), staged reading Off With Her Maidenhead (The Pitch series for Merry-Go-Round Playhouse). Selected writing credits: co-writer of The Baldwin|Giovanni Experience (FJT), Crossroad (City Theatre Spotlight Series), Chant (The Monologue Project). MFA - Denver Center for the Performing Arts (National Theatre Conservatory); BFA - Wright State University. www.briawalker-rhoze.com
UPCOMING:
A MOODY EXPERIENCE: MUSIC BEYOND MARGINS
August 24 & 25
This end-of-summer musical event will feature MC4, Grammy Award-winning singer/composer Pastor Carlis Moody Jr., Renee Black, and Dudley Fair.
.png)
PROUD SPONSORS OF FLEETWOOD-JOURDAIN THEATRE:
https://www.stackedandfolded.com/
https://www.prairiemoonrestaurant.com/
https://www.cityofevanston.org/
