TWILIGHT: Los Angeles, 1992 |
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| by Anna Deavere Smith | ||
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Tim Rhoze |
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| Show runs: 2 1/2 hours (with a 15-minute intermission) | ||
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This version of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 was created for a touring production of the play at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Sharon Ott, Artistic Director; Susan Medak, Managing Director. In its original form, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 was originally produced by the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, Gordon Davidson, Artistic Director/Producer. It premiered on May 23, 1993, and closed on July 18, 1993. It was subsequently produced as a work-in-progress at The McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey. Its original New York production was provided by the Public Theater, George C. Wolfe, Producer. It opened at the Public Theater in March 1994 and was directed by George C. Wolfe. It opened on Broadway at the Cort Theatre on April 17, 1994. The producers were: Benjamin Mordecai, Laura Rafaty, Ric Wanetik, the Public Theater (George C. Wolfe, Producer) and the Mark Taper Forum (Gordon Davidson, Artistic Director), in association with Harriet Newman Leve, Jeanne Rizzo, James D. Stern, Daryl Roth, Jo-Lynne Worley, Ronald A. Pizzuti, The Booking Office, Inc. and Freddy Bienstock.
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Follow Us:
Director's Notes:
Put into context, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 is a sobering reminder of the fragile humanity that continues to exist within the borders of the United States. This play, in the style of Documentary Theatre, brilliantly covers the emotional landscape of a vulnerable population of humanity by giving voice to a diverse group of people who experienced the 1992 Los Angeles riots in the wake of the Rodney King verdict, in vastly different ways.
To accomplish this, researcher, playwright, and performer Anna Deavere Smith took on the monumental task of conducting hundreds of interviews. The people she interviewed were part of and personally affected by this moment where a Black man was beaten by four LA police officers, and millions of eyes witnessing this crime followed by a trial and verdict that would scorch not only the City of Los Angeles, but the entire country.
In this FJT production, performer Jazzma Pryor is harnessing this explosive material and delivering a performance that will leave you in awe. It takes a very special talent to take on this extraordinary play, and Jazzma is a pure powerhouse. She delivers a performance for the ages, what one might very well call a tour-de-force.
Artistic Director
Tim Rhoze
Cast
Creative Team
Tim Rhoze
Anna Deavere Smith
Rebecca Lister
Olive Ferguson
Evan Sposato
Jason Lynch
Dan Letchinger
Bria Walker
Martin Melendez
Sarah Kaiser
Meet the Company
Jazzma Pryor
Jazzma holds a B.A. in production studies with a theatre concentration from Clemson University. Her Chicago credits include: Doubt: A Parable (Irish Theatre of Chicago), Sunset Baby (Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre), Hannah and Martin (Shattered Globe Theatre), Crime and Punishment (Shattered Globe Theatre), From The Mississippi Delta (Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre), Phillis: The American Revolutionary (Redd Opera), Insurrection: Holding History (Stage Left Theatre), Marisol (Promethean Theatre), Prelude to a Kiss (The Comrades), Bernie Todd (Hobo Junction Theatre), Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Oakton Performing Arts Center), Burn the Black Dog (Wayward Productions), and Incendiary (Wishbone Theatre Collective). Jazzma wants to send a huge thank you to Tim Rhoze for such an amazing opportunity. Fleetwood-Jourdain is a theater home where Tim has given Jazzma several opportunities to grow and thrive as an artist and she is beyond grateful. Thank you for believing in me, being a great director, advocate, and friend. Jazzma Pryor is represented by Lori Lins, Ltd.
Live, Laugh, Love.
Cydney Moody
Cydney is represented by Stewart Talent and you can find her full resume on stewarttalent.com. Major acting credits include: The Wolves at Goodman Theatre, and 4 performances as Understudy for Downstate at Steppenwolf Theatre. A supporting role in Chicago Med on NBC, and Somebody Somewhere on HBO. See Tied Up on YouTube by Ghosts of Vaudeville. Cydney has been involved in many plays in and around the Chicago area too! She works at Devonshire Playhouse as Choreographer for the kids summer camp musicals and adult shows taking place during school months, and also teaches acting and movement classes for kids!
Yuchi Chiu
Yuchi [he/him/his] is a Chicago-based actor, musician, and educator. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he moved to Chicago to study at Northwestern University and, upon graduating, taught high school special education for five years. Yuchi then transitioned into acting by enrolling in classes at Acting Studio Chicago as well as completing the ACADEMY program at Black Box Studio. Credits include Baked! The Musical (Underscore Theatre); How Do We Navigate Space (Strawdog Theatre); The Miscellany (The Passage Theatre). Yuchi is represented by DDO Artists Agency and is grateful to be a part of the FJT family!
LaQuis Harkins
LaQuis is a Chicago native and graduate of Howard University. Since her initial work with the Hip Hop Theatre Junction (RHYME DEFERRED), she has performed in various productions [NO BLUE MEMORIES and CHRISTMAS CAROL (Manual Cinema), REPAIRING A NATION (eta Theatre), HOW WE GOT ON (Haven Theatre) ]; in commercials (Kellogg's "Finding Dory;" Nissan Rogue for "Star Wars") and in various independent films. She recently produced her first short film, KAYLA'S LIGHT, about families in Chicago dealing with a tragic loss. She is honored to have an opportunity to work with FJT Theatre to tell such an important story.
David Stobbe
David is a Chicago based actor with a love for good food, and long drives. Recent credits include Middle Passage (Lifeline Theater), Auntie Clause (Nashville Children's Theater) American Son (The Beverly Arts Center) The Full Monty (Theo Ubique) and can be seen in John Mossman's upcoming feature "Good Guy with a Gun". During the last year, he spent time trimming vegetation and staining decks in Colorado with his brother, his girlfriend, and his dog Thriller.
Chris Acevedo
Chris' Chicago credits include: PLANO (First Floor Theatre); The Undeniable Sound of Right Now (Raven Theatre); and Cinderella (Filament Theatre); as well as work with Steppenwolf, A Red Orchid, Court, Lookingglass, The Hypocrites, The Gift, Teatro Vista, Steep, Adventure Stage and many others. He is a graduate of The School at Steppenwolf and is represented by Grossman & Jack Talent.
Tim Rhoze
Tim Rhoze has been the Producing Artistic Director of Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre since 2010. His directing credits include: The Meeting, Fires In The Mirror, Black Ballerina (co-writer), Nutcracker(ish), Crowns, Having Our Say, From the Mississippi Delta, Home, 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, Piano Lesson, Ain't Misbehavin, K2, The Glass Menagerie, et. al. Tim is also the writer/director of Why Not Me? A Sammy Davis Jr. Story, and Maya’s Last Poem, both produced at FJT. He was co-writer and director of A Home On The Lake co-produced with the Piven Theatre Workshop.
Anna Deavere Smith
Anna Deavere Smith is an actress, playwright, teacher, and author. She is credited with creating a new form of theater. Her most recent original work, Notes from the Field, looks at the vulnerability of youth, the criminal justice system, and contemporary activism. The New York Times named the stage version among The Best Theater of 2016 and TIME Magazine called it one of the Top 10 Plays of the Year. HBO premiered the film version in February 2018. It was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award.
Plays include Fires In the Mirror, Twilight: Los Angeles, House Arrest, and Let Me Down Easy. Twilight: Los Angeles was nominated for two Tony Awards. Fires in the Mirror was runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize.
Smith is also a television and film actress. Credits include such shows as Shonda Rhimes’s new “untitled project”, ABC’s series For the People and Blackish. She also co-starred on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie and was featured on the long running series, The West Wing. Films include The American President, Rachel Getting Married, Philadelphia, Dave, Rent, and Human Stain.
Smith is a Full Professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where she founded the former Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue.
Rebecca Lister
[she/her] is a Stage Manager and Teaching Artist based in Chicago, IL. She graduated with her BFA in Acting and Theatre Design and Technology from Oakland University in 2019. Since, she has served as Stage Manager for The Phantom Tollbooth, Hedda Gabler, The Exonerated, Eurydice, and A Mother’s Song (Northwestern University); Stage Manager for Performance Projects (Piven Theatre); and Assistant Stage Manager for Why Torture is Wrong… (Eclipse Theatre). She has also served as an Assistant Teaching Artist for Mudlark Theater Company. She would like to thank her wonderful collaborators.
Olive Ferguson
[she/her] is based out of Chicago, IL. She graduated with her BFA in Acting from Oakland University in 2020. Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 is her first professional production since graduating. She would like to thank everyone at Fleetwood Jourdain for welcoming her as an Assistant Stage Manager and allowing her the opportunity to begin her professional career!
Evan Sposato
Evan has spent the last two decades in and around the theatre as an actor, director, stage manager, technical director, and production manager. He spent eight years at the Waterville Opera House in Waterville, Maine, working both onstage and behind the scenes. During the Opera House's centennial renovation, he was the technical advisor to the building team and wrote grants totaling more than $2 million. While in Maine, Evan also served as the longtime president of the board of directors of Aqua City Actor's Theatre and worked with Bossov Ballet Theatre and Everyman Repertory Theatre. Since moving to the Chicago area, Evan has worked as the Technical Director and Production Manager at Drury Lane and has built shows for Steep, Jackalope, Rivendell, Interrobang, City Lit, New Colony (company member), and others. This is his first production with Fleetwood-Jourdain. When Evan isn't in a theater, he works with political campaigns on voter contact and digital outreach.
Jason Lynch
is a Chicago-based lighting designer for theatre, dance, opera, and other live performance art and is delighted to be returning to Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre for this production. Additional Chicago credits include work with Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Northlight Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, among others. Recent regional credits include work with Alley Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He was the recipient of the 2019 Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award which recognizes emerging theatrical designers within the Chicago area and is honored to have his recent work on an immersive 360° production of THE WILD PARTY at the Denver Center featured in American Theatre Magazine. Jason is also a proud member of The Association for Lighting Production and Design and is represented by The Gersh Agency.
Dan Letchinger
Dan is excited to serve as the Multimedia Designer on this production. He is a multimedia designer with experience in music videos, concerts, records, and short films. A graduate of DePaul University, Dan works full time at Convene as an AV Technician. This is his first production with Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre.
Bria Walker
Martin Melendez
Sarah Kaiser
Photos
photo by Kara Roseborough
photo by Kara Roseborough
Special Thanks to:
Lynn Baber
Sarah Kaiser
Coming February of 2022...
Home
by Samm-Art Williams
Rich in detail about the African-American experience and universal in its reach, Home is the story of a young black farmer who finds himself torn from his land and thrust into the turmoil of the Vietnam War and American urban decay.
