Choir Boy

The Department of Performing Arts and Humanities
of the School of Liberal Arts at CCBC
presents

CHOIR BOY

BY Tarell Alvin McCraney

Director
Precious B. Stone

Musical Director
Homeretta Ayala

Set & Lighting Designer
Technical Director
G. Maurice “Moe” Conn

Costume Designer
James J. Fasching

Stage Manager
N. J. Saroff

November 9, 2017 at 11:10am
November 10, 11, 2017 at 7pm
November 12, 2017 at 3pm
November 13, 2017 at 10am

Produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service

THE COMPANY

BRIAN PAUL (Headmaster Marrow) returns to CCBC Catonsville after appearing in Our Town. A Theatre major, Brian has also appeared in Little Shop of Horrors, at Purple Light Theatre, My Life Matters at Xpressions Theatre, and Brainstorm 3 at Glass Mind Theatre. Brian is also a recording artist, and local performer. Away from the stage and studio, Brian spends the majority of his time with the love of his life: his daughter.

TYLER MCKAY WHITE (Pharus Jonathan Young) is thrilled to be appearing in his first show with CCBC! Previous shows include Annie Get Your Gun (featured dancer/ensemble), Mary Poppins (Neleus), Peter and the Starcatcher (Ted), HMS Pinafore (ensemble), Guys and Dolls (Society Max/featured dancer), and The Music Man (featured dancer/ensemble) with 2^nd Star Productions in Bowie. Other recent roles include Fakir in The Secret Garden and a featured dancer in Ragtime with the Memorial Players, and Miracle on 34th Street (Alfred), Fiddler on the Roof (Yussel/dancer) and It’s a Wonderful Life (Johnny) with the Pasadena Theatre Company. Tyler also performed two shows with the Catonsville Children’s Theatre. He thanks all of you for being here and sends his love to all of his friends and family!

JAMES HUNNICUTT (Mr. Pendleton) is glad to be back at CCBC Catonsville after performing on campus in Grease as Danny Zuko, more years ago than he wants to admit. He is a local director, choreographer and actor. During the summer he is the Managing Director at Cockpit in Court Summer Theatre on the CCBC Essex campus. By day he works for Towson University in Northeastern Maryland. He hopes you enjoy the show.

JA’MIN WILLIAMS (Bobby Marrow) is in his final year at CCBC as a Theatre major. He has previously appeared at CCBC in productions of A Raisin in the Sun (Joseph Asagai) , Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom (Steve), Hamlet: Lost/Found ( Laertes / Actor), and Romeo and Juliet (Romeo). Additional credits include Once On This Island (Armand), Les Miserables (Javert) and Slasrever Neves (Doctor Moreland). Ja’min feels a deep connection to this piece, and loves this production, cast, and crew. He sends his love to all and wishes for a great production.

JAMES DOGGETT (Junior Davis) makes his CCBC Catonsville debut in Choir Boy. Other local credits include Julius Caesar (Cinna) and A Fathers Love (Keith) at Arena Players and Justice in the U.K. a world premiere at Prospect High School in Brooklyn. This is his first year of study at CCBC Catonsville.

LLOYD EKPE (Anthony Justin “AJ” James) is elated to be performing in his third CCBC theatre production. You may remember him as Claudius in Hamlet:Lost/Found and Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet. A Theatre major at CCBC, Lloyd is in his final semester with plans to transfer to UMBC in Spring of 2018. He would like to return to CCBC to stage manage or design a future production.

DEVIN HALE (David Heard) is a first year Theatre major at CCBC Catonsville. He makes his stage debut in Choir Boy. Devin enjoys singing and acting and plans to become a recording artist and professional actor.

ANDRE’ WASHINGTON (Choir Member) is excited to be in another production after 2 years away from the theater. He’s a second year student at CCBC. He’s an Interpreting major, learning American Sign Language. He also studies music and audio recording. He has hopes to become a performance interpreter and performer in general (music, acting, etc.).

ELIJAH GROSS (Choir Member) is making his theatre debut in his first year at CCBC. From the ages of 8 to 13 he sang in church choirs as a tenor at Inner Court Ministries. Elijah studied voice at Baltimore City College High School and performed at numerous Christmas concerts, school assemblies, Black History Month concerts and Gala Concerts. He is currently attending CCBC for his A.A. degree in Fine Arts.

BRYAN THOMPSON (Choir Member) makes his first appearance at CCBC Catonsville with Choir Boy. He is excited to participate and hopes you’ll see him in future productions. Other credits include Cry Baby and Zombie Prom at Drama Learning Center, 12 Angry Jurors, Hairspray, Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged, and Cinderella at Catonsville High School. You can see him at Red Branch Theatre’s Madagascar, and Drama Learning Center’s Heathers in the coming months.

RAPHAEL STANCIL (Choir Member) is a first semester Theatre major at CCBC Catonsville. Previously he has performed in Rodger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Bye, Bye Birdie, and Little Shop of Horrors at Lansdowne High School. Raphael plans on transferring to Towson University.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Do you remember what it was like being in high school? There’s that feeling of being grown, but also the awareness of not being grown. There’s the constant change, from our developing bodies and emotions to feelings for others – sometimes fleeting, sometimes deep. High school could also be full of uncertainty, hope, and concern about the future. We devoted a great deal of energy to figuring out where and how to fit in and succeed. Maybe you’re in high school now and can relate to the students at the Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys and what they are experiencing as they approach a milestone – manhood.

Tarell Alvin McCraney invites us to look in on a fictional school named after the real-life, pioneering African American medical doctor, Charles Drew. In the world of Choir Boy, there is much that is familiar: students, classes, graduation, a school administrator, a teacher, and a choir. As we look more deeply, we may see things we are not supposed to see, but it is in these moments that we face important questions and realities about coming of age.

As a director, I have the utmost concern for representation in art, especially racial representation. To me, the characters in Choir Boy seem familiar and even familial. Not a single character adheres to easy stereotypes. As I reflect on the experience of working with this production, I find myself returning to the notion of a choir as a collection of voices that come together to produce a cohesive sound. I also know that, for many, a choir is a place of refuge, expression, acceptance, and community. And, according to Merriam-Webster, a choir can also be “a division of angels.” The cast, artistic team, production team, and crew have been that for me.

Precious Stone
Director

PRODUCTION STAFF

Director | Precious Stone
Musical Director | Homeretta Ayala
Stage Manager | N. J. Saroff
Assistant Stage Manager | Nasya Jeffers
Scenic/Lighting Designer | G. Maurice “Moe” Conn
Technical Director | G. Maurice “Moe” Conn
Acting Coach | Cohen L. Ambrose
Light Board Operator | Emmanuelle Jireh L. Caintic
Sound Board Op | Beau C. Dickerson
Costume Designer | James J. Fasching
Wardrobe | Christen Gross, Timothy McCoy, Lola Scruggs
Props Mistress | N. J. Saroff
Set Construction & Lighting Crew |
Emily Butterfield, Ja’min Williams, Micha Jones,
Ashley Davis, Beau C. Dickerson, Alejandro “Alex” Mendez,
Brandon Mayne, Deneen Walker, Erin Johnson,
Lloyd Ekpe, Joey Hernandez, Nasya Jeffers, Anna Dyke,
Natalie Saroff, Bryce Williams, Lola Scruggs,
Lake Abdullahi, Christen Gross
Additional Scenic Design Elements | THTR 131 Stagecraft Class
Stage Crew | Carli White, Deneen Walker
Erin Johnson, Kaylah Crosby
Fly Chief | Alejandro “Alex” Mendez
Fly Crew | Brandon Mayne, Joshua White
Box Office Manager | Lisa L. Boeren
Box Office Staff | Eva Grove, Thom Purdy
Production Manager | Brad Norris
Production Photographer | Britt Olsen-Ecker
Production Coordinators | Tom Colonna

PRODUCTION STAFF BIOS

PRECIOUS STONE (Director)

received a BA in Film and Theatre Studies from Yale University, an MA in Folklore from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an MFA in Drama with a concentration in film and video production from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Precious has directed numerous main stage productions, including The Colored Museum, The Children’s Hour, Las Meninas, The Amen Corner, The Bald Soprano, and A Raisin in the Sun. Precious also produces and directs dramatic and documentary videos, including the award winning The African Textile Collection of Mrs. Mattye Reed; the short narrative Across the Atlantic, which has been screened at festivals in the US and abroad; and Mary Burrill’s Aftermath: Connecting with the Past through Drama, a documentary about the African American experience during World War I as seen through the 1917 play Aftermath. Precious is an Associate Professor in the departments of Communication Arts and Performing Arts & Humanities at CCBC.

G. MAURICE “MOE” CONN (Scenic/Lighting Designer/Technical Director)

is in his eighth year as full-time Technical Director and Designer at CCBC Catonsville Center for the Arts Theatre. He has an MFA in Scene Design and Technical Theatre. Moe has been doing technical theatre since 1993, as a Designer, Technician, Technical Director, and Educator. Moe has also served as the Technical Director and Designer for Cockpit in Court Theatre, Maryland’s Oldest Summer theatre, for 4 summers. Moe has received multiple nominations for Best Scene Design from Broadway World.com and Received Best Scenic Design from the MD Theatre Guide’s Readers’ Choice Awards. When not backstage, Moe volunteers with “Behind the Scenes” which help Theeatre Technicians in crisis. He also helps coordinate the Long Reach Long Riders charity motorcycle ride, (www.LRLR.org ) to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity fights AIDS and Behind the Scenes, two theatre based charities.

HOMERETTA AYALA (Musical Director/Choir Accompanist)

is pleased to return to the Theatre Department at CCBC after musically directing Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Musical at CCBC Essex. She holds degrees from Florida State, Towson University, Western Maryland, UMBC, and Loyola. She just completed her 52 year in church music. She has served as music director, organist and pianist in Maryland, Florida, Virginia, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and England. She has directed/accompanied more than 75 musicals. She is currently Music Director of Mt. Vernon Place UMC. Her other passions are working with ESOL students at CCBC and the Esperanza Center and traveling in order to connect with other cultures.

JAMES J. FASCHING (Costume Designer)

is the resident costumer in the Performing Arts and Humanities Department at CCBC. His career in design has taken him from designing for the Miss America Pageant, to having his own television spot on KDKA-TV for interior design tips, to designing hundreds of productions for Cockpit-in-Court Summer Theatre, Dundalk Community Theatre, Peabody Opera Company, Theatre Hopkins, and The School for the Arts in Philadelphia, to name a few.

N.J. SAROFF (Stage Manager)

is working for the first time at CCBC Catonsville, but not at all her first time with theatre. She is an author, director, actor, techie, and artist. She has had 2 plays performed, written 5 plays and had 6 poems and monologues published,. She studied acting in 2016 at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. She has acted in several short plays, and 3 full length plays and directed 3 plays with the Open Space Arts Theatre Company. She plans to transfer to UMBC or Elmira College to study audio design or theatre design with a minor in Literature. She thanks all who have come to see the show for supporting the great actors and hopes you enjoy our production!

Special Thanks

Dr. Sandra Kurtinitis | President, CCBC
Dr. Mark McColloch | Vice President of Instruction
Dr. Rich Lilley | Vice President of Enrollment & Student Services
Dr. William Watson | Dean of Liberal Arts
Patti Crossman, Chair | Performing Arts & Humanities
Terri Charles | Media Relations Coordinator
Doug Heinle | Graphic Designer
Marc Smith | Technical Director, CCBC Dundalk
Jason Randolph | Technical Director, CCBC Essex
Maria Bloom
Amy Vickers
The Home Depot (Arbutus) for donated paint
Bay Lumber
Cohen L. Ambrose
Peter Carver

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

His huge 2017 Oscar win for the movie Moonlight is gaining him national and international attention now, but playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney has been no stranger to theatre-goers in the US and the UK. His acclaimed trilogy The Brothers/Sisters Plays includes the popular and critically lauded The Brothers Size, which simultaneously premiered in New York and London, was nominated for an Olivier Award, and won The New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award. He was selected as a MacArthur Fellow in 2013 – the so-called “Genius Grant” – and has just been named Chair of Playwriting at the Yale School of Drama.

Born in Liberty City, Florida, he attended the New World School of the Arts in Miami before pursuing his BFA in Acting at DePaul University in Chicago. He went on to graduate from the Yale School of Drama’s Playwriting program.

McCraney’s In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue is a largely autobiographical drama school project that he insists was never a play. It caught the eye of director Barry Jenkins, who adapted it to a screenplay and brought it to the screen, winning Best Picture as well as Best Adapted Screenplay. Its moving and authentic depiction of what it is to be “young and poor and black and gay in America” also conveyed a powerful coming of age story that captivated audiences.

Choir Boy grapples with many of the same themes. It premiered Off-Broadway in 2013 at the Manhattan Theatre Club, and has since been produced in Chicago, Washington DC, Los Angeles and across the country. The play makes good use of the almost stereotypical setting of a boys’ prep school to reveal the layers of belonging and exclusion among these young black men, while integrating traditional spirituals in fresh and insightful ways.

“I don’t know if people of gay, lesbian, or queer status are more active dreamers than others,” McCraney says, “but when you are sort of pressed to have an inner world to yourself, you populate it with some fantastic people and things.”