In the Oct. 19 edition of "The Washington Post," Wendi Kaufman reported that the new Arena Stage play "The Women of Brewster Place" was a tour de force for Tim Acito, as he wrote the musical complete with the music and the lyrics. The play is based on the Gloria Naylor novel of the same name.
Kaufman said Acito first came across the story when he came across the novel while high school English in New Jersey.
The Arena Stage production is a world premiere for "Brewster Place." The play is set in the '70s and explores the gritty underside of life for 10 African American women living in a housing project.
The play features Terry Burrell, Marva Hicks and Tijuana T. Ricks in its cast.
Acito told Kaufman that he considers his many hours of listening to the likes of Roberta Flack and the late Curtis Mayfield on AM radio during his childhood years as an influence for the play.
Acito added that Naylor's novel is one which explores themes which are almost Shakespearean in nature, and he called bringing the work to the stage a 'glorious challenge.'
The play runs through Dec. 9 at Arena Stage. Tickets are $57-76.
I now live in North Carolina, but I had a chance to see several Arena Stage plays while living in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I highly recommend their productions. My personal favorite one to date was a stage version of the Marx Brothers movie "Animal Crackers," which I saw at Arena Stage back in 1999.
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