Due to casting conflicts, The Black Rep’s production of “Marie and Rosetta” by George Brant will be rescheduled to kick-off the 2019-2020 Season, Sept. 3-25, 2019. Replacing the previously scheduled 2019 spring production will be “Milk Like Sugar,” Feb. 13- March 3, 2019.
“We are ecstatic to have the opportunity to work with some extraordinary artists for our production of ‘Marie and Rosetta,” said Black Rep Producing Director Ron Himes. “Because of the cast, we felt compelled to alter the season schedule. While ‘Milk Like Sugar’ was slated to be produced as part of our 2019-2020 season, we’re thrilled to move it to this season’s electrifying line-up instead.”
About MILK LIKE SUGAR
It is Annie Desmond’s 16th birthday and her friends have decided to help her celebrate in style, complete with a brand-new tattoo. Before her special night is over, however, Annie and her friends enter into a life–altering pact. When Annie tries to make good on her promise to her friends, she is forced to take a good look at the world that surrounds her. She befriends Malik, who promises a bright future, and Keera, whose evangelical leanings inspire Annie in a way her young parents have not been able to do. In the end, Annie’s choices propel her onto an irreversible path in this story that combines wit, poetry and hope.
About MARIE AND ROSETTA
Bringing fierce guitar playing and swing to gospel music that would become a rhythmic precursor to rock and roll, Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a pioneer of mid-20th-century music with a huge influence on Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, and Ray Charles. Set in the showroom of a funeral home in Mississippi 1946, this musical celebration of two extraordinary Black Women chronicles the unlikely first rehearsal between Rosetta and the prim young, Marie Knight, to see if the potential protégée could summon the stuff to allow for a professional partnership that might topple the male stranglehold suppressing Rosetta’s career. They would embark on a tour to establish them as one of the great duos in musical history.
Season ticket-holders will have the same seats for ‘Milk Like Sugar’ as they would have had for ‘Marie and Rosetta.’ Single tickets for “Milk Like Sugar’ will go on sale Jan. 3, 2019.
Lynn (Zipfel) Venhaus has had a continuous byline in St. Louis metro region publications since 1978. She writes features and news for Belleville News-Democrat and contributes to St. Louis magazine and other publications.
She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, currently reviews films for Webster-Kirkwood Times and KTRS Radio, covers entertainment for PopLifeSTL.com and co-hosts podcast PopLifeSTL.com…Presents.
She is a member of Critics Choice Association, where she serves on the women’s and marketing committees; Alliance of Women Film Journalists; and on the board of the St. Louis Film Critics Association. She is a founding and board member of the St. Louis Theater Circle.
She is retired from teaching journalism/media as an adjunct college instructor.