Shows & Tickets
Beaty Transforms Into More Than 40 Characters Throughout Emotionally Charged One-Man Show Emergency
LOS ANGELES, April 1, 2008 — Daniel Beaty is a Yale graduate, an activist, a classically trained musician, an award-winning actor and playwright, a slam poet champion … and most importantly, he’s coming soon to a theater near you. The West Coast premiere of Beaty’s acclaimed one-man show Emergency, which won the 2007 Obie Award for Outstanding Writing and Performance, opens at the Geffen Playhouse on April 23 helmed by award-winning director Charles Randolph-Wright.
“No matter how well I describe it, or how many adjectives I apply, there is no way to convey the power of this show,” said Geffen Playhouse Producing Director Gilbert Cates. “We believe this play, and Daniel’s message, is something to be shared with the entire Los Angeles community. While it’s particularly poignant and empowering for the African American youth in this city, it is also a universal human message about the ability to face painful truths in order to conquer them.”
Emergency artfully blends comedy, music, slam poetry and social consciousness as Beaty fluently transforms into more than 40 characters throughout the course of the show, each reacting to a single awe-inspiring event: a historic slave ship has risen out of the Hudson River in front of the Statue of Liberty. The juxtaposition of these two politically charged symbols sends New Yorkers into a whirlwind of emotion, exploration and ultimately, inspiration, as Beaty embodies his characters – a Republican business executive, a park-dwelling transsexual, a distinguished college professor, a “slavologist,” a precocious child – with authenticity, passion and humor.
Emergency, originally entitled Emergence-SEE!, premiered at New York’s Public Theatre in 2006 where it had a highly acclaimed sold-out extended run.
EMERGENCY By Daniel BeatyDirected By Charles Randolph-WrightPreviews: Tuesday, April 15 to Tuesday, April 22, 2008Opening Night: Wednesday, April 23, 2008Closing Night: Sunday, May 25, 2008
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: Monday No performancesTuesday – Thursday 7:30 pmFriday 8:00 pmSaturday 4:00 pm; 8:30 pmSunday 2:00 pm; 7:00 pm
Cast Daniel BeatyDirected by Charles Randolph-Wright
Set Designer Edward E. Haynes, JrLighting Designer Michael GilliamProjection Designer Alexander NicholsSound Designer Cricket S. Myers
Original Songs by Daniel BeatyOriginal Instrumental Music Composed and Arranged by Kathryn Bostic
DANIEL BEATY (Writer / Performer) Actor, singer, writer, and composer Daniel Beaty has worked throughout the US, Europe, and Africa in a variety of styles ranging from television to solo concerts to theatrical productions to opera including performances at The White House, The Kennedy Center in tribute to Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, and The Apollo. This fall Daniel completed a highly acclaimed soldout extended run of his one man play Emergence-See! off-Broadway at the Public Theater. Awards include 2007 Obie Award for Outstanding Writing and Performance, 2006 Ovation, Acclaim, & Everyday Freedom Hero Awards. Daniel is also the 2004 Grand Slam Champion at the world famous Nuyorican Poet's Café and The Fox Networks National Redemption Slam Champion. Daniel's writings and compositions have been performed at The Public Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), New York Theater Workshop, La Mama, American Conservatory Theater, Yale University, The NAACP National Convention, The SCLC National Convention, and various other venues. His show Emergence-SEE! has been reviewed as a "brilliant, spellbinding performance" by the Amsterdam News and "a dazzling 90 minutes, full of memorable moments; intense, hilarious" by the New York Times.
CHARLES RANDOLPH-WRIGHT (Director) Charles Randolph-Wright recently wrote and directed the film MAMA, I WANT TO SING (based on the legendary stage musical and starring Lynn Whitfield, Ciara, Patti LaBelle, Hill Harper, Juanita Bynum, Ben Vereen and Billy Zane). For the theatre in Los Angeles, Charles wrote BLUE (starring Phylicia Rashad, Diahann Carroll, and Clifton Davis) and CUTTIN’ UP (based upon the best selling book by Craig Marberry) both at the Pasadena Playhouse. His directing credits include THE DIVA IS DISMISSED (starring Jenifer Lewis) at the Hudson, HOMEWORK (starring Kim Coles), AGENCY, and THE TRAGIC AND HORRIBLE LIFE OF THE SINGING NUN (at the Coast Playhouse), CABARET VERBOTEN (Mark Taper Forum), and the national tour of GUYS AND DOLLS. Other theatre credits include productions at Arena Stage, the Roundabout Theatre, Lincoln Center, Williamstown, New York Shakespeare Festival, New York Theater Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Club, Carnegie Hall, Alliance Theatre, ACT, and Broadway. His new play THE NIGHT IS A CHILD most recently premiered at Milwaukee Rep. Charles is an honor graduate of Duke University where he was an A.B. Duke Scholar and a pre-med student. He studied with the Royal Shakespeare Company in London and the Alvin Ailey School in New York City. Charles is an associate artist at Arena Stage and the American Conservatory Theater, serves on the Board of Directors of the Roundabout Theatre, the artistic board at Duke University, and is a founding member of the Wright Family Foundation of South Carolina. Charles established the workshop series “Different Voices” at the Roundabout and “Create Carolina”, a new arts festival at Winthrop University in South Carolina.
TICKET INFO Tickets ($35 to $79) are on sale now at the Geffen Playhouse box office, online at GeffenPlayhouse.com, via credit card phone order at 310.208.5454, at all Ticketmaster outlets, or by calling Ticketmaster at 213.365.3500.
Student rush tickets are available one hour prior to curtain for $15.
ABOUT THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE Awarded the Preservation Award by the Los Angeles Conservancy, the Award of Excellence from the Society of American Registered Architects, and the Architectural Award of Excellence by the Los Angeles Business Council for its acclaimed 2005, $19 million renovation, the Geffen Playhouse begins its 12th season in 2007/2008, enjoying its stature as a leading West Coast theater company and the crown jewel of Los Angeles theater. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its eclectic mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and musicals, the Geffen continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who donated one of the largest gifts ever made to an already-constructed theater, the company is headed by Producing Director and President of the Board Gilbert (Gil) Cates, Artistic Director Randall Arney and Managing Director Stephen Eich, and has produced eight world premieres, four Tony, four Pulitzer, and seven Obie-award winning shows in its 12 season history. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains an extensive education and outreach program, designed to engage young people and the community at large in the arts. For more information, please visit geffenplayhouse.com.
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: Geffen Playhouse10886 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles (Westwood), CA 90024310.208.5454www.geffenplayhouse.com
