Executive Producer Lou Spisto announced today that The Old Globe will produce the contemporary musical drama Street Lights. The new musical, created by composer and lyricist Joe Drymala, chronicles a group of inner city teenagers who fight to save their high school music program from being shut down. Directed by Ryan J. Davis, Street Lights uses hip hop, R&B and pop to tell a timeless story in the musical language of today's youth, while creating a bridge to earlier generations by incorporating samples of classic civil rights anthems.
"We are delighted to be able to present this exhilarating new musical to Southern California audiences" said Spisto. "What's even more exciting is that Street Lights is also part of the Globe's ongoing Southeastern San Diego Residency Project, and following last year's wildly successful production of the musical Kingdom, Street Lights will be performed at both Lincoln High School Center for the Arts and The Old Globe."
The Globe will present Street Lights at both Lincoln High School's Center for the Arts (Feb. 20 and 21) and its flagship Old Globe Theatre in San Diego's Balboa Park (Feb. 25 - 28). Opening night is Feb. 20 at 8:00 p.m. at Lincoln High. Adult ticket prices are $15 at Lincoln High and $35 at the Globe. Tickets are $10 for fulltime students and patrons 29-years-old and younger at both venues. Tickets are currently available to subscribers only. Single tickets go on sale Dec. 6 and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office.
While fighting to save their high school music program from being shut down, the teenagers of Street Lights discover the power of music to unite their community and bring new hope to the residents of their troubled neighborhood. The talented singer and songwriter Dominique, her academically gifted brother Rocky and their beat-making DJ friend X-Ray use organizing techniques pioneered during the civil rights movement to help rally the people around them. When Dominique begins to fall in love with Damon, a local drug dealer with a Robin Hood streak, she must choose between accepting the hard realities of the world she lives in or try to change her neighborhood for the better.
Street Lights is currently an official selection of the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF). Directed by Ryan J. Davis, showcase performances will be held at American Theatre for Actors in New York City October 13 - 18. The largest musical theater event in America, NYMF has been hailed as "the Sundance of Musical Theater" and has premiered more than 175 new musicals since 2004. The NYMF showcase is co-produced by Mass Street Productions, Ryan J. Davis and Bay Bridge Productions, Chris Bensinger, Deborah Taylor.
Street Lights' Joe Drymala is the primary composer and original book writer for the satirical musicAl White Noise, which received its premiere at the 2006 NYMF and which received a Summer Theater Award for Outstanding Score that year. White Noise was subsequently optioned for Broadway, and was recently mounted in New Orleans as a tryout for the Broadway production. In 2003-04, he was the primary speechwriter on Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign where he wrote a feature-length article in Vanity Fair magazine on poverty in America on behalf of Gov. Dean, as well as writing a speech on race relations that was hailed by The Black Commentator magazine as "the most important statement on race in American politics by a mainstream white politician in nearly 40 years." He performs indie folk/country under the name Blueyed Son around Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Director Ryan J. Davis conceived and directed the award-winning, Broadway-bound White Noise at the 2006 New York Musical Theatre Festival, and was featured on "Good Morning America" and "Primetime Live." Other New York City projects include My Life on Craigslist and the annual "Broadway Beauty Pageant." He recently directed Vote! the Musical at FringeNYC and My Broken Brain at Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival. He serves on the Board of Directors of The Deconstructive Theatre Project, where he co-directed the play, Lilies.
Now in its second year, the Southeastern San Diego Residency Project is a multi-faceted venture that includes innovative performance and training programs establishing the Globe as a vital cultural resource for the community. The 43,000-square-foot Globe Technical Center opened in 2008 at 5335 Market Street to house the theater's scenic department and storage facility for props and costumes. The Center also serves as an artistic hub in the community fostering the creation and implementation of new plays, performances, partnerships and training programs for and with area students, residents and artists.
The Old Globe's Southeastern San Diego Residency Project is supported by grants from The James Irvine Foundation's Artistic Innovation Fund, Legler Benbough Foundation, San Diego Foundation and Bank of America. The County of San Diego supports the Globe's Play Development and Major Works Program through a grant awarded by San Diego County Supervisor Bill Horn on behalf of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Financial support for The Old Globe is provided by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.
TICKETS to Street Lights are currently available to subscribers only. Single tickets go on sale Dec. 6 and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the box office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Performances begin on Feb. 20 and continue through Feb. 28. Street Lights runs Feb. 20 and 21 at Lincoln High School's Center for the Arts and Feb. 25 - 28 at the Old Globe Theatre. Adult ticket prices are $15 at Lincoln High and $35 at the Globe. Tickets are $10 for fulltime students and patrons 29-years-old and younger at both venues. Lincoln High performance times: Preview: Feb. 20 at 2:00 p.m. Regular Performances: Feb. 20 at 8:00 p.m. and Feb. 21 at 2:00 and 6:00 p.m. Old Globe performance times: February 25 at 8 p.m., Feb. 26 at 8 p.m., Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
LOCATION: The Old Globe is located in San Diego's Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. There are numerous free parking lots available throughout the park. Valet parking is also available ($10). For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org.
CALENDAR: Sammy (9/19-11/8), The Savannah Disputation (9/26-11/1), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Globe/USD Professional Actor Training Program) (11/14-11/22), Whisper House (1/13-2/21), Lost in Yonkers (1/23-2/28), Street Lights (2/20-2/28)
The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional regional theaters and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for 74 years. Under the direction of Executive Producer Louis G. Spisto, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the 580-seat Old Globe Theatre, the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre and the 612-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theater's education programs and outreach services. Numerous Broadway-bound premieres and revivals, such as The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, A Catered Affair, and the annual holiday musical, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs in New York and at regional theaters across the country.
Photo credit: Karen Rusch.
