“Vivian’s Music is a stunning piece of work…Like the title character, it’s funny and smart and so, so heartbreaking.” – WomanAboutTown.com
“Vivian’s Music, 1969 is outstanding… The script is superb… both actors capture the characters perfectly… You absolutely must catch this.” – chrisontheatre.wordpress.com
“It’s a dynamic show that is beautifully written, directed, designed and performed. This show could be performed anywhere, with only candles or the light from an open fire and still completely move you to tears with its truth.” – StageBiz.com
Inspired by these real events: in 1969, in a segregated city in the American Midwest bursting with racial tension, a 14 year old black girl named Vivian was shot by a white cop, igniting one of the worst race riots in American history. No one knew anything about her, just her name, her age, and how she died. This fantasia for two actors gives Vivian a life, a family, a love of music, and a reason to live; the jazz legend who’s back in the neighborhood might be her real father. Can they find each other, before the city explodes?
Actors: Kailah King and Russell Jordan
Directed by Glory Kadigan
Playwright Monica Bauer
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Monica Bauer (playwright)
Selected credits: My Occasion of Sin, Urban Stages (Winner, Emerging Playwright Award), Made for Each Other: Edinburgh Fringe, United Solo. Chosen Child, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre (nominated, Best New Play, Independent Reviewers of New England), Anne Frank in the Gaza Strip, Planet Connections Theater Festivity (winner, Best New Comedy). Full production history, awards, and publications at www.monicabauer.com -
Glory Kadigan (director)
Founder and Artistic Director for six seasons, Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. Selected directing credits: world premieres include ReGina Taylor's Biting the Bullet, John Patrick Shanley's Doublecross, Pregnitude by Lucy Boyle, A Play About New Mexico by Halley Feiffer, St. Anne's Soup by Israel Horovitz, and most recently, Erik Ehn's Clover at La Mama. -
Kailah S. King (VIVIAN STRONG)
Recent graduate, NYU. Staged readings of Vivian’s Music, 1969 and Chosen Child by Monica Bauer (Emerging Artists Theater’s New Works Series) and Last Night and The Night Before (The Labyrinth Theatre), recent roles in The One-Minute Play Festival at The New Ohio Theatre, Napping Pods for NY Summerfest, EstroGenius Short Play Festival and others. @kaleuhstar -
Russell Jordan* (LUIGI WELLS)
Two-time Planet Connections Theatre Festivity outstanding actor award recipient. Recent credits include: TV, The Dangerous Book for Boys (Amazon Prime), The Blacklist, Bluebloods. Theater, off-off Broadway: Doric Wilson’s Street Theater (The Other Side of Silence Theater), HARAM!IRAN! (Emerging Artists Theatre), A Touch of Cinema (The Wild Project), Doors of Perception (New Perspectives Theater Company). www.russelljordan.com