Tony Award nominee Quiara Alegria Hudes and Tony Award winner Bill Sherman's new musical 'Barrio Grrrl!' will have its world premiere at the Kennedy Centre on October 24.
The musical, according to press notes, tells the tale of "spunky nine-year-old Ana [who] is faced with this very big decision. On the one hand, as her alter-ego Barrio Grrrl with her invisible sidekick The Amazing Voice, she's pretty busy preserving justice in the barrio and protecting her neighborhood. On the other hand, in the world where Ana lives with her abuelo (grandfather) and misses her mom who is far away in Iraq, reality is sneaking up on her. It's time for Ana to decide what's most important: being a superhero or a girl who works little miracles in real life."
The show will run from October 24 - November 15. It is directed by Peter Flynn and choreographed by Devanand Janki. The creative team includes Misha Kachman (scenic design), Holly Hynes (costume design), Nancy Schertler (lighting design), Ryan Rumery (sound design), and J. Navarro (musical direction).
The company features Ana Noguiera (Ana), Natascia Diaz (The Amazing Voice), Salma Qarnain (Mom), Diego Prieto (Abuelo), Erika Rose (Odette), Vishal Vaidya (Sandip), and Chris Wilson (Oscar).
Quiara Alegría Hudes is a Puerto Rican - Jewish American playwright and author best known for writing the book for the musical 'In the Heights', for which she received a Tony Award nominiation. 'In the Heights' received the Lucille Lortel Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical; was named Best Musical of 2007 by New York Magazine and Best of 2007 by the New York Times.
Bill Sherman won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for In the Heights and the 2008 Grammy Award as the co-producer of the In The Heights Original Broadway Cast Album. He was recently nominated for an Emmy Award® for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for the theme music to AMC's "Storymakers." He also earned a Drama Desk® nomination for Outstanding Orchestrations for In the Heights Off-Broadway. Beginning in the fall of 2009, Bill will be the Music Director and composer for "Sesame Street" on PBS. Additionally, he is the head composer for Sesame Workshop's new "The Electric Company," the second season of MTV's "Gamekillers" as well as Nike's "Kobe Mentu." He has also contributed songs to previous seasons of "Sesame Street" as well as "Chasing Broadway Dreams," a documentary about In The Heights on its road to Broadway. Bill is a proud member of New York's premier hip-hop, improv and comedy group, Freestyle Love Supreme, with whom he has traveled to the Aspen, Edinburgh, Melbourne and Montreal comedy festivals.
For tickets or more information, visit www.kennedy-center.org.
