This week is just flying by, and these days, I really don’t like that. There’s definitely never enough time each day, and I’m just happy that this go ’round, Lily and I were smart enough to get all these Gothamist Interviews done ahead of time. I haven’t been going out at night; I haven’t been sitting around doing nothing; but at the same time, I feel like I’m getting nothing done. And the list of pending blog entries continues to get longer and longer. Oy, I say. The next couple weeks are going to be interesting to because here comes the Fringe Festival, and for some reason, I’ve decided to actually try contributing a bit more to Gothamist in both theatre and film, and that means sitting through a bunch of Fringe shows.
But that’s for another time. For now, we’re going to stay in the theatre and talk about someone who’s certainly not new to the theatre scene — she performed with Chita Rivera in the Original Broadway production of Chicago — but is only in the past few years making a name and big splash for herself as a musical theatre writer: Kirsten Childs. Kirsten created a semi-autobiographical musical that played at Playwrights Horizons a few years ago called The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin that won awards galore, and now she’s back with a new show starting on Aug. 26 at Vineyard Theatre called Miracle Brothers which just sounds ridiculously fun, energetic and exciting. In Kirsten’s own words from the beginning of the interview:
This is a story about how a rebellious Brazilian slave and his unwilling slavemaster brother rock the 17th century while overcoming differences of their race and class. The audience will be guided (by friendly toe-tapping river dolphins) into the worlds of samba, capoeira and Candomblé. There’ll be thrills, chills and excitement, all to a Brazilian groove, so prepare to order a caipirinha at that Brazilian restaurant you’ll be heading for after the show.
Kirsten has already had several careers — how many people do you know who have danced on Broadway and also worked at both the United Nations and Merrill Lynch? — and is an integral part of the NY theatre community: she’s among that exclusive club of Tony Award Nomination voters, and she also participates in TDF‘s wonderful “Open Doors” program which helps get inner-city kids to Broadway Theatre they otherwise likely would be unable to see. Her interview is a great read, so go check-it-out, along with her new show.
Out of Focus 