{"id":17292,"date":"2023-03-29T15:35:50","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T15:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=17292"},"modified":"2023-03-29T15:35:50","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T15:35:50","slug":"middleton-heights-world-premiere","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/event\/middleton-heights-world-premiere\/2023-03-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Middleton Heights (World Premiere)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Umbrella Stage Company is thrilled to commission its first full-length play, created by local playwright\u00a0Hortense Gerardo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Middleton Heights<\/em>\u00a0is a dark comedy that follows Meena and her Filipino family as they assimilate to life in a fictional Midwestern suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.\u00a0The play traces historical events from 1967 to 2014 and the pursuit of the American Dream, refracted through the intersectional lens of the Asian American Pacific Islander immigrant experience.<\/p>\n

In the world premiere of an original play commissioned by The Umbrella Stage Company,\u00a0Hortense Gerardo<\/strong>\u2019s\u00a0Middleton Heights\u00a0<\/em>unravels a wry, charming and honest\u00a0tale that follows Meena and her Filipino family as they assimilate to life in a fictional Midwestern\u00a0suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. The play traces historical events from 1967 to 2014, examining\u00a0transformative social moments from the Hough riots to the Robert Kennedy and MLK assassinations to\u00a0the protests in the aftermath of the killing of Tamir Rice, refracted through the intersectional lens of the\u00a0Asian American Pacific Islander immigrant experience and the pursuit of the American Dream.<\/p>\n

A writer, choreographer, filmmaker, and anthropologist, Gerardo is a member of the Dramatists Guild of\u00a0America and The International Center for Women Playwrights, and Director of the Anthropology,\u00a0Performance and Technology Program UC San Diego. From 2018-2020, she served as the Metropolitan\u00a0Area Planning Council\u2019s artist-in-residence, promoting creative placemaking and community resilience\u00a0through art throughout MAPC\u2019s 101 cities and towns.<\/p>\n

This production is directed by\u00a0Michelle Aguillon<\/strong>, who has helmed several popular productions for The Umbrella Stage, including this season\u2019s sold-out run of Kate Hamill\u2019s\u00a0Dracula<\/em>,\u00a0Fences<\/em>,\u00a0Joy Luck Club<\/em>,\u00a0To Kill a Mockingbird<\/em>, and\u00a0True West<\/em>,\u00a0which earned a DASH Award for Best Production (Play). Aguillon and\u00a0Gerardo have collaborated frequently on recent projects, including last season\u2019s\u00a0Incantation<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>for The Umbrella Stage @Home New Works series and\u00a0Scensation\u00a0<\/em>for the Boston Theater\u00a0Marathon XXIII, among others.<\/p>\n

Running March 31-April 23, 2023 (press opening April 2, 3PM), this world premiere features Steve Bermundo, Justin Budinoff, Cheryl Daro*, Lisa Fermin-Granada, Jenine Florence Jacinto and Jude Torres.<\/p>\n

Special community engagements include moderated talkbacks, a Kid Care-option performance, and
\nFilipino dance and music demonstrations by community partner school, Iskwelahang Pilipino of Boston.<\/p>\n

Adult $45.00, Senior $40.00, Student $20.00<\/p>\n

The Umbrella is ADA accessible, a proud partner in the Massachusetts Cultural Council\u2019s EBT Card-to-Culture program, and provides free parking and free admission to its visual arts galleries. The Umbrella is in Concord Center, easily accessible from the Walden exit of Route 2, and a 2 block walk (about 0.4 mi., 7 minutes) from the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Concord Station stop at 90 Thoreau Street.<\/p>\n

Special Associated Programs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday, April 2 \u2013\u00a0Trish Fontanilla<\/strong>\u00a0post-show Talk Back with Playwright and Director, in partnership with\u00a0BosFilipinos<\/a>
\nSaturday, April 15 \u2013\u00a0Iskwelahang Pilipino<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(IP) Indigenous Dance Group performs pre-show
\nSunday, April 16 \u2013\u00a0Kid-Care Performance<\/strong>*, Post-show Talk Back with the cast
\nSunday, April 23 \u2013\u00a0Iskwelahang Pilipino<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(IP) Tinikling Dance Group performs pre-show
\nFriday, March 31 \u2013\u00a0Iskwelahang Pilipino<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(IP) Rondalla Ensemble performs pre-show<\/p>\n

*\u00a0The Umbrella is pleased to announce our new\u00a0Kid-Care Show Program, a pilot program to\u00a0give parents an opportunity to attend select performances\u00a0while their\u00a0child(ren) engage in art activities\u00a0inspired by the production.\u00a0This is a new pilot program aimed at providing\u00a0better access to arts and culture events\u00a0and creating a\u00a0shared experience opportunity for families. Spaces are limited and can be reserved alongside ticket purchases.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Umbrella Stage Company is thrilled to commission its first full-length play, created by local playwright\u00a0Hortense Gerardo. Middleton Heights\u00a0is a dark comedy that follows Meena and her Filipino family as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17304,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":""},"tag":[],"tribe_events_cat":[100],"class_list":["post-17292","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tribe_events_cat-performances","cat_performances","tribe-recurring-event","tribe-recurring-event-parent"],"acf":{"explore_list_featured_select":"2","select_experience":[1866],"select_topic":[1873],"select_theme":[1895],"select_location":[1927,1905],"select_audience":[1964],"descriptor":"Things to Do"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/17292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/17292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17456,"href":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/17292\/revisions\/17456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tag?post=17292"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freedomsway.org\/staging\/6553\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=17292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}