Baltimore's Center Stage Theater completes its 1998-99 season with Dianne McIntyre's I Could Stop on a Dime and Get Ten Cents Change: A Ballroom Drama, closing June 13 in the Head Theater space. Performances began April 30 for an opening night May 5.
McIntyre conceived, directed and choreographed Dime/Ten Cents, based on stories told to her by her father, F. Benjamin McIntyre. A man living a normal life growing up in Cleveland between World War I and World War II, McIntyre ran track with Jesse Owens, met and married Dorothy Layne, one of the first African-American women to earn a pilot's license; and cruised Cedar Avenue in the Blue Goose, the car that would change his life forever.
McIntyre, who has choreographed for concert, regional, Broadway and Off Broadway theater, recently choreographed Steven Spielberg's "Beloved" and the HBO film, "Miss Evers' Boys." Dime/Ten Cents premiered at the Theatre of the First Amendment at George Mason University, receiving two Helen Hayes nominations for Best New Play and Best Choreography. The Cleveland Playhouse also mounted a production of the show.
Featured in the cast are Lester Purry (Man No. 1), Kenneth C. Jackson, Jr. (Man No. 2), Kyle Primous (Man No. 3), Spencer Scott Barros (Man No. 4), Renee Monique Brown (Woman No. 1), NaTasha Williams (Woman No. 2) and Lisa Renee Pitts (Woman No. 3) with LaTishia Cheri Lewis and Breshae Renee Webb sharing the role of Little Girl.
Designing Dime/Ten Cents are Charles McClennahan (sets), A. Christina Giannini (costumes), Allen Lee Hughes (lighting) and Janet Kalas (sound). Tickets ($29-$24) are available by calling the box office at (410) 332 0033 or from ProTix at (800) 955-5566. The Head Theatre is on the web at www.centerstage.org.
-- By Christine Ehren
