Christopher Scott directs and Monica Johnson choreographs New York City high schoolers who participate in the Amas Musical Theatre Academy's pre-professional performing arts program.
Eight performances play to May 20 at The Players at 115 MacDougal Street.
The spring 1969-set show features "nerdy sophomore Apricot Taylor," who "has to direct four of the toughest girls at Northampton High in the gi-normous school talent show," according to production notes. "Against all odds, the girls bond with the characters they play in Apricot's wild historical revue. Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington take over the stage in the Amas Academy's zany world premiere musical comedy…"
Amas' Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy has been in continuous operation since the late 1970s. The pre-professional performing arts training program is open to New York City students age 14-20. Classes in singing, dancing and acting, taught by working theatre professionals, are held on Saturdays from October through May, culminating every spring with a fully-staged Off-Off-Broadway production. Recent seasons have included productions of Footloose, The Me Nobody Knows and On the Town.
Goldee Greene is a playwright, composer, librettist and singer/pianist/actor from Westbury, NY. Her works have been seen at The Knitting Factory, Caroline's Comedy Club, Performance Space P.S. 122 and the Public Theater. She toured with the Urban Bush Women in the acclaimed Praise House, including a run at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Director Christopher Scott's credits include Off-Broadway's My Secret Garden and Golf! The Musical.
Choreographer Monica Johnson celebrates her 12th season with the Rosetta LeNoire Academy. She's choreographed Working, The Me Nobody Knows, Once On This Island, The Robber Bridegroom and On the Town.
For Sprang Thang tickets ($20 or $13 for students/seniors), call (212) 352-3101.
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Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Producing Artistic Director) is a not-for-profit, multi-ethnic performing arts organization founded in 1969 by Rosetta LeNoire. Amas ("you love" in Latin) is dedicated to the creation, development and professional production of original American musicals, the celebration of diversity and minority perspectives, the emergence of new artistic talent and the training and encouragement of inner-city young people.
Recent Amas productions include Magpie; Lone Star Love, or the Merry Wives of Windsor, Texas; Stormy Weather; The Story of Lena Horne; From My Hometown; Zanna, Don't!; Langston Hughes' Little Ham; and, Four Guys Named Jose and una mujer Named Maria.
