DCT artistic director Victor Lirio directs a cast that features Chris Ceraso, Brandon Jones, Penelope Lowder, Kevin Kelleher and Teresa Stephenson. The production will officially open Sept. 5, and performances will continue through Sept. 19.
Race Music, according to press notes, "is set in a metropolitan Midwestern city in 1999. Lebron Malek, a 26 year-old classical music lover, applies for a radio-announcing position at a classical music radio station but is rejected because he is black. Six characters of varying colors and ancestral origins, struggle to come to terms with the changing racial landscape of our country in pre-Obama 1999."
In a statement director Lirio said, "With affirmative action being a 'hot button' issue from the classroom to the boardroom, Race Music raises the question: how much has changed in American racial and social politics since 1999? The answer remains to be seen as we continue to hear real-life stories of racism and racial profiling six months after Obama’s inauguration.
"The play takes a hard and nuanced look at prejudice, race relations, and social politics. It examines how racial stereotyping informs our opinions, stirs our emotions, and conflicts with our instinct to appear unbiased. However, the human experience is complex and deep. Race Music proves that despite our flaws as human beings, we can evolve."
The design team comprises set and lighting designer Maruti Evans, sound designer Elizabeth Rhodes and costume designer Arnulfo Maldonado. Playwright Bodow was formerly president of New York classical radio station, WQXR. His full-length play Harry the Hunk on His Way Out was produced at The Cherry Lane Theatre in October 2007.
The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row is located at 410 West 42nd Street. Tickets, priced $18, are available by visiting www.ticketcentral.com or by calling (212) 279-4200.
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Diverse City Theater Co. Inc. is an independent not-for-profit organization — run by artist playwrights, directors and actors — that focuses on promoting diversity and multiculturalism in the theater arts. Its mission is to "commission, develop and produce powerful and though-provoking original plays that explore and examine diversity issues in our national culture, create multiculturally fluent theater audiences and advocate the non-traditional casting of actors." For more information visit www.diversecitytheater.org.
