Underscored by a hip-hop beat.
Love which is actually about growth.
Love that challenges you and helps you better understand who you are.
It’s a new play for those who fondly remember the first few decades of hip-hop culture, who went to roller skating rinks and dubbed cassette tapes in their basement and used to videotape every episode of Yo! MTV Raps.
It’s for those who have ever been inspired by an artist, in any medium, and have felt the world disappear when they watch him or her do what they do best.
It’s for those who remember what it’s like when you’re young and falling in love.
You don’t REALLY know yourself until you identify what or who you love – and what you are willing to do in the pursuit of it.
The Realness is a celebration of exactly that.
Come celebrate with us.
The Realness is a play reading of a work in progress. Please support ATC as we pull back the curtain on the play development process by sharing digital play readings of innovative new works by professional playwrights. Be part of the experience!
A mother, a daughter and the thread of an American Dream. Working mom Alma has singlehandedly raised her daughter, Ángel, on tough love, home-cooked comida, and lots of prayers. But on the eve of the all-important SAT, Alma discovers her daughter isn’t at home studying. A schooling and la chancla await Ángel at home—but so does a creeping realization that more’s at stake than just a test score. A sacrifice from Alma’s past weighs heavy on their present; now, Alma fears that her worst nightmare may soon be their reality. Will the American Dream cost them a life together?
Created By Charissa Bertels, Christian Duhamel, & Ed Bell
Tucson: 01/23/21 – 02/13/21A delightful award-winning musical about the magic that happens when we let ourselves say “yes.”
From a chance encounter to the unlikeliest of friendships, Charissa discovers there’s much she can learn from her surprising new companion. Based on the true story of Broadway performer Charissa Bertels, My 80-Year-Old Boyfriend is an incredible musical tale of the most unlikely pair, as they reach across generational barriers to find friendship and learn a bit more about themselves.
Lyrics by Kait Kerrigan
Music by Brian Lowdermilk
Book by Lauren Gunderson
A musical journey with two of the world’s most iconic women at the height of their power.
It’s 1993 and Ruth Bader Ginsburg has just joined as the second woman on the United States Supreme Court. The first woman, Sandra Day O’Connor, is there to greet her. In an intimate, epic three -person musical built of urgent and honest conversations, sweeping songs, and gripping monologues, we come to know these two iconic women at the height of their power. Ruth and Sandra confront each other about law, strategy, civil rights, husbands, kids, dreams, sorrows and the past and future of this country.
Their differences compel them, their sex unites them – together, and famously separately they will set the course for our country and the world.
By Christina Ham
Directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene
A face-to-face musical evening with the fiery genius.
Nina Simone rocked the nation with “Four Women”, her tribute in song to the four little girls lost in the tragic 1963 bombing of the Ku Klux Klan at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Nina Simone: Four Women imagines a conversation, often through music, between Simone and three African-American women from varied walks-of-life. Directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene, who is the current Resident Director on Broadway’s Hamilton.
“This is still a remarkable show in many ways – it is totally different from any revue you ever saw and, especially given this fine casting, it catches one of the great thinkers, activists, and musicians of the 20th century as she surely was feeling in that given moment in time.” – Chicago Tribune
A riotous comedy! Screw the mid-life crisis; let’s solve some crimes! Middle-aged mom Liz has a new man. And let’s face it… he’s just plain creepy. When a mysterious disappearance sets the community on edge, Liz’s best friends leap to the rescue. This is a hilarious comedy about trading in wine glasses for spy glasses when the mid-life crisis just isn’t your speed.
“The laughs in Wendy MacLeod’s play, come fast and furious…It’s all good, silly fun, directed with precise comic timing by the seasoned Sean Daniels… a new work that’s modern, lively, and loads of fun.” – Boston Globe
By christopher oscar peña
Directed by Kimberly Senior in a co-production with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
A moving new play about the complexities of privilege, citizenship, and the most complex relationship of all: family.
Directed by Kimberly Senior who directed Disgraced on Broadway when it won the Pulitzer Prize. A “Model Immigrant” and business mogul, Honduran born Mando’s cleaning empire is bracing for a downturn and he must rein in his over-privileged American son Orlando. In the wake of a personal crisis, Orlando suddenly finds himself responsible for the fate of a treasured undocumented worker and the future of his father’s entire enterprise.
By MATTHEW LOPEZ
Tucson: 09/25/20 – 10/16/21A big-hearted, FIERCE, music-filled comedy. A theatrical cornucopia of camp, country music, drag, domestic dilemmas, and larger-than-life divas awaits you! Casey is an Elvis impersonator with everything going for him, including a flashy sequin jumpsuit. But just like that he loses his gig, rent is overdue and his wife announces a baby on the way. So when Elvis leaves the building and a drag show moves in, “The King” transforms into an all-out queen with the help of some new friends who become the second family Casey never saw coming. With snappy zingers and dance-worthy numbers, this wildly entertaining story will challenge your assumptions with extraordinary humor and depth. A valentine to the drag queens who helped mentor the playwright through his own coming out as gay while growing up in Florida, ATC is thrilled to bring you this light and fizzy comedy that’s as sweet as it is hilarious.