San Jose Stage Company presents the World Premiere
March 20, 2012
Media Contact: Jill Arnone
The Arnone Group
408 315 5121
San Jose Stage Company
presents the World Premiere Buffalo'ed,
the untold story of Buffalo Soldiers in the Philippines
the untold story of Buffalo Soldiers in the Philippines
San Jose, CA --- March 20, 2012 --- San Jose Stage Company will present the World Premiere of
Jeannie Barroga's Buffalo'ed, in
collaboration with Choreographer Alleuia Panis, which retells the story of the
Buffalo Soldiers, descendants of American slaves who were stationed in the
Philippines at the turn of the 20th Century during both the Spanish-American
and Philippine-American Wars. The military presence of the U.S. Army's Buffalo
Soldiers during the Philippine occupation is a little-known thread in the
fabric of American history. The World Premiere performance of Buffalo'ed, opens
April 7 at San Jose Stage Company.
Directed by Anthony J. Haney, Buffalo'ed is an American story told through three points of view
(the Insurrectionists, the Buffalo Soldiers and the U.S. Army), Buffalo'ed
expands on the Buffalo Soldiers' history with the 1898 U.S.-acquired
Philippines. Within a six-month period, Filipino rebels and a select number of
African-American soldiers engaged first as allies against Spain, and then, as
in similar foreign occupations, against each other. This play highlights their
mutual fates.
Buffalo'ed is
told through dialogue, projected images and movement, specifically escrima
movements, which were celebrated in social settings, without violating the "no
assembly" law. During the the changeover from Spanish to U.S. occupation in the
Philippines, public gatherings were banned. Social dances were allowed and used
by rebels to practice self-defense moves. These activities, shown theatrically,
how native rebels inventively responded to martial law, in a manner that was
approved and accepted, but ultimately, was revolutionary.
The collaborators' (Barroga/Playwright) and
(Panis/Choreographer) vision for the new work was to investigate and explore
this pivotal moment in history and create a compelling work that evokes
conversation.
The commissioning and production of this World Premiere is
made possible by The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation and the William and
Flora Hewlett Foundation Playwright Collaboration 2009 Initiative. Additional
funding was provided by Applied Materials Foundation.
San Jose Stage Company, the Bay Area's award-winning
off-Broadway theatre, holds the opening Gala on Saturday, April 7 at 8 PM with
previews beginning Wednesday and Thursday, April 4 and 5 at 7:30 PM and Friday,
April 6 at 8 PM. Buffalo'ed runs
through April 29, 2012.
The cast includes Amielynn Abellera, David Arrow*,
Carmichael 'CJ' Blankenship*, Elizabeth Carter*, Clarissa Chun, Clinton
Derricks-Carroll*, Alexandria Diaz de Fato, Tim Hart, Nila Le, Gregory Manalo,
Jed Parsario, Daniel Redmond, Adrian Roberts* and Rajiv Shah*.
The Stage is located at 490 South First Street at William
Street in downtown San Jose's South First (SoFA) area. Tickets are available
through the Box Office by calling 408.283.7142 or online at www.thestage.org
between $20 and $45. Visa and MasterCard are accepted, and discounts are
available for groups, students and seniors. The theatre is handicapped accessible.
# # #
*Member of Actors' Equity Association
Playwright
Jeannie Barroga is a member of Dramatists Guild and a nationally-produced
playwright, teacher, director and video producer. She has written sixty-two
plays, and her work has been published, anthologized and produced nationally
and internationally. Today, Barroga plays an active role in many theater groups
in Northern California and across the nation.
Alleluia
Panis collaborated with Barroga and is a nationally reknowned
choreographer who is at home in both Filipino tribal/traditional arts, such as
escrima, and American contemporary forms. She has received awards from the
Rockefeller Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, California Arts Council
and Creative Work Fund. She has created fifteen full-length dance theater works
since 1985, which have been performed on main stages in the United States,
Europe and Asia.
Director
Anthony J. Haney is a multiple award-winning actor and director. He directed
Intimate Apparel and Crowns for TheatreWorks, as well as a
commercial revival of Crowns at San
Francisco's Marines Memorial Theatre. He also directed musical tributes to Ben
Vereen, Della Reese and Ruby Dee at The Nate Holden Theater in Los Angeles. He
has numerous credits with TheatreWorks as well as a seven-year stint as the
company's Associate Artistic Director. He has also appeared at Berkeley
Repertory Theatre, Magic Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre and the Edinburgh
Festival, as well as with the San Francisco Mime Troupe (National Tour). He has
also appeared in episodic television, films and dozens of national commercials.
Assistant Director/Dramaturg
Norman Gee returns to The Stage, where he was
last seen onstage in MacBeth. He is the Artistic Director of Oakland Public
Theater. He began development work with the Bay Area Playwrights Foundation,
and has worked on new plays with companies including Word for Word and Thick
Description. Gee has collaborated on various solo pieces with the AfroSolo
Arts Festival and currently develops historical projects with the Hillside Club
in Berkeley.
Production
Stage Manager Jaimie L. Johnson* serves as San Jose Stage Company
Production Stage Manager. Her stage management credits for The Stage include Buried Child, Cabaret and Avenue Q. Prior to her work for The
Stage, she served a Resident Stage Manager for TheatreWorks. She has a Bachelor
of Arts from St. Cloud State University and been a proud member of Actors'
Equity Association for over 10 years.
Composer
Richard Marriott has written five productions for choreographer Della
Davidson, collaborated with Yoshiko Chuma in A Page Out of Order and scored Momenta String Quartet's City of Paper for choreographer Yin Mei.
His operas include Divide Light, Lan Ling
and Godmachine. He has also written
two operas for Overtone Industries in Los Angeles. He is currently composing The Passion of Miriam with Iranian
director Mohammad Ghaffari and librettist Ruth Margraff, which will premiere
September 2013.
Set
Designer Michael Palumbo designed the sets for San Jose Stage
Company's Cabaret, The Seafarer, and The Turn of the Screw as well as the
lighting for Buried Child, On the
Waterfront, The Pillowman, and more. He has also designed lighting and
scenery for Marin Theatre Company, TheatreWorks, Opera San Jose, San Jose
Repertory Theatre, Sacramento Opera, Aurora Theatre Company, Magic Theatre,
Diablo Theatre Company, Shotgun Players, Pacific Repertory Theatre,
TheatreFirst, Inferno Theatre, Teatro Visión, Palo Alto Players, Solano College
Theatre/Harbor Theatre, City Lights Theater Company of San Jose and Bus Barn
Stage Company.
Sound
Designer Steve Schoenbeck designed the sound for San Jose Stage
Company's Rock N' Roll. He has
designed sound for San Jose Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks, American
Conservatory Theater, SF Playhouse, Marin Theatre Company, Culture Clash and
Edinburgh's Assembly Theatre, among others. He has also designed sound for
short films and animation, and mixed numerous musicals. He is currently the
Resident Sound Supervisor at the San Jose Rep.
Light
Designer Maurice Vercoutere designed the lights for the World
Premieres of Lolita Roadtrip and Tenders in the Fog at San Jose Stage
Company, for which he received the Dean Goodman Award for Lighting. He was a
Resident Lighting Designer at Sacramento Theatre Company and The Western Stage.
He has designed for many theatres throughout the Bay Area including
TheatreWorks, Marin Theatre Company, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Civic Arts
Repertory Company, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa Repertory Theatre,
Theatre on the Square and Magic Theatre.
Costume
Designer Michele Wynne designed the costumes for San Jose
Stage Company's Buried Child, Cabaret, Lolita Roadtrip, Rock 'N' Roll, The
Turn of the Screw, The Diary of Anne Frank and more. Her other local designs include
performances for The Marin Theatre Company, for The San Francisco Shakespeare
Festival, and the Lamplighters Music Theatre. She served as the associate
costume designer on the original Broadway production of Urinetown, The Musical, the national tour of Disney's Aida and six seasons on Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.
Wynne taught costume design at New York University's Program in Educational
Theatre.
# # #
About San
Jose Stage Company:
Founded in 1983, San Jose Stage Company
is recognized as The Bay Area's Premiere Off-Broadway Theatre, and known for
its devotion to new and cutting-edge work and for its commitment to showcasing
high-quality local talent. In 1986, San Jose Stage Company set precedence as
the first arts organization to negotiate and receive support from the
Redevelopment Agency and the City of San Jose when over $500,000 was
appropriated in support of the development of a new 200-seat theatre featuring
a 3/4-thrust stage, which opened in 1990. Now in its 29th Season, SJSC
continues to center its operations in this facility and has successfully
produced over 138 productions and premiered 44 new works, including 11 world
premieres and is acclaimed for maintaining high artistic standards, investing
in local talent and supporting the region's community of working artists while
taking artistic risks. In addition to its core programming, San Jose Stage
Company offers five core education and outreach programs and has housed over
200 independent performance groups. San Jose Stage Company is a vital force in
the community and has earned a reputation for artistic excellence by providing
high-quality, edgy theatrical experiences that engage, educate and provoke
audiences. San Jose Stage Company serves an audience base of 30,000 and is
recognized as a leader in the arts for a theatre of its size. For more
information www.thestage.org
Jill Arnone
The Arnone Group
408 315 5121
jilla@thearnonegroup.com
The Arnone Group
408 315 5121
jilla@thearnonegroup.com
Related Articles · More Articles