LET’S TALK is an easy mix of performance and conversation among artists, scholars, and lovers of the arts! LET’S TALK is your chance to learn something new about the making and sharing of theater, music, dance, and multimedia. LET’S TALK takes you behind the scenes and up close with the muse and the technology. LET’S TALK is your invitation to chime in!
THURSDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2015 at Pregones in The Bronx:
LET’S TALK about BETSY!
The Appalachian-Puerto Rican Musical
This event is FREE
Please RSVP by calling 718-585-1202
Join the artists of Roadside Theater and Pregones/PRTT to talk about the creation and newest incarnation of our intercultural musical BETSY!, premiering Off-Broadway this April.
Learn about the collaborative genesis of the story of Betsy, a Bronx jazz singer of Puerto Rican and Irish heritage. Hear from co-directors Dudley Cocke and Rosalba Rolón, composers Ron Short and Desmar Guevara, and cast member Elise Santora, who plays the role of Spirit, one of the ghosts spurring Betsy to look into her past.
See and hear cast members perform heartfelt selections from Betsy! and share anecdotes of their times with co-creator and Nashville piano legend Beegie Adair. Witness a formidable musical relay between banjo and cuatro, two traditional string instruments of Kentucky and Puerto Rico. Learn about prior mountain-to-mountain musical exchanges between Appalachia and The Bronx.
Join the talk about all things family, culture, and mixed DNA!
Introductory comments by project guest scholar Maribel Álvarez.
This event is FREE, but RSVP is recommended: call 718-585-1202.
Thursday, February 12, 2015 @ 7pm
at Pregones in The Bronx
575 Walton Avenue, The Bronx, NY
(located between 149th & 150th Streets)
Trains 2, 4, 5 to 149th St. & Grand Concourse
LET’S TALK is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Art Works. Additional public funds provided by New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
LET’S TALK about BETSY! is an event of PLATAFORMA: The Bronx-Broadway Showcase for Latino Theater at Pregones/PRTT, a cooperative performing arts presenting, commissioning, and producing initiative supported, in part, by funds from Theater Subdistrict Council, LDC.