This production features actors returning to both Brownbox Theatre and Sound Theatre Company stages alongside many new faces of local emerging artistic talent.
Kathya Alexander, seen in Brownbox Theatre’s Black to My Roots summons the power and spirit of the Mississippi River to narrate this tale. Jesse Smith, last seen on Sound Theatre Company stage in the Gregory Award Winning The Wild Party plays the role of Damascus, an escaped slave. Nick Rempel (The Foreigner) portrays plantation owner and confederate defector, Jean Verse. Tee Dennard has appeared on many Seattle Stages including Seattle Repertory, Intiman and ACT Theatre and was a founding member of The Group Theatre. Newcomers to both companies include Shermona Mitchell who portrays Jesus and was nominated for her performance in A New Brain by STAGEright, Cornish student Lindsay Zae Summers portrays Free Girl, with Sunam Ellis, Anthony Duckett, Brace Evans, Santiago, Danielle Daggerty, Marie Bolla and Nick Edmondson rounding out the diverse cast.
Cast
Miss Ssippi……………………… Kathya Alexander
Damascus…………………………Jesse Smith
Demeter……………………………Santiago
Jesus ………………………………. Shermona Mitchell
The Great Tree ………………… Tee Dennard
Jean Verse…………………………Nick Rempel
Cadence Verse……………………Danielle Daggerty
Yankee Pot Roast……………… Anthony Duckett
Free…………………………………. Lindsay Zae Summers
Blanche Verse…………………… Sunam Ellis
Brer Bit……………………………. Brace Evans
Tributaries/Ensemble…………..Marie Bolla, Nick Edmondson, Jesse Smith
Production Team
Director/Co Producer…………. Tyrone Brown
Stage Manager…………………… Abigail Pishaw
Set Designer……………………… Burton Yuen
Costume Designer……………… Candace Frank
Lighting Designer………………. Richard Schaefer
Props Designer…………………. Ashley Banker
Sound Designer…………………. Dana Amromin
Composer/Music Dir…………. Jesse Smith
Movement Director……………. Ken Michels
Vocal/Dialect Coach……………Teresa Thuman
Assistant Stage Manager……. Chelsea “Mo” Moniz
Asst. Sound Design…………… Julian Armine
Inspired by the myth of Demeter and Persephone and set on the banks of the Mississippi during the Civil War, …And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi combines storytelling, gospel music and wit, following an escaped slave and Confederate soldier who are both on journeys to find lost loves. This lyrical play is based on award-winning playwright Marcus Gardley’s family history, about a man who escaped slavery and traveled the country to search for his family.