RIDE SALLY RIDE Announced At B Street Theatre

B Street Theatre is taking to the skies in 2020. Our first production in the Family Friendly Theatre series is Ride Sally Ride: The Story of Amelia Earhart and Sally Ride.

These women of space and aviation were pioneers that refused to let gender biases stop them from greatness. For Amelia Earhart, she strived to break records by becoming the first woman to pilot a plane across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932, broke the women's altitude record in 1922, and the first and fastest woman to fly nonstop, transcontinental trips. Earhart paved the way for Sally Ride to achieve her own groundbreaking accomplishments. Ride was the first American woman in space aboard the Challenger shuttle in 1983 and maintained a decorated career with NASA.

Playwright Tara Sissom said she and Katerina had two goals when they began this project two years ago: inspire and entertain young audiences about women in aviation.

"We hope to inspire with the message that 'nothing is impossible' and more importantly you don't need permission from anyone to pursue your biggest and wildest dreams," Sissom said.

Since these two incredible women never had the opportunity to meet in real life, the play imagines a young Sally Ride defying her teachers and writing an essay about Amelia Earhart. But as she's writing, she falls asleep and in her dreams, she's visited by the famous pilot who encourages her toward greatness. Eventually Sally goes to Stanford and there's a big opportunity to be recruited by NASA, but once again there are those in her life who doubt her capabilities and instincts and she must once again look to her mentor in order to overcome.

For this production B Street has hired Los Angeles based director Hannah Wolf to bring her expertise in staging productions that she refers to as "subversively shiny."

"I'm incredibly excited to work on this new play for young audiences and to bring them the story of Sally Ride," Wolf said. "This play has it all, big adventure, friendships and the challenges that it takes to pursue one's dream. Tara and Katerina have created a story that feels like a roller coaster ride, where Sally learns about the importance of trying-even if you might fail-and that she has a voice that's worth listening to."

For more information visit www.bstreettheatre.org