JAG JUKE JOINT A Benefit Dinner Party with Performances & Southern Home Cooking Announced

Join us at 7:00PM on the evening of September 27th for a feast of gorgeous performances by artists who have worked with JAG in the past and delicious southern home cooking prepared by Piecemeal Pies. Cocktails and dinner begin at 7:00PM at the Newberry Market and performances begin at 8:00PM at Briggs Opera House in White River Junction, VT.

 

JAG Productions was born in 2015 in the small town of White River Junction, VT with the mission to produce classic and contemporary African-American theatre; to serve as an incubator of new work that excites broad intellectual engagement; and thereby, to catalyze compassion, empathy, love, and community by connecting with the full breadth of the human experience.

Tickets for the JAG Juke Joint can be purchased at www.JAGProductionsVT.com for $150 each before Sept 22nd, when the price will go up to $175. Proceeds of the tab will be an opportunity to celebrate JAG's mission, celebrate Black life, celebrate the importance of this work in our current historical moment, and support scheduled productions for our 2019-2020 season!

The experience will be a chance to connect with our closest JAG friends, to meet the creative team of ESAI'S TABLE, to celebrate the importance of this work in this current historical moment and to contribute to what is to come! Adding to the deliciousness of the evening will be southern home cooking from Piecemeal Pies.

THE MENU:

Fried Chicken & Waffles with Chili Maple Syrup

Buttermilk Biscuits & Gravy with Fried Sage

Shrimp & Cheddar Grits with Tomato Jam (GF)

Dirty Rice & Collard Greens (VEG, GF)

Sweet Potato Coconut Casserole (VEGAN, GF)

Jalapeño Brown Butter Cornbread (VEG, GF)

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

Banana Pudding (GF)

 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Tyla Collier is grateful to be a part of JAG's Juke Joint! A graduate of The Boston Conservatory, she holds a BFA in Musical Theatre and resides in NYC. She was most recently seen Off-Broadway in Sistas the Musical (Tamika/Dance Captian) and Till: A New Musical (Woman 2). Tyla is represented by The Mine agency. www.TylaCollier.com

Marcus Gladney Jr. is an actor and singer based in New York City. He can be seen as Ellis in the upcoming Amazon Prime miniseries Underground Railroad directed by Barry Jenkins. Other credits: Choir Boy (Broadway MTC); The Skin of Our Teeth (BTG); Made in America (Public Theater); Wu-Tang: An American Saga (Hulu). Thanks to family, friends, Carnegie Mellon, BRS/Gage, and, of course, God, for the unwavering love and support. "You cannot touch the sky from inside yourself. You cannot fly until you break the shell."

Marquis Johnson is a NYC based actor. Recently, making is off bway debut at The Public Theatre in NYC in a new play " As Much As I Can" as Marcus Clark. World premieres including Burn All Night at A.R.T the Andy Mientus and Teen Commadments' Musical and My Heart is The Drum. Marquis has performed around the world as Lumiere in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Other notable roles and shows: James Early in Dreamgirls, Big River, Memphis, A Chorus Line, Rent, and Hairspray. @marqjohnson

Nathan Yungerberg is a Brooklyn-based playwright. His plays include Esai's Table, Evelyn Dreams of Horses The Son of Dawn, Pousada Azul, Orchids and Polka Dots, Golden Gate, Brush Strokes, Seven Pools of Lebanon, And She Became the Rain and Isosceles. Nathan's work has been developed or featured by The Cherry Lane Theatre (2017 Mentor Project with Stephen Adly Guirgis), Roundabout Theatre Company, The Playwrights' Center, JAG Productions, Crowded Fire Theater, The Brooklyn Museum, The Nuyorican Poets Café , The Lorraine Hansberry Theater, Brava Theater, The Lark, The Fire This Time Festival, 48 Hours in Harlem, Climate Change Theatre Action, The National Black Theatre, The Hansberry Project, The National Black Theatre Festival, The Classical Theatre of Harlem, Blackboard Reading Series, T. Schreiber Studio, The Dramatist Guild, Flashpoint Theater, The August Wilson Red Door Project, New Venture Theater, The Brooklyn Generator, Multistages theater and BBC Radio Afternoon Drama. Nathan is one of seven black playwrights commissioned by The New Black Fest for HANDS UP: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments which was published by Samuel French. Awards and honors: The 2016 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference (Semifinalist), Ken Davenport 10-Minute Play Festival (Winner), 11th Annual InspiraTO Festival (Finalist), and the Blue Ink Playwriting Award (Semifinalist), 2019 Djerassi Resident Artist.

Stevie Walker-Webb is a director, performing artist, and cultural worker. He is a Princess Grace Award Winner- Gant Gaither Theater Award 2015. He is a Cofounder of the non-profit C.A.S.T. where he served as Executive Director. CAST creates theatre for social change. He's served as the Artistic Director of the Jubilee Theatre and as a Teaching Artist with Mission Waco-Mission World where he devised work with urban youth, and the homeless community. He has worked as the Outreach Coordinator for Theatre of the Oppressed-NYC. He is a 2050 fellow at New York theatre workshop.He holds a MFA in directing from the New School for Drama, and a B.S. in Sociology from the University of North Texas, and is a Hemispheric Institute EMERGENYC alumnus. Stevie has developed work with: New York theatre workshop, The Public Theatre, La Mama Experimental Theatre, Lincoln Center Education, Dixon place, TONYC, Theatre Row, Baby Crow Productions, Wide Eyed Productions, Petit Jean Performance Festival, New York International Fringe Festival,Jubilee Theatre, Texas Playhouse and the American Civil Liberties union.

Theater has the power to inspire and uplift, but it also has the power to challenge, to liberate and inform individual and communities. Just as playwright August Wilson developed a series of plays to address the critical issues of each decade of the 20th century, theater is the soundtrack of movements and has played a central role in the fight for freedom. JAG Productions continues this precious inheritance as the only Black theater company in Vermont.

As the leaves and trees of the Upper Valley continue their cycle of birth and rebirth, you have our very wishes for your own transition into fall and hope to see you at the JAG Juke Joint!