The St. Louis Black Repertory Company will open its 29th season with Crossin’ Over, an all-new musical production chronicling the history of Africans in America, Sept. 14-25 at Edison Theatre.
Unfolding through five musical suites, Crossin’ Over carries the audience from village hut to slave ship, auction block, plantation fields and the modern Civil Rights Movement. Traditional Western African drumming merges with psalms, hymns and gospel standards such as “Swing Low Sweet Chariot,” “Precious Lord” and “We Shall Overcome.”
Ron Himes, the Henry E. Hampton Jr. artist-in-residence in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences and founder and producing director of the Black Rep, directs the show, which he developed with Charles Creath, musical director for the Black Rep.
“Crossin’ Over takes a look at songs of faith, spirituals and gospel music from its roots in Africa, through the middle passage, slavery, northern migration, the Civil Rights Movement and into contemporary gospel music today,” Himes said. “At the same time, we trace the crossing over in cultures as well as styles of music and their relationship to the African-American experience.”
The cast will feature St. Louis gospel recording artists Denise Thimes and Karen Hylton as well as Black Rep mainstays J. Samuel Davis, Chuck Flowers, Deondra Means and Kelvin Roston Jr., and newcomers Herman Gordon, Leah Stewart and percussionist Kunama Mtendaji.
Performances will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 3 p.m. on Sundays.
Tickets range from $10-30 and are available by calling the Black Rep box office, 534-3810. Special pricing is available as part of the Black Rep’s “Under 30 Thursdays,” which feature half-price tickets for patrons age 30 and under with valid identification.
The Black Rep is the largest African-American performing arts organization in Missouri and among the largest in the country. It is committed to providing platforms for theater, dance and other creative expressions from the African-American perspective that heighten the social and cultural awareness of its audiences.
Through its educational and mainstage productions, the company reaches an audience exceeding 150,000 annually.
The Black Rep receives sustaining support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Missouri Arts Council, Regional Arts Commission and the Arts & Education Council of Greater St. Louis.
For more information about the Black Rep, go online to stlouisblackrep.com.