UConn Advance - April 20, 2009 - CRT summer series returns with a musical

The Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will restart its summer series with a presentation of the hit musical show Crowns June 11-21, in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre.

The Nutmeg Summer Series was a highly popular summer theater series that featured musicals and plays presented in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre during the summer as far back as the late 1940’s.

The series was suspended after the 2002 season for financial reasons, but a new financial format that includes major support from the University and private donors has enabled the series to return with one show this season. CRT intends to return to a full season Summer Nutmeg Series of three or more shows in 2010.

Crowns, by Regina Taylor, adapted from the book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry, is an exploration of history and identity.

The story of one young woman’s return to the South, it dramatizes her education into the ritualized world of hats as an expression of cultural identity.

After a family tragedy, a Brooklyn teen is sent to her grandmother’s house in South Carolina. Her journey of cultural and self-discovery is timed to a church day, from morning to the evening processional, featuring a wedding, a funeral, and a baptism.

The hats, or ‘crowns,’ are worn by six women whose stories are woven into their headwear.

The show features music ranging from freedom song to hip hop.

The production is being co-produced by CRT in collaboration with Indiana Repertory Theatre and Syracuse Stage.

It will feature a full professional cast and professional musicians who will perform the show in Indianapolis and Syracuse before arriving in Storrs June 11.

Tickets to Crowns are now on sale and can be purchased by calling 860-486-4226 or online at www.crt.uconn.edu.

For specific show dates and times, please call or visit the box office because performance schedules vary and are subject to change.

CRT is the professional producing arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. CRT productions are directed, designed by, and cast with visiting professional artists, including Equity actors, faculty members, and the department’s most advanced student artists.