Theatre Royal Stratford East's 2017 season will include the European premiere of The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Kirsten Childs' award-winning musical about a young black girl battling racism and sexism in the US...
Kirsten Childs’ funny and moving award-winning musical The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin opens Theatre Royal Stratford East's new 2017 season, running from 1 February to 11 March 2017, with a press night on 8 February. Casting is still to be announced.
The story follows Viveca, a young African American girl from a middle-class family in Los Angeles, who dreams of becoming a dancer. Choosing to face the conflicts of a changing era in America with optimism rather than revolution, she learns to reconcile the realities of racism and sexism with hope and faith and discovers her self-worth.
This award-winning off-Broadway musical is a cheeky and satirical look at how women have been defined by others and themselves from the 1960s to present day, with an original score fusing Motown, pop and R&B – think Sondheim meets Beyoncé! It has book, music and lyrics by Kirsten Childs.
The co-production with Coventry's Belgrade Theatre marks celebrated director and actress Josette Bushell-Mingo’s return to London. It's designed by Rosa Maggiora, with choreography by Mykal Rand, video design by Tim Reid, lighting by Chris Davey, sound by Andrew Johnson, msucial direction by Jordan Li-Smith and re-orchestration by Darius Smith.
Kirsten Childs is the award-winning writer of musicals whose other work includes Miracle Brothers (Vineyard Theatre), Fly, Funked Up Fairy Tales and Bella: An American Tall Tale which receives its world première this season. She is the recipient of Obie, Kleban, Larson, Richard Rodgers, Audelco, and Gilman/Gonzalez-Falla Awards, as well as Lortel and Drama Desk nominations. She recently collaborated with Charlayne Woodard on the musical Grace for Inner Voices: Solo Musicals. Childs has written for Disney Theatricals, the American Songbook series at Lincoln Center, the New Electric Company, Works and Process at the Guggenheim Museum and City Center Encores!.
Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE is a Swedish-based English theatre actress and director of African descent. She is currently the Artistic Director for The Swedish National Touring Theatre Tyst Teater ensemble. Her production of The Odyssey, performed in Swedish Sign Language received huge critical acclaim in Scandinavia. In Britain she has previously directed Langston Hughes's classic Harlem musical Simply Heavenly at the Young Vic and West End, and The Wiz at West Yorkshire Playhouse. She was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award in 2000 for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Rafiki in the London production of The Lion King. In 2001, she founded a black-led arts festival called PUSH at the Young Vic.
