Tennessee Performing Arts Center is launching an inaugural Theatre Series with three shows of dramatic performances that tell diverse and compelling stories.
Series packages and single tickets are on sale now at TPAC.ORG, by phone at 615-782-4040 and in person at the TPAC Box Office, 505 Deaderick St., in downtown Nashville. Patrons are encouraged to have tickets delivered to the TPAC Concierge App.
The PERSPECTIVES Theatre Series features three unique engagements, including “Rhapsody In Black”, a one-man show by LeLand Gantt that is a powerful personal narrative about racism, identity, and self-image; “Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name?”, Irma Herrera’s journey from a small segregated South Texas town to California’s multicultural mecca that invites us to consider how open and welcoming we really are and “17 Border Crossings”, a trip around the world in which award-winning director, designer and raconteur Thaddeus Phillips uses minimal props and magnetic charm to recreate 17 (unforgettable) border crossings.
Performance Schedule and Descriptions
“Rhapsody In Black”
September 23-25, 2022
Written and performed by LeLand Gantt and developed at NYC’s Actors Studio by Estelle Parsons, “Rhapsody In Black” is a one-man show that explores LeLand’s personal journey to understand and eventually transcend racism in America. We follow his life story – from an underprivileged childhood in the ghettos of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, to teenage experiments with crime and drugs, to scholastic achievement and an acting career that lands adult LeLand in situations where he is virtually the only African American in the room. His efforts to cope with the various psychological effects of consistently being marked “The Other” are recounted in remarkable and exquisitely moving detail, guaranteed to leave lasting impressions. Rhapsody In Black is a powerful personal narrative about racism, identity, and self-image.
“Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name?”
February 10-12, 2023
When Irma Herrera gives her name in its correct Spanish pronunciation, some people assume she’s not a REAL American. ”Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name?” is one woman’s journey from a small segregated South Texas town to California’s multicultural mecca. What part of Irma’s identity is she asked to give up for the sake of fitting in and getting along? How can a simple introduction turn into a potential battle to be heard and seen? Weaving history and comedic insights into stories about names, this solo performer invites us to consider how open and welcoming we really are.
“17 Border Crossings”
June 23-25, 2023
A trip around the world via storytelling at its most fluent: award-winning theatre director, designer, and raconteur Thaddeus Phillips uses minimal props and magnetic charm to recreate “17 Border Crossings”. Using only lighting, shadows, comedy, drama, and cheap magic, Phillips weaves a dramatic, visual, and surreal examination of imaginary lines, arbitrary passports, and curious customs. Climb aboard the communist-era type train on its journey from Prague to Belgrade or lie low in the wheel well of a transatlantic jet to Heathrow, on true life journeys recreating invasive body searches at Charles de Gaulle, run-ins with Ace of Base on Croatian ferries, KFC smuggling in Palestine, and ayahuasca experiments in the Amazon in this captivating contemplation of the perplexing ins-and-outs of our fragile rite of passage.
Updated Patron Entry Policy
For event-specific policies, visit TPAC.ORG/ShowUpdates. For complete entry policy and health protocols, visit TPAC.ORG/PatronHealth.
