Performances of the music-filled Marie and Rosetta, which invites audiences to share an electric evening with legendary Arkansas native Sister Rosetta Tharpe, began November 17th at TheatreSquared. The Obie Award-winning play, newly rewritten, is a celebration of gospel, rhythm, blues and rock, and features the signature music that inspired legends like Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Jimi Hendrix. In-person performances continue through December 12, with live streaming beginning November 30
"What a thrill to be able to give this true legend of music the celebration she richly deserves—while giving so many Northwest Arkansans a chance to revel in her glorious music," said Bob Ford, artistic director. "This is the kind of show where it’s hard to stay in your seat. People are going to have a great night."
In the play, Sister Rosetta Tharpe—an Arkansas native—is at her first rehearsal with a young protégée, Marie Knight, preparing for the tour that would establish them as one of the great duos in music history. Sister Rosetta is played by blues icon Miche Braden, whose inspired covers with Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox have amassed more than 20 million views. Marie Knight is played by Johnique Mitchell. Both actresses are in their T2 debuts.
The T2 version is presented in association with the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, where the new version was originally staged in July 2021, and is directed by Broadway veteran and Arkansas native Steve H. Broadnax III.
"I love this play—it is my favorite play," says Broadnax. "Because of the spiritual component. It's so moving. As many times as I've worked on this production, I still sit in a room and, as we work, I get moved. It's just so personal to me. I love it. It's an honor any time I get to be around this cast and this work."
Steve H. Broadnax III directs Marie and Rosetta, coming to T2 immediately after opening Thoughts of a Colored Man on Broadway in October. The creative team also includes Shawn Irish (production designer), Holly Payne (costume designer), and Jason Burrow (Music Director).
Marie and Rosetta is the final show of T2’s fifteenth anniversary season, with the sixteenth already underway with Tiny Beautiful Things just across the Commons. After TheatreSquared’s return to live performance in April, T2 celebrated its best-attended production in its history with Matilda: The Musical presented at Fayetteville Public Library, and staged the smash-hit world premiere of Designing Women this fall. The return to in-person performance comes after a year of streaming work featured among the "Top Theatre of 2020" by The New York Times along with recognition as an "outstanding drama company" by The Wall Street Journal. This December, T2 will have four shows running back to back, with Marie and Rosetta opposite Tiny Beautiful Things, A Christmas Carol at the Fayetteville Public Library and Rob Sutton’s brand-new holiday cabaret The Heart of Christmas.
Tickets
Performances of Marie and Rosetta are scheduled November 17-December 12, with 7:30pm performances Tuesday through Saturday and 2pm matinees on Saturday and Sunday. The play is in the West Theatre at TheatreSquared, 477 W. Spring Street in downtown Fayetteville, Arkansas. Streaming performances run November 30-December 12. Tickets range from $18-$58. All fees are included, with no additional charges at checkout.
Subscription packages for TheatreSquared include full seven-play packages starting at $119, with four-to-six-play flex packages starting at $89. Benefits for season ticket holders include savings of up to 20% on every show, free unlimited exchanges, discounted reserved parking, and same-day discounts in the Commons Bar/Café and other T2 Restaurant & Hotel Partners.
Through T2’s Lights Up! For Access program, supported by the Walmart Foundation, SNAP benefit recipients can purchase $1 tickets, while students and patrons under the age of 30 can purchase $10 tickets. Fully subsidized, free tickets are also available for clients of a number of local community service organizations. For more information, visit theatre2.org/lights-up.
Subscription packages and single tickets can be reserved by calling TheatreSquared at (479) 777-7477 or by visiting theatre2.org/subscribe.
About TheatreSquared
TheatreSquared’s signature offering of bold new plays in an intimate setting has driven its growth to become the state’s largest theatre, offering more than 350 performances annually in two intimate spaces and online. The playwright-led company is one of mid-America’s leading laboratories for new work, having launched more than 60 new plays. Notable collaborators have included Bryna Turner, Anne García-Romero, Pulitzer Prize finalist Lisa D’Amour, Qui Nguyen, Mona Mansour, Tony Award nominee Lee Blessing, Amy Evans, and many others. TheatreSquared’s remarkable expansion—with a twentyfold increase in audience in just the past decade—parallels the emergence of its home region in the northwest corner of Arkansas as a booming population center and destination for American art. Offering far-reaching access and education programs and an open-all-day gathering space, the Commons Bar/Café, TheatreSquared remains rooted in its founding vision, that "theatre—done well and with passion—can transform lives and communities."
Additional major funding for the TheatreSquared Season 16 is provided by The Walton Family Foundation, Inc.; the Walmart Foundation; the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage; The Tyson Family Foundation, The Windgate Foundation; and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Marketing support for TheatreSquared Season 16 is provided by Experience Fayetteville, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Fayetteville Flyer, 3W Magazine, CitiScapes, KUAF, MailCo USA, and Univision.