Ebony Repertory Theatre Announces the LA Premiere of Jeff Stetson's FRATERNITY, Beginning 10/3

Ebony Repertory Theatre (ERT -  Founder/Producer Wren T. Brown), now in its fifth year, announced today, that they will present the Los Angeles Premiere of FRATERNITY by internationally acclaimed, award-winning playwright/screenwriter Jeff Stetson (Keep the Faith and And the Men Shall Also Gather).  Henry Miller (James Baldwin's The Amen Corner) is set to direct this riveting award-winning political drama.  FRATERNITY will play October 3 – 28, 2012, with the official press opening on Friday, October 5 at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center (4718 W. Washington Blvd.) in Los Angeles.

"I have been greatly fortunate to have a personal and professional relationship with Jeff Stetson for over twenty-five years. The opportunity for Ebony Repertory Theatre to produce the Los Angeles premiere of FRATERNITY, brings me particular satisfaction. Not only is Jeff a brilliant writer, in my opinion, he is a man of great integrity, courage, intelligence, passion, and loyalty," said Wren T. Brown, Ebony Repertory Theatre, Founder/Producer.  "In addition, having a director helming our production with the kind of artistry, history and dimension possessed by Henry Miller, causes me to move most excitedly to our first day of rehearsal."

Three weeks after Dr. King's seminal "I Have A Dream" speech, a bomb destroyed an Alabama church, murdering four young girls and shattering the dream that had inspired so many.  Set in a private club in 1987, Jeff Stetson's FRATERNITY explores the journeys of seven successful black community leaders whose lives were forever affected by that tragedy. It examines what happens to those who seek power, privilege and inclusion, while abandoning the sacrifices that made their success possible.

Playwright Jeff Stetson is an internationally acclaimed award-winning playwright and screenwriter for film and television. His stage plays include: Keep the Faith, a musical on the life and times of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (commissioned through a hundred-thousand dollar grant by the PEW Foundation and Theater Communications Group); Fathers and Other Strangers (recipient of Columbia College's Theodore Ward Award); And the Men Shall Also Gather,  (developed at the O'Neill National Conference under the direction of Lloyd Richards); To Play a Black Man (nominated for four Image Awards); Love You Better, (commissioned by the Kennedy Center); The Apology, (commissioned by Bill Cosby); and The Meeting, which has been produced in all fifty-states and more than a dozen countries including South Africa, the Netherlands, Canada, the Virgin Islands, Nigeria, Scotland, United Kingdom, Brazil and Austria.  The Meeting received eight N.A.A.C.P. Image Awards, including best play and best writer, a Louis B. Mayer Award and an Ohio State Achievement Award. He adapted the play for P.B.S. and American Playhouse where it received an Emmy Award for technical achievement.  (A full bio is available upon request.)

Director Henry Miller has staged more than 30 Off-Off Broadway and regional theatre productions, including his own Christmas Eve Companion Plays.  Among his directorial contributions to the African American canon of drama are James Baldwin's The Amen Corner; Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun; Philip Hayes Dean's Sty of the Blind Pig and Every Night When the Sun Goes Down; Richard Wesley's The Mighty Gents, and Richard Wright's Daddy Goodness.  His musical directing ventures include Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson's Lost in the Stars for the Opera Ebony Company, and George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward's opera Porgy and Bess for the Indianapolis Opera and the Opera Company of Philadelphia.  (A full bio is available upon request.)

Casting and the design team for Ebony Repertory Theatre's production of FRATERNITY will be announced at a later date.

FRATERNITY originally opened at the Whole Theater (Olympia Dukakis, Producing Artistic Director) in Montclair, New Jersey in 1989.   The world premiere was directed by Clinton Turner Davis.

Ebony Repertory Theatre, now in its fifth year, is the resident company and operator of the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, which is located at 4718 West Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90016.  FRATERNITY plays October 3 – 28, 2012, with the official press opening on Friday, October 5.  The performance schedule is Thursday and Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.  Early Bird Special tickets are on sale now and are $45.00 for Premium, $40.00 for Orchestra and $30.00 for Mezzanine if purchased by September 7, 2012. All tickets for preview performances are $30.00. Regular price tickets take effect September 8, 2012 and range from $35 - $55. Single tickets go on sale Tuesday, July 17, 2012 and are available through the theatre box office at 323-964-9766 or online at www.ebonyrep.org.  Groups of 10 or more are available at 323-964-9592 or by email atgroups@ebonyrep.org.

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