Santa Monica Playhouse & Do It Yourself Productions to Present Sloan Robinson in BANANAS!, 11/10 - 11/11

Award-Winning Actress Sloan Robinson accompanied by pianist Aeros Pierce bring Robinson's acclaimed one-woman cabaret, based on the fascinating life of Josephine Baker, to Santa Monica Playhouse's Main Stage for two performances only, November 10 and 11, 2012.

"Real life legend Josephine Baker overcame the limitations imposed by the color of her skin to become one of the world's most versatile entertainers, performing on stage, screen and recordings. Baker was decorated for her undercover work for the French Resistance during World War II. She was a civil rights activist – refusing to perform for segregated audiences and integrated the Las Vegas nightclubs."

BANANAS! had its world premiere in L.A. at Vintage Hollywood Private Club in 2008 and has been performed at The Village Theatre in Lucy Florence Cultural Center in Leimert Park; The 2009 National Black Theatre Festival in Winston Salem, NC; The 2010 National Black Touring Circuit's Black History Month Festival at The Schomburg in Harlem; Theater 150 in Ojai and JET Studio in North Hollywood.

Written and performed by accomplished actor, dancer, playwright Sloan Robinson. A multiple N.A.A.C.P. theatre award winning actress who received the 2001 N.A.A.C.P. theatre award for her unforgettable portrayal of Dorothy Dandridge in the one woman tour-de-force, YESTERDAY CAME TOO SOON...THE Dorothy Dandridge STORY, written by Jamal Williams, and again in 2004 for her autobiographical solo show, IT'S A GOOD THING I KNEW HOW TO DANCE. Additionally, BANANAS! A DAY IN THE LIFE OF Josephine Baker, received the 2009 N.A.A.C.P. Theatre Awards for Best Music Director, Best Costumes and a nomination for Best Female Performance. Los Angeles audiences will also remember her for her performance as Jesslyn in the award winning Ensemble Theatre Production of TREE (2009) at the Ford Theatre for which she also received a 2010 N.A.A.C.P. Theater Award Nomination for Best Lead Female.

Accompanied by Aeros Pierce. recipient of the 2009 N.A.A.C.P. Theater Award for Best Music Director for BANANAS!, Pierce is a native New Yorker who studied piano and music theory will Mrs. Eve White Walker and a High School of Music and Art alumni (under the name Patricia McCrae). She received NAACP Theater award nominations for her musical direction on YESTERDAY CAME TOO SOON...THE Dorothy Dandridge STORY (2011) and for musical direction and original music contributed to IT'S A GOOD THING I KNEW HOW TO DANCE (2004), both original plays by Sloan Robinson.

Directed by John H. Freeland, Jr. Directing credits include "Shoot" (4th International Blind and Visually Impaired Theatre Festival, Zagreb, Croatia); 'The Hood Story," "Inner Wimpy" (The Unusual Suspects Theatre Co); Co-Director "Split Second" (The Next Stage Theatre); Arthur W. French's play "Triple Played"; "You're Getting Me Hot" by Fernando Mann (NAACP Theatre Festival).

This production features Costumes by Naila Sanders; It is produced by Do it Yourself Productions and Santa Monica Playhouse. It is a Limited Engagement: Saturday, November 10th at 8:00 pm and Sunday, November 11th at 3:00 pm. $20.00 tickets are available at http://SantaMonicaPlayhouse.com or 1-310-394-9779 x1

Santa Monica Playhouse, The Main Stage is located at 1211 4th Street (between Arizona and Wilshire) Santa Monica, CA 90401-1391. By public transportation take the Santa Monica Blue Bus or the LA Metro Rapid #720, exit at 4th and Wilshire.

Santa Monica Playhouse is supported in part by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

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