From "The Ed Sullivan Show" to Woodstock, with a James Brown groove and a piece of Janis Joplin's heart, visit Richard Nixon's oval office and Charles Manson's jail cell. Deploy from the home front to Vietnam and back with a new understanding which puts "The Star Spangled Banner" in a whole new perspective.
With a book by Howard L. Craft and Music Direction by Kevin Wilson, ’69 Seasons explores one of the most fascinating years in America’s history. Through music, comedy, tumult and visits with icons of the time, audiences experience how the events of 1969 affected the lives of three average Americans. A photo journalist, (Serena Ebhardt) torn between two loves and on the biggest assignment of her life; An army sergeant (David zum Brunnen) who always wanted to be in the military finds himself lost and in doubt as his platoon prepares for bloody battle in Vietnam; A young African-American woman (Rasool Jahan) confronts racism, sexism, and alienation as she journeys from her home in the south to Chicago in search of what her small town roots cannot offer.
’69 Seasons turns, turns and turns leaving audiences with memories that take them to the moon and back again.
PRESENTERS’ TOOL KIT
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Playbill & Bios
Quotes
Run Time - 90 minutes (no intermission) /Student Version - 55 minutes
Study Guide
Technical Rider with Light Plot
Artist Bios
Howard L. Craft (Playwright) is a poet, playwright and arts educator from Durham, N.C. He is the author of a book of poems, Across The Blue Chasm, and the plays: The House of George, The Wise Ones, Tunnels, Stealing Clouds, Lonely Words, A Touch of Sugga, Fourth and a Mile, One Thang For Certain Two Thangs for Sho, The Vet Who Lived Underground: Dispatches from Beneath the Map, The Dragon: A Conversation with George Jackson, Caleb Calypso & The Midnight Marauders, The Jade City Chronicles Vol. 1: The Super Spectacular Bad Ass Herald M. F. Jones, Nina Simone: What more can I say? Freight: The Five Incarnations of Able Green, the musical Indigo Blue and the screenplay Jazz June. Craft is also the creator of the first African American Super Hero Radio Serial: The Jade City Pharaoh. Craft is a two-time winner of the North Carolina Central University New Play Project and the recipient of the North Carolina Arts Council Playwriting Fellowship. His plays have been produced at North Carolina Central University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Carolina Theatre of Greensboro, N.C. and Manbites Dog Theatre, in Durham N.C. Karen Dacons-Brock, Professor of Theatre at North Carolina Central University, received the 2007 Meritorious Achievement Award for Excellence, in Direction from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) for Craft’s play, Lonely Words. The Julius Chambers Biomedical Biotechnology Research Institute in collaboration with the NCCU Theater Department commissioned Craft to create original scripts dealing with issues of health disparities in the African-American community. Data from audience members has provided information for numerous articles about the impact of Theatre in addressing issues of health disparities. During the school year, Craft reaches hundreds of children through the United Arts “Artists in the Schools” program. He is a two time N.C. judge of the National Endowment of the Arts, Poetry Out Loud program and has been a member of the Duke University Young Writer’s Camp faculty since 2000 specializing in experimental poetry and screenwriting and has taught playwriting workshops for adults through the North Carolina Writer’s Network, Carrboro Arts Center, Duke Center For Documentary Studies, Sonya Haynes Stone Center for African American Culture at the University of North Carolina and the Taller Portobello Art Colony in Portobello, Panama. http://howardcraft.com
Kevin Wilson (Musical Director/Guitar) is an internationally recognized guitarist and music educator. With more than thirty-five years of experience in gospel, jazz, and rhythm and blues, his gift allows him to transcend all contemporary music genres of today. Whether playing in-studio as a session guitarist, providing production input for live band sessions, mentoring guitar students across the globe, or providing private guitar instruction to high profile artists, Kevin gives his heart and passion to all of it. A native New Yorker, Kevin brings a energy to the stage and to his recordings that adds a “distinguishable” sound and “aesthetic” that sets his music apart. His energy, sound, and aesthetic has allowed him to create a strong following of fellow musicians and fans alike. Although Kevin has worked as a session musician for the past twenty plus years, his passion and love is found on the stage. He has shared the stage and toured with music legends such as Stevie Wonder, Lou Rawls, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, The Isley Brothers, Ohio Players, Jon B, Tower of Power, and gospel music’s queen, the legendary Shirley Caesar. Kevin has recently completed a European tour and is currently in the studio writing and compiling his sophomore project, slated to release in mid 2013. The project will include compilations of Kevin’s original music along with featured vocalists and fellow musicians. Kevin wholeheartedly believes that your gift always makes room for you and that music is a gift that keeps on giving. It’s these two principles that fuel his passion and love for his craft and the music industry. http://www.kwilsonguitar.com
Serena Ebhardt (Ann) began her professional acting career at the age of six in a touring production of The Sound of Music. She has performed in theatre, film, radio, and television throughout Canada, Europe and the United States; including the off-Broadway production of Winding The Ball. A Paul Green Scholar from University of North Carolina, Serena is also a Director, Playwright and Teaching Artist. Serena has received training from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and The Lincoln Center Institute. Ebhardt's direction includes world premieres and national tours including Nnenna Freelon's The Clothesline Muse, Tim Tyson's Blood Done Sign My Name, EbzB Productions' Brown v. Board of Education; Life Is So Good by George Dawson, and Mike Wiley Productions' Dar He: The Lynching of Emmet Till. In 2003, Ebhardt was commissioned by the North Carolina Association of Educators to write and direct The Wrights of Passage, which continues to tour and has now been seen by over one-hundred thousand students nation-wide. Through the North Carolina Arts Council, Serena designs and teaches professional development workshops for teachers using dramatic art to support common core state standards and 21st century skills. She is the co-founder of EbzB Productions. www.EbzB.org.
Rasool Jahan (Mary) was born in Ankara, Turkey, and moved to the United States when she was ten years old, a year before her father retired from the Air Force. Rasool's dream, since she was six, was to follow in her father footsteps and join the Air Force. During her freshman year in college she auditioned for the university's theatre company and landed the lead role. Within the year Rasool changed her major and subsequently received her B.A. in Theatre. Upon graduation she worked backstage as a costumer, using the skills taught to her by her mother, a seamstress. She has worked on such shows as Zeigfeld Follies, Sugar Babies (with Rip Taylor & Juliet Prowse), Little Shop of Horrors, The Wiz, Hotel, and A Christmas Carol. Rasool has appeared in numerous films and worked with such luminaries as John Ritter, Andy Griffith, Vanessa Redgrave and Brock Peters. She has also had the pleasure of working with director Phil Alden Robinson in Freedom Song (starring Danny Glover) as well as Academy Award-winning director Anthony Minghella in Cold Mountain (along side Jude Law and Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman). Recently she appeared in The Bay directed by Barry Levinson. She has also appeared in I Know What You Did Last Summer with Jennifer Love Hewitt and in a recurring role on the television series, One Tree Hill. Along with appearances in other television (including the series Dawson's Creek), she worked on multiple independent films after the 2002 release of Cold Mountain, while based out of Los Angeles. In 2008, she returned to North Carolina and her first love - theatre. Some of her favorite roles on stage are Puck in a Midsummer Night's Dream, the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet and Beneatha in A Raisin in the Sun. In 2009 Rasool opened the world premiere of Afric's Muse, a play about the first African-American female published poet in America. From this experience she became more interested in socially conscious theatre and in 2011 she had the opportunity to work with PlayMakers Repertory in The Parchman Hour, a play about the 13 original freedom writers – and written and directed by Mike Wiley. In 2012 she went on tour taking the show into public schools. In 2012, again with Playmakers Repertory, Rasool played the characters Francine/Lena in the play Clybourne Park, in Repertory with A Raisin in the Sun. She has also worked with Justice Theatre Project, a company devoted to socially conscious theatre. The company's 2013/2014 season was devoted to health, where Rasool played Vivian Bearing in Wit. Rasool is currently working on a play about Ida B. Wells who is a key figure in American History. Mrs. Wells-Barnett was a woman's right activist, a crusader for anti-lynching laws, a journalist, and one of the founding members of the NAACP.
David zum Brunnen (Sergeant Friendly) Actor, producer, director, David zum Brunnen has appeared in a variety of roles on stage, in films, commercials and videos – coast to coast - in the US and Canada. Under the auspices of EbzB Productions, a production team comprised of Serena Ebhardt and himself, he has toured nationally with several projects and continues to do so. His portrayal of Charles Dickens in The Night Before Christmas Carol has now been seen by millions nationally and internationally on public television. Additionally, public television audiences have seen him nationally and locally – both as a performer with his wife, Serena Ebhardt, in the national broadcast ofEbzB’s War Bonds: The Songs & Letters of WWII, and as a frequent spokesperson with UNC-TV in North Carolina. In the Triangle region (Raleigh/Durham, NC), he appeared in the widely praised Deep Dish Theatre Production of David Hare’s Via Dolorosa at the Stoneleaf Theatre Festival in Asheville, NC, and in Chapel Hill, NC. Along with productions such as The Tender Nights of F. Scott Fitzgerald, War Bonds, The Wrights of Passage, and others, he has also appeared as Charles Dickens in Elliot Engel’s The Night Before Christmas Carol in numerous venues in the United States. His many regional (U.S. and Canada) theatre credits include such roles as the Nicholas in Nicholas Nickleby, Jesu in Unholy Trinity, Mortimer in Arsenic and Old Lace, Hotspur and other roles in Henry IV – Parts I & II, and Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet. Among other stage companies in the Triangle region of North Carolina, he has appeared as Henry Carr in the acclaimed Burning Coal Theatre Company production of Tom Stoppard’s Travesties (which went on to enthusiastic reviews at Charleston’s Picolo Spoleto). Over the years, he has appeared often with several companies in addition to Deep Dish Theater & Burning Coal, including PlayMakers Repertory Company, the StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance, Temple Theatre, and others.
Bertron Curtis (Keyboards) was born and raised in Raleigh North Carolina. At an early age, he began to play drum for his grandparent's church which became the foundation of his music career. He later transitioned to the piano and organ. Later being introduced to recording, he started doing studio sessions for local artist and then began producing and arranging as well. Bertron has produced in the genres of gospel, R&B, pop and smooth jazz. He has also played for a host of artist in those fields as well. He has had the privilege to be a part of a number of stage plays and recordings. He is still working hard building his career and is excited about the work that's to come.
Quentin Whidbee (Drums) has been playing the drums since the age of 5. He plays in religious settings as well as educational and entertaining settings. He has traveled to many cities to demonstrate his musical abilities such as Los Angeles, CA, Washington DC, Memphis, TN and Lansing, MI to name a few. Some of his musical influences are Clarence Raeford, Calvin ''Coon'' Napper, Calvin Rodgers, Teddy Campbell, Gordon Campbell, Dennis Chambers, Dave Wackl, Tony Royster and Chris Coleman. In addition to his musical talents he is also a family man. He is married to Katherine Whidbee and has 4 children, 2 daughters Ava, Ella and 2 sons Quentin Jr., Isaac. Currently Mr. Whidbee is a member of the Miller Group headed by Brian Miller. He has been a member since 2004 although he has been playing with Mr. Miller and members of the group in other ventures since 2002. The Miller Group is a very engaging and extremely talented jazz ensemble. Even when not playing with the Miller Group Mr. Whidbee stays active in the area of music and is constantly enhancing his abilities in drumming as the head drummer at the Upper Room Church in Raleigh, NC. Recently the Upper Room released a CD “Worship in the Upper Room” in which he was the main drummer also The Greater North Carolina Jurisdiction album. Also Mr. Whidbee was the drummer for The Parchman Hour with Mike Wiley Productions. To add to his musical abilities he also plays the organ and keyboard.
Thurman Woods (Bass) Born into a musical family, his destiny was pretty obvious. Both parents are musicians as well as aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings that are musically inclined. He started playing music, in church, at the age of five and never looked back. After playing drums from childhood to his teenage years, he then developed an appetite for other instruments and how they sounded. Thurman has had the opportunity to record with several artist locally and nationally as well as travel and made TV appearances. His appreciation for many types of music is an asset in playing for different artist in many different genres of music. His love of music creates a drive to be the best musician he can be and encourages and push the band members around him to be better at what they do and love so well. The love of God and family completes the circle of life for Thurman and helps fuel the passion of music and being the best at what he does and the best person he can be in striving to create a legacy for those to come after him.