San Francisco Arts Education Project presents Sittin’ on a Rainbow: The Music of Harold Arlen, February 14 to March 1, 2014

San Francisco Arts Education Project presents

Sittin’ on a Rainbow: The Music of Harold Arlen

February 14 to March 1, 2014

From “The Wizard of Oz” to “Blues in the Night,”
50 young people—ages 9 to 14
celebrate one of America’s finest composers

​

 SAN FRANCISCO (Jan. 15 2015) – Emily Keeler, San Francisco Arts Education’s Artistic Director, announced today that the San Francisco Arts Education Project’s 2015 production is the original musical revue Sittin’ on a Rainbow: The Music of Harold Arlen, a celebration of the composer who gave us “Over the Rainbow,” “Stormy Weather,” “Come Rain or Come Shine” and many others.

Sittin’ on a Rainbow runs for eight performances Saturday, Feb. 14 through Sunday, March 1, 2015 at the Eureka Theatre (215 Jackson St., San Francisco). Tickets ($15 for students and seniors; $25 general admission) are available by calling City Box Office at 415.392.4400 or online at www.cityboxoffice.com. Tickets for the Players’ Family Benefit Reception and Closing Day Party on Sunday, March 1 at 1:00 p.m.,.  which includes drinks, hors d’oeuvres and dessert and a very special performance by celebrated chanteuse Paula West, are $40 for general admission and $20 for student and senior admission. Proceeds benefit the programs of the San Francisco Arts Education Project.

Natalie Greene directs Sittin’ on a Rainbow, which was created for SFArtsED in 2008 by Danny Duncan and Vince Peterson with Nicola Bosco-Alvarez, Keeler and Greene. Alex Stein serves as musical director, and choreography is by Greene, Keeler and Erin Gentry. As in past years, the set is designed by the technical theater students at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts (AsawaSOTA) under the guidance of the program’s director, Paul Kwape; Tiersa Nureyev is designing the costumes. Jeffrey Hyche, an alumnus of the Players, is the stage manager, and SFArtsED’s apprentice program with AsawaSOTA provides opportunities for high school students to operate the light and sound for the production as well as building and painting the sets.

“It is very exciting to be working again with the music of Harold Arlen—to bring it into the consciousness of our Players and onto the stage is an honor,” says Keeler, now in her 30^th year with SFArtsED. “With a great team seven years ago, we created this revue, and it has been wonderful to revisit and refresh it with Natalie Greene as director and Alex Stein as musical director. Arlen was a composer’s composer, and though his name is not well known, so many of his songs are. His work affords a multitude of opportunities to our strong singers and dancers, and the show will make a tasty confection for audiences since the uniformly wonderful music has a huge range of mood, style, rhythm and theme.”

Greene, who has worked with the SFArtsED Players for more than a decade, says one of the remarkable things about the rehearsal process has been introducing the iPad generation to the power of live theater. “The students are called upon to be fully present; no special effects, no ‘do-overs.’ Through this work, we are cultivating more than just stage presence,” Greene says. “The kids need to think on their feet, collaborate and compromise. They are asked to work hard, to engage with an audience, to be vulnerable, awake and aware. The raw talent that they displayed before entering this company is nurtured through class and rehearsal. The work on stage is professional-level, and, perhaps, that much more impressive because they are, in fact, children.”

Sittin’ on a Rainbow: The Music of Harold Arlen runs Saturday, February 14 to Sunday, March 1, 2014 at the Eureka Theatre (215 Jackson Street, San Francisco). Show times are Saturdays and Sundays February 14 through Feb. 28 at 2 p.m.; Fridays, February 20 and Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. Regular tickets are $15 for students and seniors; $25 general admission. Tickets for the Players’ Family Benefit Reception and Closing Day Party on Sunday, March 1 at 1:00 p.m., which includes drinks, hors d’oeuvres and dessert and a special performance by San Francisco’s resident jazz cabaret diva, Paula West, are $40 for general admission and $20 for student and senior admission. All tickets  are available by calling City Box Office at 415.392.4400 or online at www.cityboxoffice.com.

Photos: http://sfartsed.squarespace.com/sfartsed-players-galleries/sittin-on-a-rainbow-winter-2015/

About SFArtsED

Founded in 1968 (as the Alvarado School Arts Workshop) by renowned artist Ruth Asawa, SFArtsED has transformed the lives of children, their families, teachers, artists and volunteers. Programs include SFArtsED Summer, In-School Artist Teacher Residencies, After-School programs, The SFArtsED Players Musical Theater Company, SFArtsED Art & Design and apprenticeships for college and high school students.

About The SFArtsED Players

Founded in 2001, the SFArtsED Players is a musical theater company that reflects San Francisco in all its diversity. Hailing from the neighborhoods of the City and from around the bay, the SFArtsED Players comprises 50 theater performers who come from SFArtsED’s performing arts residencies as well as from the organization’s summer arts camp, SFArtsED Summer. The young performers are selected for their talent and enthusiasm for and commitment to the musical theater form. They work with directors of the company 10 hours each week from September to February, training as “triple threats” – actors, singers, dancers – and rehearsing for their performances. The company performs original musicals and revues as well as Broadway classics. This year’s troupe represents more than two dozen different Bay Area schools in San Francisco and Marin County, including 15 public schools.

###

For more information or to arrange interviews, photos or a rehearsal visit,

please call 415-551-7990, or e-mail [email protected] or visit www.sfartsed.org.

SFArtsED educating the imagination |  www.sfartsed.org

Like us on Facebook  | Follow us on Twitter

###