City Theatre Company

Through February 15
Various times

Don’t miss the powerful world premiere play by the author of Through the Night and Breath & Imagination.

Penned by award-winning author, singer, writer and composer, Daniel Beaty, Mr. Joy opens on January 24th on City Theatre’s Mainstage. Starring Tangela Large in all of the play’s roles in her City Theatre debut, the solo show explores one community’s complex healing process.

Theater-goers will be transported to a Harlem community that is suddenly disrupted when a shoe repair shop run by a Chinese immigrant does not open its doors after serving as a neighborhood pillar for decades. Find out what transpires when the neighborhood asks: “What happened to Mr. Joy?”

From 11-year-old Clarissa, a budding shoe designer, to Bessie, a “gangsta granny,” the play follows nine different customers as they reflect on the impact that Mr. Joy and his shop have had on the community and they all strive to dream again.

Celebrating City Theatre’s 40th anniversary season, the play is directed by Lou Jacob who returns to the company after working on Robert Hewett’s The Blonde, The Brunette and The Vengeful Redhead in 2009. The production’s creative team includes Tony Ferrieri (scenic), Yu Su (costume), Andrew David Ostrowski (lighting) and Lindsay Jones (sound).

Born and raised in East Point, GA, the play’s solo star, Tangela Large, earned her MFA in acting from Brown University and has appeared in numerous productions around the country.

Winner of a 2007 Obie Award for Excellence, a 2008 Edgerton Foundation new American Play Award and two 2009 NAACP Theater Awards, playwright Daniel Beaty has worked throughout the US, Europe and Africa with acclaimed artists such as Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, MC Lyte, Mos Def, Tracy Chapman, Deepak Chopra and Phylicia Rashad. Beaty is currently on a tour for his new book, Transforming Pain to Power, which includes a stop at City Theatre on February 23rd.

Special public programs in conjunction with the play’s run include Sipping Sunday on January 25th, Sunday Talkbacks on February 1st and February 8th and a Greenroom Young Professional’s Night on February 6th.

Purchase tickets.

Jennifer has worked at the Mattress Factory, Brooklyn Museum of Art and Dahesh Museum of Art and is co-author of Pittsburgh Signs Project: 250 Signs of Western Pennsylvania. She also is co-coordinator of Handmade Arcade. Musically, she is in a band called The Garment District and is a founding member of Brooklyn's The Ladybug Transistor.