“Lorraine” will be staged live and will also be available via livestream.
John Robinson (playing the role of Thomas Fields), speaking to his onstage daughter Lisa Fields (played by Aundria TraNay) and her onstage boyfriend Haydn Gordon (played by Jimmy Betts) during rehearsals for the Black History Month production “Lorraine.” The show will be performed at Schaumburg’s Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts on Saturday, Feb. 26.
Schaumburg’s 23rd annual Black History Month production is live and original again, with a show its director describes as uplifting and thought-provoking despite being set against the backdrop of a tragic historical event.
“Lorraine” tells the story of a young interracial couple on their way to a secret wedding when they are confronted by both sets of parents while staying at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on the same day the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated there in 1968.
The new script will be performed at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Court in Schaumburg, as well as being accessible via a livestream.
Producer, director and Schaumburg native Maurice Proffit passed the writing duties to collaborator Carlos J. Gomez for this year’s production, but said he feels as passionate and connected to the material as ever.
“You leave very inspired after you watch and hear this story,” Proffit said.
The production has a connection to the 2016 show — “Last Night as King: The Final 24 Hours of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” — and the theme of interracial relationships may seem like ground covered by other dramas, he said. But Proffit immediately recognized a freshness to Gomez’s story and he believes audience members will, too.
“It’s a very unique take on that and the way the story is delivered,” Proffit said. “It will make you look at yourself as well as how you look at the world.”
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Like all previous productions, the show combines drama, comedy and other elements in a way that’s appropriate for audiences of all ages. While the themes and setting may sound especially heavy, Proffit said the overriding message is that there are always ways to mend fences and fix problems, even when life doesn’t first unfold the way one would wish.
In order to make everyone feel safe with regard to COVID-19, Proffit’s B-Side Studios is voluntarily cutting off ticket sales at half capacity in addition to making the livestream available. The production is being sponsored by the international supply chain management technology company Neogrid.
Uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 caused some aspects of the production normally completed in the summer to not be done until the fall. But one of the fortunate happenstances was that Gomez already had a story treatment for “Lorraine” that Proffit thought was beautiful and perfect, so the script didn’t have to be created from scratch.
Audience members will be required to wear masks in the Prairie Center, and the actors are expected to wear innovative transparent masks allowing them to clearly deliver their dialogue, Proffit said.
Tickets to attend in person cost $20 in advance and $25 at the door, and can be purchased by clicking on the poster for the show at bsidestudios.net.
To watch via livestream, visit maestro.tv/b-side-studios to purchase access for $20.
