Blackwater Ballad

Dates:

July 23rd @ 8:00pm

July 24th @ 2:00pm & 8:00pm

July 25 @ 2:00pm

Location: The Village Theater

Rating: All Ages

Tickets: $17 / Adults, $13 / Seniors & Youth

*Special “$$$ saver” 10am performance is a “$5 or more” donation.

Description:

The 8th Wonder Theatre at the Village Theater at Cherry Hill, presents “Blackwater Ballad”, a new musical retelling the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, award-winning area playwright Joseph Zettelmaier and local musician Brian Lillie set the classic tale in the bayous of New Orleans in 1932.  Traveling musician Orlandus Duval arrives in the small town of Blackwater Creek and captures the heart of Euralie, the daughter of the town’s sheriff (aptly nicknamed “the Hangman”).  Their plans to wed in secret are dashed by betrayal and murder, forcing Orlandus to make the hardest of choices.  His only hope lies with the hoodoo people who live deep in the swamps.

Contributing both Book and Lyrics is Joseph Zettelmaier, a playwright and Michigan native.  He recently saw his plays Dr. Seward’s Dracula and All Childish Things produced at the Planet Ant Theatre.  All Childish Things went on to be nominated for the American Theatre Critics Association Award.  Other plays of his include Language Lessons, The Stillness Between Breaths (Best New Play 2005-The Oakland Press), and Point of Orgin (Best Locally Created Script 2002, Ann Arbor News), all at the Performance Network.  The Stillness Between Breaths also went on to be performed at the National New Play Network’s Festival of New Plays in 2005.  Zettelmaier wrote Night Blooming (Nominee-Best New Script 2006, Ann Arbor News), which performed at the Blackbird Theatre, and Fever Dreams at the Treetown Festival.  Joseph is also an Adjunct Lecturer at Eastern Michigan University, where he teaches Dramatic Composition, the Playwright Mentor for Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, and an Associate Artist at the Performance Network.