BSR_S06E11 - Choir Boy - Jeffrey L. Page - PTC
Today on the podcast, Director and Choreographer, Jeffrey L. Page talks about the Philadelphia Theatre Company production of Choir Boy by Tarell Alvin McCraney. Here is my interview with Jeffrey L. Page.
Honor. Legacy. Pride. Taking his place out front as the choir leader at an elite all-boys, all-Black prep school, Pharus Young is determined to make his mark by challenging expectations in a world steeped in deep-rooted traditions. Can Pharus find harmony among his peers while staying true to his own voice? From Tarell Alvin McCraney, the Academy Award®-winning writer of Moonlight, Choir Boy electrified Broadway with its soaring gospel, spiritual, and R&B performances.
CAST:
Pharus - Justen Ross
Bobby - Jeremy Cousar
David - Dana Orange
AJ - Jamaal Fields-Green
Junior - Tristan André
Headmaster Morrow - Akeem Davis
Mr. Pendleton - PJ Benjamin
ABOUT JEFFREY L. PAGE
Jeffrey L. Page is an opera and theatre director of both classical and contemporary works. As director and choreographer, he spearheaded the Tokyo production of Memphis, which received four Yomiuri Award nominations, including Best Musical. The first African American to be named the Marcus Institute Fellow for Opera Directing at the Juilliard School, he has also been nominated for an Emmy Award, and won an MTV Video Music Award for his work with Beyoncé. His work was featured on Beyoncé’s “The Formation World Tour,” in her historic Coachella performance, and in two of her HBO specials. Page was the associate creative director for Mariah Carey’s “Sweet, Sweet Fantasy” European Tour, and has been a featured choreographer on Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” He recently directed MAKING MICHEAUX (Book and lyrics by JESSE L. KEARNEY, JR. Music by ALPHONSO HORNE) for Prospect Theatre in NYC.
As a performer, Page was in the original Broadway cast of Fela! and choreographed the Broadway musical Violet starring Sutton Foster. At the Barrington Theatre Company, Page won a Berkshire Theater Award for Joe Iconis’ Broadway Bounty Hunter. In 2016, he established Movin’ Legacy as an Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the ethnology and documentation of contemporary and traditional dance from Africa and the African diaspora. He holds a Master’s of Fine Arts degree, (Theatre Directing) from Columbia University in New York City, and has been awarded the Chuck Davis Emerging Choreographer Fellowship from the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Jeffrey joined Harvard University as a Lecturer in Theater, Dance and Media. Currently, he is preparing to choreograph and co-direct, with Diane Paulus, the upcoming Broadway production of 1776, after premiering at the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University.
FOR TICKETS AND INFORMATION: https://philadelphiatheatrecompany.org/choir-boy/
