Pitt's Kuntu Repertory Theatre Presents Journey of the Spirits: A Celebration of Gospel Music Jan. 24 through Feb. 9

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh-based Kuntu Repertory Theatre continues its 2007-08 season with "Journey of the Spirits: A Celebration of Gospel Music," Jan. 24 through Feb. 9. All performances are in the Seventh-Floor Auditorium of Alumni Hall, 4227 Fifth Ave., Oakland. Performances run Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 4 p.m. and a Saturday, Feb. 2, matinee at 1 p.m.

"Journey of the Spirits" was written by Ernest McCarty, a Chicago native, who has authored more than 25 plays in a writing career that spans 30 years. McCarty is the recipient of two Onyx Awards—Best Director for "Purlie Victorious" and Best Producer for Charles Randolph Wrights' "Blue". He was named the 1998 Prolific Playwright by "In Pittsburgh". His play "Recollection Rag (The Exchange)," received the Hoyt W. Fuller One-Act Play Festival Award, and his play "Madame Hortense" received a Joseph Jefferson Award.

Multifaceted performer Herb Newsome will serve as director of "Journey of the Spirits". Newsome's directorial credits include In "Devil's Heaven," at the Manhattan Theatre Source; "Forgivable Sins," which was a finalist in the Samuel French One-Act Festival; and a national tour of "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry," for the National Theatre of Arts and Education. He also appeared in the film "The Brother From Another Planet," and had a role on the daily CBS serial "Guiding Light." Newsome made his Kuntu directing debut with "Sing Black Hammer" in 2006.

"Journey of the Spirits" musicians will include Ernest McCarty and Patrick Sousoff, keyboards; Dwayne Dolphin, bass; Carlos Johnson, guitar; and William Jevon Rushton, drums. The cast includes actors Ben Blakey, Joseph Edgars, Marcia L. Jones, Katrina Bello, Teri Bridgett, Dante Snooks, Lamar "Quest" Fields, Stevie Akers, Jada Ginyard, Ashley Coney, Terri Smith, Tasha Michelle, Jacen Morris, Delana Flowers, and Twyla Glasgow.

Kuntu is celebrating 33 years of Black theater with a season of new plays and old favorites. Admission is $20 for adults; $14 for Pitt staff and faculty; $13 for senior citizens, students, and children ages 4-18; and $5 for Pitt students with a valid ID. Groups of 10 or more receive 25 percent off the single-ticket price. For more information, call 412-624-7298.

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