Broadway In The Hood -

“The Best of Broadway Las Vegas; A Soulful Musical Celebration”

A Dinner Theatre Benefit Performance for Broadway In The Hood

Looking for Broadway in Las Vegas? You can find it this Friday or Saturday evening, April 22 and 23, when Broadway in The Hood, A Source of Joy Theatricals presents The Best of Broadway Las Vegas; A Soulful Musical Celebration   at 8 p.m. in the Dallas Showroom of Texas Station on Rancho Drive in Las Vegas.

Thirty-two talented, multi-cultural singers and dancers from Las Vegas will perform music from Wicked, Dreamgirls, Hairspray, Chicago, The Wiz, Momma Mia, Ain’t Misbehavin, Cats, Phantom Of The Opera, Les Miz, Miss Sagion, Five Guys Named Moe, Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar, Aida, Porgy & Bess and many more.

Founded by Torrey Russell and co- founder Preston Coghill  A Source of Joy Theatricals, Inc. headquartered in Las Vegas, Broadway In The Hood  is a full-service community empowerment arts organization dedicated to making a positive impact on communities across America. A Source of Joy Theatricals targets its programs at communities plagued with gangs and domestic violence, drugs, and murder with a primary focus on teens and young adults between the ages of 14 to 20.

Programs cover education and cultural arts. A Source of Joy Theatricals, Inc. is the producer of Broadway In The Hood. The program applies the same standards of excellence to its productions that are applied in professional theater. Cast and crew members learn from professional directors, choreographers and technicians how to create and build a full-scale Broadway production utilizing members of the local community. Previously, and in the future, Broadway In The Hood  programs and productions are free and open to the public. This is their first fundraiser ever and they will be doing more free shows in the coming months.

Broadway In The Hood serves many of the participants as a family environment. For example, disaffected students who were failing their schoolwork became part of the troupe and, with this week’s report card, proudly showed off straight A’s. They have bonded over Broadway and there get much of the support they were lacking. Torrey Russell, the group’s founder, says, “We cast in homeless shelters — Shade Tree, Safe Nest — and Boys and Girls Clubs. Theater gives them a focus and many of them, even though they never even saw a show, become passionate about it.”

Broadway In The Hood  recently appeared before a talk by Maya Angelou. Russell recalls, “When we walked in the room, Maya Angelou said, ‘Wow! Look at my babies. It’s such a beautiful rainbow.’” Next month, they will open for Whoopi Goldberg in Arizona.

Tickets, including a pre-show buffet are: $35, $30 and   $25. You can order by going to http://www.tickets.broadwaylasvegas.com (Click on the performance you want and then, when the page comes up, scroll down to choose your seats and buy tickets.) Or call 702-258-0569.

Contributed by Dianne R. Davis