Warriors Don't Cry

LessonPLAN (Performing Live Arts Now), the Tower Theatre Foundation’s award-winning series bringing students and families to the theatre and using performing arts to enhance education, returns Friday, Feb. 7 at 7 pm for its third season with an adaptation of the award-winning WARRIORS DON’T CRY. The drama recounts a very personal story of fifteen-year-old Melba Pattillo—portrayed by Connecticut actress by Jessica Maria Kight—enduring violence and discrimination as she and eight other African-American students, known as the “Little Rock Nine,” integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957.

The memoir, written by Dr. Melba Pattillo Beals, won the American Library Association Award, the 1995 Nonfiction Book of the Year, and the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. This one-woman performance, in Melba’s own words, is produced by The Bushnell Center in Harford, Connecticut. “When we started working on ‘Warriors’ over three years ago, there was no way to predict its relevance to the current discussions about bullying, immigration, and similar headlines,” said Scott Galbraith at The Bushnell. Equally important, it now demonstrates the progress made in race relations over the past five decades.

The LessonPLAN Series is sponsored by BendBroadband. Supporting sponsor is Warren John West. The series is made possible by grants from Children’s Edu-Investors Fund, WESTAF, Bank of the Cascades, and the WHH Foundation. The programs are hosted by NewsChannel 21’s Bob Shaw. Study guides and tickets to an educational matinee are available through info@towertheatre.org.

The nonprofit Tower Theatre Foundation owns and operates the historic stage in downtown Bend. The Foundation’s mission is to be the leading performing arts organization, providing cultural and education programs that make an essential contribution to Central Oregon’s lifestyle and strengthen the community. Membership, program information and individual and group tickets are available at the box office (835 NW Wall), by phone (541-317-0700) or online (www.towertheatre.org). Details on events are also at facebook.com/TheTowerTheatre.

What: Warriors Don’t Cry
When: Friday, February 7 – 7-8:30 pm
Where: Tower Theatre - 835 NW Wall Street - Bend, Oregon
Tickets: $5 Children 12 & under / $10 Adults
              Plus $1 Historic Theatre Restoration Fee
              General Admission seating
               541-317-0700 or TowerTheatre.org

NOTE: Recommended for ages 11-18
Contains historically accurate language, including the “N” word

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