Chicago, IL— Victory Gardens Theater and Geva Theatre Center announce the online streaming production of Brian Quijada's music-infused production of Where Did We Sit on the Bus?, written and performed by Brian Quijada and directed by Chay Yew.
Tickets to the streaming production are $30 for regular patrons and $10 for students and allow viewers to watch any time during the streaming window, February 22 — March 7, 2021. Tickets may be purchased at victorygardens.org and gevatheatre.org . The production will be presented on Vimeo, and instructions for access will be sent following purchase. The event will have subtitles available in English and Spanish.
Where Did We Sit on the Bus? is an electric one-man show pulsing with Latin rhythms, rap, hip-hop, spoken word, and live looping. During a third-grade lesson on the civil rights movement and Rosa Parks, a Latino boy raises his hand to ask, "Where did we sit on the bus?" and his teacher can't answer the question. This thrilling autobiographical production from Jeff Award winner Brian Quijada examines what it means to be Latino through the eyes of a child, turned teenager, turned adult.
Originally recorded during its performance run in spring 2017 as part of VG's "Up Close and Personal series,"Where Did We Sit on the Bus? made its world premiere in 2016 at Chicago's Teatro Vista and won multiple Jeff Awards, including Best Solo Performance and Best Sound Design.
The artistic team includes Brian Quijada (playwright and actor), Chay Yew (director), Diane D. Fairchild (lighting designer), Liviu Pasare (projection designer), and Amanda J. Davis (production stage manager). Videography by Bitter Jester Studios: Nicolas DeGrazia, Producer and Director of Broadcast, Daniel Kullman, Producer and Director of Photography.
Creator Brian Quijada shares, "This video feels like the culmination of all my performances of my solo show. This feels like the HBO Special of Where Did We Sit on the Bus? I had been polishing my performance for 5 years, it was my return to Chicago, and most importantly, my parents were in the audience. We were lucky the Emmy award-winning Bitter Jester Studios captured this night."
Victory Gardens Theater receives major funding from the Joyce Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Shubert Foundation, Wallace Foundation.
Additional major funding comes from Crown Family Philanthropies, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Polk Bros. Foundation.
Major funders also include: Allstate, Alphawood Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Edgerton Foundation, Exelon, Ralla Klepak Trust for the Performing Arts, The Harvey L. Miller Supporting Foundation, David Rockefeller Fund, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, The Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation.
Additional funding this season: Charles H. and Bertha L. Boothroyd Foundation, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, Coffman Law Offices, ComEd, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Golden Country Oriental Foods, Goldman Sachs, John R. Halligan Foundation, Illinois Humanities Council, ITW, MacArthur International Connections Fund, MAP Fund, Mayer Brown LLP, The Robert R. McCormick Foundation, The McVay Foundation, Metropolitan Capital Bank and Trust, National Endowment for the Arts, Origin Ventures, PNC Financial Services Group, The Poetry Foundation, Prince Charitable Trusts, Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation, Pritzker Traubert Foundation, Charles and M.R. Shapiro Foundation, Wrightwood Neighbors Foundation, William H. Weiss Foundation.
In-kind support is provided by: Italian Village Restaurants, Suite Home Chicago, and Whole Foods Market.
Covid-19 Emergency Relief Funding: Arts Work Fund— Arts for Illinois Relief Fund (at the Chicago Community Foundation), Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Business Interruption Grant.
Capital improvement support from Landmarks Illinois—Barbara and Thomas Donnelley Preservation Fund, the Performing Arts Venue Fund at the League of Chicago Theaters, with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Service Club of Chicago. Capacity Building support by Compass-Chicago.
Funding for Geva Theatre Center: ESL Federal Credit Union serves as Season Sponsor and Dr. Dawn Lipson serves as Honorary Season Producer. Additional major support for Geva comes from the Shubert Foundation, the William & Sheila Konar Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts.
About Victory Gardens Theater
Victory Gardens is dedicated to artistic excellence while creating a vital, contemporary American Theater that is accessible and relevant to all people through productions of challenging new plays and musicals. Victory Gardens Theater is committed to the development, production and support of new plays, which has been the mission of the theater since its founding, set forth by Dennis Zacek, Marcelle McVay, and the original founders of Victory Gardens Theater, and continued by former Artistic Director Chay Yew.
Victory Gardens Theater is a leader in developing and producing new theater work and cultivating an inclusive Chicago theater community. Victory Gardens' core strengths are nurturing and producing dynamic and inspiring new plays, reflecting the diversity of our city's and nation's culture through engaging diverse communities, and, in partnership with Chicago Public Schools, bringing art and culture to our city's active student population.
Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theater, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, Victory Gardens Biograph Theater includes the Za ek-McVay Theater, a state-of-the-art 259-seat mainstage, and the 109-seat studio theater on the second floor, named the Richard Christiansen Theater.
For more information about Victory Gardens, visit www.victorygardens.org . Follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/victorygardens, Twitter @VictoryGardens, and Instagram @victorygardenstheater.
About Geva Theatre Center
Geva Theatre Center is a nonprofit, professional theatre company in downtown Rochester, New York, offering world-class productions and extensive additional programming. Founded in 1972, Geva is the most well-attended regional theatre in New York State with one of the 25 largest subscription bases among regional theatres in the country. Geva serves as many as 160,000 patrons annually, including more than 20,000 students.
Geva's 517-seat Wilson Stage and 180-seat Fielding Stage each offer a wide-ranging collection of drama, comedy and musical theatre, from classics to world premieres. The company also offers a broad slate of educational, outreach and literary programming to enrich audiences, students and artists of all ages and disciplines. Since 1995, Geva has been under the artistic direction of Mark Cuddy.
Find out more about Geva Theatre Center at GevaTheatre.org or by connecting with us on social media. Facebook: facebook.com/gevatheatrecenter, Twitter: @gevatheatre, Instagram: @gevatheatre, LinkedIn:linkedin.com/company/geva-theatre-center .
