Will Alexander returns to the Lehigh Valley theater community and Crowded Kitchen Players with his role of Emmanuel Thorogood Morris in the premier of 'A Softening of Her Eyes' at The Charles A. Brown IceHouse June 8 through June 17.
'A Softening of Her Eyes' follows a charismatic black man--- a former pop singer, combat vet, and recovering drug addict--- who, while on trial for aggravated assault and rape, escapes from the courthouse and makes his way to a popular radio talk show in a desperate attempt to tell his side of the story before he is captured and returned to jail.
Alexander last performed with CKP in Walter Mosley's 'The Fall of Heaven', in 2015, in the role of Tempest Landry, a young street-wise Black American who is gunned down by police when his cell phone is mistaken for a handgun.
That production served as the maiden performance in the 'Voices of Conscience: Toward Racial Understanding' theater series in the Lehigh Valley.
Alexander previously performed lead parts in CKP's productions of 'Death Takes a Holiday', as Prince Sirki/Death; as Prince Mikail Alexandrovitch in 'Tovarich', and as George Horvath in 'Parfumerie', the play that inspired the Ernst Lubitsch's classic film 'The Shop Around the Corner' and Nora Ephron's 'You've Got Mail'.
Trish Cipoletti plays former investigative reporter Leslie Grant, who now hosts a popular public radio talk show and makes the fateful decision to allow the fugitive Morris a forum on her program.
David Oswald portrays district attorney Mr. Marshall who tries the rape case against Morris.
Dan Ferry plays the public defender, Mr. Davison, who has been assigned the seemingly unwinnable challenge of keeping Morris from spending the rest of his life in jail.
The remainder of the ensemble cast includes Pamela Wallace and Brian Wendt who share the radio booth with Alexander and Cipoletti; trial witnesses Bill Joachim, Felecia White, Bruce Brown, James Dziedzic, Ryan MacNamara, Florence Taylor, and Nancy Welsh; trial judge Tom Harrison; and radio audience callers Alex Racines and Donald M. Swan, Jr.
The play is written and directed by Ara Barlieb. Alex Racines serves as Stage Manager.
'A Softening of Her Eyes' will be performed June 8, 9, 15, 16 at 800PM, and June 10, 17 at 200PM at Charles A. Brown IceHouse, 56 River Street, Bethlehem, Pa as part of The IceHouse Tonight performing arts series.
Tickets are $18 adults, $14 seniors, $10 students.
For tickets and information, please visit www.ckplayers.com or call (610) 395-7176 or email ckplayers @outlook.com