theater
Laurelyn Dossett and Preston Lane have collaborated on several original plays with music at Triad Stage since 2006. Their work explores the intersection of regional storytelling, folklore, theater, and live music and are currently working on their newest project “Providence Gap.” You can see staged readings at Appalachian Summer Festival in July 2009, with a world premiere at Triad Stage planned for spring 2010.
“When I heard Laurelyn Dossett’s Leaving Eden performed by Polecat Creek, I knew I had found a songwriter and a singer with whom I wanted to explore the ways in which music and theatre can come together to make a populist form of storytelling. Laurelyn’s music is the soul of this play.”
Playwright Preston Lane, on the writing of Brother Wolf
Bloody Blackbeard
Bloody Blackbeard
An Adventure by Preston Lane with original Music by Laurelyn Dossett
From England to the Caribbean to the Carolina Coast, Edward Teach forged a blazing career as the most dreaded pirate of all time. North Carolina’s infamous adopted son was a daring blend of terror and gallantry. To his victims, he presented an image of the devil incarnate; but he was putty in the hands of a beautiful woman. His high seas adventures, port city romances and deep buried treasure are the stuff of legend. The creators of Brother Wolf and Beautiful Star turn their attention eastward, weaving tunes and tales together and uncovering the mostly true and totally thrilling history of the pirate called Blackbeard.The full story on Bloody Blackbeard in Greensboro Monthly Magazine. Purchase the CD.
Beautiful Star
Beautiful Star
A Seasonal Celebration written and directed by Preston Lane with original music by Laurelyn Dossett
After three seasons of sold out performances and record-breaking runs, Beautiful Star’s Rev. Roy Ledbetter and the Open Heart Community Fellowship congregation return each year to bring the Christmas story to life with down home laughter, toe-tapping music and a tug at the heart. See why critics call this new holiday tradition “perfect family fare…[that] will lighten your heart and put a lump in your throat,” (Greensboro News & Record) and “the best show I’ve seen in this or any holiday season.” (The Charlotte Observer).
Brother Wolf
Beowulf
An Appalachian re-telling of Beowulf by Preston Lane, with original music by Laurelyn Dossett.
Brother Wolf received its world premiere at Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC, in March of 2006. It went on to be Triad Stage’s most attended play to date, with near capacity attendance for the run.
Black Pearl Sings
Black Pearl Sings!
Appearing now at Triad Stage, January 25 – February 15, 2009
Music directed by Laurelyn Dossett
In the midst of the Great Depression, Susannah Mullally travels the country, recording lost traditional songs for the Library of Congress. Hoping to find the one song that will bring her long-awaited recognition, she discovers Pearl Johnson in a Texas prison. With a soulful voice and a wealth of African-American spiritual songs, Pearl seeks information and a chance at freedom. Now each woman must decide how much of herself she is willing to give to get what she wants in return. Order tickets online at www.triadstage.org
