The moniker "T21" was created as a blanket description for a growing number of musical theatre works created by LoJoWerkz which are all fashioned around the rich, historic tapestry of Tulsa's Jazz Age. With a long-term plan of premiering a new work each year to commemorate the anniversary of the Tulsa Race Riot, LoJoWerkz has multiple stage and film works in development.
"Uncommon Ground: The T21 Launch Show" is a full evening of music, song, dance, drama, and spoken art, created by LoJoWerkz whose specialty of blending traditional genres of entertainment with Hip-Hop culture will be on full display. This show is bursting with the same, unique "old-meets-new" flavor that first caught the attention of their mentor Stephen Schwartz a decade ago and has subsequently resulted in their work being staged for (and praised by) some of the top Musical Theatre professionals from Hollywood to Broadway.
This unique "T21 Launch Show" will preview all-new, all-original musical theatre material from several T21 projects in production and development, and will put the spotlight on some of Tulsa's most distinctive creative voices who are creating spoken art, dance and vocal performance on a regular basis in our community. The artists have all gathered to collaborate on special material for this T21 Launch Show, entitled "Uncommon Ground." Award-winning Musical Theatre Playwrights Tim Long and Jerome Johnson (aka "LoJoWerkz") have constructed a unique show around these performers, a structure which incorporates many of the cast member's personal statements about the legacy of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 on their own lives. The result is a fascinating theatrical exploration of the history of Tulsa in 1921 and its many affects on today's residents; all through the eyes of today's young generation of Tulsans. This newly-penned collaborative work is imbued with a distinct Tulsa flavor that could only come from this collection of our city's own sons and daughters.
The show is one night only & promises to be historic in many senses of the word!
"Uncommon Ground: The T21 Launch Show" is a full evening of music, song, dance, drama, and spoken art, created by LoJoWerkz whose specialty of blending traditional genres of entertainment with Hip-Hop culture will be on full display. This show is bursting with the same, unique "old-meets-new" flavor that first caught the attention of their mentor Stephen Schwartz a decade ago and has subsequently resulted in their work being staged for (and praised by) some of the top Musical Theatre professionals from Hollywood to Broadway.
This unique "T21 Launch Show" will preview all-new, all-original musical theatre material from several T21 projects in production and development, and will put the spotlight on some of Tulsa's most distinctive creative voices who are creating spoken art, dance and vocal performance on a regular basis in our community. The artists have all gathered to collaborate on special material for this T21 Launch Show, entitled "Uncommon Ground." Award-winning Musical Theatre Playwrights Tim Long and Jerome Johnson (aka "LoJoWerkz") have constructed a unique show around these performers, a structure which incorporates many of the cast member's personal statements about the legacy of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 on their own lives. The result is a fascinating theatrical exploration of the history of Tulsa in 1921 and its many affects on today's residents; all through the eyes of today's young generation of Tulsans. This newly-penned collaborative work is imbued with a distinct Tulsa flavor that could only come from this collection of our city's own sons and daughters.
The show is one night only & promises to be historic in many senses of the word!
CHECK OUT International Street Dance Superstar Charles "Lil Buck" Riley who joined us in our May 31st kickoff weekend for T21. We previewed 2 numbers from "Uncommon Ground" at Oilhouse's 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Memorial Arts Showcase, at Guthrie Green, along with amazing dance performances by our first T21 Dance Workshop instructors Lil Buck and Hampton "Xcercist" Williams.(SYTYCD, seasons 9 and 10). Here is Lil Buck's Performance, a segment of the "Uncommon Ground Suite" we composed especially for the event.
THE FULL PRODUCTION WILL HAVE ITS WORLD PREMIERE ON FRIDAY, JUNE 27th at HOLLAND HALL's WALTER ARTS CENTER. - ONE NIGHT ONLY
TICKETS WILL BE ON SALE HERE, BEGINNING THIS WEEKEND!!!
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"Uncommon Ground" is a Musical Theatre piece that features some of Tulsa's most popular young performing artists. The original score contains all the trademark LoJoWerkz elements: Spoken Art (poetry,) Dance, dynamic Vocal Performances accompanied by Body Percussion, the elements that brought their work to the attention of Stephen Schwartz, Disney Theatricals, ASCAP's Musical Theatre Division, The Harold Arlen Foundation, the New York Musical Theatre Festival and the LA Festival of New Musicals.
Some discussions of violence, death and period-accurate racial epithets in "Uncommon Ground" may not be appropriate for very young children. Although "Uncommon Ground" touches on some of the troubled social ills of Tulsa's, past and present, this is a show written for ALL Tulsans of all ages, genders, ethnicities and social-economic backgrounds. "Uncommon Ground" celebrates unity and embraces the hard lessons of the past which have shaped a new generation of Tulsans, who now carry on the rich legacy of our city!
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