Atlas Homecoming Celebration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More Information Contact:
October 23, 2006 Jen DeMayo
202.399.7993
jdemayo@atlasarts.org


Atlas Performing Arts Center Invites Neighbors to Homecoming Celebration!
Free Performances of Coming Home, a Story of H Street


The Atlas Performing Arts Center [1233 H Street] will hold a series of Grand Opening events the week of November 8-12, 2006. The final day, Sunday November 12th is designated for the H Street Community. All are invited to reserve their free tickets to the performances.
The events are a way for the Atlas to thank the various donors, designers, artisans and community members who believed in the project and gave their time, money and energy to make it come to life.

There will be performances at 2pm and 5pm with pre-show treats and festivities beginning an hour before each. Audiences will tour the Atlas and enjoy splashes of performance by DC’s finest a.k.a. Doo Wop cops, an a cappella group of singing police officers, and RyhthmiX a children’s hip hop troupe from Joy of Motion at the Atlas.

The Homecoming Day event will showcase a musical commissioned specifically for the Grand Opening. The play, called Coming Home, was written by award-winning local playwright David Emerson Toney, and is being directed by noted director, Mary Hall Surface. The music and lyrics are by Chris Youstra, and musical direction is in the capable hands of George Fulginiti-Shakar.

Coming Home chronicles the histories of four families- African American, Irish, Jewish and German-who live in the H Street neighborhood from its bustling early years through the hard times of the late 20th century. Their lives, hopes and dreams are intricately entwined with the street they call home.

For the artists involved, Coming Home presents an opportunity to tell the rich, multifaceted and uplifting story of the neighborhood that nurtured the Atlas. “The H Street story is a tale of human compassion and resiliency and it deserves to be told,” says playwright David Toney.

The Homecoming Day is open to all. Anyone who is interested in attending one of the performances must call the Atlas Box office at 399-7993 to reserve their seats.