Last Stop on Market Street

by Cheryl L. West

Nov. 08 - Nov. 24, 2024

About the Show:

Guided by his veritable force-of-nature Nana, CJ travels a little closer to his roots and sees that things are not always what they seem. Based on the Newbery Medal-winning book and with a spectacular, spirited score by Motown legend Lamont Dozier and his son Paris Ray Dozier, you’ll find yourself dancing in your seat as you enjoy this vibrant story about connecting to your community.

Cheryl L. West (Playwright) has written Something Happened in Our Town, Last Stop on Market Street, Akeelah & the Bee, Mwindo, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, Addy: American Girl Story, and Pullman Porter Blues. Her plays have been seen in England, Off-Broadway, on Broadway (Play On!), and in numerous regional theaters around the country. She has written TV and film projects at Disney, Paramount, MTV Films, Showtime, TNT, HBO, and CBS and is the Webby-nominated writer for the original web series Diary of a Single Mom. West is the recipient of several awards: American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE) Distinguished Play Award (2016); the 2016 Charlotte B. Chorpenning Playwright Award; the Helen Hayes/Charles McArthur award for outstanding new play; the Susan Smith Blackburn prize, an international playwriting award for distinguished new plays; the National Endowment Playwriting Award; and the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP Best Playwright Award. As said by The L Magazine, ‘Cheryl L. West writes plays that often trump those of master playwright August Wilson - not only meticulous neo-realist slices of African-American life, but dense, ethereal explorations of language and the inner regions of her character’s souls. They are vigorously expressionistic, and yet remain grounded, entertaining theater.’

City Voices Students (Collaborator) is a nonprofit organization that provides free, high quality, individualized music instruction to underserved students in the Des Moines Public Schools. The organization believes that helping students build these skills allows them to more effectively participate in music opportunities around them, including their school and community programs. City Voices also believes that, in doing so, they are mitigating inequalities, allowing students access to experiences that are frequently out of reach due to a lack of financial resources. Since its inception in summer 2013, City Voices has served more than 200 students from 19 different metro-area schools.