LEWISTON — NYC’s Royal Family Productions is bringing back Chris Henry’s popular adaptation of the novel Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery for one day only. Anne of Green Gables: Part I was a sold-out hit when performed at South Road Farm last September, and this remount pairs it for the first time with Anne of Green Gables: Part II.

These one-woman shows have been adapted and directed by Chris Henry with Creative Direction by Lorna Ventura. This special pared-down presentation has been adapted specifically for this production. This production will take place at Community Little Theatre, located at 30 Academy St, in Auburn. Tickets are $20, $100, with $250 VIP tickets. Part I will play at 6:30PM on Thursday, June 17th, followed by Part II at 6:30PM on Friday, June 18th. Both parts will play back to back on Saturday, June 18th, with Part I starting at 5:30PM and Part II starting at 7:30PM. If you purchase general admission tickets for Part I and Part II together, you save $10! Tickets need to be purchased in advance by visiting www.RoyalFamilyProductions.org.

Chris Henry has adapted Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery into a one-woman, all-ages theatrical experience starring Nicole Renee Johnson. Part I shares the journey of Anne Shirley; an imaginative, red-headed, hot-tempered, eleven-year-old orphan, and what happens when she is accidentally brought to the home of quiet siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert in Prince Edward Island. Part II continues the journey with Anne as she navigates her new life in Avonlea – by going to school, making new friends, and trying to control her temper.

Henry is a native of Winthrop, Maine, and is thrilled that Royal Family is able to bring this production to a wider audience in her home state.

Following COVID Protection guidelines, patrons will be required to wear masks throughout the performance.

Anne of Green Gables: Part 1 will star Nicole Renee Johnson with Erica Misilo. Anne of Green Gables: Part II brings back Nicole and Erica, and also stars Rebecca Whitney Klein, with Emily Anne Davis. The creative team for these productions includes original music by Amanda Armstrong, Lars Jacobsen, and Bart Kuebler; lighting design by Ashley Braga, original costume design by Cheyenne Sykes, with sound design by Chet Miller. Caroline May is the Associate Director with a production team including Danny Gay, David Marshall and Ann Fairchild. (New York Premiere lighting and set design by Cheyenne Sykes and projection design by Chelsie McPhilimy.)

ROYAL FAMILY’s mission is to galvanize the Times Square community by cultivating raw talent, collaborating with seasoned artists, and inspiring audiences with a diversity of lion-hearted theatre. To us, everyone in the theatre community is not only royalty but family. Our programs and productions give artists space at all stages of their careers. We don’t want to tell just any story: we want to best serve artists in telling their own stories. In today’s political and social climate, it is also more important than ever to celebrate all voices—especially those underrepresented in the traditional theatre space. At Royal Family, we celebrate the work of female artists, playwrights of color, works with LGBTQIA themes, and artists of all ages and body types.

Royal Family has been a creative incubator of original, humanistic plays for over a decade. Bravery and fearlessness are imperative to our process. Artists and audiences alike are challenged in a creative safe space to explore the humor and the tangled truths of the human condition. As actor and first-time playwright Anthony Rapp (Rent, Dazed and Confused, Star Trek: Discovery) observes, “Royal Family is committed to truthful, heartfelt, alive, theatrical storytelling. It’s vital to the human experience and hard to come by.”

Royal Family was established in 2007 by Katie Avebe, Mary Bernardi, Chris Henry and Andy Theodorou as a home for artists wishing to challenge and transform the traditional theatre canon. Since its launch, Royal Family has developed lasting relationships with highly regarded theatre professionals such as Kathleen Chalfant (Angels in America, Tony-Nominee Wit) and Anthony Rapp (Rent, If/Then, Dazed and Confused); and has partnered with artists including John Cariani (Tony Nominee Fiddler on the Roof, The Band’s Visit, Something Rotten), Adriane Lenox (Tony Winner Doubt, Tony Nominee After Midnight), Mary Testa (Tony Nominee On the Town, Tony Nominee 42nd Street, Tony Nominee Oklahoma), Stephanie J. Block (Tony Winner The Cher Show, Tony Nominee The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Tony Nominee Falsettos), Andréa Burns (In The Heights, On Your Feet), Maddie Corman (Accidentally Brave, Some Kind of Wonderful, Next Fall), Adrienne C. Moore (Orange is the New Black, For Colored Girls…), Constance Shulman (Orange is the New Black, The Rose Tattoo), Penny Fuller (Tony Nominee Applause, Tony Nominee The Dinner Party), and Taye Diggs (Rent, Hedwig and the Angry Inch). Our productions have been reviewed by The New York Times, Time Out, The Village Voice, The Boston Globe, Time Out London, The London Times, and The Irish Times and featured three years in a row in the esteemed Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Recent highlights include the first annual Female+ Forward Festival, featuring new work by Queen Esther, Rosa Arredondo, and Iman Shuk, curated and directed by Lorna Ventura Women on Fire: Stories from the Frontlines and Women on Fire: Scorching the Dividing Lines which featured a rotating cast of more than 40 women, including Kathleen Chalfant, Maddie Corman, Catherine Curtin, Pamela Dunlap, Penny Fuller, Laura Gomez, Cady Huffman, Adriane Lenox, Cynthia Mace, Adrienne C. Moore, Laila Robins, Constance Shulman, Mary Testa, Tonye Patano, Maryann Plunkett, Alysia Reiner, Lianah Sta. Ana, Ashley Williams and more, the World Premiere of Anne of Green Gables: Part 1 starring Ali Ewoldt, a workshop of Anne of Green Gables: Part 2 starring Doreen Montalvo, and a world premiere workshop, Diary of a Tap Dancer Vol. 4 conceived and choreographed by Ayodele Casel and directed by Torya Beard that kicked off Royal Family’s 10th anniversary season. In 2017, thoughts of a COLORED MAN on a day when the sun set too early by playwright Keenan Scott II was a collaboration between stage and television star-turned-choreographer Taye Diggs, choreographer Jenny Parsinen, and Royal Family’s Emerging Artist Program. This play is making its Broadway debut this fall. In 2016, Royal Family premiered Rock and Roll Refugee, a biographical musical about Genya Ravan, who also wrote the music and lyrics. The Polish World War II refugee and Holocaust survivor broke into the rock scene at a time when it was a predominantly male field, forming the first all-girl band and becoming the first female music producer. The New York Times’ Laura Collins-Hughes praised the production as “exciting” and lauded its “strikingly female gaze.” Other Royal Family highlights include premiering Tony Award nominee John Cariani’s comedy LOVE / SICK, the darker cousin to his widely produced hit play Almost Maine as well as presenting co-productions of Anthony Rapp’s Without You with The Menier Chocolate Factory and The New York Musical Theater Festival. and becoming the first female music producer. The New York Times’ Laura Collins-Hughes praised the production as “exciting” and lauded its “strikingly female gaze.” Other Royal Family highlights include premiering Tony Award nominee John Cariani’s comedy LOVE / SICK, the darker cousin to his widely produced hit play Almost Maine as well as presenting co-productions of Anthony Rapp’s Without You with The Menier Chocolate Factory and The New York Musical Theater Festival.

NICOLE RENEE JOHNSON (Anne) She resides in Dallas, Texas, and was most recently seen as Pauline in One Man, Two Guvnors at Circle Theatre. Nicole also performed as Daisy in an interactive NYE Experience of Suckers. Nicole is a proud graduate of Baylor University where she received her BFA in Theatre Performance. Some of her credits at Baylor include Molly in Peter and the Starcatcher, Rhonda in This Random World, and America The Amish Project.

CHRIS HENRY (Writer/Director) is an award-winning theatre director and writer based in New York City. WRITING/DIRECTING CREDITS WITH ROYAL FAMILY: Anne of Green Gables: Part 1 (based on the novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery), Anne of Green Gables: Part 2 (based on the novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery), WOMEN ON FIRE: Stories from the Frontlines, WOMEN ON FIRE: Scorching the Dividing Lines, Louie, Red, and the Jazzman (in collaboration with Wycliffe Gordon), Nobody Suspects a Butterfly (originally a feature film treatment Henry wrote for Ross Greenburg, Former President of HBO Sports), MM2000 (in collaboration with Shane W. Evans) and Opal Ann Meets the Fabulous Kit Katt, A Play with Musical Fantasies (in collaboration with Summer Hyde and Daniel A. Weiss). DIRECTING CREDITS WITH ROYAL FAMILY: Brass Heart the musical, thoughts of a COLORED MAN on a day when the sun set too early, LOVE/SICK, Four Last Things, Dedalus Lounge, Safe Home.  NYC DIRECTING HIGHLIGHTS: Joe (Cherry Lane Mentor Project), Trans-Euro Express (Irish Arts Center), Art of War (Madison Square Garden), Sharpen Your Blade (“Time Out” Critic’s Pick), Fishbowl (New York Magazine Critic’s pick), Suicide Society (Winner Best Director). ACTORS THEATRE OF LOUISVILLE: The Actor’s Nightmare, Grace of I, Dog Named Becky, One Hundred Women, Electric Roses, Sure Thing.

LORNA VENTURA (Creative Director)  is a director/choreographer with a long list of credits, from Broadway to film and television.  Some of her choreography credits include working alongside impressive directors such as James Mangold in Kate And Leopold and Fred Schepisi in It Runs In The Family and in-house choreographer for seasons 1-4 of “Gossip Girl” including “Valley Girls,” “In The Realm Of Bases,” “It’s A Wonderful Lie,” “Hi Society” and “Disco Stick,” as well as the pilot and season 1 & 2 for “Carries Diaries.” These opportunities allowed Lorna to work directly with celebrities such as Hugh Jackman, Meg Ryan, Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Chace Crawford, and Anna Sophia Robb to name a few. Some of her favorite theater directors who have served as mentors and teachers are George C. Wolfe, Joe Mantello, and Kathleen Marshall. Favorite Broadway credits include Wicked, (performer original Broadway company), Grease (performer original Broadway company), All Shook Up (Associate Choreographer) Ventura is the Creative Director at Royal Family Productions.

CAROLINE MAY (Associate Director) recently graduated from Baylor University and moved to New York City to pursue a career in theatre. May is a Renaissance woman, trained in acting, directing, theatrical lighting, and stage management. May was a production intern on the first annual Female+ Forward Festival, an assistant stage manager on Women on Fire: Stories from the Frontlines. She has also been working on her own project during quarantine entitled Saturated.

L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables: Part I and Part II

Adapted by Chris Henry; Movement by Lorna Ventura

Associate Director; Caroline May

Directed by Chris Henry

At the Community Little Theatre, 30 Academy St, Auburn, ME 04210. June 17 through June 19. All tickets can be purchased by visiting www.royalfamilyproductions.org

For more information about Royal Family Productions please visit www.royalfamilyproductions.org

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