Washington D.C. (Top40 Charts/ maXam Production Group) Buddy Drew - The Musical (https://www.buddydrew.com) and 1st Stage Theater (https://www.1ststagespringhill.com) in Tysons Corner, Va., are partnering to bring
Buddy Drew - The Musical to the stage. "You might even say fate is involved in this melding of the minds" says Adam Levowitz, "when you consider that
Buddy Drew - The Musical is the inspirational story of a boy with the odds against him who overcomes racial bias, unsettling family dynamics and negative public opinion to become a man he is proud to be. It is just the kind of production that 1st Stage Theater thrives on - inspiring and educational, a place where young talent can flourish and develop into a respectable career."
As part of this new partnership,
Buddy Drew - The Musical will be announcing new debut dates in early spring of 2012. Check the
Buddy Drew website, https://www.buddydrew.com, for show dates and "Like" the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BuddyDrewtheMusical to stay on top of the latest news about the musical.
1st Stage Theater was founded to fill the gap between educational and professional theater, and to focus on learning as a lifelong process. Started by a group of teachers, artists and actors, the theater strives to enrich the lives of young professional artists as well as the community with its diverse ballot of productions. Always looking for new ways to inspire and create authentic experiences for audiences, 1st Stage is excited about debuting
Buddy Drew - The Musical.
Based on the real life story of Drew Brown III,
Buddy Drew - The Musical is a coming-of-age tale about a black kid from Harlem raised by his white, Jewish grandparents in Brighton Beach right smack dab in the middle of the prize fight known as the Civil Rights Movement. His black father, Bundini Brown, a street hustler from Harlem and also the corner man for the heavyweight champion of the world Muhammad Ali, married Rhoda Palestine, a nice Jewish girl from Brooklyn. Together they made history and Drew Brown III.
Growing up with a life as shaky as a yarmulke on an Afro,
Buddy Drew must contend with an absentee father who spent the better part of his life fostering the career, affection and respect of his "other" son, Muhammad Ali.
Buddy Drew finds himself sparing with the world's greatest boxer for the love of Bundini. Like many father/son, love/hate relationships,
Buddy Drew searches for his own identity and when is finally able to forgive, though he can never forget, fulfills his destiny prophesied at his own Bar Mitzvah speech and himself becomes a Real Jew. And today he is a man.
Buddy Drew - The Musical features a rock score by DC based composer Adam B. Levowitz (https://www.adamlevowitz.com) and book filled with wit and charm by and
Houston based playwright Ashley Whitrock. This is not a Jewish musical like Fiddler on the Roof, or a black musical like The Wiz, but an American musical because as
Buddy Drew will tell you: "I am not an African American! I am not an African American! I am not an African American! I am an American who happens to be black and Jewish and I keep Kosher and I eat pork rinds." Visit https://www.buddydrew.com.
