“Elizabeth McKoy … takes full advantage of the possibilities, imbuing the musical with energy and passion and lots of marvelous dancing. McKoy came up with the idea of using shadow-dancing to bring Sara’s memories of colonial Africa to life. It was a brilliant move.”Read source ↗
A Little Princess
Making the story live in the room.
For Berkeley Playhouse’s sixth-season opener and the musical’s East Bay premiere, Elizabeth treated Sara Crewe’s imagination not as an escape from hardship, but as a force that changes the people and world around her.
Her staging joined intimate character work with expansive ensemble storytelling and integrated full-body shadow dancing—drawing on Attraction and Pilobolus—to transform Sara’s memories and dreams into theatrical images.
The artists who shaped the production together.
Elizabeth McKoy
Kevin Roland
Staci Arriaga
Wendy Kaufman
Mark Hueske
Martin Flynn
Miayka Cochrane
Wilson Jermaine Heredia
Tony Award winner for his performance in the original Broadway production of Rent; this production marked his Berkeley Playhouse and East Bay debut.
The work, in conversation.
“The vivid, imaginative landscape the story paints is so rich and varied we needed some inspired unifying magic, which drew me to shadow dancing.”Read source ↗
“Wilson Jermaine Heredia … is charismatic. When he sings, he lights up the theater.”Read source ↗
