“Somebody stole my
dead teacher’s body!”
Something about
that idea intrigued Assistant Professor of Directing, Patrick Pearson to
produce his own version of “Our Lady of 121st Street” by Stephen
Adly Guirgis.
Patrick Pearson is
a California State and Sam Houston State University alumnus holding both an MFA
in Directing and a BFA in Musical Theatre. He is a new faculty member to SHSU
where he teaches directing and stage management. “Our Lady of 21st
Street” is his first show he will be directing as full-time employee.
“I have directed
here before, but it’s very special to be directing and to have this as my
full-time job,” Pearson said.
The show is set in
a funeral home where a fellow community member recently passed away and her
loved ones come to pay respects at her funeral, only to find her corpse has
been stolen. They work to find it all while finding themselves in forgiveness.
The array of characters in the show are people of the Harlem and New York City
where 121st lies right smack in the middle.
“They are rough
around the edges, and all just doing their best,” Pearson said. “They are far
from perfect, but incredibly human. These aren’t people on their best
behavior.”
With the amount of adult
language in the show, it is suggested not to bring children.
Patrick loves a
challenge and sees it as a positive thing. The script has lots of challenges
and the characters hold nothing back from each other, and expose issues for
better or worse.
“It’s really
fascinating to see people onstage dealing with what it means to have, gain, or
to lose faith in something,” Pearson said. “The characters in the play are just
as wonderful and diverse as the real people of the area.”
When asked about
what he was most excited about, he mentioned working with talented students,
actors and production teams.
“The
students in the Theatre and Musical Theatre Department are incredibly driven
and constantly working to hone their craft,” Pearson said. “It’s been a joy to see
what new discoveries they make every day in rehearsal.”
The show will play
Wednesday through Saturday in the Erica Starr Theatre at 7:30 p.m., and a Saturday
matinee performance at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office
at 936.294.2339 or going to the website www.shsutickets.com.
Discounted tickets are available for students with a Bearcat OneCard.