Our world premiere of Chiquita Mullins Lee’s Pierce to the Soul closed Sunday to great critical and public acclaim. What a pleasure to work on a play that attracted such community-wide interest and participation, involved such high-calibre artists, and featured such great collaborations!
Actor Alan Bomar Jones as Elijah Pierce in "Pierce to the Soul"
One of our collaborators on Pierce to the Soul was Transit Arts, headed up by our good friend Jackie Calderone.
Jackie Calderone, Artist and Director of Transit Arts
If you aren’t familiar with Transit Arts, their mission is “To engage young people through outstanding arts programs, performances, exhibitions, and entrepreneurial opportunities, while celebrating the vitality of our urban environment.” They partner with the Columbus Federation of Settlements and the Greater Columbus Arts Council to “transport young people to a place of discovery — where creative abilities expand & doors open to a world of possibilities.” Click here to check out their website!
They are doing wonderful work and are a sterling example of how the arts can be used to enrich, enliven, awaken, and uplift us!
This past fall Transit Arts hosted the first of our fall Pierce to the Soul workshops, held at the Central Community House. We had about twenty young adults from the Transit Arts programs join us for the evening. They heard actor Alan Bomar Jones read an excerpt of the play, were pulled up front to participate in the play reading with him, and then joined in a lively discussion of the play with the playwright, director, actor, and dramaturge (scholar). The discussion was incredibly productive for the artistic team. Our friends from Transit Arts were clearly engaged by the play and had ideas and insights to share about what they liked about it and what could be made better. It was so refreshing to have such a young perspective on the play in progress, and their ideas and impressions helped us shape what would become the final draft of the play.
Actor Alan Bomar Jones gets makeup help from a Transit Arts audience member
This season we have ended each performance by asking the audience to help us help a human services organization in the city. We have taken up collections for Maryhaven, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, and the Channel 10 Family Foundation. As we contemplated Pierce to the Soul, Transit Arts seemed like a natural fit; taking up a collection for them seemed like an appropriate continuation of our collaboration on this play.
Our audiences responded to our call for donations with the generosity and enthusiasm that has marked this campaign, and I am thrilled to report that CATCO audiences have raised $4000 for Transit Arts!
We thank you all for your enthusiasm for Pierce to the Soul, and your generous support of our colleagues at Transit Arts!
Now, we start gearing up for our season finale, The Mystery of Irma Vep!
Geoffrey Nelson and Jonathan Putnam in CATCO's "The Mystery of Irma Vep." Photo by David Alkire
–T.J. Gerckens
Managing Director
