A Day for Grace to kick-off multi-city national tour in August
Social drama A Day for Grace to kick-off multi-city national tour in August, starring playwright Doug Vincent and rock icon Sam Llanas (formerly of BoDeans). The heartwarming story of hope and triumph over adversity, the play recounts the emotional roller-coaster true journey of a father-to-be as he chases parental shadows from his tumultuous youth in small town Virginia to find the light for his unborn child.
Boulder StoryHealers has confirmed that A Day for Grace (ADFG), the social drama written and performed by Doug Vincent with music by rock icon Sam Llanas (formerly of BoDeans) will kick-off its National Tour in August 2013 with stops in Berryville, VA, August 18; Denver, CO, August 29; Milwaukee, WI, September 5-8, and Chicago, IL, September 11-13, before its return to New York City’s Stage Left Studio, September 19-22. Tickets can be purchased through each venue’s website or at http://www.adayforgraceshow.com.
Infused with humor, A Day for Grace is a heartwarming story of hope and triumph over adversity. The play recounts the emotional roller-coaster true journey of playwright Doug Vincent — a father-to-be — as he chases parental shadows from his tumultuous youth in small town Virginia to find the light for his unborn child.
Llanas shares the stage with Vincent, performing his soulful music that underscores the 10 different characters Vincent portrays and serves as the drama’s emotional touchstones and enthralling Greek Chorus. “It’s almost impossible to watch the play without marveling at the obvious synchronicity inherent in this collaboration,” says director Gary Tanin. “The unique mechanism of interplay between the songs and monologue is mesmerizing.”
The synergistic collaboration between Vincent and Llanas came about when Vincent, who had already written the play, sought out Llanas to discuss writing music for the work. Serendipitously, the two discovered that nearly every song from Llanas’ 1998 solo album ‘A Good Day to Die’ perfectly mirrored each scene in the play. The haunting music was exactly what was needed for an intricately woven tale that shifts back and forth between present day events and ghosts of the past.
The play unfolds when unforeseen complications during his daughter’s birth propel Vincent’s emotions to pour out of him as he confronts the demons of his youth: from little league angst and campfire stories to the dysfunctional family dynamic and the relationship with his alcoholic and suicidal father.
Ten years in the making, Vincent was able to complete the play only after the birth of his daughter, Grace. The play served as a way for Vincent to find healing after his own father’s suicide. Llanas wrote the songs to ‘A Good Day to Die’ 14 years earlier after the suicide of his brother. Coincidentally, every person involved with the production has lost a family member to suicide.
Bravely and compassionately, A Day for Grace touches on many contemporary social issues –- bullying, alcoholism, addiction, dysfunctional families and mental illness — all proven risk factors that can lead to suicide.
“It is the hope that A Day for Grace and its message of hope, healing and triumph over adversity can continue to be shared with the widest audience possible,” Vincent says.
A Day for Grace had its initial limited engagement run in 2012, where it played to sold-out audiences in Boulder, Denver, Chicago and New York City with rave reviews.
This fall, with multiple performance weeks scheduled in Milwaukee, Chicago and New York plus a producers showcase, a re-tooled A Day for Grace is primed to take Vincent and Llanas’ message of hope to the national stage.
National Tour 2013
Berryville, VA – August 18th at The Barns of Rose Hill
Denver, CO – August 29th at Avenue Theatre
Milwaukee, WI – September 5-8th at Next Act Theatre
Chicago, IL – September 11-13th at Stage 773
New York City, NY – September 19-22 at Stage Left Studio
Links:
http://www.adayforgraceshow.com
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/absinthe-good-day-to-die-feat./id491123922
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/4-a.m.-the-way-home/id468901651
http://www.facebook.com/DougVincentadayforgraceshow
Produced by Boulder StoryHealers, a project of the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center, a nonprofit charity under Section 501(c)3, ‘A Day for Grace’ was developed at Stage Left Studio in New York City. Boulder StoryHealers conducts monologue workshops for people affected by trauma, illness, and adversity, and helps them write, perform and share their stories with live audiences.
