Des Moines Playhouse
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kill Date: Nov. 24, 2024
Subject: The Des Moines Playhouse Presents: Last Stop Market Street
Contact: Lee Ann Bakros, Playhouse Marketing & Public Relations Director, 515-974-5358

The Des Moines Playhouse’s Kate Goldman Family Series opens its 30^th season with Last Stop Market Street, Nov. 8-24, 2024. Tickets may be purchased online at dmplayhouse.com and by phone at 515.277.6261. Last Stop Market Street is a collaboration with Pyramid Theatre Company and City Voices, sponsored by Nationwide.

In Last Stop on Market Street, CJ is guided by his veritable force-of-nature Nana. As CJ travels a little closer to his roots he sees that things are not always what they seem. Based on the Newbery Medal-winning book and with a spectacular, spirited score by Motown legend Lamont Dozier and his son Paris Ray Dozier, audiences will be dancing in their seats as they enjoy this vibrant story about connecting to your community.

The Playhouse cast includes Kendall Bruce, Toné Cheré, Jayden Keyon Hall, Jackson Hamilton, Dionysus Lewis Manuel Jr, Jeanella McKinney, Owen Nicolino, Caethen Stocker, and Ian Williams. Last Stop on Market Street is directed and choreographed by Napoleon Douglas with music direction by Mary Anne Sims; scenic design by Nicholas Amundson; costume design by Tiffany Johnson, Angela Lampe, and Tinika Roland; and lighting design by John Pomeroy.

Last Stop on Market Street has several community partnerships connected to this show.

• In addition to four school matinee performances at The Playhouse, the show will tour to Phillips Elementary School and Moulton Elementary School.
• A performance of Last Stop on Market Street will be presented at Corinthian Baptist Church. A free community meal, served by the staff of The Playhouse and Pyramid Theatre Company, will precede the performance. Corinthian Baptist and Plymouth churches will also be part of the pre-performance programming, previewing their 2025 performance of Amahl and the Night Visitors.

The Playhouse mission, as one of Iowa's largest and oldest producing theatres, is to create extraordinary, shared experiences through live theatre. Located at the 42nd Street exit of I-235, the theatre has presented a full season of shows since 1919 and also offers a wide variety of educational experiences including classes for ages 4 to adult, theatre trips to New York, and volunteer opportunities onstage and backstage. 

Pyramid Theatre Company has as its mission to provide a gateway to the arts for the Des Moines community by illuminating the presence of Black artists in the theatre canon and providing a means of artistic expression to emerging Black voices. The company commits itself to the tenet of Sankofa, a word in the Akan language of Ghana meaning “return to retrieve.” With this in mind, PTC offers works firmly rooted in the lessons of the past in order to serve needs of the present. The theatre’s four core principles are artistic excellence, community engagement, artist education, and Black community collaboration.

City Voices is a nonprofit organization that provides free, high quality, individualized music instruction to underserved students in the Des Moines Public Schools. The organization believes that helping students build these skills allows them to more effectively participate in music opportunities around them, including their school and community programs. City Voices also believes that, in doing so, they are mitigating inequalities, allowing students access to experiences that are frequently out of reach due to a lack of financial resources. Since its inception in summer 2013, City Voices has served more than 200 students from 19 different metro-area schools.

Last Stop Market Street Performances
Nov. 8-24, 2024
7:00 PM Fridays
1:00 PM & 4:00 PM Saturdays-Sundays

Last Stop Market Street Tickets 
Tickets start at $14
To purchase: Dmplayhouse.com, 515.277.6261, or Des Moines Playhouse ticket office, 831 42nd St, Des Moines, IA 50312
Ticket office hours: Noon-5:00 PM, Tuesdays-Fridays, and 90 minutes prior curtain on show days

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By Matt de la Peña • Adapted for the stage by Cheryl L. West • Music & Lyrics by Lamont Dozier & Paris Ray Dozier • Produced by special arrangement with Plays for New Audiences • Illustration by Christian Robinson from the book Last Stop on Market Street ©2015 Published by the Penguin Group