Opera Philadelphia

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Bridgette A. Wimberly

Poet and Playwright

Bridgette A. Wimberly is an award-winning poet and author of eight plays who has been commissioned and produced by several theaters Off-Broadway and across the country, including Opera Philadelphia (Charlie Parker’s YARDBIRD), Alliance Theatre, The Cherry LaneTheatre, St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre, and The Women’s Project (Saint Lucy’s Eyes starring Ruby Dee), Kuntu Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage (The Separation of Blood), Ensemble StudioTheatre (Rally, and Mail), The Castillo Theatre (Rally), The Cleveland Play House (Forest City), Karamu Theatre (From Breast Cancer to Broadway), Here/Tiny Mythic Theatre (Valentine), and Manhattan Theater Club (The Mark). Her plays have been published by Samuel French and are included in the anthologies of Smith and Kraus’ “Best Plays by Women 2001,” “Best 10 Minute Plays 2010,” and the Women’s Project and Production’s “A Theatrefor Women’s Voices,” 2003.

Her poems are published in six anthologies of poetry by the poetry group Cave Canem from 1999 to 2008. Bridgette is Founder and Co-Program Director of “From Breast Cancer to Broadway,” a program that teaches playwriting to and presents shorts plays by breast cancer survivors performed by professional actors. She is responsible for forming collaborations with hospitals and medical centers, theatres, actors, directors, funders, and the public.

Bridgette was part of the 2006-08 Women’s Projects Producers’ Lab, a member of Lincoln Center Theatre’s Directors Lab where she produced four satellite productions in collaboration with the Lab, a Manhattan Theatre Club Fellow, a Cherry Lane Theatre Mentor Project Fellow with Wendy Wasserstein as her mentor, and a member of the poetry group Cave Canem. She is also the recipient of fellowships and awards from The New York Foundation for the Arts (Poetry), The New York Urban Arts Initiative, and the Harlem Arts Alliance. She is on the Board of Directors at Cherry LaneTheatre, the longest continuously running Off-Broadway theatre, and a lifetime member of The Ensemble Studio Theatre.

The Apollo Theater | New York City

Dates are April 2016.

Approx. 1 hr and 30 mins with no intermission.

Leadership support from the Doris Duke Charitable Trust, Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The Opening Night and post-performance reception are generously sponsored by Merrill Lynch.

Additional support from the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Pat and Al Zollar, and many other generous donors.

Events related to Charlie Parker’s YARDBIRD received funding from OPERA America’s Opera Fund.

The development of Charlie Parker’s YARDBIRD was supported by the Wyncote Foundation and OPERA America’s Opera Fund.

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