Ground Up & Rising Theater Company is getting a little too big for its cozy digs on the Miami Dade College Kendall campus, so the drama troupe known in South Florida for presenting audiences controversial figures and topics on the big stage will be moving to a permanent space on Lincoln Road’s Colony Theater.
But Ground Up isn’t just content with moving to the beach. The Company members are looking westward to California to make the organization bi-coastal and have a presence in Los Angeles’ theater scene.
"We want to be at a more visible location and being on Lincoln Road will definitely bring us a higher profile," said Arturo Fernandez, the group’s co-founder and artistic director. "We’ll also be the only resident company on the beach. Our generation wasn’t getting a chance to hone their craft on stage, so we want to make sure all alternative new artists get an opportunity to be heard."
Founded in 2005 by Fernandez and some of his fellow drama student friends from Miami Dade College, the venue particularly caters to Generation Y theatergoers.
Consistently establishing itself as one of Miami’s edgier theater companies, past performances tackled a range of issues from dysfunctional relationships, young soldiers battling post traumatic stress disorder, religious salvation experiences to gangster rapper Tupac Shakur’s tumultuous life.
The nonprofit organization’s move to the mid-sized Colony Theater, which has a seating capacity of 440 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a far cry from its earlier years; the group’s first stage was a classroom with only a table, two chairs and two crates as props, Fernandez said.
"Our first play was performed in a run down joint in Little Havana with rats and roaches," the Miami native added. "The audience had to walk through the backstage area to get to the bathroom. It’s truly been a journey."
In addition to the stage and set, the audience size has also grown with Ground Up & Rising. Fernandez said about 40 people would typically show up for those initial shows and now each performance averages 100 people a night. He expects to bring in 350 once the troupe moves east.
The buzz for the theater has also grown outside of Kendall. The Company has a web presence with Facebook and Myspace web pages (and over 400 friends) and critics with the New Times and Miami Herald have both given past performances rave reviews. The Herald proclaimed the troupe the best of performing arts in 2006.
Ground Up & Rising Theater Company’s recent production, "The Hate U Gave: The Tupac Shakur Story" was acclaimed by audience members and critics alike. In fact, the play, which was written and performed by Miami writer and actor, Meshaun Arnold, is headed to premiere in the company’s Los Angeles branch in November.
The Company’s upcoming show, "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot," was written by Stephen Adly Guirgis and runs August 15th to 24th. It takes a look at the life of the traitorous disciple during modern times. The first show in Los Angeles will be "Jesus Hopped The ’A’ Train," directed by Fernandez.
The company recently started venturing into the big screen for projects. Ground Up recently completed a feature length film called "The Observer," a story about a post 9-11 soldier to Iraq, Luke Crow, comes to terms with conflict on the home front after being honorably discharged.
There’s also numerous community outreaches, including professional readings with the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, an hour-long improvisational comedy performance for children audiences at the Miami Children’s Museum and theater workshops and scholarship opportunities for undeserved high school students.
The Company had a special youth-focused presentation of "The Hate U Gave," where students paid five dollars in admission as opposed to the normal $15 price for students and seniors and $20 for the general public.
"We’re trying to give back to the community and that’s important to us," Fernandez said. "We really want to be a fixture in Miami."
Miami may not be a city people immediately link to the theater industry, but in the past few years there’s been progressive steps to propel it to the forefront of the performing arts community.
The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County opened its doors in October 2006 and has shown several major productions and hosted residential programs for local artists.
The annual Art Basel festival in Miami Beach has placed a new spotlight on the area’s art scene. Miami’s Design District has blossomed into an international destination. Fernandez said he was among the first commissioned local artists at the Arsht Center.
"Miami’s theater scene is definitely growing," he said. "It’s a place that’s still seeking its identity. Because the city is a melting pot and the gateway to the world, it will help develop the theater presence here with the exchange of culture and ideas."
Fernandez, who currently works 15 hour days in rehearsal and doing administrative work while splitting his time on the East and West Coasts, said he’s been on stage since he was 16. His team of 10 other company members have all performed professionally at various South Florida venues like the GablesStage at the Biltmore in Coral Gables and the Florida Stage in Manalapan in Palm Beach County.
Carlos Alayeto, the other co-founder and administrative officer, said the group was founded when many of the members ran into some obstacles of getting involved with local theater. Acting gigs were fairly plentiful, but they weren’t always able to find work in directorial roles or as writers or producers.
Alayeto said they looked at their mostly mature audience and wanted to do theater for guests between 18 and 35 years old, reaching a younger generation of fans and presenting issues that focused on the trials of young adulthood.
"It’s very rare where you find a group of people just as dedicated or as passionate as you are about something," Alayeto said. "Everyone is really excited about what’s happening here. It’s bigger than us. That’s what moves us."
For more information on Ground Up & Rising Theater Company, contact at(305) 726-4359 or visit the website at www.groundupandrising.org. |
