Through grassroots funding the production has seen six sold out workshop performances of The Tramaine Experience at Theatre Row in NYC and Gorilla Tango in Chicago. This fall, in association with the Araca Project, The Tramaine Experience makes its official off-Broadway debut in a 12-show run at The American Theatre of Actors. The Araca Project is a partnership between Syracuse University and The Araca Group, producers of the mega-hit "Wicked." The objective of The Araca Project is to foster the emerging artist's entrepreneurial spirit by giving them the opportunity to produce their own work. Only four of 70+ productions were chosen for this inaugural year of the competition.
"Fairly flabbergasting...with Jim Carrey's comic elasticity and Michael Jackson's physical fluidity," affirms the Chicago Journal of Tramaine Montell Ford. A decade later, Syracuse Drama education, Alvin Ailey training, appearances in the hit feature film Hairspray, and perennial soap One Live To Live; you have to see him to believe him! His newest work, an edgy one-man show entitled The Tramaine Experience: An Urban Dramedy, hi-jacks an unsuspecting audience and takes them on a hilarious semi-autobiographical journey. We end up in Chicago in Ford's hometown neighborhood, the Cabrini Green Projects--the notorious complex often viewed as a symbol of the ills of public housing. Through Ford's jaw-dropping characterizations, the audience is introduced to a wacky and eclectic cast. They freely share their funny, vulnerable insights about Ford, themselves, and the world in which they reside. Ultimately, The Tramaine Experience highlights the humanity we all share; and the most human of abilities to survive and thrive through any situation.
The Tramaine Experience is fresh off a win for "Outstanding Performance of a Solo Show" and nomination for "Outstanding Overall Solo Show" by Planet Connections Theatre Festivity Awards; and ready to win more hearts. The interactive and improvisational nature of this one-man show makes for high laughs and an uncanny sense that we are right in the middle of Cabrini Green. Moreover, this show is an important one: It keeps alive the legacy of the recently demolished Cabrini and reminds us that beauty can blossom from the darkest places. The Tramaine Experience runs September 22, 2011 - October 2, 2011 in ATA's Chernuchin Theatre. For ticket information, visit www.smarttix.com or call 212.868.4444.
For more information on the production, visit www.thetramaineexperience.com.
