'Easy Street' jets out to the 'Big Apple'

The cast and crew of Patrick Brown's hilarious musical comedy Easy Street leave Jamaica next Wednesday for shows in New York.

Following its phenomenal run at Centerstage, Easy Street makes its New York premiere next Friday evening when it hits the stage at York College in Queens at 8 p.m.

Easy Street will also play at the historic Brooklyn College on Saturday, May 29, and the Truman High School Auditorium in the Bronx on Sunday, May 30.

The New York performances have been arranged by Herman Hall Communications and are promoted primarily through its flagship Everybody's Magazine - one of the leading Caribbean/American publications in New York, which last year celebrated 25 years of publication.

The production, which opened at Centerstage Theatre, New Kingston, in December, played there to capacity houses. Play fans in rural Jamaica also had the opportunity to soak up some of the fun and laughter when the show rolled through several rural towns, including May Pen, Mandeville, Savanna-la-Mar, Ocho Rios, Malvern, Linstead, Morant Bay and the second city of Montego Bay. Easy Street has been performed more than 100 times to date.

Easy Street's trek to the 'Big Apple' follows that of other Jambiz productions over the last 12 years. These included Sheep in Wolf's Clothing, River Bottom, Cutie and the Freak, Ras Noah and the Hawk, Class of '73, Assistant Thief, Christopher-Cum-Buck Us, among others.

Lenford Salmon, spokesman for producers Jambiz International, said that the Caribbean population in New York looks forward to the production playing there each year and makes it a ritual of sort with their continued support. "Jamaicans outnumber any other nationality in the audience," said Salmon. "However, over the years, other Caribbean nationalities attending the shows have grown exponentially and now collectively outnumber the Jamaicans."

Easy Street's cast includes Glen Campbell (Fungus), Camille Davis (Queenie) Sharee McDonald-Russell (Princess), Courtney Wilson (Scab) and Christopher Hutchinson (Corporal Bully).

After the New York tour, the production returns to Jamaica for an encore next month at Centerstage, before jetting off again to South Florida for performances in Miami and Coral Springs on the weekend of July 3 and 4.