Arena Players and Baltimore Rock Opera Society collaborate on a biomusical double bill—and one small step toward creative desegregation

1.0Baltimore Beathttps://baltimorebeat.comBret McCabehttps://baltimorebeat.com/author/bret/Arena Players and Baltimore Rock Opera Society collaborate on a biomusical double bill—and one small step toward creative desegregationrich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="UOAXbfGvyJ"><a href="https://baltimorebeat.com/arena-players-baltimore-rock-opera-society-collaborate-biomusical-double-bill-one-small-step-toward-creative-desegregation/">Arena Players and Baltimore Rock Opera Society collaborate on a biomusical double bill—and one small step toward creative desegregation</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://baltimorebeat.com/arena-players-baltimore-rock-opera-society-collaborate-biomusical-double-bill-one-small-step-toward-creative-desegregation/embed/#?secret=UOAXbfGvyJ" width="600" height="338" title="“Arena Players and Baltimore Rock Opera Society collaborate on a biomusical double bill—and one small step toward creative desegregation” — Baltimore Beat" data-secret="UOAXbfGvyJ" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); </script> https://i0.wp.com/baltimorebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/VALERIE_LEWIS_AS_KATHERINE_JOHNSON_PHOTO_BY_SEAN_MCCORMICK-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=125601707Gods, axes, imaginative sets, rock 'n' roll—just another night in the maximum-everything world that BROS creates with such wanton enthusiasm. Except, with these restagings of "Blue Apple Crossing" and "Determination of Azimuth," two shorts that first debuted in 2015 as part of the company's "Six Pack," BROS is intentionally trying to address one of its self-admitted shortcomings. "Blue Apple" and "Azimuth," which imaginatively recounts NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson's calculations that brought the Apollo 11 mission home in 1969, are African-American stories. And BROS knows it is an overwhelmingly white organization. For "Constellations & Crossroads," BROS, one of the few rock opera companies in the country, is collaborating with Baltimore's Arena Players, the oldest, continually running African-American community theater in the country.