ROBERT  KELLEY

ASKS US TO KEEP THE ARTS ALIVE

As he announces the Streaming of
"THEY PROMISED HER the MOON"

Artistic Director of TheatreWorks  ROBERT KELLEY

SILICON VALLEY --  After being  informed that  all the remaining performances of the Northern California Premiere of   "THEY PROMISED HER the MOON,"  ( the story of the world-record  holding aviator JERRIE COBB projected to be the first female astronaut  to go to the moon), at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award recipient, were cancelled to prevent the spread of COVID-19  coronavirus.  CULTURAL WORLD BILINGUAL  requested an interview with its Artistic Director ROBERT KELLEY, to discuss the future of the play. In a telephone interview,  the director gives our readership the following information:

"We are very excited to do an upcoming video of "THEY PROMISED HER the  MOON" He said. " It is a show that, as you know, we had to cancel, because of the  crisis, when we still had several performances to go, but before closing it, we were able to make a video recording of the final performance and we thought that it could be great if we could share it with people and give them all a chance to see this wonderful play. It has a brilliant cast. So, we are putting it on ONLINE and inviting people, not only the people who have tickets. but all those who were unable to come to view it, to see it digitally.

C.W.B.  How?

R.K.  "By getting a digital ticket. We will be selling these tickets as late as Monday, March 30th and possibly later.

C.W.B.  How much are the tickets?

R.K. "They don't have a stipulated price. People can see the play for as low as $15.00 dollars a ticket or a lot more, if they want to donate more for it.

C.W.B.  When is the play going to start running ONLINE?

R.K. "It is going to start running the following week."

C.W.B. Can you tell us how this will work?

R.K. "Yes. TheatreWorks is going to send those who bought the tickets the Link, and they will be able to see the video for one time, from next week until Sunday, April 12 (Easter Sunday) We suggest to get your tickets tomorrow or Monday because lots of people are buying these tickets. They are moving fast.

C.W.B.  What is the show about?

R. K. "THEY PROMISED HER the MOON" is about two women, both of them in what it was called "The Mercury thirteen".  They were women pilots, both of them highly accomplished pilots. back in the sixties, who aspire to be astronauts. In order to do that, they had to go to a complete Physical training, that the male astronauts have to go through. One of them was not only a brilliant pilot who had won lots of awards for speed, and for altitude all over the world and her name was JERRIE COBB." The show is her story.

 SARAH MITCHELL as  Pioneering Aviator  JERRIE COBB 
Photo: by Kevin Berne

R. K : "Jerrie practically outdid all the men even in her ability to be isolated (for a longer time) which was one of the exercises she went through. . In fact she was so good, that she got a  whole article written about her in LIFE MAGAZINE, because she was likely to be  the first female Astronaut ever to go to the moon.  

SARAH MITCHELL
Photo By: Kevin Berne

R. K. The other woman in the show is JACKIE  COCHRAN, who was the first woman to break the sound barrier in her era and she was also the woman who put the experienced WACS (Women Army Corps.) pilots to deliver planes to Europe  from the United States during World War II. The interplay of these two women in trying to get women involved in the space program is the heart of this play.

C.W.B.   Can people who buy tickets for the play see it when they want or is it going to be streamed on one day at one particular time?

R.K.  "No. people can watch the streaming at anytime, but there is a time limit to watch it. As I mentioned before, the video will be released some time in the following week and people will have until April 12 (Easter Sunday) to see it, so it will be almost a two week window to watch it."

C.W.B.  Can they watch it more than once?

R.K.   "No." it is done online and it was very complicated to get it set. So you can see it one time only.

C.W.B. Thinking ahead, is this (ONLINE PLAYS) something that TheatreWorks will continue doing?

R.K.  "This is something that we may try again, putting things ONLINE for people to see. Not necessarily entire productions because that is more complicated because of all the Unions involved, but we will be putting "pieces" of our shows ONLINE if this goes on.  We don't have a video of  RAGTIME which we had to close because we had to stop rehearsals, but the good news is that a full video was made of our Production of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE that we did in December. It was so popular that we could not get tickets for everybody who really wanted to see it,  so we expect it to be available ONLINE  in the middle of April, if everything goes right.  It is a wonderful show, and we hope,  the ONLINE version will give people around the county a chance to see it.

C.W.B. How can people order your ONLINE TICKETS?

R.K. "The easiest way is go to our website TheatreWorks.org  and they can access a LINK on our website.

C.W.B. Can the tickets be ordered over the phone?

R.K.  "I don't believe  so, but if somebody has questions about it, our box office is certainly open. The Box office number is (650) 463 -1960 and we are keeping the number alive even when we are not running shows at this moments.

C.W.B. And my last question is. How can the people who want  to send donations to TheatreWorks do it?

R.K. If they go to our website, they will find a menu at the top with the  phrases IN SUPPORT OF  and if they click on that, it will tell them  the ways they can support TheatreWorks. They  also have the options to support us once, or to support us monthly, and even dedicate their donation in memory of a relative.

C.W.B. Are you accepting donations?

R.K: Yes. because of TheatreWorks commitment to continue producing quality works, we have a deep responsibly to sustain those people who work in the different arts required in our  productions. We would certainly appreciate any amount donated to TheatreWorks.

C.W.B. Do you have anything to add?

R.K: "Help us keep the arts alive."