Wednesday, October 29, 6:30pm – 8pm

Soul Steps LLC and Maxine Lyle present

A Table Read of Step Show: The Musical

Come to the first full table read (or read-thru) of Step Show: The Musical. This is unrehearsed and the first time the playright along with everyone else will hear the entire play read aloud by actors. This is another sneak peek into the development of a new work where the Orchard Club audience get to be a fly on the wall and listen in. The company comes together on Day 1 of rehearsal for a read-thru of the show to get a sense of the characters and the actors playing those characters. After our presentation of pieces of the show’s music and dance aspects, we are bringing the crew back considering the enthusiasm of the audience to see and hear more! 

STEP SHOW: THE MUSICAL by Maxine Lyle
Contact: Maxine Lyle maxinelyle@soulsteps.com 413-281-4291

STEP SHOW: THE MUSICAL is a two-act production that showcases African American step dance and its role in Black college life. It follows the journey of Monie, a second-generation first-year student who arrives at the fictional historically Black Bailey College, seeking to find a place for herself on the “Sistas Step Team” and pay tribute to her Grandpa Glen’s memory as a campus activist. But when an exposed family secret threatens to undo Glen’s legacy and jeopardize the community she holds so dear, Monie must decide what matters most, fitting in or honoring her bloodline.

Shifting in time between past and present, the plot begins on Founder’s Day 1947, where we meet Grandpa Glen, founder of the fraternity, the “Brothas,” spearheading a civil rights demonstration. Met with opposition by the administration and local law enforcement, the peaceful demonstration quickly unfolds into a life altering moment that forever shapes the trajectory of Bailey College, leaving Monie to confront that history and forge her own path.

Infusing electrifying, bass-heavy body percussion with hip-hop, soul, and R&B, this inter-generational coming of age story takes a riveting ride into the world of step and its imprint on Black culture. STEP SHOW considers the stakes for self and community when the transference of a powerful oral and physical lineage is lost or interrupted in Black bodies and Black spaces.

WHY STEP SHOW: THE MUSICAL?

At a time when Black culture and history are increasingly under threat and are systemically being removed from our country’s institutions, STEP SHOW: THE MUSICAL – through its story, characters, music, and resounding rhythms – is an unapologetic celebration of our existence now, in the past, and always. We are creating this show so we can see ourselves represented on stage in a story where Black joy and community triumph over trauma. This message of hope is one we need now more than ever as we face the loss of safe spaces in our homes, neighborhoods, schools, churches, and businesses. STEP SHOW is our counter, our form of resistance. It creates a world where we meet multi-generational Black characters with resilience, who boldly encounter the isms in their society by tapping into the power of step to find community. While the show confronts pain it is not centered there. It is centered in healing, resolution, release, and an unshakeable determination to hold on to those you love and keep stepping forward. We believe STEP SHOW will inspire the next generation of young, Black college intellectuals, but even beyond the African American community, we call anyone who has ever been the “other” in the room, to find retreat and catharsis in the complicated, yet dynamic world of “Bailey College.” This is an American story about an American art form that speaks to a basic human need to be seen, heard, and felt. We feel an urgency to do our part, through STEP SHOW, to pour that good out into a world so badly in need of connection right now. 

PLAYWRIGHT/CHOREOGRAPHER/COMPOSER/LYRICIST:

MAXINE LYLE is a Newark, NJ-based multi-disciplinary artist, producer, and arts educator. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Soul Steps LLC (www.soulsteps.com), a NYC-based dance-theater company founded in 2005, dedicated to teaching and performing African American step dance. Soul Steps was described by the NY Times as “electric and joyous.”  Maxine holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Williams College, where she was a 2020-21 Artist-in-Residence with the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance and a co-founder of Sankofa, the Williams College step team, now under the auspices of the Williams College Dance Department for over twenty years. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Arts Administration, with a concentration in Theatrical Management and Producing from Columbia University School of the Arts. 

Performance credits include: New Jersey Performing Arts Center prelude to Alvin Ailey, May 2016; Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out Series 2016 and 2009; a feature in the Diesel Jogg Jeans viral video, “The A-Z of Dance;” the historical Rick Owens runway show during Paris Fashion Week 2013;  2012 Abok I Ngoma International Dance Festival (U.S. Embassy partnership, Cameroon); Joyce SoHo, Every Little Step, a collaborative piece performed with Dance Theatre of Ireland (New York); Stepping in Remembrance, (U.S. Embassy commissioned September 11th commemorative piece, Dublin). Maxine is a frequent guest artist with both Williams College and MASS MoCA as she develops her original musical for Broadway, titled STEP SHOW: THE MUSICAL, which has had several workshops at theaters and institutions around the country.

She has written and produced several projects at notable venues including, Skena Up International Film and Theater Festival (2008, U.S. Embassy partnership, Kosovo); inaugural A.N.T. FEST (2008, Ars Nova); and New York Musical Theatre Festival (2011 and 2007). She produced MO FAYA, an original Kenyan musical, which was featured in the New York Musical Theatre Festival (2009). In addition to her dance-theater projects, she has engaged in numerous arts education programming, which include serving as Program Manager for Youth Onstage! with the All Stars Project of New Jersey, a Newark-based youth theatre ensemble. She has held senior positions with Girls Leadership, an organization committed to the development of girls and their caregivers through the art of theatrical improvisation. She travels extensively throughout the country as an arts educator serving grades K-12.

Price: $20 Members, $30 Guests
Members save 33% on tickets

• Minimum Number of People: 1
• Maximum Number of People: 40
• Cash or Check preferred
• Venmo or Credit Card add 3%
• Drinks and snacks provided