* * B r o a d A r t s * T h e a t r e ! * *

You probably saw WONDERBROADS, the sparkling original musical comedy that celebrates forty 20th Century North American women, the Babes and Broads Who Broke the Rules. This funny, edgy, dangerous, historic, inspiring, sexy, interactive theatrical revue has toured on and off since 1999. The musical won the 2000 Angus L. Bowmer Prize for Best Drama.

Next year, join us for WONDERBROADER, BroadArts Theatre's 2008-2009 season's newest comedy with music. WONDER-BROADER celebrates global women now, in the 21st century, who change our world for the better, by working for peace, equality, justice, sustainability and compassion. WONDERBROADER is the sequel to the original play. In our new theatrical production, the Goddess Lilith has reached her elder years, and is ready to pass the work for rights and freedoms on to a younger generation of activists. Lilith's protege, Lilly, tires of the older woman's 'wait and see' attitude- she wants to change the world and change it today! The two titans of power clash over methods, strategy and timing, as they each struggle to define and redefine their place in a world grown more discordant and divided.

Set against the fictional and funny background of this eternal "Old Queen, New Queen" s/heroes journey, WONDERBROADER incorporates real stories of actual women who are even now changing the face of history/herstory. Through harmonies, happenings, historical information and stand-up comedy, the story of our continued progress toward an inclusive and sustainable world is created.

WONDERBROADER sings the stories of women such as:

Aung Sang Suu Kyi, Myanmar (Burma's) democratically elected leading opposition leader, who has been under house arrest since 1989. Held as a political prisoner of conscience. Suu Kyi promotes non-violent protest against the dictatorship of Myanmar, and is recognized world wide as the leader of the National League for Democracy.

Massouda Jalal, Afghanistan's first Minister of Women's Affairs, appointed by President Hamid Karzai in 2004.
"My hands are empty," Jalal admits, "but I want to prove that a woman with empty hands can do a lot. It will be a lesson for all the women of Afghanistan. Already five thousand years, we women have waited for our turn. We cannot wait another century."

Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire, who advanced and anchored the Peace movement in Northern Ireland by taking an active and public position against the violence caused by ongoing war between Catholics and Protestants, and between Irish nationals and the English. Williams and Maguire founded the Community of Peace People and they won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work against violence.

Wangari Maathai, the first black African woman to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, leads a global effort of reforestation and environmental sustainability by working with rural women in Kenya to plant trees and hold back encroaching deserts. Maathai started the now influential and effective Green Belt Movement.

Click here to download a great interview (49Mb, mp3 format) with this woman, or click here to visit the NPR site for more information and other formats of the interview!

Imagine this scene: Arundhati Roy, India's author (The God of Small Things) and activist who has brought issues of environmentalism, sustainability and women's rights to the front of world social politics, is jailed for a day for contempt of the Congress. Newspaper reporter Madeline Bunting of The Guardian' described the scene.
"She looks both traditional Indian - the Gandhi-esque homespun scarves - and modern gamine with her short cropped hair. Instinctively she understands how all politics is a form of theatre and her very stature speaks eloquently of a David and Goliath battle. Rather as Aung San Suu Kyi wears flowers in her hair. Roy wore pink in court, ... the colour of life affirming courage and an assertion of the quintessentially feminine in the face of clumsy state power."

The actual events of real lives and real people will enhance the stories and songs of WONDERBROADER.

Research and Stories: During the first phase of creating WONDERBROADER, BroadArts artists, researchers and volunteers will delve into the background story and truth of our chosen wonder- women role models. We'll reach out to local experts, immigrants and activists who may know these women or the conditions in which they live, and create informal 'story telling nights' with the public invited.

Public Salons: After the story telling nights, BroadArts will create a series of five to seven "WOMEN WHO CHANGE THE WORLD" Salons. We'll invite some of the folks we've heard to tell their stories again, in a more public setting. We'll intersperse the stories with inspirational songs and scenes. Each Salon will include four to five speakers, and will be presented at churches, synagogues, union halls and community centers. Each Salon will include a rousing conversation with audience members about their questions, observations, experiences and hopes of changing the world.

Rehearsal and Performances: After hearing all the stories and inspirations, Melinda E. Pittman, Artistic Director, along with cast and volunteers, will script the play. Auditions will be held in 2008. BroadArts looks for talented and versatile actor/ singers of color and performers of international backgrounds. We plan a staged reading of the musical in March 2008, listen to audience feedback, work suggestions into the script and staging, then open the full production in late 2008 or early 2009.

BroadArts attracts intergenerational, thoughtful, working class and low-income women, workers, children, women of color, and men and women who ponder big questions. Audiences of many colors ranged from toddlers through high school, millennials, baby boomers, elders and crones. During our post show discussions, we deliberately build connections between social justice organizations and staffs and general audience members. We educate as we entertain.

See the Juice page for more on our upcoming shows.

WonderBroads	Homeland In-Security
If I Were Queen of This Forest!	Fat & Sassy

Photo Gallery

COMING IN 2008 ~ WONDERBROADER

Other BroadArts Shows!

	Aung Sang Suu Kyi, Myanmar (Burma's) democratically elected leading opposition leader, who has been under house arrest since 1989. Held as a political prisoner of conscience. Suu Kyi promotes non-violent protest against the dictatorship of Myanmar, and is recognized world wide as the leader of the National League for Democracy.
	Massouda Jalal, Afghanistan's first Minister of Women's Affairs, appointed by President Hamid Karzai in 2004. "My hands are empty," Jalal admits, "but I want to prove that a woman with empty hands can do a lot. It will be a lesson for all the women of Afghanistan. Already five thousand years, we women have waited for our turn. We cannot wait another century."
	Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire, who advanced and anchored the Peace movement in Northern Ireland by taking an active and public position against the violence caused by ongoing war between Catholics and Protestants, and between Irish nationals and the English. Williams and Maguire founded the Community of Peace People and they won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work against violence.
	Wangari Maathai, the first black African woman to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, leads a global effort of reforestation and environmental sustainability by working with rural women in Kenya to plant trees and hold back encroaching deserts. Maathai started the now influential and effective Green Belt Movement. Click here to download a great interview (49Mb, mp3 format) with this woman, or click here to visit the NPR site for more information and other formats of the interview!