Stagebridge Partnership Performance
Stories
- Tyrone Johnson, “Tyrone “ShortLeg” Johnson and Some White Boys”
- Erica Lann-Clark, “The Goats Know the Way”
- Maria Grazia Affinito, “In Italy”
Music
The Intones: Rick Goodwin, Jeremy Goodwin, Steve Ekstrand, Terry True, Richard Trafford-Owens and Megan Armstrong
About the Performers
Tyrone Johnson started his performing career teaming up with a one-leg tap dancer at honky tonks in Texas in the early 30s. After a brief stay at the Jefferson County Correctional Facility, “Shortleg” (as he is known by friend and foe) started a promising career in the blues / folk genre until an unfortunate incident at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival caused him to lose favor amongst promoters. Tyrone “ShortLeg” Johnson kicked around the Oakland blues scene for awhile after that and there is some vintage TV footage of him performing on a local teen dance show, however, no other recordings or film are available. He was thought to be dead until he was seen fronting a Sammy Davis Jr. tribute band in the summer of 2011 in Dayton, Ohio. (Cast: Tyrone Johnson, Steve Ekstrand, Rick Goodwin, Jeremy Goodwin, Richard Trafford-Owen and Terry True. Director: Mark Kenward)
Storyteller, playwright, solo performer Erica Lann-Clark lives in a house with a garden full of wild birds, including a band of orioles. She loves to work at the crossroad where the story meets the listener. She’s worked from coast to coast and overseas; told tales at major festivals like National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee and Talk Story Festival in Honolulu; led workshops for conferences, corporations, congregations; and her recent solo show, Shopping for God, ran to critical acclaim at the Marsh Theater in San Francisco and Berkeley.… whew!
Maria Grazia Affinito is a local equity actress. She has performed with various companies in the Bay Area and in several independent films. A sampling of her stage credits include Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (SF Shakespeare Festival), Ana in Displaced (Marin Theater Company), and Nancy in Gaslight (California Conservatory Theater). In Italy was developed with David Ford at The Marsh. You can see her next at Solo Sundays, Stage Werx Theatre, on March 25, 2011.