Contact: Estella Zavala, 225-6437 
Posted on: April 20, 2006

About 30 students from Magee Middle School, 8300 E. Speedway Blvd., will have an opportunity to view “A Conversation with Norma Jean Darden,” a play they created as part of The Spoonbread Project, a collaborative endeavor involving TUSD’s Opening Minds Through the Arts, also known as the OMA Project, and the Invisible Theater, at 10 a.m. April 24 at the Westward Look Resort, 245 Ina Rd.

The play is based on Ms. Darden’s cookbook titled Spoonbread and Strawberry Wine: Recipes and Reminiscences of a Family, which tells the story of Ms. Darden’s family through anecdotes and photographs as well as Southern home-style recipes. 

During the course of the Spoonbread Project, the students created their own version of the cookbook through interviews with relatives and family friends. Stories, visual art pieces and family recipes were compiled into a book titled Spoonbread Project Recipe Book. Susan Claasen, managing artistic director for the Invisible Theater, worked with students, their teacher Linda Blake and OMA staff to create a stage version of the book, which will be presented to the project’s interviewees during a brunch held before the performance. In addition, TUSD TV will tape the play and broadcast it in the fall.

Started in 1971 as an arena for local playwrights, the Invisible Theatre (IT) of Tucson has expanded its programs to include adaptations of classics and recent Off-Broadway plays and musicals, while continuing to encourage new playwrights through both full productions and stage readings. For more information on the Invisible Theatre, please visit: http://www.invisibletheatre.com/html/about_us.html 

The OMA® Project was developed around brain-based learning theories designed to impact at-risk children and significantly increase student achievement. The goal of OMA® is to help all students succeed by actively supporting and positively engaging students in all subjects through the arts. For more information, please visit: http://www.omaproject.org/story.htm 

For more information contact:
Tucson Unified School District, 1010 E. 10th Street, Tucson AZ 85719
Telephone: 520-225-6000
E-Mail: webmaster@tusd.k12.az.us

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