Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil

Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil opens Thursday, April 17, 2008 in the Rollins Theater at the Long Center for the performing Arts. The play runs April 17- 20 and April 23-27, at 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sundays.

The ProArts Collective and the Austin Community College District (ACC) drama department will produce a compelling drama about the last days of famed legendary blues artist Robert Johnson in a piece written by Bill Harris, Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil

The cast includes Austin Community College students Michelle Flanagan as Kimbrough, and award winning actress Feliz McDonald as Georgia. We also see the one of Austin's favorites Billy Harden as Stokes the blind pianist, the multi-talented Aaron Alexander in the title role of Robert Johnson and the return of award winning ProArts stalwart Levan Owens as Lem.

Admission is $12 for the general public and $10 for students. All proceeds go towards the Boyd Vance Scholarship Fund, named in honor of ProArts Collective founder Boyd Vance. The scholarship will be awarded to an African American drama or dance student.

"Robert Johnson is considered the most famous of the Delta blues musicians", says Harold McMillan, Director of Diverse Arts and the curator of the Austin Blues Family Tree. "Much of what we know about Johnson comes down through myth and a few recordings." He is considered by some to be the "Grandfather of Rock-and-Roll", his vocal phrasing, original songs, and guitar style have influenced some of popular music's most famous guitarists and songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers Band, The Rolling Stones, The Band, Neil Young, Warren Zevon, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton, who called Johnson "the most important blues musician who ever lived".

This collaboration will be the first self-produced production in the Rollins Studio Theater at the new Long Center for the Performing Arts. Tammie Ward Programming Director for the center was very pleased to hear that ProArts Collective and ACC wanted to move their annual collaboration to the Rollins."I heard such wonderful things about their production of Funnyhouse for a Negro; we were excited to know they wanted to expand into the Rollins. We think their collaboration fits perfectly with the Long Center's mission".

This is the second co-production between Austin Community College and ProArts Collective. Last year's co-production was the critically acclaimed Funnyhouse of the Negro. The co-productions advance the educational mission of the College and allow ACC to have a greater presence in the Austin community, says Lyman Grant, Dean for Arts and Humanities at ACC. Lisa Byrd Executive Director of ProArts Collective says that collaborations with institutions like ACC and St. Edwards allows a small organization with very limited resources to have a greater impact on the cultural life of all Austinites.

The title, Trick the Devil alludes to one of the many myths surrounding the musician as described by blues historian Cub Koda:

Robert Johnson was a young black man living on a plantation in rural Mississippi. Branded with a burning desire to become a great blues musician, he was instructed to take his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery's plantation at midnight. There he was met by the Devil who took the guitar from Johnson, tuned the guitar so that he could play anything that he wanted, and handed it back to him in return for his soul. Within less than a year's time, in exchange for his everlasting soul, Robert Johnson became the king of the Delta blues singers, able to play, sing, and create the greatest blues anyone had ever heard.

But the myths abound. How did he die, where and when did he die. Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil adds its own spin to the legacy and myth of Robert Johnson.