Get Ready

Written by Chicago playwright Jaye Willard Stewart, and co-authored by his widow, Debi Stewart, and playwright/composer Joe Plummer, Get Ready provides a personal glimpse into the lives of doo-wop and soul groups that emerged during the late 1950s. These groups underscored the social, civil and human rights movements of the ’60s and ’70s while facing the challenges and triumphs of the times. While presenting the characters’ bad affairs, bad whiskey, determination and good music, the production cleverly makes familiar and clear the struggles of being a Black person and a Black artist in America before and during the Civil Rights Movement.

Get Ready is skillfully directed by Clarence and Shirley Marks Whitmore, who have received critical recognition for their performances in many Ensemble Theatre productions including: Day Trips, Before it Hits Home, The River Niger, Two Trains Running, Distant Voices, Diary of Black Men and many more. Samuel E. Jackson makes his Ensemble debut as the musical director and arranger for the production. He currently serves as a teacher and band director for Madison High School and was the creator of the famed Texas Southern University Brasswind Ensemble and has performed, conducted and arranged for many jazz and rhythm and blues greats.

Get Ready is generously supported by the SYSCO Corporation, ARAMARK and a grant from the City of Houston through the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County (CACHH).

Get Ready is rated PG-17.