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 7 Actors
20 Scenes
From Irish potato fields and the shtetls of Russia
To Midwestern farms and New York tenements…
From New England factories and the Railroad across the Rockies
To the Mexican Border, 2008…
To learn, to know deeply, in fresh ways, where we’ve been, where we’ve come from, maybe even where we’re going, in this American story, the story of immigrants…This is AMERICA AMERIQUE.
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Live on stage— Brother Dave Gardner is back— and funnier than ever. That’s right, Brother Dave—one of the biggest comedy stars the South ever produced— back with his best routines and real life story.  And it’s all wrapped up in the phenomenal new play, “REJOICE DEAR HEARTS, AN EVENING WITH BROTHER DAVE GARDNER”.
“Dogs is like wise humans, they fight with their mouth.”
And fight with his mouth he did. On “The Tonight Show” or in big time arenas, from Atlanta’s Fox Theatre to Mr. Kelly’s in Chicago. And don’t forget his million selling albums-- like “Kick Thine Own Self” and “Ain’t That Weird?”. Through it all, Dave turned his free wheeling wit and down-home sensibility into uproarious roof-raising comedy.
Dave’s tales—mostly tall, always outrageous—celebrate what’s amazing in life. And in Rejoice Dear Hearts, he delivers the best of his best. Like the “motorsickle” whirl of biker boy Chuck and his incredible sideburns. Or the bizarre deliciously described “haints” in “The Haunted House”. And let’s not forget his deep fried version of Julius Caesar reset in—where else— Rome, Georgia.
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Yes, Dave’s hysterical riffs and brilliant routines are front and center. But there’s the life here too—with all its drop-from-the-sky luck and hard scrabble tough times.
"Growin’ up we were so poor, the first loaf of white bread I ever saw was thrown off the back of a CCC truck."
On the way up—and down, Brother Dave lived his life on the edge— and was kept from going over it by his wife and manager, a tough talking practical minded lady named Miss Millie. See, Dave was like a hunting dog at a duck convention— never knowing where to point. Might be a new yacht, that mansion in the Hollywood Hills, or dressing the kids up in lederhosen and pretending to be their chauffeur at the A & W Root Beer Stand. Millie was always there to pull him back to reality— and back on stage, where he truly belonged.
The greatest tall tale Brother Dave never told was his own story. Now he has his chance, as brilliantly performed by another Son of the South, David Anthony Wright. Dave Gardner was a man who didn’t always have it easy, sometimes had it all, but always had— and I’m talkin’ always, dear hearts— a sense of humor about everything, and everyone, including life itself.
“Success is gettin’ what you want, happiness is wantin’ what you get.”
“GLORY.”
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About the Playwright and Performer David Anthony Wright |
David Anthony Wright has spent over thirty years in film, television, theatre and radio. While living in Asheville, NC, David began his acting career “on a bet”. His immediate success propelled him into roles in fifty plays across the South. These engagements led to his first directing job, an assignment so successful he went on to mount over forty shows for a wide range of theatres including CAST, The Paramount Acting Company, and The Barn Dinner Theatre. In 1998 David was appointed as the Managing Director of The Paramount Theatre and Artistic Director of The Paramount Acting Company. David’s television work includes productions for The Discovery Channel, as well as numerous television commercials and industrial and educational films. His first play (a musical called “Cole’s Dairy Lunch” which has received two regional mountings) awoke David’s urge to write. David is conceiver, writer and star of REJOICE DEAR HEARTS, AN EVENING WITH BROTHER DAVE GARDNER. Its 2004 debut in Burlington, NC was hugely successful and won the attention of The JENA Company in New York. Now JENA is proud to offer this moving and richly comic work on a coast to coast national tour.
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