Discover the captivating bond between two extraordinary women of the 20th Century in the mesmerizing new musical, Josie and Grace: A Mostly Historical Cabaret Dream plays at the Tidemark Theatre on Nov. 27.
From the creators of the hit off-Broadway show Josephine, this new musical explores the extraordinary mostly untold story of the friendship between two of the most remarkable women of the 20th Century: legendary singer/dancer/activist/spy Josephine Baker and Academy Award Winner and European Princess, Grace Kelly/Princess Grace of Monaco.
Winner of the Critic’s Choice Award for Best Play, Musical at the 2021 Orlando International Fringe FestivaL, Josie & Grace shines a spotlight on the challenges faced by these women and their friendship when powerful men seeking to control their voices got involved.
In Josie & Grace, Tymisha Harris reprises the role of Josephine Baker from her Award-winning hit solo show, this time focusing on the more mature and wiser La Baker. The story begins in 1951 at New York City’s famous Stork Club, where an incident of racial discrimination and Josephine’s public denouncement of it would lead her to be savaged by the media, exiled from the country of her birth and branded a communist, a label that would tarnish and diminish much of her career from that point forward.
Here she meets a young and beautiful aspiring actress named Grace Kelly, who walks out of the exclusive NYC night club in solidarity with Josephine. Played with depth, humor and icy power by actress Rachel Comeau (The Right Stuff on Disney+) and Alexis Jackson (Army Wives on Lifetime Television), Grace begins a lifelong friendship with “Josie” that lasts through Baker’s death in 1975.
Josie & Grace combines cabaret-style songs and cinematic scenes and narration to give audiences a peek behind the curtains of Josephine’s Chateau Millandes in France and The Royal Palace of Monaco as these iconic women navigate each of their meteoric rises to success and challenge the limits placed on them by society and powerful men.
Tymisha Harris, Josephine Baker/Co-Creator. Tymisha Harris (aka “Tush”) has been performing professionally for over 20 years. Her early credits include assistant choreographer and backup dancing for the 90’s pop group N*SYNC, backup dancer for LFO, multiple roles at Universal Studios Orlando, and a featured role in the hit movie series Bring It On. More recent endeavors include the national tour of Rock of Ages, a European tour with the innovative and world-renowned Pilobulus Dance Theater Company, and founding member and Assistant Director/Choreographer of the successful Orlando based troupe, VarieTease. Since 2016, she has been touring the world playing Josephine Baker in her solo-show Josephine, a burlesque cabaret dream play. For her performance, she has received 10 Awards for “Outstanding Performer” and was nominated for a Vivian Robinson AUDELCO Award for her 2018 off-Broadway run at Soho Playhouse in NYC.
Rachel Comeau, Performer. Rachel Comeau holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Rollins College where she attended on a performance scholarship. Since graduating, she has had a diverse career from stage to screen.. On television she recently played the flirty Patricia on The Right Stuff on Disney+, and in film she starred as Mona in the award-winning 2020 feature Some Southern Waters. Over the last decade she has worked in dozens of professional live theatrical productions. Favorites include Three Sisters, The Whale, A View from the Bridge and girl. She is currently taking courses with Class Act Studios and is represented by Lock Talent. When she’s not acting she enjoys yoga, reading autobiographies, and swimming around in her mermaid tail.
Sponsored by the BC Touring Council, Campbell River Mirror, and the BC Arts Council - the Tidemark Theatre will present Josie and Grace: A Mostly Historical Cabaret Dream play on Monday, Nov. 27 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $37.50 for Members and $42.50 for Non-Members (+ applicable taxes and fees). Visit: tidemarktheatre.com