Tymisha Harris brings joie de vivre to a cabaret icon in Josephine, February 25 to March 1

Burlesque-infused biographical play tells of the legendary African-American performer’s wide-ranging accomplishments

The Kay Meek Arts Centre presents Josephine from February 25 to March 1

WHEN CHARISMATIC PERFORMER Tymisha Harris brought her one-woman show Josephine to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, audiences were in agreement that she packed star power.

City magazine in Rochester, New York, noted that Harris “fully embraces” the African-American icon Josephine Baker’s “energetic, carefree, and flirtatious spirit” with her “smooth, soulful voice”, and that she “shakes and shimmies across the stage with such joie de vivre.” A reviewer for Plays to See said she brings an “innocent courage to this firecracker woman” who was born in St. Louis in 1906 and captivated the jazz scene of 1920s Paris.

So it’s a delight that Harris will perform her off-Broadway hit in Vancouver from February 25 to March 1. The Kay Meek Arts Centre’s black-box McEwen Theatre is the perfect setting for this burlesque-cabaret play that traces the highlights of Baker’s life—from dancing at Paris’s storied Folies Bergère hall in a signature skirt made of rubber bananas, to becoming the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture (the silent film Siren of the Tropics), to aiding the French Resistance as a spy during the Second World War.

With the help of cocreator, director, and producer Michael Marinaccio, plus cocreator and music director Tod Kimbro, Harris emphasizes the glitz, glam, and determination that cemented Baker’s place in history.

Harris’s credits range from dancing onstage for NSYNC to performing in the film Bring It On: In It to Win It. As for Josephine, the production by Dynamite Lunchbox Entertainment debuted at the San Diego International Fringe Festival in 2016, where it won awards for outstanding solo performance and best show. It continues to wow audiences a decade later.

Josephine lands at the Kay Meek as part of a 10th anniversary Western Canada tour. The final stop is at Chilliwack’s HUB International Theatre on March 4.

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Emily Lyth

Emily Lyth is a Vancouver-based writer and editor who graduated from Langara College’s Journalism program. Her decade of dance training and passion for all things food-related are the foundation of her love for telling arts, culture, and community stories.

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