Book and Music by James Vesce
Lyrics by Marlon Carey

Boston Production 2000
Directed by James Vesce
Choreography by Shaumba Yandje Dibinga
Musical Direction by James Vesce
Scenic Design: David Korins
Lighting Design: Ben Stanton
Costume Design: Shaumba Yandje Dibinga
Sound Design: James Vesce

Dimock Street Voices
Massachusetts College of Art

Charlotte Production 2002 
Directed by James Vesce
Choreography by Madinah Hamidullah
Musical Direction by James Vesce
Scenic Design: David Korins
Lighting Design: Eric Winkenwerder
Costume Design: Lindsay Bruck
Mask Design: Jay Whitesell
Sound Design: James Vesce

City Voices and Charlotte Area Partnerships
Rowe Theatre, UNC Charlotte

Charlotte Production 2011
Directed by James Vesce
Choreography by Donell Stines
Musical Direction by James Vesce
Scenic Design: Daniel Fleming
Lighting Design: Eric Winkenwerder
Costume and Mask Design: Paula Garofalo
Sound Design: James Vesce
Video Design: Jay Morong

David is a young man who tells a lie in order to avoid the wrath of a gang in his neighborhood --- but the gang is wise to him and turns up the pressure. Remembering the stories his mother told him as a child, and supported by his friends and classmates, he turns the tables on his adversaries and finds the courage within himself to confront the gang once and for all.

The Moon Prince is a rap opera or one-act children’s musical using contemporary and original hip-hop music and rap. It was commissioned to specifically address the absence of realistic stage literature for inner-city youth and honestly addresses many of the issues young people address on the streets: peer pressure, gang violence, and the temptation of drugs and alcohol. Two worlds are depicted in the show – the world of African folktales (portrayed with motion-capture live digital animation and puppets) and the everyday world of an inner-city neighborhood.

The Moon Prince was originally commissioned by the Dimock Community Health Center’s Adolescent Services Program and produced in workshop by the Dimock Street Voices and the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston in 2000. It was later supported by an Arts & Science Council Grassroots Grant and produced in workshop at UNC Charlotte in 2002 by a consortium of Charlotte, North Carolina area partnerships: The Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Fighting Back, the Charlotte Area Health Education Center, the Afro-American Cultural Center, and the UNC Charlotte Office of Summer Programs. The Department of Theatre and the Digital Arts Center in the College of Arts + Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte mounted a full production of The Moon Prince in 2011.