Jacked!

By Idris Goodwin
With Soundtrack by Jackie “Jackpot” Sharp
Jan 21 thru May 31, 2021 (virtual performances)

For ages 5 to 11. The performance is approximately 40 minutes with no intermission.

It’s Jack and the Beanstalk with a modern-day twist. In this reimagined world, Jack and his mother struggle to live happily ever after. When his farm can't feed him, his community can't support him, and his mother can't take care of him, Jack takes matters into his own hands. After climbing the beanstalk and stealing the giant's goose, Jack flees home and discovers the goose's golden eggs have a mysterious, intoxicating power that turns his world upside down. How can something so good make everything bad? Can Jack turn things around to save his village? 

Directed by Jamie McKittrick, Jacked! fuses storytelling and poetry with nonstop hip-hop and break-beat music by Jackie “Jackpot” Sharp in this fresh, energetic virtual production that uses hand-drawn animation based on visuals by artist Nick Kryah. Jacked! explores the imaginative boundaries of theater, film, and animation and inside the story and the music is an age-appropriate message for children about substance abuse and its effects on our communities.

The cast includes St. Louis hip hop duo The Knuckles and MTC favorite Jarris L. Williams (last seen playing the title role in Ghost).

Live Virtual Panel Discussion on March 9
Learn about the visual art featured in Jacked!
Behind the Scenes with Director Jamie McKittrick
Learn about the animation and editing of Jacked!
Interactive Educator’s Guide
Jacked! Playbill

Presenting Sponsor

Additional Support From

Jacked! was originally commissioned by Cleveland Play House and developed as part of Cleveland Play House's Classroom Matinee Touring Program with a soundtrack by Rhythm Science Sound.

Cast
Jack – Jarris L. Williams
Ensemble – The Knuckles

Production Team
Director – Jamie McKittrick
Soundtrack and musical direction by Jackie “Jackpot” Sharp
Visual Artist – Nicholas Kryah
Costume Designer – Dorathy L. Johnston
Animation Designer/Video editor – Michael Tran
Sound Engineer — Ben Arnold
Stage Manager – Jimmy Bernatowicz

Pay-per-view streaming tickets start at $16.

Buy Jacked! Tickets

Buy Jacked! Tickets with Audio Description

Springtime Special, Mar 15-19 ONLY! Buy Jacked! Pay-What-You-Can Tickets

To book Jacked! for a virtual field trip at your school or organization, contact Liz Sondhaus, Community Engagement and Audience Development Manager, at 314.932.7414 x105 or liz@metroplays.org. School performances are available in a continuous 45-minute version or in a three-episode version to spread the production across multiple class days. A full educator’s guide with interactive prompts, accompanies all school bookings.

Themes of Jacked!: courage, overcoming adversity, understanding addiction
Art exploration: theater, music, rap/hip hop, spoken word poetry, storytelling, visual art, animation, video

Metro Theater Company has released the cast album for its latest production – Idris Goodwin’s Jacked! – on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, Pandora, TikTok/Resso, and other digital music stores and streaming services.

The 17-track album was created by St. Louis-based music producer, sound designer, and percussionist Jackie “Jackpot” Sharp and recorded at Doorway Studios. It features a wide range of hip hop and break beat music, including vocals and rap by the popular St. Louis punk pop duo, The Knuckles, and the vocals of actor Jarris L. Williams in the role of Jack.

“When the pandemic shut down the possibility of performing the play Jacked! live on tour, director Jamie McKittrick and I brainstormed about how to best to produce the story for MTC’s audiences,” said MTC Artistic Director Julia Flood. “A collaboration between St. Louis artists in many disciplines resulted in a unique style of animated performance. At the heart of this is the layering of sound that includes Idris Goodwin’s language, Jackie Sharp’s music, and the terrific performances of Jarris L. Williams and The Knuckles (Aloha Mischeaux and Rocky Knuckles). We are excited that our audiences can not only watch the animated play, but can continue to enjoy, and dance along, to the story with this album.”

Captions

Captions are available for Jacked! To turn on the captions, go to the lower right hand corner of the viewing area. Click on the “CC” and select “English.”

Audio Description

Jacked! with ADA-compliant audio description is available, in partnership with MindsEye. Audio Description (AD) benefits individuals who are blind or have visual impairments as well as those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), auditory learners, and individuals with traumatic brain injuries or other diagnoses. AD provides additional information about facial expressions and social and emotional cues for those with ASD, reduces external distractions, and provides two channels of brain processing simultaneously - visual and auditory - for people who have difficulty processing and/or interpreting visual information.

Illustration by Tania Yakunova
Photo of The Knuckles: Matt Marcinkowski, St. Louis Magazine