"Real Men Pray"

REAL MEN PRAY Returns to Crossroads Theatre, New Brunswick For Two Holiday Season Performances, Dec. 3

Real Men Pray, an inspirational Gospel drama written and directed by New Jersey playwright and producer Joe McRae, will return to Crossroads Theatre, 7 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick, for two holiday season performances at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 3.

The play focuses on Malcolm, Fred, Nelson and Choir Boy, four men whose lifelong friendship is nearly destroyed by a series of betrayals and bad choices that derail their dreams and their relationships with the women in their lives. McRae’s play engages audiences with its sharp, believable, but never profane dialogue. It appeals to young people and families as it delivers lessons of truth and redemption via Ms. Lola – “The Wisdom” – a matriarchal figure who’s seen and lived it all.

Jersey City-born and raised, Joe McRae began writing Gospel stage plays in the late 1990s, soon after an audition repelled him from pursuing a career in the mainstream entertainment industry. Asked during the audition to spew a series of expletives, McRae refused. The director persisted. “God will forgive you,” she told McRae. Her words stung him.

“They wanted me to do things that went against my religion,” he related. “I didn’t feel that I should compromise. I didn’t feel that I should do things that God didn’t want me to do.”

He founded Joe McRae Productions and wrote his first faith-themed play, Take Back What the Devil Stole, in 1998. His second, All That Glitters Ain’t Gold, was nominated for a Gospel Tiffany Award. In addition to Real Men Pray, his most recent work, McRae has written and produced Behind the Shout and That’s My Momma. Each speaks to audiences about the power of faith. Real Men Pray was previously presented at Crossroads last spring and summer and is due to be presented at other venues in the coming months.

The cast is made up of New Jersey-based actors whose larger than life performances evoke the inherent pitfalls in relationships and the power of faith and forgiveness.

Faith and religion are central to McRae’s life. He has been in the ministry for the past 13 years and is a licensed and ordained associate minister with the New Day Rehoboth Church in Jersey City.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from New Jersey City University, where he also acted in theater.  McRae works as a caseworker in addition to writing and producing plays. He has been married to the former Sonia Vera Davis for 16 years. They live in Carteret with their two children.

McRae has produced skits and led theater workshops for young people in schools, community centers and nonprofit organizations. His acting credits include productions of Hamlet and The Wiz, as well as commercials.

In his plays, McRae aims to communicate the message of a loving, forgiving God through believable characters faced with the familiar challenges of life. The dialogue is realistic and contemporary, but never profane.

He says: “After every show I’ve done, someone comes up to me and says ‘you just told my story’.”

McRae will take Real Men Pray on the road in 2012. Performances are scheduled at The Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia, March 3; the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, April14; Newark Symphony Hall, May 18 and 19; The Billie Holiday Theatre in New York City, July27 and 28; and Howard University in Washington, D.C., Sept. 29.

Tickets for Real Men Pray are $25 each; $20 each for groups of 10 or more. To purchase, go online to www.JoeMcRaeProduction.com. Phone: 732-423-1771. Email: JoeMcRaeProduction@yahoo.com.

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