Problem: Sparks was born in Phoenix, Arizona, to Jodi (nee Wiedmann) Sparks and former professional football player Phillippi Sparks. Sparks has a younger brother, Phillippi "PJ" Sparks, Jr., who plays football at Arizona Christian University. Her father is African-American and her mother is Caucasian. She grew up in the suburbs of Ridgewood, New Jersey, while her father played as a defensive back for the New York Giants.

In 2009, she made her acting debut on Disney's The Suite Life on Deck, guest starring as herself in the "Crossing Jordin" episode. The episode aired on October 23, 2009. Sparks also guest starred on the hit Nickelodeon show, Big Time Rush. The episode aired on June 18, 2010. On May 3, 2010, it was announced that Sparks would join the cast of the Broadway show In the Heights as Nina Rosario. Sparks took part in the production from August 19 through November 14 for a consecutive 12 weeks. In addition, Sparks did a voice over on Team Umizoomi as the Blue Mermaid. The episode aired on May 13, 2011.  In 2012, Sparks made her film debut in Sparkle. Following the release of Sparkle in 2012, Sparks began auditioning for several television and film roles while also receiving scripts from companies interested in having her apart of their projects. First of which was an indie drama film titled The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete which follows two inner-city youths left to fend for themselves over the summer after their mothers are taken away by the authorities. Sparks plays Alice a neighbor and friend of character Mister. She will also be in the film, The Grace of Jake, which follows ex-inmate and wandering musician Jake who travels to a small town in Arkansas intent on exacting revenge from his father, but begins to unravel a complicated family history as he befriends the locals. The film was in post production and was set for release on October 3, 2014. Sparks plays Nicole Lovely the preachers daughter.  Sparks played the part of Abby in Dear Secret Santa, a Lifetime Television romantic Christmas film that premiered on November 30, 2013. Sparks will play Shasta Carvell in Left Behind, an apocalyptic thriller, based on the novel series of the same name, and is a reboot of Left Behind: The Movie, which is based on the idea of a pre-tribulation Rapture. The film is currently in post production and is set for release in early 2014. In November 2013, Sparks guest starred on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Sparks plays Alison Stone, a high school teacher who somehow finds herself scared and covered in blood in a hotel room crime scene. The season episode, titled "Check In & Check Out" aired on November 20, 2013.

What was the play about

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Problem: Carousel is the second musical by the team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics). The 1945 work was adapted from Ferenc Molnar's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline. The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He participates in a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes tragically wrong, he is given a chance to make things right.

The original Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945. The dress rehearsal the day before had gone badly, and the pair feared the new work would not be well received. One successful last-minute change was to have de Mille choreograph the pantomime. The movement of the carnival crowd in the pantomime had been entrusted to Mamoulian, and his version was not working. Rodgers had injured his back the previous week, and he watched the opening from a stretcher propped in a box behind the curtain. Sedated with morphine, he could see only part of the stage. As he could not hear the audience's applause and laughter, he assumed the show was a failure. It was not until friends congratulated him later that evening that he realized that the curtain had been met by wild applause. Bambi Linn, who played Louise, was so enthusiastically received by the audience during her ballet that she was forced to break character, when she next appeared, and bow. Rodgers' daughter Mary caught sight of her friend, Stephen Sondheim, both teenagers then, across several rows; both had eyes wet with tears.  The original production ran for 890 performances, closing on May 24, 1947. The original cast included John Raitt (Billy), Jan Clayton (Julie), Jean Darling (Carrie), Eric Mattson (Enoch Snow), Christine Johnson (Nettie Fowler), Murvyn Vye (Jigger), Bambi Linn (Louise) and Russell Collins (Starkeeper). In December 1945, Clayton left to star in the Broadway revival of Show Boat and was replaced by Iva Withers; Raitt was replaced by Henry Michel in January 1947; Darling was replaced by Margot Moser.  After closing on Broadway, the show went on a national tour for two years. It played for five months in Chicago alone, visited twenty states and two Canadian cities, covered 15,000 miles (24,000 km) and played to nearly two million people. The touring company had a four-week run at New York City Center in January 1949. Following the City Center run, the show was moved back to the Majestic Theatre in the hopes of filling the theatre until South Pacific opened in early April. However, ticket sales were mediocre, and the show closed almost a month early.  The musical premiered in the West End, London, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on June 7, 1950. The production was restaged by Jerome Whyte, with a cast that included Stephen Douglass (Billy), Iva Withers (Julie) and Margot Moser (Carrie). Carousel ran in London for 566 performances, remaining there for over a year and a half.

Who was the producer?

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