Founded in 2009 by playwright Kelley Nicole Girod, the Obie Award-winning festival has been a vehicle for directing diversity on stage as it showcases emerging playwrights of African and African-American descent. The first season in February 2010 produced short one-act plays with more than 30 theatre artists and collaborators.

Presented by Horse Trade Theater Group, much of the work for the 2016 festival is world premiere and allows for reflection of 21st century perspectives. Seven playwrights were commissioned to write new 10-minute plays:

• Tanya Everett (Without Scars with Breast Friends)
• Keelay Gipson (The Lost at Planet Connections Theater Festivity; N/F at Downtown Urban Theater Festival)
• Jiréh Breon Holder (2012-13 Kenny Leon Fellow, Alliance Theatre)
• Roger Q. Mason (Onion Creek with Son of Semele Ensemble, Los Angeles)
• Stacey Rose (2015-16 Dramatists Guild Fellow)
• Korde Arrington Tuttle (Beautiful Mess in Around the Block: a 5D Project)
• Nia Ostrow Witherspoon (Global Arts Fund Grant for The Messiah Complex)

Bedford + Bowery stated: “It’s refreshing to see diversity not only present in the artists chosen, but in the work being made, as TFTT clearly demonstrates that theater and performance today is not only defined by the standard play, but so much more.”

In addition to the panel discussion, the event hosts an Open Mic Night (Jan. 28) and Inaugural Writers Group Presentations (Jan. 31). The latter focuses on excerpts of works in progress by Ngozi Anyanwu, Christine Jean Chambers, Edgar Chisholm, Danielle Davenport, Khalil Kain and Maia Matsushita. A musical reading, Hotel Harare – written by Daaimah Mubashshir and music by Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa – also is among the offerings.

Inspired of the James Baldwin-packaged essays The Fire Next Time, the festival website displays the following Baldwin quote: “There is something terribly radical about believing that one’s own experience and images are important enough to speak about, much less to write about and to perform.”

Festival alumni include: Katori Hall (The Mountaintop, Hurt Village); Dominique Morrisseau (Detroit ’67); Marcus Gardley (The Box); Radha Blank (Seed); and Zoey Martinson (Ndebele Funeral).

Among the team behind the festival are: producing artistic director Kevin R. Free (2012 New Black Fest Playwriting Fellow); associate artistic director Angelica Cheri (Papers and Plastics film); founding playwright and production consultant Derek McPhatter (Under the Spell Productions, Harlem Arts Alliance/Columbia University Dramatic Writing Fellow); founding playwright Germono Toussaint (A Mile In My Shoes, Inc.); and assistant producer Keila Fontanez-La Salle.

The post The Fire This Time Festival A Haven For Diversity appeared first on Broadway Black.

Hip Hop is once again taking the theater by storm in the form of the newest hit contemporary musical iLLA!  After premiering at this year’s annual New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), iLLA received the 2015 Award for Excellence for the NYMF Developmental Reading Series.

iLLA! follows Robert, a classically trained dancer, who dreams of becoming a famous rap star.  After suffering a humiliating defeat at a leading open mic competition, Robert struggles to redeem himself in the eyes of his peers. He falls hard for a girl named Stacy but his family’s prejudices threaten to tear them apart.  Can Robert overcome his fears and troubled home life to achieve his Hip Hop dreams? It’s a journey of Swagger, Struggle and Self-love that we all must travel.

The fresh production touts musical influences ranging from hip hop to R&B to gospel with music by Jevares C. Myrick and book and lyrics by Ronvé O’Daniel.  Alumni of Wright State University, the writing duo are both theater veterans, having collectively performed in shows including Book of Mormon, Seussical the Musical, Ragtime, Smokey Joe’s Cafe and Altar Boyz.

In more exciting news, iLLA! was recently selected as the first NYMF Next Link Project for 2016.  An exclusive writer service opportunity, Next Link entitles the production to subsidize production slots at the festival, training sessions that optimize the creative team’s access to funds and professional contacts, and a qualified dramaturg to assist the writer in improving the show.

It’s thrilling that shows like Hamilton are setting the stage and opening up new doors for innovative takes on a traditional art form.  Congratulations to the cast and crew of iLLA!  Stay tuned for all the latest news on this HOT new musical.  You heard it here, it’s gonna be FIRE!

The post New Hip Hop Musical iLLA Is Creating A New Beat appeared first on Broadway Black.

In a message from pop icon and Tony winner Cyndi Lauper – co-founder and board member of True Colors Fund – she states: “While great strides have been made in recent years… when young people are so bullied and tormented that they feel their only way out of that hell is to end their lives, it’s clear we still have a long, long way to go before we achieve full equality and acceptance in this country.”

The mission of the nonprofit organization is to end homelessness among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, and to create a world in which young people can be their true selves. Playwright Howze  – whose work includes abominable, Tiny Boyfriend and all of what you love and none of what you hate – gives a platform for youth with a work-in-progress project, that began Nov. 2, as part of a residency at Brooklyn’s BRIC. Its BRIClab program is for emerging and established local artists to explore and expand the possibilities of their work in music, dance, theater and multi-disciplinary performance.

Directed by Saheem Ali – who most recently served as associate director on The Tempest for Shakespeare in the Park – The Children will culminate with a performance followed by a moderated artist-audience dialogue Nov. 7, at BRIC House Artist Studio. Reflecting Brooklyn’s creativity and diversity, BRIC presents contemporary art, performing arts and community media programs as well as provides resources to launch, nurture and showcase artists and media makers.

Howze, placing his protagonist in New York City, “follows the journey of a teenage boy who escapes his fraught home in search of a place to belong.” Lost and alone, he discovers a restless tribe of young people defying a world that refuses to let them be themselves. The work, set in and around a makeshift shelter, is further described as a funny contemporary musical that upends perceptions of family and celebrates community in the most unlikely of places.

Arrangement and orchestration is by Avi Amon who wrote The White City (O’Neill 2014 National Music Theatre Conference, Discovery New Musical Theater Festival at Ball State University, finalist for the 2015 Richard Rogers Award) and Step on a Crack (featured in Prospect Theater’s Seventh Annual Music Theater Lab). Choreography is designed by New York-based dance and theatre artist Jennifer Harrison Newman (Saturday Night Fever, The Lion King), who has studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and performed with Michael Jackson and The Radio City Rockettes.

A 2015 Fellow of the Sundance Institute Theater Lab, Howze’s Self-Portraits will be developed and presented in conjunction with a 2015-16 fellowship at Lincoln Center Education, while all of what you love and none of what you hate will receive a micro-residency at The Bushwick Starr in February as well as be featured at Cutting Ball Theater’s Risk Is This… Festival in San Francisco during March.

The post New Musical By Phillip Howze Reaches Trans/Queer Youth appeared first on Broadway Black.

Freedom’s Song, a new musical about a Civil War-era interracial family torn apart by slavery, is set to receive a private, industry-only reading on Nov. 16, featuring a cast led by Amazing Grace’s Mike Evariste and Savannah Frazier.

The cast, directed by Melissa Crespo with music direction by co-writers Alison Holman and Caleb Collins, will also feature Trevor McQueen (Annie Get Your Gun), MJ Rodriguez (Rent) John Cormier Burke (Annie-National Tour) Dwayne Washington, Siobhan Roland and Jeffrey Wilsor. The ensemble for the reading includes Kimberly Faye Greenberg, Brian Childers, Ryan Rhue, Tim Hein, Tiffany Renee Thompson, Elora Rosch, Emily Mattheson, Rod Singleton, Yvette Bedgood, Geo Jones and Galyana Castillo.

Martha, a white woman, and Cyrus, a black slave, flee Georgia to seek safety in Pennsylvania, only to have Cyrus taken away by slave catchers, leaving Martha and their young son, Joshua, to fend for themselves until he can get back to them. Years later, on the eve of the war, David, Sarah and Jeremiah are introduced whose lives all seemingly intertwine, comparing the social climate of that time to the themes residing in our society today in an epic and universal story of unconditional love, racism, sexuality, war, and humanity. The soaring score is a mix of classic Broadway showstoppers, gospel, and ragtime.

Freedom’s Song has been performed around New York since 2013 to sold out audiences in new works festivals in the city. Three months ago, co-writers Alison Holman and Caleb Collins created an Indiegogo campaign in hopes of getting the show to Broadway. They raised a little over $12,000 and the costs went towards the staged reading and the production of the cast recording for potential investors.

For industry investors and producers interested in reserving a seat for the staged reading and for information on the time and venue, email the creative team at freedomssongmusical@gmail.com.

The post Mike Evariste Heads New Musical, Freedom’s Song appeared first on Broadway Black.

Part performance piece – as meditation on the artistic process – and part actual work session, Parks demonstrates why writer James Baldwin (her creative writing teacher) stated “she may become one of the most valuable artists of our time.” It’s probably safe to say that she has become one of the most important voices of our time.

Parks became the first Black woman to win a Pulitzer for her 2001 Topdog/Underdog; her first Pulitzer nod came in 2000 for In The Blood. Her latest work Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) – which ran at The Public (October-December 2014) and at Harvard University’s The American Repertory Theater (January-March) – received the 2015 Kennedy Prize for Drama and was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Parks talked with Arise 360 about her critically-acclaimed trilogy play which follows Hero, a slave, from West Texas to the Confederate battlefield.

A special “Watch Me Work” installment, during which she performed songs she wrote and composed for Father Comes Home, took place in January at The A.C.T. It was livestreamed by the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at HowlRound.TV.

The free “Watch Me Work” performances at The Public Theater – also to be livestreamed by HowlRound – begin at 5pm and last 75 minutes. Questions can be sent via Twitter at #watchmeworkslp or via email to watchmeworkslp(at)gmail.com. Remaining dates are:

• September 28
• October 5, 12, 26
• November 2, 16, 30
• December 7, 14

You can watch the first performance in its entirety below:

The post Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work Series Returns appeared first on Broadway Black.

Sound familiar?

Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical is inspired by American civil rights history that involved the Little Rock Nine – nine teenagers who were enrolled at Little Rock Central High School in 1957 following the U.S. Supreme Court decision for desegregation of schools.

Created by Douglas Lyons (Five Points: An American Musical), who serves as lyricist and co-composer with Greg Borowsky, the musical will have its first private industry reading Aug. 28 with an all-star cast. Brittney Johnson (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) and Talia Thiesfield (HBO’s “Veep”, LMNOP) are “Lily Polkadot” and mean girl “Penelope Square”, respectively. Gerard Canonico (American Idiot: The Musical, Spring Awakening) portrays “Sky Square”, and Sara King (Hair) plays “Ms. Square”/”Mama Square”.

The readings will be directed by Amy Anders Corcoran, with musical direction by Madeline Smith as Ethan Pakchar contributes on guitar.

“I fear America’s history is repeating itself,” explained Lyons on the importance of the story in the midst of a post-racial society. “Hate is unfortunately still an issue in our nation. Instead of using violence to fight back, I’ve chosen to transform my anger into art.”

Lyons’ anger is not solely felt. He, along with many others, sensed it in the Ferguson Riots. It welled up from the Oklahoma Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity racist chant. It was sparked with the murder of Trayvon Martin by the overzealous neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman. It also boiled over from Indiana’s “anti-gay” bill.

Texas sports anchor Dale Hansen felt the need to speak out against racist signs held up by young fans at a local high school basketball game that when placed together read WHITE POWER. He said, “Kids have to be taught hate. And it’s our parents and grandparents, our teachers and coaches, too, who teach us to hate. Kids become the product of that environment.”

In July via the Polkadots Facebook page, a post of an interview by Maria Hinojosa with Phylicia Rashad (forever in America’s hearts as “best mom ever” Clair Huxtable of “The Cosby Show”) was shared as another basis of inspiration for the show. During the interview, Rashad talked about her environment growing up in Houston, TX, and seeing segregated water fountains for the first time.

While at a grocery store she read the signs about the two water fountains: COLORED and WHITES ONLY. The curious young Rashad decided she would taste the water from the “Whites Only” fountain. When she did, she discovered the water tasted no different from the “Colored” fountain. Rashad said she realized in that moment what she would later be able to articulate, that “humanity had tricked itself into refusing to accept itself in its fullest.”

This truth is undoubtedly what the character, Sky, comes to understand. The shy Square boy, who is curious about the new girl’s unique skin, develops a friendship with Lily that provides her hope and rocks the foundation of Rockaway Elementary. Polkadots is described “as a colorful history lesson for children, reminding them that our individual differences make us awesome, not outcasts.”

“My true mission for Polkadots is that it will become a colorful history lesson for the next generation, instilling great core values in youth and reminding them that we must never go back to the ugly parts of our humanity,”stated Lyons, who can currently be seen in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. “If children have never heard of the Little Rock Nine or the Jim Crow laws, they won’t know that America’s ‘progress’ is slipping backwards.”

And that is what theatre is about folks. As Thorton Wilder, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright/novelist said: “I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.”

The 55-minute show will be easily produceable and hit on key themes for youth. When being the “cool kid” is a pressure-filled dilemma for adolescents, it’s great to have theatre geared for youth that sets the stage for learning the best of humanity.

“Let’s educate them with sprinkles on top!” Lyons said.

Check out Salina Giardino’s fun illustrations that capture the “cool” of the Polkadots characters on the musical’s Facebook page. Follow Lyons at @DouglasSings.

Now for a brief history lesson of Little Rock Nine:

• 1954: The U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the historic Brown v. Board of Education, declaring all laws establishing segregated schools to be unconstitutional and calling for the desegregation of all schools throughout the nation. The NAACP began registering Black students in all-white schools in cities throughout the South.
• 1955: The Little Rock Board of Education adopted the plan of Superintendent Virgil Blossom (known as The Blossom Plan), outlining an integration timeline that started with Central High School first after opposition by elementary school parents as well as allowing for a transfer system.
• 1956: The NAACP filed a lawsuit against The Blossom Plan which placed a Black majority at Horace Mann High (even if Black students lived closer to Central) and a White majority at Hall High. White students would be allowed to transfer from Horace Mann, but Black students didn’t have the option to attend Hall.
• 1957: Selected on the criteria of excellent grades and attendance, nine Black students were registered at the all-White Little Rock Central High. Nicknamed “Little Rock Nine” they were: Ernest Green (b. 1941); Elizabeth Eckford (b. 1941);  Jefferson Thomas (1942–2010); Terrence Roberts (b. 1941);  Carlotta Walls LaNier (b. 1942); Minnijean Brown (b. 1941); Gloria Ray Karlmark (b. 1942); Thelma Mothershed (b. 1940); and Melba Pattillo Beals (b. 1941).
• Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus denied the Little Rock Nine access to Central High when they arrived Sept. 3, having the National Guard posted at the entrance – beginning what would be called the Little Rock Crisis. Faubus defied a Sept. 20 court order to remove the National Guard.
• Sept. 23 the Little Rock Nine returned to Central High after Little Rock Mayor Woodrow Wilson Mann requested President Dwight Eisenhower to send federal troops (Eisenhower dispatched nearly 1,000 paratroopers and federalized the 10,000 Arkansas National Guard troops). The 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army escorted the students into the building and units remained at the school for the rest of the academic year to guarantee the Little Rock Nine’s safety.
• 1958: Blossom was removed from office when most of the Little Rock Board of Education resigned. The Little Rock School District under the Faubus’ leadership (Cooper v. Aaron) fought for a two-and-a-half year delay on de-segregation arguing that if the schools remained integrated there would be an increase in violence. The Federal Courts ruled against the delay. Faubus and the school districts closed all public high schools and sought to initiate separate private schools.
• The schools reopened in 1959 after the “Lost Year.”

The post Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical Inspired By Little Rock Nine appeared first on Broadway Black.

In 2013, The Greene Space brought together close to 100 theater artists from across the globe to create audio recordings for the very first time of all 10 plays, including Tony Award-winner Leslie Uggams; Drama Desk and Obie Award-winner Anthony Chisholm; Obie Award-winner Brandon Dirden; Russell Hornsby; Tony Award-winner Roger Robinson; Emmy Award-winner Keith David; Ebony Jo-Ann;John Earl Jelks; Roslyn Ruff; S. Epatha Merkerson; Wendell Pierce; Harry Lennix and Taraji P. Henson.

The series is presented by The Greene Space in partnership with the August Wilson Estate, where Dr. Indira Etwaroo serves as Executive Producer. It is led by Constanza Romero, Wilson’s widow. Together they brought together many longtime Wilson collaborators and interpreters, including Tony Award-winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who served as Artistic Director for the project, and Associate Director and Tony Award-nominee Stephen McKinley Henderson.

I highly recommend you take a moment of your day to listen. It is truly a joy and makes for a nice Sunday afternoon treat. I also strongly suggest you listen to them in chronological order to understand how the African-American experience progressed over time. Audio will only be available through August 26, 2015.

Click here to listen now.

The post Listen To All 10 Of August Wilson’s Plays Until Aug. 26 appeared first on Broadway Black.

Atlanta will serve as the backdrop for the festival this year and has since the festival began.

Founded in 1987, the NBAF uses fashion, dance, film, literature, music, theatre and visual arts to put the spotlight on the art and culture of people of African descent.

Before the Festival began for the 9^th year in a row, department store Neiman Marcus’ (Peach Tree location) hosted Fine Art and Fashion at the beginning of the year.

The annual event serves as a benefit for the NABF and recognizes artists in fields ranging from performing arts to fashion while raising money for the festival.

From July to September the festival will give those who attend the chance to dive head first into a variety of art.

The focus of the 2015 NABF will be African dance , its evolution from the 18th century to today and its global impact through the festival’s performances and interactive workshops.

When the Festival kicks off July 11 participants will be able to discover the influence Africa has had on art through the Galas, Film Screenings, Poetry Slams and many other events.

The NABF is the one of the oldest organizations in the United States that highlights art of African descent and its influence on modern artists.

Tickets to the events being offered during this year’s festival will range from $5 to $500+ and it will run from July 11 to September 19. Click here to checkout the festival line up.

The post 2015 National Black Arts Festival Runs July To September In Atlanta appeared first on Broadway Black.

Miller is best known for her Broadway roles in Pippin and Sister Act and will join Broadway Black star Norm Lewis (Phantom, Les Mis, Porgy and Bess), whom she played opposite in Ragtime, and other actors for the reading. The Prince of Egypt will be co-presented with DreamWorks Theatricals as part of Bay Street’s 24th annual Summer Gala and will feature dinner and an auction, in addition to the performance.

The Prince of Egypt, based on the 1998 DisneyWorks film, will be a new stage adaptation by composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz. The musical tells the Biblical story of Moses, who begins his life as the child of Hebrew slaves. In order to protect him, Moses’ parents put him in a basket and float him down the river, where he is found and adopted by Pharoah’s queen. As an adult, Moses learns of his true identity and seeks to free his people from Pharoah’s bondage.

Tickets for the Bay Street Theater Summer Gala may be purchased here.

Listen to Patina Miller sing Aquarius/Easy To Be Hard from HAIR below

The post Patina Miller Joins Norm Lewis In The Prince of Egypt Musical Concert Reading appeared first on Broadway Black.

Harlem Theater produced the show and commissioned Stew to compose the show.

Co-composed with his long-time collaborator Heidi Rodewal, who also performs, the show pays homage to the great African-American writer and activist James Baldwin.

Written in 1955 “Notes of a Native Song” is collection of, playwright, poet, and social critic, James Baldwin’s essays. Containing 10 of Baldwin’s essays the book discusses race issues in America and Europe.

Stew said Baldwin’s work is embedded so deeply within his DNA that, until I began writing Notes of a Native Song, he was rather unaware of how intimately, if not thoroughly, it had guided his path: from church youth choir to punk rock clubs, from LA to Amsterdam, from Broadway to Harlem Stage, Baldwin was his GPS. During youth his work answered a lot of big questions but the challenges he posed I’m still wrestling with today.

Notes of a Native Song is a cabaret style show consisting of a live collage of songs, text and videos. The show will highlight Baldwin’s brave and activism for airing uncomfortable truths as celebratory events of literature and beauty throughout his career.

Presented in association with the Schomburg Center the show is part of Harlem Stage’s 2015 season and celebrates the 90th anniversary of Baldwin’s birth.

Performances of Notes of a Native Song will take place Friday at 7p.m.and Saturday and Sunday at 2pm at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse.

Get your tickets HERE before it’s sold out!

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