Drew Shade, Founder, Creative Director of Broadway Black | Photo by Ambe J

“I ain’t never found no place for me to fit. Seem like all I do is start over. It ain’t nothing to find no starting place in the world. You start from where you find yourself.”

― August Wilson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

It can be easy to get discouraged and difficult to continue the artist journey. At times you question, do I belong? Why am I doing this? Is it worth it? Then you find that one glimmer of light that fuels your next step, and all feels right again– until it doesn’t, and you must start again.

There have been several times that I’ve wanted to abandon my vision of Broadway Black. I’ve doubted, sabotaged, and chastised myself for having to learn what I didn’t know, internalizing the negative more than the positive, thinking that I was proving to a higher power that the vision wasn’t meant to be, it wasn’t meant for me. Thinking that if I stop, it will all just go away. But that’s not how visions work, I’ve learned. Your heart pulls, and your body becomes restless until you get back up and start again.

Know there is more joy than sorrow hanging in the world waiting for you to claim it. You may not know how-to DIY, but that doesn’t matter when you’re called. Grace has extended itself long enough to wait for you to show up and start over. Whatever your “this” is, believe it’s for you. Forget being embarrassed for your lack of “training” and your “unpolished” technique. Share your “this” the best way you know to share it.  Use all that fear, rage, sadness, or disgust you’ve bottled up inside so you can get to the joy, happiness, kindness, and love because you deserve it. You’re worthy.

The “industry” still has a long way to go to rebuild with all of us in mind. So, In the meantime, keep creating and lighting your own way. You don’t need to prove or qualify your resilience. Don’t let the seeking of approval and validation rob you of your art. Approve yourself. Validate yourself.

That is #BroadwayBlack!

Warmly

Drew Shade

Founder/Creative Director of Broadway Black

The post A Letter From The Director: You Must Keep Starting Over appeared first on Broadway Black.

Cicely and Cuba Gooding Jr. in the 2013 Broadway production of The Trip to Bountiful. Photo by Joan Marcus

Tonight (Thursday, January 28th, 2021), we lost a titan, a Broadway Black legend, an unstoppable force. Tonight, on January 28th, 2020, the countless award-winning actress Cicely Tyson has passed away at the age of 96.

From growing up with nothing, a childhood of poverty, constant scrutiny from the public, and the continuous challenges that the entertainment industry places on Black women, Ms. Tyson rose above it. She showed the world the strength and power of a Black woman determined to succeed. 

She was a woman of distinction. She was one of the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients, the nation’s highest civilian honor. President Barack Obama said: “Cicely’s convictions and grace have helped for us to see the dignity of every single beautiful memory of the American family.” She has also won an Academy Award, multiple Emmys, a Peabody, and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame just last year.

Not only did she have an expansive and dignified film and television career, but she also had a beautiful Broadway resume that spanned from 1959 with Lonnie Coleman’s Jolly’s Progress, to her final show in 2015, Donald L. Coburn’s The Gin Game. 

And don’t think we won’t take a moment to reflect on her rightly deserved Tony award-winning performance as Miss Carrie Watts in Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful. No one is given the title legend overnight. That title must be earned, and she earned it, time and time again. Every role she played, she played with heart, specificity, and skill.

Rest in Power, Ms. Cicely Tyson. Thank you for all the light you gave us. We will see to it that your legacy lives on.

Broadway Black favorites came from all over to both acknowledge and honor Ms. Tyson’s legacy on social media:

 

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Watch Broadway Black’s beloved leader, Drew Shade, interview Cicely and the rest of the star-studded cast during the opening night of our Queen’s final Broadway show, The Gin Game: 

The post Cicely Tyson, Broadway Black Legend and Trailblazer, has passed away at the age of 96 appeared first on Broadway Black.

Courtesy of Netflix

After his magnetic performance in August Wilson’s acclaimed drama, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which debuted on Netflix in December 2020, Chadwick Boseman will receive a posthumous honor. The late actor, who passed away last summer after a 4-year battle with colon cancer, will receive the Performance of the Year Award by the Critic’s Choice Association at their third annual Celebration of Black Cinema.

Portraying the troubled yet inspiring role of Levee in the Netflix drama directed by George C. Wolfe (Topdog/Underdog), written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Stick Fly), and produced by Denzel Washington (Fences), Boseman ignited our screens for what would be his final performance. Levee is the trumpet player for Ma Rainey, who’s aspirations and goals are what encapsulates the dream for Black America: hard work, grit, and an uncompromising passion. He is joined on screen by other stage legends Tony winner Viola Davis (King Hedley II), Tony nominee Colman Domingo (The Scottsboro Boys), and Glynn Turman (A Raisin In the Sun). 

Although Boseman is most remembered for his groundbreaking role as King T’Challa/Black Panther in the Marvel film “Black Panther,” he is no stranger to the stage. After graduating from Howard Unversity with a BFA in Directing, Boseman set his sights on acting, directing, and playwriting. He is a former Drama League Directing Fellow and an AUDELCO winner for his role in Urban Transitions. 

Along with the award, a donation will be made in Boseman’s honor to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Gold Program. The Academy describes the program as a “talent development, diversity, and inclusion initiative to provide individuals, with a focus on underrepresented communities, access, and resources to achieve their career pathways in filmmaking.”

The digital event will be shared with the public on Saturday, February 6 on KTLA.

You can now watch Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom streaming on Netflix

The post Critic’s Choice Association Honors the Talent of Chadwick Boseman appeared first on Broadway Black.

 

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The first inaugural class consists of Jasmine Canjura (New York University), Auzsa Carberry-Walters (University of Central Florida), Tesia Childs (Columbia University), Avery Evans (University of California, Irvine), Jordan Fleming (Columbia University), Moses Garcia (Carnegie Mellon University), Jason Goodwin (New York University), Gabrielle Kunzika (University of Connecticut), Alex Luong (University of California, San Diego), David Parker (University of Alabama at Birmingham), Brillian Qi-Bell (University of Iowa), Anabel Manuela Romero (Columbia University), Annelise Salazar (San Diego State University), Gabrielle Scott (Georgia Southern University), and Joshua Wyatt (Carnegie Mellon University).

Cody comments on his gratitude and appreciation for the overwhelming support of the program by saying “I’m blown away by the talent, drive, and power that each of our applicants possesses. Our selection process was quite arduous and competitive, but we have selected an astounding cohort for the inaugural year,” said Cody Renard Richard. “As we begin to gather for work sessions, providing tools and resources that they can carry with them on their journey, I’m incredibly proud to welcome them to our community! And thanks to the overwhelming amount of support from that community, we’re able to significantly increase each student’s grant from $1,500 to $4,000.”

Additionally, the Seller Lehrer Family Foundation has further expanded the scholarship with the Seller Lehrer Producing Scholars, which will award two aspiring producers a mentorship with industry professionals through Adventureland, the producing company that produced Hamilton and other Broadway productions.

For more information on the Cody Renard Scholarship Program, visit HERE or Instagram. 

For more information on Broadway Advocacy Coalition, visit HERE or Instagram.

The post Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program Announces First Round of Scholarship Recipients! appeared first on Broadway Black.

Photo Courtesy of Black TV & Film

Adrienne Warren is spreading her wings and lending her talents to a new miniseries set to air on ABC in 2021. The Women of the Movement will be a six-part program that will star Warren as Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmet Till. The series will follow Mamie Till-Mobley as she champions the fight for justice after her son was brutally murdered in the Jim Crow south in 1955 at the age of 15 years old.

The series is inspired by the book Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement by Devery S. Anderson and is created by Marissa Jo Cerar. The miniseries will be produced by Will Smith and Jay Z (production team for Fela!).

Adrienne Warren is currently nominated for a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for her role as Tina Turner in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. We know Warren will be simply the best! 

The post Adrienne Warren to Star as Mamie Till-Mobley in ABC Miniseries appeared first on Broadway Black.