A private event for the Antonyo Awards will take place on Monday, June 20 from 5:00p – 7:00 p.m. at the Times Square outpost of the event’s co-host, Black-owned Brooklyn Chop House. The nominations for the 2021 to 2022 season will be live-streamed from the event. Please check www.AntonyoAwards.com closer to the date for the live stream information. 

The Inaugural Antonyo Awards took place on Juneteenth, 2020 as a way to acknowledge the incredible work by Black theater artists during the 2019 – 2020 season.  Winners included Adrienne Warren (Tina), Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop), Camille A. Brown (For Colored Girls Who Have Committed Suicide/when the rainbow is enuf) and the Lifetime Achievement Award went to Chuck Cooper.

Heralded by international press including NPR, The New York Times, and the BBC, the 2020 Antonyo Awards was the first awards show to be streamed after the worldwide shutdown brought entertainment to a halt.

Broadway Black‘s founder and CEO Drew Shade says:

“We are so excited to bring back the Antonyo Awards, which was such a source of joy for Black people and the theater community as a whole during a very difficult time. We wanted to bring back the Antonyo Awards to specifically honor and acknowledge the amazing contributions by Black people in theater and highlight the work that had significant importance to us this past season.”

Eric Emauni and Jennifer Friedland have been brought on to the Broadway Black team as producers of the event.

Due to the ongoing pandemic and amended theater schedule, the Antonyo Awards will take place in the Fall, with the anticipation to return to June in 2023. If you would like to be involved in this year‘s Antonyo Awards please visit: antonyoawards.com

The Inaugural Antonyo Awards has over 22,000 views and can be watched here

The post The  Antonyo Awards Will Return This Fall, Nomination Ceremony June 20th appeared first on Broadway Black.

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.