The cast includes co-creator Griffin Matthews, along with Melody Betts, Rodrick Covington, Kevin Curtis, Tyrone Davis, Jr., Nkrumah Gatling, Latrisa Harper, Jason Herbert, Aisha Jackson, Kristolyn Lloyd, Michael Lluwoye, Corey Mach, Tiffany Mann, Jeremy Pope, Jamard Richardson, Nicolette Robinson, Adeola Role, Conor Ryan, and Jamar Williams.

“Determined to find his place in the world, 20-something Griffin leaves his job and his New York City apartment to volunteer for a charity in Africa. But when his altruistic aspirations collide with the real world, his life is changed in unexpected and profound ways. Inspired by a true story, this new musical infuses a world pop score with African beats in a journey about discovering whether changing the world is even possible.”

As Broadway Black already reported last month, the show was able to crowd-fund enough money to send the the cast, creators and a film crew to Uganda. In preparation for the New York premiere they met with the real-life Ugandan students the story is based on, participated in service projects, mentored orphans, and worked alongside local artists to take part in an exchange that will help to shape their performances and lives! Their main goal was to  connect with the people and places that have inspired the show and to come home and share an authentic theater experience with audiences in New York City!

Invisible Thread will be produced produced in association with the American Repertory Theater, where the musical held its world premiere in February 2014 under the title of Witness Uganda. Invisible Thread will begin previews at the Tony Kiser Theatre on October 31, with an official opening on  December 2, and a limited run through to December 27.

FIRST NYC REHEARSAL!! A million thank yous to every actor, director, production team, friend, family and supporter who has been a part of this journey. You are with us today. And we celebrate YOU!! There is a long invisible…

A photo posted by Witness Uganda (@witnessuganda) on Sep 14, 2015 at 9:08am PDT

The post Invisible Thread Cast Announced After Return From Uganda appeared first on Broadway Black.

A major focus of ANT was to show a wider array of stories and storytelling that was seldom seen whenever Black artists were on stage. This led to the productions of several original plays as well as adaptations of existing classic and contemporary works for all-Black casts. Their first major success came in 1944 when Anna Lucasta by Phillip Yordan debuted on Broadway starring Hilda Simms and Frederick O’Neal. It was ANT’s first all-Black play with a non-racial theme and went on to a national tour, a production in London, and a film in 1958 starring Eartha Kitt and Sammy Davis, Jr..

Financial issues and artistic difficulties brought the unfortunate demise of ANT by the mid-1950s, yet the legacy and revolutionary spirit had only just begun. The American Negro Theater was the beginning for many amazing artists such as Vinie Burrows, Harry Belafonte, Alice Childress, Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier, Isabel Sanford, and many other dynamic actors, directors, and playwrights. It is because of these artists that we can do more today. Happy Anniversary!

Check out the exhibition at The Schomburg Center in celebration of the 75th anniversary of our renowned American Negro Theatre (ANT).

Known to the locals as “The Harlem Library Little Theatre,” the ANT was founded in 1940 as a community space for thespians to work in productions that illustrated the diversity of black life. This exhibition is taken entirely from the Schomburg Collections and highlights the ANT’s stage productions from 1940 through 1949 with photographs, posters, playbills, and news clippings. Images include scenes from successful plays such as Anna Lucasta, studio workshops, and radio broadcasts featuring prominent talent whose careers began at the ANT. The exhibition is located in the Theatre, and is open 10:00 – 6:00, M, F, S, and 10:00 – 8:00, T, W, Th.

Now through January 2016

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture 

515 Malcolm X Boulevard New York, NY, 10037 (917) 275-6975

The post 75th Anniversary of the American Negro Theatre appeared first on Broadway Black.

Tyson made her Broadway debut in Jolly’s Progress (1959) as Eartha Kitt’s understudy. She went on to appear in other Broadway shows including Tiger Tiger Burning Bright (1962), A Hand Is On The Gate (1966), Carry Me Back To Morningside Heights (1968), The Corn is Green (1983), and in 1974, she hosted the 28th Annual Tony Awards.

In 1961, Ms. Tyson appeared in Jean Genet’s The Blacks, the longest running off-Broadway non-musical of that decade (1,408 performances). The Blacks boasted a cast of soon-to-be legends of the arts like James Earl Jones, Maya Angelou, Louis Gossett, Jr., and Roscoe Lee Browne.

It wasn’t until 2013 that Tyson won a Tony Award (Best Actress in a Play) for her performance as Miss Carrie Watts in Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful.

That year she also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play and the Outer Critics Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play, for Bountiful.

Tyson boasts a beyond impressive television and film resume, as well. Most recently she was seen in the ABC hit How To Get Away with Murder, playing Ophelia Hartness, Annalise’s mother. Annalise is played by Tony-winner Viola Davis (2001, Best Featured Actress in a Play, King Hedley II and 2010, Best Actress in a Play, Fences). Other TV credits include The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Roots, King, A Woman Called Moses, The Women of Brewster Place, and Law and Order: SVU.

On film she has been seen in Sounder, The River Niger, Bustin’ Loose, Fried Green Tomatoes, and The Help, to name a few.

We here are Broadway Black salute you, Miss Tyson! We honor you! We thank you! You are TRULY a Black (girl) who ROCKS.

Black Girls Rock airs Sunday, April 5th, 2015 at 7p/6c on BET,
hosted by Tracee Ellis Ross and Regina King.

We’ll be tuning in! Hope you will be, too.

The post Black Girls Rock Will Honor Cicely Tyson appeared first on Broadway Black.