Born and raised in New York, French began his career in community theater. It wasn’t long before he was also performing in street plays in Harlem for Amiri Baraka’s Black Arts Repertory Theater. In 1967 French was one of the founding members of the Negro Ensemble Company. His career however, was not limited to theater. He also has appeared in such notable films as “Malcolm X”, “Crooklyn”, “Car Wash”, “Round Midnight”and “Kinsey”, and on television programs such as “Law and Order”.

In light of his contributions to theatre, Actor’s Equity Association has named him the 2015 recipient of the Paul Robeson Citation award.

BRAVO to the great Arthur French who will receive the Actors' Equity Foundation 2015 Paul Robeson Citation Award http://t.co/UKjFOYJhi3

— Actors' Equity (@ActorsEquity) October 9, 2015

French joins other notable recipients of the award such as Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Maya Angelou and Sidney Poitier, among others. According to the website,

Created in 1971, the award honors individuals or organizations that best exemplify and practice the principles to which Mr. Robeson devoted his life:  dedication to the universal brotherhood of all humankind, commitment to the freedom of conscience and of expression, belief in the artist’s responsibility to society, respect for the dignity of the individual and concern for and service to all humans of any race or nationality.

Actors’ Equity Association is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 50,000 Actors and Stage Managers. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans.  Actor’s Equity Association has committed to “…present annual citations to the individual or organization that, during the preceding year or years, best exemplified and practiced the principles and ideals of the great humanitarian, Paul Robeson.”

French will be presented with the award at 2:00 pm on Friday, October 16, 2015 at the Eastern Regional Membership Meeting of Actors’ Equity Association.  We are thrilled to express our appreciation to Arthur French for his contribution to Black Broadway and our congratulations on receiving this well deserved award!

The post Arthur French Honored with the Paul Robeson Citation Award appeared first on Broadway Black.

“I haven’t been this excited by a project in a long, long time. I don’t think there is another person like her in my lifetime or in the last 100 years of American artistry and literary achievement,” Leon has said about the author, poet and civil rights activist.

When interviewed on WYNC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” following the release of his book, Smiley was asked who he would like to play Dr. Maya Angelou. He said at the top of his short list would be Phylicia Rashad, the incomparable mother of “The Cosby Show” and Broadway fame. Listeners were asked to share their picks, which included: Oprah Winfrey, Pamela Poitier and Audra McDonald. Smiley said it will ultimately be left to Leon’s discretion, including who would portray him.

The production, however, is not a telling of the life of Dr. Angelou – who died May 28, 2014. Rather, Smiley has described it as a coming-of-age story about a young man trying to find his way in the world while traversing difficult moments in life. It is about a relationship, a friendship, that shaped the future of the host of PBS’ “Tavis Smiley” and Public Radio International’s “The Tavis Smiley Show.” Angelou is like a mother to him, the news personality said. And, his journey – one that has always been to be a public servant – is filled with much wisdom and inspiration from one of America’s most influential people and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Since Angelou’s death, there also has been a hip hop-infused remix of her poems, Caged Bird Songs, released by Smooch Music (November 2014); her poem, “A Brave and Startling Truth,” was aboard Orion’s first test flight into space (December 2014); and the United States Postal Service unveiled a commemorative Forever stamp (April 2015).

The Little, Brown & Company memoir, co-written with David Ritz, was released April 7 – the same day as the postage stamp and three days after what would have been Dr. Angelou’s 87th birthday. April 1 it was announced that the book would be adapted for the stage and that a writer was being sought for the project.

The book summary reads:

“Tavis Smiley and Maya Angelou met in 1986, when he was twenty-one and she was fifty-eight. For the next twenty-eight years, Angelou was a teacher and a maternal figure to Smiley, and they talked often of art, politics, history, music, religion, and race. In My Journey with Maya, Smiley beautifully recounts a friendship filled with conversation that began when he, a recent college graduate and a poor kid from a big family in the Midwest, accompanied the revered writer on a sojourn to Ghana. Smiley stumbled into a relationship with her that shaped his future and affected the man he became. Like a mother to him, she was generous, challenging, and inspirational – as she was to so many. Here he shares his portrait of Angelou – a highly complex individual who left an indelible imprint on American culture.”

Having unsuccessfully ran for public office as a city councilman, Smiley said he felt lost and unsure of what was next for him in the early 90s. While an aide to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley in 1993, he briefly met Angelou. Then he had the opportunity to assist a small group of friends accompanying Angelou on a two-week visit to Africa. His job was “carrying her bags,” but it became the basis for a 30-year friendship. Smiley has said: “I am who I am because Maya Angelou loved me.”

For the launch of the book, the author shared via social media lessons he learned from Angelou and started a #LoveVSCourage conversation, as the two often debated on what was the greater virtue. Angelou believed courage was the greatest virtue (“I’ve often said that of all the virtues courage is the most vital. Without courage we can do little.”). Smiley continues to be convinced that love activated courage. Despite their persuading reasonings, neither budged, according to Smiley. Prompting “hours of lively exchange, laughter, thrilling arguments and thoughtful reflection,” this debate is at the heart of the book, he said. The book also features conflict over Smiley’s scrutiny of Democratic nominee Barack Obama as he sought to become the first African-American president.

My Journey With Maya follows Smiley’s 2014 Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Year. During his interview with Lehrer, he stated that Angelou – who was born the day King died (April 4) – was his “cosmic connection” to all the great Black icons he wished he had known: Martin Luther King Jr.; Malcolm X; James Baldwin; Nelson Mandela; and Nina Simone.

In his book, Smiley wrote: “The key to all relationships, whether a private relationship among two friends or a public relationship between an interviewer and interviewee, is listening… Your eagerness to speak often belies your willingness to listen.”

When “My Journey With Maya” hits the stage, we all will be listening.

With more than 50 honorary degrees, Angelou has published seven autobiographies – the first being the acclaimed I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) – and several books of poetry with Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Her achievements include: a Tony Award nomination for her role in the 1973 play Look Away; three Grammys for her spoken word albums; a Spingarn Medal (1994); and National Medal of Arts (2000). She was a dancer, singer, actor, director and producer of plays, movies and public television programs. She also was a journalist in Egypt and Ghana during the days of decolonization and coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Leon, who won a Tony for 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun starring Denzel Washington, will add the Smiley play to a list of noted works that include: Holler If Ya Hear Me, Stick Fly; The Mountaintop; and August Wilson’s Fences, Radio Golf and Gem of the Ocean.

The post Tavis Smiley, Kenny Leon Team For Adaptation of My Journey With Maya appeared first on Broadway Black.

Founded by Larry Leon Hamlin with the support of Dr. Maya Angelou in 1989, the National Black Theatre Festival has become the most significant event in Black American theatre history. NBTF is held biennially and attracts more than 65,000 people during the week long event. Throughout the six days there is an Opening Night Gala, Celebrity Receptions, Readers’ Theatre of New Works, National Black Film Fest, the Youth Celebrity Project, Midnight Poetry Jam, TeenTastic (Collaborative Teen Initiative), International Colloquium, International Vendor’s Market, NBTF Fringe, Author’s Pavilion, Artists Networking Showcase, Workshops and Seminars, the Larry Leon Hamlin Solo Performance Series, and 35 Black Theatre Companies from across the country and abroad offering over 100 performances.

This is sure to be an incredible event for the world of Black Theatre! You have to go at least once and this is your year. You can’t be a part of the community and have never gone to the National Black Theatre Festival For more information on the National Black Theatre Festival and its history visit nbtf.org.

The post Students And Stars To Gather At National Black Theatre Festival 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.