Receiving immediate acclaim from event participants were the creators of Off the Kuff, Ephraim Sykes, Sasha Hutchings (Hamilton, Rocky), and Shaun Derik. Other honorable mentions include Stage Manager, Anthony Dunning; Door Operations Manager, Nathan Appleby; and Sound Engineer, Taylor Williams (Hamilton).

Shaun Derik is a nationally recognized Motivational Speaker and Engagement Expert and Ephraim Sykes is a television and film actor with  Broadway credits with the casts of Vinyl,  Leave It On the Floor, and Hamilton. The two dazzled a 300 attendee audience of the community’s finest; the tastemakers, writers, and poets, those who educated others in the arts. Revelers were treated to memory making performances from the delectable wordsmith Daniel J. Watts (Vinyl, Hamilton, Whorl Inside A Loop), not to  mention:

Marcus Paul James (Motown, Rent), Crystal Joy (Motown), Alysha Deslorieux (Hamilton, Beautiful), Anthony Ramos (Hamilton), Derrick Baskin (Difficult People, Memphis), Daveed Diggs (Hamilton) Crystal Thomas, Jasmine Cephas Jones (Hamilton), and an unparalleled midnight wrap-up performance with soiree headliner, Morgan James (Motown, Godspell).

The party goers jammed through the night with music courtesy of the one and only Preston “DJ DUGGZ” Duggers (Motown) and special treat Lucianna Padmore’s 4-piece band.

Sighted mingling about were television, film and Broadway actor, the amazing Leslie Odom Jr. (“Smash”, Hamilton), the very beautiful Teyonah Parris  of “Chi-Raq” and “Dear White People”, “Straight Outta Compton’s” Corey Hawkins and other celebrities like Kelly McCreary of “Grey’s Anatomy”, J Bernard Calloway of “Blue Bloods” and Memphis Jonathan Groff (“Glee”, Hamilton) and Hair Vlog Celebrity, Taren Guy. What a magnificent way to bring in the New Year!

The post Solomon And Kuff’s Host An ‘Off The Kuff’ New Year’s Eve Affair! appeared first on Broadway Black.

In “Chi-Raq,” iconic Black director Spike Lee takes on a modernized, hip-hop fueled, political agenda laced re-telling of the classic play in what some are calling his cinematic “comeback.”  Before you head to the movies, let’s review a couple of things about the original work.

Lysistrata is set in 411 B.C. surrounding the epic Peloponnesian War, a feud which spanned over nearly three decades between Athens and Sparta.  Fed up with the destruction caused by the senseless violence, tactical leader Lysistrata convinces the women of both cities to invoke a sex strike, which will ultimately force the men to surrender.  Though the suggestion is met with some resistance at first, the women are steadfast in their resilience, the libidinous men are ultimately at the mercy of their women and their…members, and at the desperate sight of a naked woman, swiftly and distractedly negotiate a peace.

In “Chi-Raq” Juilliard graduate Teyonah Parris serves as a thick and fierce “Lysistrata” who gathers the women of two rival gangs in Chicago to promote a sex-strike until the excessive violence that is costing innocent lives ceases.

Much like Spike Lee’s highly controversial films of the 80’s and 90’s, much of Aristophanes’ works put a mirror to the ebbs and flaws of the community and called it entertainment.  His work was known for being topical with many of the highlighted characters being famous or local personalities the audience would be familiar with.  Spike employs the same technique in “Chi-Raq” using his prose-like platform to incorporate hot topic names like Eric Garner, Ferguson and Condoleezza Rice.

Flanked with a powerhouse cast “Chi-Raq” also includes the incomparable Angela Bassett, Jennifer Hudson, Wesley Snipes and an out-of-type Nick Cannon as Lysistrata’s gang leading boyfriend.  Spike Lee film staple Samuel L. Jackson serves as a one-man Greek chorus narrating the plot with rhymes and that intonation only Jackson can deliver.

First Lin, now Lee.  Who would’ve though setting history to hip-hop could be so entertaining?

Be sure to check out “Chi-Raq” when it hits theaters on Friday, Dec. 4.

The post What You Need To Know Before Seeing “Chi-Raq” appeared first on Broadway Black.