AAPEX

Writers & Actors Audition for TV Show

2012-01-31T16:25:00.003-05:00

FRACTURED LENS

is auditioning for our election year TV comedy show

FUN IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

To audition prepare a one minute campaign speech

by a seriously unlikely presidential candidate.

Particularly interested in minorities, meaning any one who is

NOT straight, white, Christian and male.

If you are not sure if these qualities apply to you,

then you may consider yourself a minority.

Auditions open to all ages.

Auditions in Spanish welcome.

Writers interested in submitting monologues

( i.e. bizarre campaign speeches) also welcome.

For audition appointment and further information, contact Jaz Dorsey at dramaturgtn@gmail but DO NOT SEND headshots, etc

Show will film in approximately one month.

PLEASE forward on to others.

Stu Richel reprises roll in HANNAH ELIAS

2012-01-31T07:13:00.002-05:00

Stu Richel

One of the definite highlights of my career was producing a reading of Nathan Ross Freeman's HANNAH ELIAS at The Players Club on Gramercy Park in June 2008.

Another highlight was watching Stu Richel mesmerize an audience in the role of John Platt, the New York Senator whose affair with the African American enchantress Hannah Elias triggered murder and scandal in turn of the century NYC.

So you can imagine how thrilled I am that HANNAH ELIAS made it into the hands of George Ferencz at La MaMa and will be included in SHADOW - readings of new works of African American history - and that Stu will be continuing in his role.

Jazmn47
jazmn47@aol.com

CROWNS rocks Nashville

2012-01-30T14:58:00.008-05:00

Regina Taylor’s gospel musical opened Off-Broadway in 2002. It was inspired by the 2000 book “Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats” with photographs by Michael Cunningham and text by Craig Marberry. And that book in turn was inspired by African-American women whose hats speak to so much more than fashion – the triumphs and tragedies that beget the strength and dignity they possess and pass down to succeeding generations.

To continue reading, please click the post's title.

Red Harlem Readers

2012-01-27T13:23:00.000-05:00

Nathan Ross Freeman's HANNAH ELIAS at La Mama (NYC)

2012-01-24T11:37:00.007-05:00

Nathan Ross Freeman

Jaz Dorsey interviews Nathan Ross Freeman, author of HANNAH ELIAS, winner of the AAPEX Best Historical Drama Award 2008. Check out the upcoming NYC reading of HANNAH ELIAS, directed by George Ferencz at the legendary La Mama theatre-- and don't miss this tale of mansions, murder and scandal in turn of the century New York.

What role did theatre and the arts play in your childhood and upbringing?
Very little, actually. I was a percussionist, athlete (Track Scholarship to St. Joseph’s University, Philly) revolutionary, Political Scientist up 'til I was 22, in that order.

Tell us about your own evolution as an artist.
I was hired as a paraprofessional right out of college, to teach remedial reading in an alternative school in Philly. I discovered theatre as a way to address remedial reading and behavioral modification for, then termed, Socially, Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents. Wrote my first play "Where Is Momma" for a class of pregnant teens who were both single parents and living in single parent house holds. Temple University celebrated the work at Walk Auditorium under the dramaturgy of the renowned Rudy Wallace. I also directed the play. It was horribly staged, but the content brought the audience to tears and effectively created a new department at the alternative school. I remember sitting the last of 3 nights after everyone was gone from the theatre and staring at the ghost light and feeling the melancholic rush that is theatre. I remember the very moment in that empty theatre falling deeply, deeply in love.

More, though, I recognized theatre in its live presentation as the most effective medium for art to do something. The potential to affect immediate and systemic change. So, Theatre and Teen Education became my calling. I forsook any and all previous ambitions for the love of theatre, and later, film.

What inspired you to write HANNAH ELIAS and what are some of the adventures you have had in researching and writing the play?
A close, close friend and colleague, actor and partner in the development of Hannah Elias, Johnnie “Blue” Gardner, a revolutionary historian, loved the hidden legends published in J. A. Roger’s books. He found Roger’s account of Hannah Elias in Sex And Race: Volume II. In 1991 Blue brought me the story. To paraphrase Blue in his attack, “Hey, Nate, you have got to check out this story about a black woman, Hannah Elias. It is the most incredible story I have ever discovered.” I said great. I will get around to it. This went on for 3 years. Finally he cornered me, sat me down and we examined the account. I have yet to forgive myself for waiting so long. I immediately took all projects off the board and we began convincing Larry Leon Hamlin of the NC Black Rep (producer of the National Black Theatre Festival) to create a Hannah Elias development workshop, working with professional actors.

For various and sundry reasons the workshops didn’t pan out and Blue and I decided to develop Hannah Elias ourselves. I wrote the script. Blue co-starred as Cornelius Williams in a showcase production at Winston Salem State University. Were it not for Johnnie “Blue” Gardner, we would not be having this interview. Make sure you get Blue’s take on our trek with Hannah Elias. He has veritably lived with her.

The adventure in researching the script was amazing. It was like a whodunit. We hired an intern from NC School of the Arts to travel to DC and NYC to research the facts. She was blocked and turned away at every pass, including the Tilden Trust which Andrew Haswell Green founded to create NYC Libraries. Eventually her father, a DC lawyer, took her off the project telling her it was not a subject to be snooping around about. We’re talking about the death of Andrew Haswell Green, after all, the Father of Greater New York.

So we scrounged every newspaper article from October 1904 to 1906 that followed the enormous truly, truly stranger that fiction accounts of Hannah Elias. The most extraordinary gift the play offers is the standing mystery of Whatever happened to Hannah Elias. It’s as if, after the ruling by the Supreme Court on the law suits brought against her, she disappeared into thin air. So the audiences that will experience Hannah will have more than a post cocktail discussion. The play will create a compulsive journey for buffs to find Hannah’s legacy, offspring and heritage. And every poetic license scene is carefully crafted to reflect the facts. Yet, it still stands to reveal even more details that we are eager discover. Many, many New Yorkers don’t even know who Hannah Elias or Andrew Haswell Green are.

If you got on your"theatre soapbox" today, what is the one thing you would rant about?
How theatre is nowhere near dead. How technology and electronic media will not only NOT bury theatre, but, indeed, in the end, lead everyone inexorably to view theatre as the ultimate visual-audio sensory experience. You can only get so virtual before our brains want to smell, taste, touch, see and hear in the Now. It is my firm knowing that we are headed for a Theatre Renaissance. There is nothing, nothing
like the close encounter stare that possesses a person after the Curtain falls on the first play they have witnessed. Nothing! Remember yours?

To learn more about the free reading Thursday, February 2nd at 7:30PM,

please click the post's title.

La Mama E.T.C presents Experiments '12 (NYC)

2012-01-21T08:07:00.005-05:00

Please click images to enlarge.

Free Admission

There will be a talkback with the author

following the reading

74A East 4th St 212-475-7710

www.lamama.org

Funding for this program provided in part by

The John Golden Fund, The Ford Foundation,

New York State Council on the Arts and the

New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

in partnership with the City Council.

AAPEX Interview: Petronia Paley

2012-01-19T12:21:00.008-05:00

Petronia Paley

in her play

On The Way To Timbuktu

Interview by Jaz Dorsey,

AAPEX Dramaturge

What role did theatre and the arts play in your childhood and upbringing?

I was born and grew up in a small segregated town inGeorgia. There were no theaters and had there been, I would have not been welcomed. There were movie theatres which I loved and,of course, there was television, which I absolutely loved with its repertoire of old movies, comedies, and dramas, soap operas and variety shows. I loved the radio and the love affair continues. Being an only child, I learned to entertain myself, resulting in an active imagination. I loved to dress up in my grandmother’s dresses and hats. My aunt’s big voluminous wedding gown rested underneath the bed, waiting for me to open the magical box and transform myself into a fairy tale princess or a bride or a queen--anything I imagined. The record player and records were my soundtrack as I stood before the mirror singing or crying my heart out. And there was the church with its music, Easter pageants, and the minister’s struts, prances, moans, and his waving of the beloved white handkerchief which served to punctuate the sermon at key moments, as well as, mopping the abundance of sweat, having been produced because of all the drama about hell and damnation and the probability of our going there if we didn’t straighten up and fly right. It was the stuff of theatre, harking back to its beginnings. I loved to read poetry and at bedtime I created stories and dances in my head which lulled me to sleep and waited patiently to continue the next night. My imagination was a dear and cherished companion. This was my theatre.

Tell us about your own evolution as an artist.
I had always wanted to act, so I took an acting class and there was no turning back . I came to New York after graduating from Howard University with a degree in acting. I had studied with Owen Dodson among others and I was immediately drawn to the Negro Ensemble Company, where I took classes and was in one of their productions; Leslie Lee’s “First Breeze of Summer," which was my first Broadway show, and also at The Public Theater where I did Ed Bullins’ “The Corner” and Ntozake Shange’s “A Photograph” and that was the beginning of my career. At some point, I got an agent, and she was the one who got me into daytime television, getting me under-fives at that time. Daytime was my professional training ground. It taught me to be disciplined, focused, yet flexible, to spin on a dime. It taught me the value of preparedness and the virtue of working fast. It taught me humility, to accept what life gives and takes with equanimity. It taught me how to move forward when I wanted to stay still. It taught me that I was more than my job, that it’s easy to think you are what you do and to accept the illusion of 'celebrity' as who you are. Because of depression, I knew actors who had to seek therapy to help them (get through) life after the soap. I certainly had to deal with the loss of my job on Another World, but when I left, I wrote my first full-length play. Perhaps writing was my therapy.

What inspired TIMBUKTU and what is it about?
On The Way to Timbuktu tells the story of Dr. Selene Slater-Bernaud, a professor whose passion for Shakespeare’s sonnets lead to an obsession with “The Dark Lady”. She is also in a troubled interracial marriage but she finds herself in love with a young female student and grappling with personal demons that threaten to destroy her and leave her on the verge of a psychic breakdown. She becomes so possessed with the sonnets that she begins to live them. Having gone through family drama and relationship trauma, she struggles to find a way to reconnect to her own authenticity, her identity and her strength. I created On The Way to Timbuktu because I needed to speak in my own voice as an artist. Creating this play has given me the opportunity to perform a role unlike any I have ever been offered or played.

What are your thoughts on acting as a profession in our country at this time?
I teach now and I tell my students all the time that they have to create their own work, which is of course much harder. They have to create their own shows, they have to create their own films and webisodes. When I first came to New York I think there were about 13 soaps and that whole market, it's all gone, it's horrible. And I see that as a terrible thing for the young actors. It's very sad. I just hope and pray that there's work for them. I see them in my classes and I wonder, “Where are they going to work?" I teach them that they have to be more pro-active in their careers. It's terrible, it's hard, but that's what they have to do. I tell them to continue to develop themselves, don't give up. Just keep developing all the things you want to do. When I was on all the those programs, The Doctors, Another World, Guiding Light, if I had asked the director if I could shadow him to learn more about directing for camera perhaps... But then being a woman and one of color at that time, perhaps the request would not have been encouraged. Better not to ask, "What if?' but resolve to move forward with fearlessness.

Thank you.
Petronia Paley

Actor, Director, Playwright, Teacher
Founder & CEO I the Actor
917.518.4432

To learn more about On The Way To Timbuktu

and to order tickets, please click the post's title.

I the Actor workshop and classes begin 2/20

2012-01-18T08:26:00.002-05:00

Please click image to enlarge.
For more information, please click the post's title.

Red Harlem Readers

2012-01-17T22:18:00.001-05:00

Ethnic casting stats for New York theatres

2012-01-14T12:54:00.004-05:00

A "Tip o' the Hat" to Owa again for these eye-opening stats. Owa suggests we form a Political Action Group (PAC)to address these discrepancies: "This other theater is providing jobs and careers for their own; while we hang about like beggars on the streets. How many of political representatives in NY City Council and others on state and federal levels have demonstrated an active interest in the career issues involved here? This could perhaps become a nation-wide effort. If its true in New York, then its true everywhere else."

Ethnic Casting Stats for NY Theaters

Here is an ethnic breakdown of casting at the largest non-profit New York Theatre Companies from the website linked below...very interesting stuff.

2006-07 to 2010-11 seasons:

ATLANTIC THEATRE CO

Caucasian: 95%

African American: 3.5%

Hispanic American: 1%

Asian American: 0.5%

ROUNDABOUT THEATER COMPANY:

Caucasian: 90%

African American: 8%

Hispanic American: 1 %

Asian American: 1 %

PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS:

Caucasian: 86%

African American: 12.4%

Hispanic American: 1.1%

Asian American: 0.6%

LINCOLN CENTER THEATRE:

Caucasian: 76%

African American: 17.5%

Hispanic American: 4 %

Asian American: 2.5%

MCC THEATER:

Caucasian: 84.5%

African American: 5.8%

Hispanic American: 3.8%

Asian American: 3.8%

Arab American: 1.9 %

NEW YORK THEATRE WORKSHOP:

Caucasian: 73%

African American 12 %

Hispanic: 3%

Asian American: 4%

Arab American: 8%

PUBLIC THEATRE:

Caucasian: 64%

African American: 21%

Hispanic American: 5.6%

Asian American: 6.5%

Arab American: 3 %

SECOND STAGE THEATER:

Caucasian: 80%

African American: 8.7%

Hispanic American: 4 %

Asian American: 6.4%

Arab American: 1 %

SIGNATURE THEATRE:

Caucasian: 47.5%

African American: 44.9%

Hispanic American: 2.4%

Asian American: 5.5%

THE NEW GROUP

Caucasian: 88%

African American: 2%

Hispanic American: 2%

Asian American: 7%

Arab American: 1%

MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB

Caucasian: 86.5%

African American: 11 %

Hispanic American: 1.0 %

Asian American: 1.0%

Arab American: 0.5%

Towne Street Theatre presents 5th Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival (2/3-19th LA)

2012-01-14T12:31:00.004-05:00

Towne Street Theatre presents 5th Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival

The festival begins February 3, 2012 and this year, it's all about - LOVE !

Towne Street Theatre's 5th Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival will showcase twelve unique plays that provide a glimpse of "Black Love." Selected from over 150 nationwide submissions, from a diverse group of playwrights who range in age, ethnicity, and gender, the plays embody the theme of this year's festival "The Black Experience: Part 2 - LOVE." The ten-minute festival features an ensemble cast of thirty actors in plays, both comedies and dramas, that explore love in all of its incarnations through race, relationships, family, sexuality, and the history of blacks in America.

Towne Street's 5th Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival will open Friday, February 3, 2012 and continue through Sunday, February 19, 2012. There will be one half-price preview on Thursday, February 2, 2012. All performances are at the Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Boulevard, (corner of Hollywood & Highland), Los Angeles, CA 90028. Show times are 8:00 PM on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 3:00 PM on Sundays. All seats are $12.00 and to purchase tickets for the festival, please visit www.townestreet.org.

For additional information, contact Towne Street Theatre via email at info@townestreet. org or call (213) 712-6944.

###

Towne Street Theatre 5th Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival Information

Plays

Twisted Dance by Porcha Evans / Paper Swan by Amina Henry / A Line of Malarky by Larry Parr -
directed by Nancy Cheryll Davis

Way Home by Leah Halper / Fat Dumb White Girl by Asher Wyndham -
directed by Veronica Thompson

The Anniversary by Cliff Gober / V Day by Ashford J. Thomas -
directed by Tony Robinson

First To The Egg by Colette Freedman / Out In The Open by Irene Ziegler -
directed by Mark V. Jones

Higher ED by Karla Sorenson -
directed by Dan Martin

An Idle Fancy by Libba Beaucham -
directed by Raf Mauro

Venus And Mars by Angela Batravil -
directed by Angela Batravil

Dates
February 3, 2012 - February 19, 2012 (preview night February 2nd)

Show Times
Thursday, Friday, Saturday @ 8:00 PM and Sunday @ 3:00 PM

Location
Stella Adler Theatre
6773 Hollywood Boulevard (corner of Hollywood & Highland)
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(near Metro Red Line)

Parking
Hollywood & Highland Center
$2.00 parking for 2 hours
(w/Validation @ Hollywood & Highland Center)

Tickets
All tickets $12.00 (preview tickets $6.00)

Web Site
(for ticket purchase & information)
www.townestreet. org

Contact
info@townestreet. org or call (213) 712-6944

Petronia Paley's ON THE WAY TO TIMBUKTU (2/1-12 NYC)

2012-01-14T08:16:00.003-05:00

On the Way to Timbuktu
Written and performed by
Petronia Paley

Directed by
Talvin Wilks

February 1st through the 12th, 2012
Thursday through Saturday 7:30 PM
and Saturday and Sunday, 3pm

A play about a woman's search for meaning
in a world of madness and betrayal.

Please click the post's title for more information and tickets.
Or call 866-811-4111

AAPEX Interview: Regina Taylor

2012-01-11T12:11:00.004-05:00

Regina Taylor

Profile by Jaz Dorsey

CROWNS: The Gospel Musical, by Regina Taylor, is in rehearsal for it's Nashville premiere, Thursday, January 26th at Christ Church Cathedral as part of the Church's Sacred Space for the City series. For full details and tickets, visit
www.ChristCathedral.org/SacredSpace/upcomingevents

I had a chance to converse with the playwright and learn a bit more about her career and the history of CROWNS.

As a child of 5, Regina Taylor remembers sitting on the floor with her mother creating childrens' books out of construction paper. It was from her mother that Taylor gained her appreciation for the power of words, especially as a young African American girl growing up in Dallas, Texas. Words give you the ability to create your own world. Taylor's mother worked for Social Security for over 25 years, but her passion was the arts. She took her daughter to art museums, symphonies and to
the theater and instilled in Taylor a sense of creativity as a survival tool. Taylor became an avid reader, reading everything from The Bronte Sisters to James Baldwin. "There is" she says "a wonderful feeling of transport in reading. You can see the world through other people's eyes and come back feeling that you have expanded yourself."

Going to college, Taylor started out as a writer, studying journalism with the goal of writing for newspapers. She took her first acting class in college thinking it would be an easy credit and fell into a career. Her first professional acting role at AGE 19 was in the film CRISIS AT CENTRAL HIGH, in which she portrayed Minnijean Brown, a member of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African American students who braved violence and armed guards to integrate Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The movie was filmed in Dallas and Little Rock and the flight to Arkansas gave Taylor her first trip on an airplane.

After graduating, Taylor moved to New York, where she lived during the 80s. NYC, she found, was the portal to the world - and there was theatre everywhere. She continued acting and supported herself with odd jobs - dog walker, house restorer and poster plasterer. She eventually found herself working at The Public Theatre under Joe Papp. Starting out as an understudy she ultimately found herself on Broadway, the first African American actress to play Juliet in a Broadway production. Over the years, Taylor has won great acclaim for her work as a Shakespearean actress.

Moving to New York also triggered her work as a playwright. One of her first plays, WATERMELON RINDS, received a production at the Humana Festival in Louisville, Ky. and through this festival experience she was introduced to theatres around the country.

Taylor's musical phenomenon CROWNS came about after she was contacted by Emily Mann with the McCarter Theatre, who sent her the book with an offer to write and direct a musical version. That was over 10 years ago and this year Taylor will direct the 10th anniversary production at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago. For more information on this anniversary
celebration, go to www.crownsthegospelmusical.com and follow/like CROWNSthegospelmusical on Facebook. Those who have "hat stories" of their own are invited to share them via Facebook.

"CROWNS", Taylor says, "is a play about life, about looking back, looking at the present, looking at the future. CROWNS is about the individuality of the human spirit, about how we present ourselves to the world and what we pass down to the next generation."

When Taylor started working on CROWNS, she herself didn't own a decent hat, but she grew up among hat queens - if you owned 100 hats or more, you qualified for "hat queen" status. Taylor's mother didn't own 100 hats, but she did have an impressive collection and she took her daughter on a journey of her hats - each hat had it's own story, it's own history. Mother illuminated the play as Regina wrote it.

Yolanda, the pivotal character, is a young girl from NYC who is sent South to live with relatives after her brother dies in a senseless shooting. Yolanda enters the world of Southern church going ladies and their hats, and as they share their stories with her, Yolanda sees her own future.

Over the past 10 years, CROWNS has established itself as one of the most popular and successful plays in the American cannon and has received productions across the country. In fact, if you go to the CROWNS website, there is a map that shows the locations of all productions of CROWNS. Nashville isn't on that map yet, but it's about to be.

By an interesting twist of fate, Nashville 2012 will offer our city another opportunity to commune with Regina Taylor, as she has been commissioned to write a new play for the Tennessee Women's Theatre Project.

Come to Nashville and Go to the Theatre!

Jazmn47
jazmn47@aol.com

What is the state of black theater in D.C.?

2012-01-10T11:16:00.001-05:00

By DeNeen Brown, Published: January 6 in the Washington Post

In this city with a population that is almost 50 percent African American, there is only one full-time professional black theater company. There are no black-owned theater houses or stages in operation.

To read more, please click the post's title.

Why Am I Afraid to Write African American Characters? by Marshall Botvinick

2012-01-09T14:45:00.003-05:00

Owa for turning us on to this post by Marshall Botvinick. To read it, please click the post's title.

Call for Plays

2012-01-09T12:56:00.003-05:00

Liberation Theatre Company wants your plays! Ongoing, $10 suggested donation. A 66-seat Black Box "meeting space" theatre in Harlem. Please click the post's title to learn more.

Red Harlem Readers

2012-01-06T17:46:00.001-05:00

Petronia Paley's ON THE WAY TO TIMBUKTU (2/1-12 NYC)

2012-01-05T12:28:00.008-05:00

Please click post's title to visit website and to buy tickets.

SistaStyle Productions "Louie & Ophelia" opens Jan 6th (Nashville)

2012-01-02T10:05:00.005-05:00

Mary McCallum & Keith Franklin

What: “Louie & Ophelia”A Stage Play written by Gus Edwards; Directed by Synthia Williams
Who: SistaStyle Productions in conjunction with Atlanta based New African Grove Theatre
Where: Darkhorse Theatre
4610 Charlotte Avenue
Nashville, TN 37209
When: Friday & Saturday- January 6th & 7th and
January 13th & 14th @ 7:30pm
Sunday, January 8th @ 4pm
Contact: Mary McCallum, 615-476-6430 ; email: Sistastyle_Productions@yahoo.com
Tickets: In Celebration of SistaStyle’s 10th Anniversary: Admission Price Is “Pay What You Can.” Donations Encouraged But Not Required

Fresh off of a successful run in Atlanta, Georgia- SistaStyle Productions, in conjunction with Atlanta’s New African Grove Theatre, presents Gus Edward’s “Louie & Ophelia.” Featuring Keith Franklin and Mary McCallum, this play is being presented in a one of a kind partnership between New African Grove and SistaStyle Productions, making both Atlanta & Nashville premieres. In this charming stage play, a working-class couple fall in love and struggle to maintain a relationship without giving up their old dreams, habits, and commitments. Ophelia is a cold go-getter fiercely devoted to the idea that her children become professionals, while Louie is a gregarious family man who just wants to build a home. "Louie & Ophelia" paints a real, gently humorous portrait of contemporary love and its trials. During the Atlanta run, “Louie & Ophelia” received the Atlanta Goldstar “Roar of the Crowd” award. Click here to read audience feedback: http://newafricangrove.com/id75.html

For more information, please contact Mary McCallum by using the contact information above. Photo attached: Mary McCallum & Keith Franklin (photo by Nic Starr)

Watts Village Theater Company receives American Theatre Wing's National Theatre Comp Grant (LA)

2011-12-20T11:22:00.005-05:00

In the same manner that a Quinceañera signifies stepping into adulthood, the 15th anniversary of Watts Village Theater Company (WVTC) signifies our coming of age. WVTC is taking a step onto the national stage; this year, we are honored to receive the American Theatre Wing’s National Theatre Company Grant, recognizing the top 10 most promising small theatre companies in the country. This May we celebrated WVTC Coming of Age at the California African American Museum, honoring Rosie Lee Hooks (Watts Towers Arts Center) and Clifton Johnson (Union Bank, Magic Johnson Foundation, Watts/Willowbrook Boys and Girls Club) as our Community Towers.

WVTC has also received national attention from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, James Irvine Foundation, Plum Foundation, Bank of America and now the American Theatre Wing. Thanks to your support, we are pleased to announce our most ambitious season ever in 2012, including a staged reading ofThe Riot/Rebellion based on interviews of eye-witnesses of the 1965 Watts Riots, a red-carpet world-premiere documentary of Meet Me @Metro, Josephina Lopez’s Simply Maria in collaboration with Animo Watts Charter High School, Meet Me @Metro: Uncovering Los Angeles’ Hidden Treasures in East LA, and our signature play development series Black Words on White Pages. Moving ahead, we are pleased to welcome David Guerra, our new Associate Artistic Director, and our newest board members, Farid Ben Amor, Stephen Wang, Karen Lascaris and Julie Siegel. We look forward to introducing all of our new family to you more fully in the newest edition of our newsletter, Watts Up, coming soon.

As we enter our new season, we plan not only to continue providing job opportunities for members of the local community, but also to build on our commitment to provide quality arts education to Watts’ youth. With your support, we will achieve our goal of doubling our individual donor contributions this year. To contribute, click on this link:

Or send a check to "Watts Village Theater Company" at:

Watts Village Theater Company

PO Box 72715

Los Angeles, CA 90002

Happy Holidays and see you soon in Watts,

David Mack

Managing Director, WVTC

david@wattsvillagetheatercompany.com

661-802-1546

Please click post's title to visit website.

Guillermo Avilés-Rodríguez, Artistic Director

David Guerra, Associate Artistic Director

Board of Directors:

Farid Ben Amor, Warner Brothers
David Catanzarite,
Palm Springs High School Performing
Arts Academy
Raquel Cinat,
California Emerging Technologies Fund
Karen Lascaris,
Lascaris Design
Lynn Manning (Chair),
Independent Theatre Artist
Judith Moreland (
Vice-Chair, Secretary),
UCLA
Julie Siegel,
Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District
Leslie Tamaribuchi (Treasurer),
CalArts
Stephen Wang,
Xenon Development

Advisory Board:
Chris Anthony, LA Shakespeare Center
Ricardo Antonio Chavira, Actor, Desperate Housewives
Victor de la Cruz, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
Rosie Lee Hooks, Watts Towers Arts Center
Clifton Johnson, Union Bank
Michael Manigault, Bank of America
Robert McCobb, PhD, The Christian Food Center
Debra Piver, Center Theatre Group
Bill Rauch*, Oregon Shakespeare Festival
* emeritus

Legacy Council:
Leo Briones, Centaur North Strategic Communications
Gregory Burks, Youth Opportunity Movement LA
Dolores Chavez, Inner-City Arts
Ernest Dillihay, ACE, LLC
Fred Fate, LA Theater Academy, LA City College
Michael John Garcés, Cornerstone Theater Company

Watts Village Theater Company @ the Watts Towers Arts Center
1727 E 107th St | Los Angeles, CA 90002

Please click the post's title to visit website.
Originally found on LinkedIn's American Theatre Group.

Red Harlem Readers

2011-12-17T16:52:00.002-05:00

Disney Musicals in Schools (Nashville)

2011-12-14T13:13:00.006-05:00

Industry overview by Jaz Dorsey

Nashville has been chosen as the first city outside of New York to participate in Disney Theatrical Group's "Disney Musicals in Schools" program and here's how it happened.

As a presenter of Broadway tours, TPAC works with The Broadway League and this year, at the Broadway League's Spring Road Conference, Disney announced that they were looking to take this program, after 2 years in NYC, "on the road" to other cities across the country.

TPAC Executive Vice President for Education and Outreach, Roberta Ciuffo-West, threw TPAC's hat in to the ring. For those of you who do not know her, Roberta is a native of Long Island, an NYU grad twice and a former Director of Education and Outreach for Juilliard, among other amazing accomplishments.

It turned out that Nashville was the ideal proving ground for the program.

For one thing, two of Disney's key players on the project now call Nashville home: Bryan Louiselle, who has adapted, arranged and orchestrated the music for the 30 minute KIDS versions of the Disney musicals used in the program, and Lori Casteel, who is the vocal coach for the accompaniment and guide vocal CDs which are included among the support materials for each title.

In addition to that, the TPAC ArtSmart program, which is around 30 years old, was developed from a program started at Lincoln Center and, again, Nashville was the first city to take that concept beyond NYC.

So this spring, 5 Nashville elementary schools will participate in "Disney Musicals in Schools. The schools are:

Glengary Elementary School
Hattie Cotton STEM Magnet Elementary
Hull-Jackson Montressori Magnet School
Kirkpatrick Elementary Enhanced Option
Percy Priest Elementary School

This will involve 5 teams of 2 teaching artists from TPAC working with teams of teachers at each school. They will train the teachers in the elements of production, the teachers will then produce the shows with input from the teaching artists teams with casts of 3rd & 4th graders, and, on May 17, 2012, the city of Nashville will have the awesome experience of a freeperformance by this first crop of young Nashville actors in TAPC's Jackson Hall. www.tpac.org

Come to Nashville and Go to the Theatre!

Jaz Dorsey
The Nashville Dramaturgy Project

Jazmn47
jazmn47@aol.com

TUSKEGEE AIRMEN PLAY will have its Broadway Backer's Audition on MONDAY DEC 12th 7PM

2011-12-11T10:26:00.004-05:00

"BLACK ANGELS OVER TUSKEGEE" The story of the Tuskegee Airmen set to have Broadway Backers Audition on Monday Dec 12th!!! Original Tuskegee Airmen have confirmed to be present!

Vibrantly energetic and emotionally captivating, Black Angels Over Tuskegee continues to enlighten and educate Off-Broadway audiences after an extended opening of 2 years. The award-winning, historical docudrama is a narrative of six men embarking upon a journey to become the first aviators in the United States Army Air Forces during a tumultuous era of racial segregation and Jim Crow idealism in twentieth century American history. Black Angels Over Tuskegee, which is inspired by true events, is currently showcased at the Actors’ Temple Theatre at 339 W. 47th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues in New York City.

Producers, Investors you are cordially invited to The Black Gents of Hollywood’s Broadway Backer’s Audition of their Off-Broadway hit play Layon Gray's BLACK ANGELS OVER TUSKEGEE. The Black Gents will reserve complimentary tickets under your name for this event. Please R.S.V.P. by Monday afternoon, December 12th, 2011 to thom@theblackgents.com or call 877-814-0553 ext.701 if you are able to attend.

Please click the post's title to visit the play's website.

Blackboard Reading Series

2011-12-09T09:12:00.000-05:00

NEXT Blackboard:
Monday, December 12, 2011 7:00pm

COMMUNITY NIGHT
Playwrights bring 10 - 15 pages of work
Actors cold read
Playwrights receive feedback

w/ Playwrights:
Joan Baker
Toccarra Cash
Garlia Cornelia Jones
Franz Reynold
Nathan Yungerberg
... AND YOU....

PLAYWRIGHTS - Interested in being part of Blackboard's 2012 season - submit your play!

ACTORS - RSVP to cold read on this fun night!

*Plays from December's Community Night will help schedule the 2012 season!*

$10 Suggested Donation
~wine served~

RSVP: info@blackboardplays.com

Red Harlem Readers

2011-12-08T17:09:00.001-05:00

Blackboard Reading Series

2011-12-03T10:38:00.001-05:00

NEXT Blackboard:

Monday, December 12, 2011 7:00pm

COMMUNITY NIGHT

Playwrights bring 10 - 15 pages of work

Actors cold read

Playwrights receive feedback

w/ Playwrights:

Joan Baker

Garlia Cornelia Jones

Franz Reynold

Nathan Yungerberg

*Plays from December's Community Night will help schedule the 2012 season!*

PLAYWRIGHTS - Interested in being part of Blackboard's 2012 season - submit your play!

ACTORS - RSVP to cold read on this fun night!

$10 Suggested Donation

~wine served~

RSVP: info@blackboardplays.com

Occupy Wall Street needs playwrights!

2011-12-01T15:53:00.004-05:00

Hey you guys.
http://occupywriters.com is the literary arm of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and there's some great stuff on there by the likes of Jonathan Lethem, Lemony Snicket, Ursula K. LeGuin, Douglas Rushkoff, Francine Prose, and many more. They are underrepresented by playwrights and have asked me to reach out to some. Most of the pieces are short, 500-600 words or so, although we've had some in the neighborhood of 1-2k and others that are full articles/essays. Lemony Snicket's is one of the best - funny and pointed without being
lecturing. http://occupywriters.com/works/by-lemony-snicket. Daphne Carr's is an example of personal experience http://occupywriters.com/works/by-daphne-carr. Kiera Feldman occupied "Birthright." http://occupywriters.com/works/by-kiera-feldman. Jules Bukiet did some history. http://occupywriters.com/works/by-melvin-jules-bukiet I went with a syllogism for my piece. Basically, just about anything works. Doesn't have to be long (probably shouldn't be long). We've got a guy closing his bank account. There's poetry and songwriting. No plays so far. Anything you write, please send to me and to occupy.submissions@gmail.com - that way the official email has it archived and I can speed it along as well.
Thanks!!!
Jason Grote
New Dramatists
jasongrote@gmail.com

Red Harlem Readers

2011-12-01T14:22:00.000-05:00

Mama don't let your babies grow up to be playwrights

2011-11-28T09:38:00.006-05:00

Please click image to enlarge.

AAPEX now lists over 250 (216 with direct links to some sort of web presence) African American playwrights and playwrights of the African American experience but how many of them are getting read? How many are getting produced? What theatre groups are willing to take a chance on new works? How do we convince them to bet on us when we're riding the bull in the rodeo?

Playwright royalties

2011-11-26T12:32:00.004-05:00

Informative post on playwright royalties can be found on the LinkedIn Theatre Producers group: http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&srchtype=discussedNews&gid=1781490&item=75996770&type=member&trk=eml-anet_dig-b_pd-ttl-cn&ut=0zMxCa6X4ril01
Unfortunately, you will have to be a member to read it. Since it's free, take the time to sign up or, if you are already a LinkedIn member, sign up for the group: Theatre Producers.

In the exchange of ideas and experiences on that post, you'll learn that a playwright who is a member of the Society of Authors (http://www.societyofauthors.net/) will get free legal advice regarding contracts beginning immediately upon joining the group. Associate Membership is available for those who are not published, self-published, or POD. If you're under the age of 35, yearly dues are around $100.00 which is a heck of a deal when it comes to getting legal advice that could keep you from being deprived of the money you deserve for the effort you put in to creating your play. BTW, the SOA has been around for over 125 years, having been founded by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Screw Occupy Wall Street-- Let's Occupy Broadway

2011-11-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

I Can Do Broadway
I can do Broadway
And you can do Broadway
And we can do Broadway right here
I've got the know how and
You're gonna show how
We can do Broadway right here.
So if you're looking for Broadway
You don't have to wait til you
Take that vacation next year
Just grab a cab or bus
Come take a look at us
Soon it will be clear that
I'm doing Broadway
And you're doing Broadway
And we're doing Broadway right here!

Copyright Jaz Dorsey, 1981

The Fire This Time Fest

2011-11-24T10:24:00.003-05:00

Who We Are
The Fire This Time Festival is a platform for early-career playwrights of African descent to explore new voices, styles and challenging new directions for contemporary theater.

Exploring themes from euthanasia, hero-worship, inter-generational conflict, homophobia, and more,The Fire This Time Festival creates dynamic theatrical experiences. The festival has quickly become a destination for diverse audiences, producers, and artists seeking exciting possibilities and opportunities in contemporary drama.

Our New Season
Our third season begins in January 2012. Our core program will be a full production of short plays, running over two weeks. We will introduce new work from:

France-Luce Benson
Jocelyn Bioh
Kevin R. Free
Patricia Ione Lloyd
Zoey Martinson
Antoinette Nwandu
Jerome A. Parker

In addition to our core program, several playwrights from prior seasons will return with staged readings of full-length works. Panel discussions and music events are also a part of our annual events.

The Campaign - $2,000 in Two Months
In this challenging economy, we remain committed to keeping ticket prices low, and making sure audiences from all income levels can attend our shows. As we seek donations, the Festival has attracted support from a few core individuals and we’ve even gotten a few grants. But it is not enough to cover all expenses.

$2,000 will close our gap for the season. This $2,000 will go directly to the artistic expenses for the program, giving us the means to actually compensate our roster of talented actors, directors and other collaborators.

We’re engaging nearly 40 artists this year, and we’re not promising them millions, but we would like to provide modest stipends and cover travel costs. You can help us do that.

The Festival has reached a very exciting moment. Many of our playwrights, directors and actors are enjoying new and exciting professional opportunities. There has never been more demand for what we do. And we want to do more!

Help us keep the fire burning by making a donation today!

More on What We Do
The first season of the festival brought together over thirty performers, directors, and other collaborators to create an amazing evening of short one-act plays. Presented by Horse Trade Theater Group over a sold-out run in February 2010. The Festival has evolved into an annual event, expanding upon its core short play presentations to offer panel discussions, staged readings, and other programs.

To date, The Fire This Time Festival has produced new work by the following playwrights: Jesse Cameron Alick, Deborah Asiimwe, Radha Blank, Christine Jean Chambers, Camille Darby, Marcus Gardley, Kelley Nicole Girod, Katori Hall, Yusef Miller, Derek Lee McPhatter, Dominique Morisseau, Germono Toussaint, and Pia Wilson.

Other Ways You Can Help
Even if you can’t make contribution there are many ways to help. Tell your friends about our campaign. Join our mailing list, or inquire about volunteer opportunities. We want to hear from you!

To learn more and/or to make a contribution, please click the post's title.

Red Harlem Readers

2011-11-22T12:58:00.002-05:00

No reading scheduled for November 27th.

Krapp's Last Tape (St. Louis)

2011-11-18T10:04:00.002-05:00

Please click image to enlarge.
Please click post's title to visit The Black Mirror Theatre Company

Red Harlem Readers

2011-11-18T09:42:00.002-05:00

November 20, Sunday at 4:00 - Free admission! Complimentary spiced tea!!

LYNN McCANN
Dancer, Actor and Singer
reads from her own work
“For Vera”
In the shadow of the Great Depression,
a young woman defines herself
“Hair Beer – or How I Learned to Tango”
Social triumph for a typical U.S. teenager
living in post-WWII occupied Germany

Red Harlem Readers, Food for the Mind, Body and Soul
Indian Cafe, Broadway, between 107th and 108th Streets

Associates: Richard Gaffield, Anne Gefell, Jerry Hassett, Cordis Heard and Lori Payne
To participate as writer, director, actor, reader and/or arts administrator, please email us:rhreaders@gmail.com

Brooklyn-based playwright Kymberle Joseph makes Off Broadway debut with a new one woman show "Monette"

2011-11-16T08:55:00.006-05:00

With divorce papers in front of her, and her only child off to college, Kennedy "Monette," is completely alone. How will this soon-to-be-divorced empty nester reclaim her life? Jasmine Eileen Coles plays more than ten characters including Monette's smooth-as-silk African-American father, her folklore tale telling Caribbean mother, and one very uptight best friend in this laugh-out-loud story where joy replaces despair. Best known for his award-winning and critically-acclaime d productions of MAAFA Suite and Black Nativity, another Brooklyn-based artist Jesse Wooden, Jr. directs the solo play that features the formidable talents of Jasmine Eileen Coles in the title role.

"Monette (pronounced Mo-Nay) is a story of truth, joy and learning to love who you are and where you are in that moment." playwright Kymberle Joseph said. Brooklyn native Kymberle Joseph makes her official Off Broadway debut with MONETTE I Love My Life, A new one woman show that will play a strictly limited engagement at Walkerspace, 46 Walker Street, October 21 through November 27, 2011 Receive a special $5 discount on your tickets by using the 1209 Members code "1209" (reg. price: $30) For tickets visit www.smarttix. com and also visit www.kmjproductions. com "I love this play because it is not a kiddie ride," director Jesse Wooden said. "It's a story about a real woman." Kym Joseph Managing Director/Producer P.O. Box 617 New York, NY 10113 917.416.4454 / 718.614.2797

To buy tickets, please click the post's title.

Call for Plays (Deadline: 11/16)

2011-11-15T09:19:00.006-05:00

Open Submissions being accepted for the 12th Annual New Works Festival at College of the Canyons

College of the Canyons Theatre Department wants your play, and currently has an open call for original plays for its New Works Festival. 10 minutes plays, One Acts, Full Length and Monologues are accepted

The festival, now in its 11th year, continues to evolve. Originally only for COC students, the festival continues to broaden its reach, working with playwrights across the country, sometimes conducting readings and workshops via videolink.

Directed by long time Adjunct Faculty David Stears. Mr Stears is no stranger to developing new works, having developed over 65 original works for the stage including over 20 original plays educational programming.

The New Works Festival at COC unique. Focusing on the process of the playwright, it is one of the few new plays festivals that allow for development during the process. Also unique to most festivals is the submission process is open to all and there is no submission fee (however, those playwrights selected to participate will have to enroll in a class).

Plays should be original works submitted by the original playwright. Selected playwrights must be willing to participate in the development process during the spring semester

The New Works Festival is now publishing the selected works presented during the festival. “It is a great piece for the writers and the actors to have their piece published as part of an annual anthology.” Says David Stears. The first of the Anthologies is the New Works Festival Anthology 2008, is available through Createspace (www.createspace.com/3507198) or through Amazon.

The deadline for submissions is November 16th at 5pm

For more information about the festival or submitting your work,
please contact Kim Gurnee (661) 362-3073
or follow the festival at www.facebook.com/NewWorksFestival

Please click the post's title to visit the NWF website.

Franz Reynold's I BLACK WOMAN I tonight at the cell (NYC)

2011-11-14T10:19:00.002-05:00

NEXT Blackboard:

Monday, November 14, 2011 7:30pm

I BLACK WOMAN I

By Franz Reynold

Directed by Yvonne Almeria Campbell

$10 Suggested Donation

reading followed by a 20 minute talkback

~wine served~

RSVP: info@blackboardplays.com

For More Information, please click the post's title.

The Essential Theatre play readings (DC)

2011-11-11T12:56:00.005-05:00

The
Essential Theatre

S. Robert
Morgan, Founder/Artistic Director

You Are
Invited!

The Artistic Community is cordially invited to our annual closed
table readings of new and current plays in development as part of our New Play Reading Series. Admission is free. Space is limited and all interested artist,
literary personnel and invited guest are asked to RSVP by calling (202)
328-0569 or by E-mailing, info@theessentialth eatre.org. All table readings will begin promptly at 6:00
PM in room 221 of the, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library located at 901 G Street, NW,
on the following dates:

Monday December
5th

Betty’s Wish
by La’Chris Jordan

Monday December
12th

Samson and
Miss Delilah by Natalie Blank

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library is accessible by metro
rail using the red, green or yellow lines via Gallery Place using the Galleries exit at
9th and G streets and the blue, orange and red lines trains to Metro
Center using the 11th
& G streets exit. All interested
artistic and literary personnel are asked to RSVP by calling (202) 328-0569 or
E-mail info@theessentialth eatre.org.

About The New Play Reading Series

The New Play
Reading Series is created to give voice to the work of new and established
playwrights. It is in substance an
incubator that serves to nurture the work for a three-year period in a
supportive and collaborative environment with other artisans, actors and
directors. Further, it is a forum where
audience members are welcomed to engage in an open dialogue with the playwright
and director about the issues presented in the material as well as techniques
used to present them. The New Play Reading Series was initiated in the spring
of 1992.

The Essential Theatre is a non profit professional theatre
dedicated, but not limited to producing theatre reflective of the
African-American experience from a first person perspective that explores and
celebrates the rich, diverse American cultural landscape. Paramount in
the company’s mission is the implementation of programs for youth in theWashington, DC
metropolitan area that promotes interdisciplinary education and positive levels
of self esteem.

The Essential Theatre

1112 11th Street, NW

Suite 100

Washington, DC 20001-4301

(202) 328-0569

info@theessentialth eatre.org

www.theessentialthe atre.org

Get With the Program!

Participate with us under the United Way:

CFC/NCA 23538 United Way 9398 CVC 8562

Friend Us on Face Book! And Follow us on Twitter essentialtDC

2012 DC Black Theatre Fest open call for plays

2011-11-11T12:34:00.003-05:00

Submission Categories:
• Full-Length Plays
• One-Act Plays
• New Works Reading Series
• Workshops
• Doug E. Doug Comedy Competition

The DC Drama Department is proud to announce the 2012 DC Black Theatre Festival, a week-long festival celebrating the thriving theatre community in Washington DC, June 23 – July 1, 2012.

We are looking for works in any genre, including plays which incorporate movement, dance, and music. Playwrights of all skill levels are encouraged to submit. All chosen Full-length Plays, New Works Reading Series and Workshop are supported by the festival with 100% of the ticket sales going directly to the performing group, facilitator and/or playwright. A cash award and trophy are given to the winners of the One-Act plays.

The DC Black Theatre Festival holds fast in its commitment to provide a balance of works with high artistic integrity for both emerging and veteran artists. Our mission is to create a diverse group of outstanding artist with a distinctive vision that will give an artistic identity of uncommon richness and variety to all people. So whether you enjoy the works of August Wilson, Tyler Perry or a good old Gospel Stage Play, the DC Black Theatre Festival has something for you.

Guidelines:
• One Act Plays: Running time MUST NOT exceed 20 minutes in length.
• Full-length Plays: Running time MUST NOT exceed 90 minutes in length.
• New Works Reading Series: Running time MUST NOT exceed 90 minutes in length.
• Workshops: Running time MUST NOT exceed 80 minutes in length.
• Doug E. Doug Comedy Competition: Running time MUST NOT exceed 20 minutes in length.

Please submit your application online at DCBlackTheatreFestival.com

Any questions, please contact the DCBTF Staff at info@DCBTF.org

Deadline for all submissions are Tuesday, March 1, 2012

AAPEX Interview: Magda Romanska

2011-11-02T11:46:00.022-04:00

Magda Romanska

Polish-born writer and dramaturg Magda Romanska is an assistant professor of Theatre Studies and Dramaturgy at Emerson College in Boston, MA, and a research associate at Harvard University’s Davis Center. She studied literature and drama at Stanford University and Yale School of Drama, and earned a Ph.D. in Theatre from Cornell University. Her forthcoming theatre books include Theatre and Meaning (Anthem Press, London, 2012) and the anthology Comedy: Theory and Criticism (Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2012). In addition to her scholarly and dramaturgical work, she writes creative fiction and non-fiction and is now directing the first African American Playwrights Exchange (AAPEX) Festival where her students are currently evaluating 16 scripts submitted by AAPEX playwrights.

EmersonCollege is located in the heart of Boston’s Theatre District. Emerson is internationally recognized in the fields of the performing arts, visual and media arts, writing, literature, and publishing. Emerson’s theater spaces include the Paramount Center, which includes the renovated 590-seat Paramount Theatre and a 150-seat black box theatre; the Cutler Majestic Theatre, a 1,200-seat Broadway-style theater; the Bill Bordy Auditorium and Theater; and the Semel and Greene theaters, located in the Tufte Performance and Production Center. ArtsEmerson and Emerson Stage showcases first-class performances from all over the world.

Prof. Romanska’s class Literary Office Management, offered by Emerson’s Performing Arts Department, aims to recreate the experience of the literary office. The students collaborate with ArtsEmerson, Emerson Stage, and national theatres, including the AAPEX Festival. Students read and evaluate scripts for their suitability for performance in a particular venue, making sure each is within the institution’s goal, vision, and approach. They engage in season planning, design educational audience-outreach programs, participate in the new-play development process, and create ideal theatre projects.

What role did theatre and the arts play in your childhood and upbringing?
I was born and raised in communist Poland. During that time, theatre and the arts were part of our everyday life. Since everyone – from janitors to doctors – made about the same amount of money, the proverbial “keeping up with the Joneses” revolved around one’s artistic endeavors. In some ways, they were simultaneously politically very oppressive and artistically idyllic times. Everyone I knew was doing some kind of art as a way of spending his or her free time, not necessarily with ambitions to become an artist. I was six when I did my first play. It was a puppet production of Pinocchio staged for the neighborhood children. But I spend most of my time painting. I had my first art exhibit when I was eleven, at the house of Tadeusz Brzozowski, a Polish surrealist painter who combined expressionism with the grotesque. I also wrote a lot—short stories, fairy tales and such, which I illustrated myself. But everyone around me did that sort of thing.

Tell us about your own evolution as an artist.
Growing up surrounded by art and literature, I didn’t want to commit. When I first moved to the U.S., I actually took art classes at the Art Institute of Chicago and literature classes at the Chicago City College. But in the U.S. you have to make a choice. You have to specialize. Theatre seemed like a big canvas . . . a perfect blend of art and literature. To some degree, I still haven’t escaped that way of thinking about theatre, as a combination of image and word, gesture and sound . . . I still work that way, arranging words into images and images into words. I can’t seem to be able to analyze a play without drawing it. After each production, there is a pile of impromptu drawings and diagrams, illustrating pretty much everything, from dramatic structure to the layers of subtext and leitmotivs . . . DaVinci’s Golden Ratio, or the Golden Triangle, can be as good of a tool of play analysis as Aristotle’s Poetics.

When did you come to the United States and what brought you here?
When I came to the U.S. I was 21. In high school, I studied French and Russian, so my English vocabulary was limited to rock song lyrics. But I’ve always loved American literature. I particularly identified with the 20th-century Black writers, such as James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and Ralph Ellison. Growing up disabled in communist Poland has been challenging and, for me, African-American literature uniquely captured the toll of such a life. So to answer your question, Richard Wright moved to France to escape Jim Crow. He was free, but he could no longer write; he lost his connection to his native language. I left Poland because I couldn’t have a life there, but the price of gaining a life in the U.S. was losing my language. In fact, to this day, I have a complicated love/hate relationship with my native country. Janusz Glowacki once said that for a writer there is nothing better than humiliation. . . . Poland has four Nobel Prize Laureates for Literature (five if you count I. B. Singer). Yes, Poles have been humiliated quite a lot as a nation, and as a result, they have more poets and writers than stray cats. Poles think and communicate through their literature; it forms the very core of their being. So, I will always wonder whether the trade-off was worth it . . . Language for freedom. . . .

From your point of view, what goes in to training young dramaturgs?
Good theatre is a complex, multilayered puzzle of textual and contextual, visible and invisible, spoken and unspoken, of violence and tenderness, of the tragic and the laughable, the grandiose and the grotesque. It should pass through you like a spring storm and wrap you up like a quiet night. It should sneak up on you, break your heart, and put it back together again.

Reading theatre is sophisticated detective work that consists of unraveling the subsequent layers. In all that, the dramaturg is like water – sliding in between the layers of meaning, into the nooks and crannies of the text and performance. Theatre is a visceral art, built from the sediments of your experiences, the good and the bad, from the books you’ve read and the people you’ve met. If you’re young, your palette might not have all the hues, but you always have the primary colors to play with.

There are some concrete things I tell my students. One of them is: read. Read everything, especially the stuff you don’t agree with. You need to stay on top of the national and international dialogue, and you need to understand the arguments that people are making and why they are making them. You can’t empathize with the characters if you don’t know where they’re coming from. Be in the world: watch and listen to people, listen to their stories, told and untold; observe small gestures, subtle exchanges, silences, and absences. Research: find out what you don’t know, and then some. Take chances: be Prometheus, Icarus, and Phoenix all rolled into one. Play with fire, get burned, get up and start all over again.

What are your thoughts on Boston as a theatre town?
I think right now Boston is a great theatre town. We are going through a true renaissance. Our theatre district has been revitalized. New theatres have been built, and old theaters have been restored. In the heart of the theatre district alone, Suffolk just restored their Modern Theatre. And course, I have to brag about Emerson’s own two grand theatre spaces, the Cutler Majestic and the Paramount Center. After more than three decades, the Paramount was recently restored, and it opened with a bang last year, with a formidable first season with shows from the Abby and Druid theatres. This year we have John Malkovich, Mabou Mines and Anne Bogart. In fact, this upcoming spring, I will be a dramaturg on Café Variations directed by Bogart. So, what’s not to like?

Please click the post's title to visit Magda Romanska's web page.

Paramount Center photo courtesy of ArtsEmerson.org, photo by P. Vanderwarker

Owa's BLOODRITE staged reading 11/15 (Harlem)

2011-10-31T16:39:00.002-04:00

Please click image to enlarge.

Please click post's title to visit New Heritage Theatre Group

The Perfect Broadway Investor

2011-10-30T15:04:00.006-04:00

In the October/November issue of Worth, a magazine aimed at those with money to burn, according to Daryl Roth, producer of the 2011 Tony Award winning The Normal Heart, the Perfect Broadway Investor isn't in it for the money. "It's not all about the money. If something is relevant, important and an extraordinary experience, that's the reward."

So why can't I find a producer like that? Once Upon A Time In Harlem: A Jitterbug Romance is relevant, important and an extraordinary experience. For that matter, fellow playwrights, why can't you? Where are they, these producers who aren't in it for the money? How does one catch their eye?

I dunno. I can't even dig up a thousand bucks for my reading. If you approach the process like I do, a playwright who lives very far away from where people live who know how to produce expensive musicals, i.e, Broadway, and hardly knows anyone "in the biz," you throw everything at the wall and hope something sticks. Aside from lucking out having noted NYC director Petronia Paley wanting to do the "radio" reading of my play and Jaz Dorsey, founder of AAPEX, wanting to be the dramaturg, and landing the historical and pioneering National Black Theatre as the venue, nothing has stuck re funding. IndieGoGo reminds me as I type that I have less than 60 hours remaining on my $1,000 fundraising campaign with not a penny raised in 60-days. Without that money, we won't be able to give the actors a stipend or rent the space and pay for other items like a simple program.

So, the question is, what to do? Although I've been getting positive feedback from people who want to attend the reading, who find the storyline appealing and exciting, we're still left unfunded. Worth suggests that $25,000 should be the minimum investment for a Broadway show. Hey, I'm only looking for $1,000-- and a chance at getting in on the ground floor of the next big thing!

Anyway, here are three things the magazine suggests for potential investors looking to put their money in a Broadway show, good advice for any playwright who sees his or her work wowing audiences on the Great White Way:

First, your show should star an A-list celebrity. Yeah, good luck with that one at this point.

Secondly, it should have "pre-existing value, like Mamma Mia (popular songs) or Jersey Boys (ditto)." It does; it has songs from "The Great American Song Book."

Thirdly, get The New York Times' Ben Brantley to love it. "If you don't have a big star, you need The New York Times," says Erick Falkenstein, whose credits include Long Day's Journey into Night and The History Boys. "There's no other industry in the arts that I'm aware of where one critic has so much power."

Hey, Ben, have I told you how much I love your reviews? You're the best their is! So talented! So--

Okay, you get the idea. But I'm not really like that. I can't kiss up. It's not in my make-up. But if you can, more power to you because you gotta try whatever it takes to get your work seen-- even if it means embarrassing yourself and your family.

Finally, if any potential investors might be reading this, please note that Worth says, "Musicals tend to gross more than straight plays: $915.7 million versus $158.4 million in the 2010-2011 season, according to the industry group The Broadway League, due to higher ticket prices and greater popularity with tourists."

Although Once Upon A Time In Harlem: A Jitterbug Romance isn't a musical per se-- it doesn't use original songs to help tell the story-- it fits that requirement since its loaded with music and dance numbers that will have people talking for years to come. Even Ben Brantley, the world's greatest theatre critic, should love it.

Care to know more about the "radio" reading of my play, please click the post's title.

DC Copeland

Red Harlem Readers

2011-10-28T17:55:00.003-04:00

Discount Tickets for New Show: The Waiting Room by Samm-Art Williams (Brooklyn)

2011-10-26T10:35:00.004-04:00

Samm-Art Williams

THE WAITING ROOM by Samm-Art Wiliams is the first play of our historic 40th Season The story unfolds with people in a waiting room. They are visiting a hospitalized loved one whose life hangs in the balance. They feel pressure to “get right with the Lord,” to resolve unfinished family business and confess long-buried secrets. THE WAITING ROOM is an emotionally intense dramatic comedy for teens and up. The Billie Holiday Theatre is offering you, our valued email subscriber, discount coupon tickets for an incredible $10 per ticket for Thursday, October 27 at 8 p.m., Friday, October 28 at 8 p.m., Saturday, October 29 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 30 at 4 p.m. Seats are limited, so call as soon as possible to reserve your $10 discount tickets. We hope to see you at the theatre. Marjorie Moon Executive Director Billie Holiday Theatre, Inc. 718-636-0918/ 19 ext. 11 Discount Tickets The discount $10 tickets are for these shows only: Thursday, October 27 at 8 p.m. Friday, October 28 at 8 p.m. Saturday, October 29 at 8 p.m. Sunday, October 30 at 4 p.m.

To visit the theatre website, please click the post's title.

"Broke-ology" by Nathan Louis Jackson opens on eta mainstage 11/3 (Chicago)

2011-10-24T13:38:00.003-04:00

eta continues its season of plays that look at themes of rebuilding of family and community with “Broke-Ology” by Nathan Louis Jackson. Opening on the Mainstage Thursday, November 3^rd, performances are 8 pm Thurs – Sat; 3 pm Sundays. It runs through December 18, 2011. General admission is $30 with special student, senior and group rates. Thursdays at 8 pm are $20 throughout the year and the Opening Night Special is only $10. All performances take place at eta Square, 7558 S. South Chicago Avenue. For more information call 773.752.3955 or click the post's title.

Last night for Laurence Holder's MONK 10/24 (NYC)

2011-10-24T09:27:00.003-04:00

Rome Neal

Greetings Folks

Last week before the show, I met Nellie, a woman who said after all these years she is finally going to see this play that she had heard about for so long (11 years) and had been attempting to see. Anyway as the play was about to end, I turned to her to say my last line and saw she had a tear rolling down her face. Nellie is Thelonious Monk's widow.

Tonight is my final performance at the MOLDY FIG JAZZ CLUB where I get the opportunity to be Thelonious Sphere Monk once more in Laurence Holder's Audelco Award winning play, MONK, with music composed by Bill Lee. I hope you can be there so that we can share tears of joy together enjoying the life and times of an American Genius of JAZZ, THELONIOUS SPHERE MONK.....

Monday, October 24th at 8pm, $20

For information: 718-288-8048 or romekyn@earthlink. net

Complimentary Banana Puddin' & Jam Sessions follows the play....

MOLDY FIG JAZZ CLUB

178 Stanton Street, Lower Eastside, NYC

A staged reading of Kenneth B. Davis' IT'S A DADDY THANG (LA)

2011-10-24T09:07:00.001-04:00

It's a Daddy Thang

by Kenneth B. Davis

Monday, October 24, 2011@7:30 pm

STAGE 52
5299 W. WASHINGTON BLVD
LOS ANGELES CA

A staged reading, open to the public for your listening

CAST LIST…

GREG STAMPS - Jesse Raudales
GISELE BOLDER - Lyn Ross
MACHEN - Chazz Carter
KIANA - Elle Johnson
FREDNA - Kimberly Bailey
JO ANN - Vida Vasaitis
PAULETTE HARRIS - Rhonda Morman

Nat Turner To Meet Langston Hughes in New York City

2011-10-22T09:43:00.001-04:00

Following Fruitful Hollywood Visit, Author Eyes the Big Apple for Screen and Stage

Durham, NC - On Saturday, October 22nd, Sharon Ewell Foster, acclaimed author of the new fact-based novel, The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part One: The Witnesses (Howard/Simon & Schuster), takes her
Nat Turner Truth Tour to the Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center of Queens Library in New York City.

Foster's recent trip to Los Angeles, which included book signings at bookstores and churches, created a tremendous buzz within the Hollywood film community about taking the real Nat Turner story to the big screen.

Next stop on the Nat Turner Truth Tour is East Coast media Mecca-NYC, Spike Lee and other movie, TV and theatre moguls' territory, in hopes of contacting important figures and extending the buzz from coast-to-coast.

Foster's novel challenges the accepted history of Nat Turner, one of America's most notorious historical figures. In 1831, he led what has been considered the most successful slave revolt in US history that left more than 50 whites dead.As the 180th anniversary of his hanging approaches (11-11-11), she feels the world is ready for a new perspective on Nat Turner. Part Two: The Testimony releases February 2, 2012.

"The image of Turner we have been bequeathed is one of a religious fanatic, a lunatic who attacked without cause," says Foster. "Perhaps, he was like Nathan Hale, a man seeking liberty, a man protecting his family and community. I think we are mature enough to look at our complete history, knowing the beauty of it is also in the terror of it."

Foster's five years of research included interviewing descendants of those killed, as well as Turner's family, review of Governor John Floyd's original diary, analysis of trial transcripts and related documents. She uncovered proof that discredits the primary historical document on Nat Turner, The Confessions of Nat Turner, written in 1831 by Thomas Gray, who purported to be Turner's attorney.

The original trial transcripts reveal: (1) Nat Turner did NOT confess; (2) Nat Turner pled "innocent;" and (3) Thomas Gray was NOT Nat Turner's lawyer.

"Langston Hughes, the most well-known of the Harlem Renaissance writers, now gets to hear the truth about Nat Turner from an African-American author. It's truly an American story-one man's fight for liberty, a community's fight for freedom." says Foster.

The Los Angeles leg of the Nat Turner Truth Tour was featured in an article on Indiewire.com, Another Possible Slave Revolt Film, This Time with Nat Turner. The article propelled the buzz in the Hollywood.

Additional press includes articles written by Ms. Foster published in TheRoot.com, The Truth About Nat Turner; and EbonyJet.com, Moonshine and Lies: The Truth About Nat Turner. Her book was also featured at this year's 41st Annual Congressional Black Caucus Conference in Washington, DC. Radio interviews included: NPR, Michael Eric Dyson Show, Bev Smith Show and Joe Madison Show. During the Michael Eric Dyson interview, he said to his listeners, "She's blowing our minds."

Publishers Weekly reviewed Part One as "fast-paced, " "riveting," and "expertly told." Foster describes it as "Roots meets The Da Vinci Code." The book is available wherever books, eBooks, and audio books are sold.

To visit the author's website, please click the post's title.

Red Harlem Readers

2011-10-21T14:30:00.000-04:00

AAPEX Interview: Elliot Robinson

2011-10-21T14:22:00.002-04:00

Please click image to enlarge.

Interview by Jaz Dorsey, The Nashville Dramaturgy Project

Elliot Robinson is currently onstage in the title role of WILLY WONKA with Circle Players (www.circleplayers.net)

What role did theatre and the arts play in your childhood and upbringing?

I was born in the Bronx, NY, and I was blessed with parents who made it a point to expose us to the arts. Not just going to movies, but concerts, plays on and off Broadway, museums, all of that. A couple of memorable performances I remember seeing in my youth were the original Broadway production of THE WIZ, featuring Stephanie Mills as Dorothy, and Adolph Caesar and a young Denzel Washington in the first off-Broadway run of A Soldier's Play. I was always fascinated by the action on the stage, and by the different characters, particularly when there was music and dancing involved. But the only time I ever participated in any kind of play as a child was a sixth-grade production of Romeo and Juliet. I played Tybalt, Juliet’s hot-tempered cousin, and I was killed in a swordfight by Romeo himself, after I’d killed his homeboy Mercutio. I remain ever thankful to my parents for the exposure to diverse cultural offerings; and I'm thankful for the days in theMorehouse College Glee Club, where I received the bulk of my formal music training. I never realized what any of that was setting me up for until after I turned 40 years old.

Tell us about your own evolution as an artist.

I'm approaching my fifth “birthday” as an actor, so it’s still really new. I have been more fortunate than I could have ever imagined, being able to perform with many of the finest theatre groups in Nashville. I’ve worked with Amun Ra Theatre, Street Theatre Company, Encore Theatre Company, Actors Bridge Ensemble, Collards and Caviar Theatre, Kennie’s Playhouse, and of course, Circle Players. I’ve been able to do other big musicals like THE WIZ (Scarecrow), The Full Monty (Horse),Once on this Island (Tonton), and Jekyll & Hyde the Musical (John Utterson), and I’ve also helped to tell some classic dramatic stories like August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean (Solly Two Kings), Of Mice and Men (Crooks), To Kill a Mockingbird (Tom Robinson), and A Raisin in the Sun (Asagai), which the Nashville SCENE named Best Community Theatre Production of the 2010-11 season. I’ve never formally studied acting, so I look at each show process – from audition to rehearsals to the actual performance – like a class. I’ve learned a lot, but I look forward to learning much more. I also have a couple of stories kicking around in my head (so I have some writing to do), and I’d also love to direct one day.

How are you approaching this role and what is special about the role and the play to you?
People have been asking me, “So, is your Willy Wonka more like Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp?” I’ve never seen the movie with Johnny Depp, and though I remember Gene Wilder’s version, I would never try to do anything to imitate his Wonka. I make it a very strict point that when I’m working on a role, I NEVER watch anything that might influence my preparation for my character. It’s funny, too, how often I have to actively avoid a story on TV because I’m working on a role. I just don’t want to risk even the slightest temptation to copy what somebody else did. I want to become thecharacter; not another actor who has portrayed the character. So, instead of watching Gene Wilder, my research was reading Roald Dahl’s original novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The most special thing about the role is the fun I get to have experimenting with Wonka’s sudden mood swings, the almost schizophrenic nature of the character. I think the play contains a set of very strong, still relevant morals, brilliantly delivered by the Oompa-Loompas: don’t eat too much; don’t chew gum all the time; don’t watch to much TV; and, for parents, don’t spoil your children rotten. It’s a really fun show for young and old folks alike, but the poignancy of the messages it delivers transcends generations.

What are your thoughts on Nashville as a theatre town?

There are a lot of great actors in Nashville, so there is a wealth of talent from which theatre companies can pull for their productions. I think it helps when a theatre group has its own space, like Encore and Actors Bridge do, and more recently, Amun Ra and Street, because I believe that consistency brings a stronger fan following. I would love to see more groups obtain their own permanent spaces. But, as far as Nashville as a theatre town, I can really only speak in terms of community theatre, because I haven’t “gone pro” – yet. I would love to have the opportunity to make a living acting in Nashville, but to be honest, it’s something that I just haven’t thought about doing yet. I’m having too much fun right now. There are other professional groups I’d love to work with, like Nashville Children’s Theatre, but I can’t swing their daytime rehearsal schedules, because I have to continue to work my day job. So, I stick with community theatre, and live my fantasy life on stage at night and on the weekends. I’m having a tremendous amount of fun, and I’m excited to see what the next five years will hold.

AUDELCO Awards update

2011-10-20T07:26:00.004-04:00

AUDELCO ANNOUNCES CO-CHAIRPERSONS AND CO-HOSTS

ALONG WITH 2010-2011 VIVIAN ROBINSON/AUDELCO AWARDS NOMINEES

New York, NY (October 18) - Audelco (Audience Development Committee, Inc.) announces the nominees for the 2010-2011 Vivian Robinson/Audelco Recognition Awards for Excellence In Black Theatre.

Audelco was established in 1973 by Vivian Robinson, to generate more recognition, understanding and awareness of the arts in African-American communities; to provide better public relations and to build new audiences for non-profit theatre and dance companies.

For the past 39 years Audelco has promoted and celebrated African-American involvement in American Theatre. The Vivian Robinson/Audelco Awards known as the “VIV”, has become the pre-eminent recognition for African-American Theatre Artists.

The Academy Award nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson (currently starring in The Mountaintop, on Broadway) and his wife, the prolific performer (Sleepless InSeattle, Malcom X) LaTanya Richardson Jackson are serving as Honorary Co-Chairpersons. The Obie and Drama-Logue Award winning actress, singer and director Hattie Winston along with her husband, Tony nominated and Drama Desk Award winner Harold Wheeler (currently the Director/ orchestrator for the ABC hit Dancing With the Stars) will be this year’s Co-Chairpersons. Both Mr. Jackson and Miss Winston are previous Audelco Award winners. Also, NY-1 Anchor Cheryl Wills and Co founder of the Tony and Peabody award winning Def Poetry Jam Danny Simmons will be the Co-Hosts for the event.

This year's Rising Star Award will go to Eden Sanaa Duncan-Smith, who at age 11, made her Broadway debut as the character Raynell Maxon in 2010 Tony award winning revival of August Wilson’s Fences featuring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, She is now Young Nala in Disney’s Broadway production of Lion King.

This year’s awards will be held on Monday, November 14, 2011, 6:30pm, at theHarlem Stage/Aaron Davis Hall, Inc., 133rd Street and Convent Avenue.

The 2010-2011 VIV Award Nominees are:

LIGHTING DESIGN Avan (Brothers from the Bottom) James Carter (The Shaneequa Chronicles) Jeff Croiter (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) Shirley Prendergast (Knock Me a Kiss) Scott Stauffer (A Free Man of Color) Colin D. Young (Henry V)

SET DESIGN Felix Cochren (The Right Reverend Dupree in Exile) Felix Cochren (The Legend of Buster Neal) Chris Cumberbatch (The Shaneequa Chronicles) Anthony Davidson (Knock Me a Kiss) Neil Patel (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark)

COSTUME DESIGN Rachel Dozier-Ezell (Henry V) Esosa (By the way, Meet Vera Stark) Ann Hould –Ward (A Free Man of Color ) Helen Simmons-Collen (The Right Reverend Dupree in Exile) Ali Turns (Knock Me a Kiss) David Withrow (Antony & Cleopatra)

SOUND DESIGN John Gromeda (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) Patricia Ju (Henry V) Sean O’Halloran (Cool Blues) Bill Toles (Knock Me a Kiss) Bert Price (The Shaneequa Chronicles) David D. Wright (Antony & Cleopatra)

DIRECTOR/DRAMATIC PRODUCTION Jackie Alexander (The Legend of Buster Neal) Jackie Alexander (The Right Reverend Dupree in Exile) Jo Bonney (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) Thomas Kail (When I Come to Die) Petronia Paley (Antony & Cleopatra) Chuck Smith (Knock Me a Kiss)

DIRECTOR/MUSICAL PRODUCTION Daniel Beaty (Tearing Down the Walls) Lee Kirk (The Widow and Miss Mamie) Lorna Littleway (Juneteenth Blues Cabaret) Alfred Preisser (It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues) Ronald Wyche (Do Wop Love)

CHOREOGRAPHER Hope Clarke (A Free man of Color) Leslie Dockery (The Shaneequa Chronicles) Dell Howlett (Tearing Down the Wall) Tracy Jack (It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues) Michelle M. Robinson (Do Wop Love)

PLAYWRIGHT Jackie Alexander (The Legend of Buster Neal) Nathan Louis Jackson (When I Come to Die) Lynn Nottage (By the Way, Meet vera Stark) Roger Parris (Nobody Knew Where They Was) Charles Smith (Knock Me a Kiss)

SUPPORTING ACTOR Daniel Breaker (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) Andre Holland (The Whipping Man) Morocco Omari (Knock Me a Kiss) Sean Phillips (Knock Me a Kiss) Jay Ward (Cool Blues)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS Gillian Glasco (Knock Me a Kiss) Kimberly Hebert Gregory (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) Marie Thomas (Knock Me a Kiss) Amanda Mason Warren (When I Come to Die)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL – FEMALE Marvel Allen (The Widow and Miss Mamie) Dameka Hayes (It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues) Jannie Jones (Juneteenth Blues Cabaret) Adrienne C. Moore (Tearing Down the Wall) Toni Seawright (The Widow and Miss Mamie)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL – MALE Gerald Latham (It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues) Jevon McFerrin (Tearing Down the Wall) Tommie Thompson (The Widow and Miss Mamie)

OUTSTANDING MUSICAL DIRECTOR Jeffrey Bolding (It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues) Ron Granger (The Widow and Miss Mamie) Charles Mack (Tearing Down the Wall) Bert Price (Do Wop Love) Ivan Thomas (Juneteenth Blues Cabaret)

MUSICAL PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR Do Wop Love (National Black Theatre) It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues (New Haarlem Arts Theatre) Juneteenth Blues Cabaret (Juneteenth Legacy Theatre) Tearing Down the Wall (New Heritage Theatre Group) The Widow and Miss Mamie (Lee Kirk Productions)

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE Accept “Except” (National Black Theatre) Born Bad (Soho Rep) Do Wop Love (National Black Theatre) Playing with Heiner Muller (Castillo Theatre) The Legend of Buster Neal (Billie Holiday Theatre)

SOLO PERFORMANCE Stephanie Berry (The Shaneequa Chronicles) Miche Braden (The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith) Cheryl Howard (The Sensational Josephine Baker) Nilaja Sun (No Child) LEAD ACTOR Andre Braugher (The Whipping Man) Chris Chalk (When I Come to Die) Andre De Shields (Knock Me a Kiss) Ty Jones (Henry V) Ralph McCain (The Right Reverend Dupree in Exile) Marcus Naylor (Cool Blues)

LEAD ACTRESS Debra Ann Byrd (Antony & Cleopatra) Erin Cherry (Knock Me a Kiss) Terria Joseph (Cool Blues) Sanaa Lathan (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) Kimberlee Monroe (Nobody Knew they Was)

DRAMATIC PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR Antony & Cleopatra (Take Wind And Soar Productions) By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (2nd Stage) Knock Me a Kiss (New Federal Theatre/Legacy Creative Arts Co.) The Legend of Buster Neal (Billie Holiday Theatre) When I Come to Die (Lincoln Center Theatre)

The 39th Annual Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO Recognition Awards For Excellence in Black Theatre will take place on Monday, November 14, 2011 at the HarlemStage/ Aaron Davis Hall, 133rd Street & Convent Avenue, New York City. Tickets are on sale now ($150 orchestra, $75 mezzanine and $35 balcony) If you would like to attend, call now for tickets (212) 368- GENERATIONS Awards Presentation 6:30 pm Gala Reception 10:00 pm - 11:00 pm Location: HarlemStage/ Aaron Davis Hall, Inc 133RD STREET & CONVENT AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY

Dr. Henry D. Miller speaks at Bunche Center Authors' Series Friday, October 14th (UCLA)

2011-10-19T15:48:00.006-04:00

Presents

DR. HENRY D. MILLER

Director / Playwright

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2011

Library and Media Center – Haines Hall

12 Noon – 1:00 PM

Dr. Henry D. Miller’s book, Theorizing Black Theatre: Art Versus Protest in Critical Writings, 1898-1965, is his latest literary work. His collection of one-act plays, Songs of the One-Act Muse, and his full-length play, My Brother’s Keeper have been published by the Alexander Street Press and made available on CD Rom as part of the Black Drama Anthology. Miller is a veteran of the 1960s and 1970s black theatre movement. A director and playwright, he has written broadly about American theatre. The rich history of African-American theatre has often been overlooked, both in theoretical discourse and in practice. This volume seeks a critical engagement with black theatre artists and theorists of the twentieth century. It reveals a comprehensive view of the Art or Propaganda debate that dominated twentieth century African-American dramatic theory. Among others, this text addresses the writings of Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois, Lorraine Hansberry, Amiri Baraka, Sidney Poitier, and August Wilson. Of particular note is the manner in which black theory collides or intersects with canonical theorists, including Aristotle, Keats, Ibsen, Nietzsche, Shaw, and O'Neill. All-day parking ($11) and short-term parking (payable at pay stations) are available in Lots 2, 3 and 4 (enter the campus at Hilgard and Westholme avenues). For more information, call 310-206-8267 or click the post's title for more information.

CROWNS auditions (Nashville)

2011-10-19T07:00:00.002-04:00

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Call for Plays

2011-10-16T11:02:00.001-04:00

Need African American writers (Hollywood)

Date: 2011-10-15, 9:18PM PDT
Reply to: gigs-c42fb-2652187559@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

Interested in having the 1st ten pages of your sample script read aloud by actors in front of a crowd? We are looking for aspiring and established African American and other minority screenplay writers to take part in our cold reading session Sunday 10/23. As a result we've run out of material for our hungry actors. Casting is done on the spot. Then your work will be given a cold read. This is a great opportunity to network with other African American filmmakers

Location: Hollywood
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Compensation: no pay

PostingID: 2652187559

Red Harlem Readers

2011-10-13T10:55:00.000-04:00

Mark Clayton Southers' NINE DAYS IN THE SUN this Monday, 10/17 (Nashville)

2011-10-13T10:50:00.002-04:00

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DC Copeland's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM: A JITTERBUG ROMANCE will premiere at the National Black Theatre

2011-10-08T10:12:00.006-04:00

DC Copeland's award-winning "Once Upon A Time In Harlem: A Jitterbug Romance" will have the premiere of the "radio" reading version of the full-length play at the National Black Theatre (NBT) in January 2012 in Harlem. The NBT is the country's first revenue-generating black theater arts complex and in 2012 will be celebrating 44 years "keeping soul alive."

"It's exciting and an honor to premiere my work at this legendary and important theatre," Copeland said. "Its prime directive from the get-go was to empower playwrights to tell the often overlooked African American story. 'Once Upon A Time In Harlem: A Jitterbug Romance' couldn't be a more fitting, uplifting, choice. I know my director Petronia Paley will do it right."

The production will include music and dancers from The Harlem Swing Dance Society.

To learn more, please click the post's title.

Mark Clayton Southers' NINE DAYS IN THE SUN this Monday, 9/17 (Nashville)

2011-10-07T11:05:00.005-04:00

As we move into a new election year, there are things that need to be said.

See below.

Come to Nashville & Go to the Theatre!

Jaz Dorsey

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