Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, who teaches creative writing at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, has been selected as the winner of the 2015 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History. The prize was established by Jean Kennedy Smith, the sister of Senator Edward Kennedy, and is administered by the Center for New Media Teaching and Learning at Columbia University in New York City.
Parks was honored for her play “Father Comes Home From the Wars, Parts 1, 2 & 3,” which was first staged at The Public Theater in New York last October. The Kennedy Prize comes with a $100,000 cash award.
Parks is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. She is a former MacArthur Foundation “Genius Award” winner. Professor Parks was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for her play “Topdog/Underdog.”
article via jbhe.com
Posts published in “Theater”
Coming to PBS primetime next month, as part of its AMERICAN MASTERS series, is the documentary, “August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand,” airing on February 20 at 9pm ET.
Directed by Emmy and Peabody-winner Sam Pollard (long-time Spike Lee editor, as well as a director and producer in his own right), the documentary explores the life and legacy of Tony- and Pulitzer-winning playwright August Wilson – the man some call America’s Shakespeare — from his roots as a Pittsburgh activist and poet, to his indelible mark on Broadway.
Unprecedented access to Wilson’s theatrical archives, rarely seen interviews, and new dramatic readings, bring to life his seminal 10-play cycle chronicling each decade of the 20th century African American experience. The film features new interviews with Viola Davis, Charles Dutton, Laurence Fishburne, James Earl Jones, Suzan-Lori Parks, Phylicia Rashad, his widow/costume designer Constanza Romero, and others, sharing stories of the late great African American playwright’s rich theatrical canon.
PBS is premiering the film in honor of the 70th anniversary of Wilson’s birth, as well as the 10th anniversary of his death, and for Black History Month.
The DVD will be available on February 24 from PBS Distribution.
“Having the opportunity to explore Wilson’s creative process and his tenacity in looking at the African American experience in the 20th century was one of the most exciting endeavors I have ever had in my film career,” said filmmaker Sam Pollard.
article by Tambay A. Obenson via indiewire.com
The DVD will be available on February 24 from PBS Distribution.
“Having the opportunity to explore Wilson’s creative process and his tenacity in looking at the African American experience in the 20th century was one of the most exciting endeavors I have ever had in my film career,” said filmmaker Sam Pollard.
article by Tambay A. Obenson via indiewire.com
After airing last Sunday, GBN contributor Becky Schonbrun forwarded me links from “60 Minutes” that were labeled as inspiring “must-watch” material. So I finally did, and they most definitely are.
“Alive: 55+ and Kickin’” is a live show that was created by theater producer and former disc jockey Vy Higginsen, who has made it her mission to preserve a special part of American culture: African-American music, both gospel and popular music like soul and R&B. She found a pool of untapped talent, men and women in what she calls their “second half of life” just waiting for their chance to shine.
The music and the stories are uplifting, remarkable and definitely worth your time. To check them out for yourself, click below:
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/alive-and-kickin-part-one
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/alive-and-kickin-part-two
The show reopens this Spring and you can go to http://www.alive55themusical.com to see performance dates and purchase tickets.
Enjoy!
Lori Lakin Hutcherson, GBN Founder and Editor-in-Chief (follow @lakinhutcherson)
Jennifer Hudson has an Oscar to her name but might need to make room for a Tony Award, as she is reportedly set to star in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple.
According to the New York Post, Hudson will make her Broadway debut in the revival of the show. The revival is being produced by Oprah Winfrey, who also produced the show in 2005. This time, the production of The Color Purple musical will have more of an emotional appeal.
“This Color Purple comes from London’s Menier Chocolate Factory, which specializes in stripping down big-budget Broadway shows, giving them an emotional punch they lacked the first time around,” the New York Post reports.
Hudson has talked about wanting to take on a Broadway gig for several years. New York Postsources say Oprah called her personally and asked her to join the production.
Hudson will play Celie, who survives abuse, poverty and racism to become a successful seamstress and pants designer. LaChanze won a Tony in the role in 2006.
article by Chris Witherspoon via thegrio.com
GBN volunteer Becky Schonbrun recently informed us about an inspiring program out of Chicago for at-risk youth called Storycatchers Theatre, which, according to their website, has been “preparing young people to make thoughtful life choices through the process of writing, producing and performing original musical theatre inspired by personal stories” for over 30 years.
While participating in storytelling, scriptwriting, and performance-skills residencies with Storycatchers artists, the youth participants not only get a chance to write songs, poems, stories and scenes inspired by personal experiences, they get paid to do so. The process reinforces their recognition of choices and consequences, enhancing the ability and desire of participants to make choices that lead to positive outcomes.
In November of 2013, Storycatchers received a NATIONAL ARTS & HUMANITIES YOUTH PROGRAM AWARD in recognition of its work with detained and incarcerated youth. Founder and Artistic Director Meade Palidofsky traveled to Washington DC to accept the award from First Lady Michelle Obama. The National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Awards are an initiative of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH). The President’s Committee partners with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to administer the program.
To see video of this inspiring program and to hear from the participants in their own words, click here.
“Flip For Your Fate?”, a staged reading of works in progress by Storycatchers Theatre at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, will be held on Dec. 5 at 6 p.m. Admission is free. Reservations are required.
To learn about other upcoming Storycatchers performances, click here.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)
The mass-murdering title character of Christopher Marlowe’s “Tamburlaine,” a man proud to call himself “the scourge of God,” has never been big on apologies. Not for him the regretful introspection of short-tempered Shakespearean tyrants like Macbeth, Lear or even nasty old Richard III.
Self-knowledge, who needs it? Being a world conqueror means never having to say you’re sorry.
It feels only fitting that Michael Boyd’s improbably enjoyable “Tamburlaine, Parts I and II,” which opened on Sunday night at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn, should make no excuses for its redemption-proof hero or for the long and bloody plays over which he rules.
Embodied by a truly titanic John Douglas Thompson in this Theater for a New Audience production, Tamburlaine is a force of nature in the sense that typhoons, tidal waves and earthquakes are. Would you ever try to explain why such phenomena behave as they do? All you can do is sit back open-mouthed, observing the carnage and ducking the flying body parts.
Now who, you might ask, could possibly be entertained by such a sorry, gory epic of unrelenting destruction, in which power-crazed narcissists scramble for supremacy? Well, you might want to check the recent most-watched television and movie lists, or talk to the legions who binge on “Game of Thrones.”
Less glockenspiel, more drumming! A very different sort of “The Magic Flute” took the stage at the New Victory Theater on Sunday afternoon in front of an attentive and appreciative family audience. This two-hour adaptation of Mozart’s fairy tale opera was presented under the Xhosa title “Impempe Yomlingo” by the South African Isango Ensemble, a company that recruits performers from townships in the Cape Town area and presents classics from the Western canon in an updated, African context.
But perhaps “updated” isn’t quite the right word: In the program notes, the show’s director, Mark Dornford-May, relates a myth from the Tsonga tradition about the andlati birds that live high in the mountains and cause terrifying storms and lightning. Only a hero brave enough to seek them out with a magic flute can appease them and avert destruction.
“The story may never have reached Mozart, but the similarities are fascinating nonetheless,” Mr. Dornford-May writes. “Who knows? Maybe one of the greatest pieces of European opera had its roots and inspiration in a South African folk tale.”
Certainly, few productions can match the colorful exuberance and pulsating energy of this “Flute,” or field as versatile a cast as this, in which every member sings, dances and drums. The bare set evokes a township square. The traditional orchestra is replaced by eight marimbas, supplemented by an array of percussion, including djembes, oil barrels, hand clapping and — standing in for Papageno’s glockenspiel — suspended water bottles of graduated pitches. Tamino’s flute is a trumpet, played with jazzy vigor by Mandisi Dyantyis, the ensemble’s co-music director and conductor.
The vocal performances were a testament to South Africa’s deep pool of singing talent. The notes were all there — Pauline Malefane courageously scaled the heights of the Queen of the Night’s arias; Mhlekazi Mosiea was a dignified Tamino; Ayanda Eleki, a proud, patriarchal Sarastro — even if there were times when they audibly strained the limits of the singers’ technique. But the cast offered portrayals with ample personality and charisma, among them Zolina Ngejane’s superfeisty Pamina and Zamile Gantana’s bon-vivant Papageno.
But this African “Flute” is, above all, a story of community, and the music, too, is at its most convincing where it draws on South Africa’s glorious choral tradition. If that means taking liberties with Mozart’s score, fine: Tamino’s taming of Monostatos and his posse of slaves suffers no injury by the infusion of a bit of calypso rhythm. The celebrations that greet Sarastro’s first appearance — complete with ululating women — are a jubilant riot.
The communal aspect also raises the stakes for the lovers’ trials, which are presented as a series of tribal initiation rites, with Tamino’s face painted white, like that of a tribal youngster embarking on a circumcision ritual. In traditional productions, this is often the part of the opera where the tension slackens, but in this post-apartheid setting, the young people’s quest for dignity, wisdom and reconciliation is shown to be of vital importance to everyone.
“The story may never have reached Mozart, but the similarities are fascinating nonetheless,” Mr. Dornford-May writes. “Who knows? Maybe one of the greatest pieces of European opera had its roots and inspiration in a South African folk tale.”
Certainly, few productions can match the colorful exuberance and pulsating energy of this “Flute,” or field as versatile a cast as this, in which every member sings, dances and drums. The bare set evokes a township square. The traditional orchestra is replaced by eight marimbas, supplemented by an array of percussion, including djembes, oil barrels, hand clapping and — standing in for Papageno’s glockenspiel — suspended water bottles of graduated pitches. Tamino’s flute is a trumpet, played with jazzy vigor by Mandisi Dyantyis, the ensemble’s co-music director and conductor.
The vocal performances were a testament to South Africa’s deep pool of singing talent. The notes were all there — Pauline Malefane courageously scaled the heights of the Queen of the Night’s arias; Mhlekazi Mosiea was a dignified Tamino; Ayanda Eleki, a proud, patriarchal Sarastro — even if there were times when they audibly strained the limits of the singers’ technique. But the cast offered portrayals with ample personality and charisma, among them Zolina Ngejane’s superfeisty Pamina and Zamile Gantana’s bon-vivant Papageno.
But this African “Flute” is, above all, a story of community, and the music, too, is at its most convincing where it draws on South Africa’s glorious choral tradition. If that means taking liberties with Mozart’s score, fine: Tamino’s taming of Monostatos and his posse of slaves suffers no injury by the infusion of a bit of calypso rhythm. The celebrations that greet Sarastro’s first appearance — complete with ululating women — are a jubilant riot.
The communal aspect also raises the stakes for the lovers’ trials, which are presented as a series of tribal initiation rites, with Tamino’s face painted white, like that of a tribal youngster embarking on a circumcision ritual. In traditional productions, this is often the part of the opera where the tension slackens, but in this post-apartheid setting, the young people’s quest for dignity, wisdom and reconciliation is shown to be of vital importance to everyone.
“It’s Showtime!”
Pharrell Williams continued his incredible run of musical accomplishments on Tuesday, by being named to the Apollo Theater’s Board of Directors. The multi-talented producer joins a list of 32 that includes New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Quincy Jones, John D. Dempsey of Estee Lauder, and many more.
Skateboard P made his debut on the famed stage on June 3, which was streamed live as part of a digital series, Unstaged. The project was directed by Spike Lee and sponsored by American Express, and seemed to open new doors for hollowed grounds. The global reach of Pharrell’s performance coincided with the technological upgrades that the venue is going through, as part of a $20 million dollar initiative for its 21st Century Apollo Campaign.
The singer/songwriter stated that he’s excited to preserve and expand upon the Apollo’s legacy in American culture. In other words, he’s “Happy.”
article by via theurbandaily.com
Keke Palmer is sort of living a fairytale life right now. Not only is Palmer starring in the Broadway version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, but she is also still managing to find time to help others. Now the actress is partnering with Saving Our Daughters to help other girls feel like Cinderella.
When we spoke with Palmer, she explained how meaningful the role of Cinderella was to her. Performing on Broadway has also given her “a new respect for entertainers who, night after night, are out there performing their hearts out.” Even though she’s giving it her all each night, Palmer is squeezing in some time to help Saving Our Daughters, an organization she has worked with since she was 12.
According to Palmer, she’s partnered with the organization in the past to attack “issues such as bullying and self-esteem,” so joining forces when she’s playing Cinderella makes perfect sense; after all, Cinderella faces bullying at the hands of her stepsisters. On November 4th, Palmer is meeting with girls from the Boys & Girls Club of New York for an event called “Saving Our Cinderellas.”
At the event, Palmer will host a talk session with the girls to focus on “overcoming self-esteem challenges,” such as the type of bullying Cinderella endures when she is picked on by her mean stepsisters. The session will also “emphasize strong self-esteem and aim to empower girls to save themselves and become influential ‘princesses.’” Another “princess” who stepped in to help the girls was gospel singer Kierra Sheard; the gospel singer will sponsor tickets for girls without parents in their lives to a showing of Cinderella and the talk session.
When we asked Palmer what her hope for the event was, she reiterated the importance of the theme of Cinderella: “to believe the impossible,” which is something she wants each girl to do.
article by Claire Biggs via act.mtv.com
In “Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3),” a new drama by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks (“Topdog/Underdog”), Hero, a slave, is offered a deal by his master: Leave behind his family and fight for the Confederacy in exchange for his freedom. This decision and its implications are at the heart of this historical tale, whose first three parts open Tuesday at the Public Theater. If this work sounds too familiar to be a “world premiere,” as it is billed, that’s because it has been gestating for years, with workshop productions staged at the Public Lab in 2009 and this year. Sterling K. Brown (“The Brother/Sister Plays”) is Hero, and Jo Bonney directs. (425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, 212-967-7555, publictheater.org.)
article by Jason Zinoman via nytimes.com