|
Crossroads Theatre
Crossroads Theatre is a theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey, located in the city's Civic Square government and theatre district. Founded in 1978, it is the winner of the 1999 Regional Theatre Tony Award. It is an African-American Theater focused on celebrating the culture, artistry and voices of the African Diaspora. History Rick Khan, Dan Irvin and Lee K. Richardson met at Rutgers University studying for their Masters of Fine Art Degree. After graduating in 1977 they founded the company in 1978 With help from George Street Playhouse and grant money from the CETA program the theater began performing in New Brunswick and became New Jersey's first professional Black repertory theatre. By 1985, it was thriving and had 1,300 subscribers. The company made an effort to appeal to a multiracial audience and while it started out focusing more on revivals by 1985 Artistic Director Lee Richardson was prioritizing new plays, saying "it's time to focus on the new" In 2000 it unexpectedly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theater (structure)
A theater, theatre or playhouse, is a structure where theatre, theatrical works, performing arts and musical Concert, concerts are presented. The theater building serves to define the performance and audience spaces. The facility usually is organized to provide support areas for performers, the technical crew and the audience members, as well as the stage where the performance takes place. There are as many types of theaters as there are types of performance. Theaters may be built specifically for a certain types of productions, they may serve for more general performance needs or they may be adapted or converted for use as a theater. They may range from open-air amphitheaters to ornate, cathedral-like structures to simple, undecorated rooms or black box theaters. A theatre used for opera performances is called an opera house. A theater is not required for performance (as in site-specific theatre, environmental theater or street theatre, street theater), this article is about s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ossie Davis
Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He and his wife were named to the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame; were awarded the National Medal of ArtsLifetime Honors – National Medal of Arts and were recipients of the . He was inducted into the in 1994. Early life Raiford Chatman ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trazana Beverley
Trazana Beverley is an American stage and film actress as well as a lecturer in acting. She received a BFA in Acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She was the first African-American actress to receive a Tony Award for "Best Featured Actress in a Play" (for the 1977 Broadway play ''For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf)'', having previously won a Theatre World Award for the Off-Broadway production.Trazana Beverley at the She shared a cast |
Pearl Cleage
Pearl Cleage (December 7, 1948) (pronounced: “cleg”) is an African-American playwright, essayist, novelist, poet and political activist.Spratling, Cassandra. "Pearl Cleage's Storied Life Cover Story." Detroit Free Press, Feb 21, 2010. ProQuest.Sammons, Benjamin. "Flyin' 'Anyplace Else': (Dis)Engaging Traumatic Memory in Three Plays by Pearl Cleage." Drama Criticism, edited by Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 32, Gale, 2009. Gale Literature Resource Center. Originally published in Reading Contemporary African American Drama: Fragments of History, Fragments of Self, edited by Trudier Harris and Jennifer Larson, Peter Lang, 2007, pp. 99-119. She is currently the Playwright in Residence at the Alliance Theatre and at the Just Us Theater Company. Cleage is a political activist. She tackles issues at the crux of racism and sexism, and is known for her feminist views, particularly regarding her identity as an African-American woman.Giles, Freda Scott. “The Motio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rita Dove
Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952) is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have been appointed since the position was created by an act of Congress in 1986 from the previous "consultant in poetry" position (1937–86). Dove also received an appointment as "special consultant in poetry" for the Library of Congress's bicentennial year from 1999 to 2000. Dove is the second African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1987, and she served as the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2004 to 2006. Since 1989, she has been teaching at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where she held the chair of Commonwealth Professor of English from 1993 to 2020; as of 2020 she holds the chair of Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing. Early life Rita Dove was born in Akron, Ohio, to Ray Dove, one of the first African-American chemists to work ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mbongeni Ngema
Mbongeni Ngema (born 1 June 1956) is a South African writer, lyricist, composer, director, choreographer and theatre producer, born in Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal (near Durban). He started his career as a theatre backing guitarist. He wrote the multi-award-winning musical Sarafina! and co-wrote the multi-award-winning ''Woza Albert!'' He is known for plays that reflect the spirit of black South Africans under apartheid. He was previously married to actress Leleti Khumalo, who received a 1988 Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for '' Sarafina!'' (and who also starred in its 1992 film adaptation), as well as starring in the leading role in South Africa's first Oscar-nominated film '' Yesterday''. Early life Born in Verulam and raised in the heart of Zululand, Mbongeni Ngema has distinguished himself as a renowned playwright, screenwriter and librettist. Ngema prides himself on being from the lineage of the warriors Mbandama and Sigcwelegcwele kaMhlekehleke of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarafina! (musical)
''Sarafina!'' is a South African musical by Mbongeni Ngema and Hugh Masekela depicting students involved in the Soweto Riots, in opposition to apartheid. It was also adapted into a 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg and Leleti Khumalo. ''Sarafina!'' premiered on Broadway on 28 January 1988, at the Cort Theatre, and closed on 2 July 1989, after 597 performances and 11 previews. The musical was conceived and directed by Mbongeni Ngema, who also wrote the book. He wrote the music and lyrics alongside Hugh Masekela. The play was first presented at The Market Theatre, Johannesburg, South Africa, in June 1987. The cast included Leleti Khumalo as Sarafina. Leleti Khumalo received a Tony Award nomination, Best Featured Actress in a Musical, as well as a NAACP Image Award for her Broadway theatre portrayal of the title character. The production was also nominated for the Tony Award for: Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography, and Best Direction of a Musical. The show ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). The name also applies to the navigators, bombardiers, mechanics, instructors, crew chiefs, nurses, cooks, and other support personnel. The Tuskegee airmen received praise for their excellent combat record earned while protecting American bombers from enemy fighters. The group was awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations. All black military pilots who trained in the United States trained at Griel Field, Kennedy Field, Moton Field, Shorter Field, and the Tuskegee Army Air Fields. They were educated at the Tuskegee University, Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), located near Tuskegee, Alabama. Of the 922 pilots, five were Haitians from the Armed Forces of Haiti, Haitian Air Force and one pil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lita Gaithers
Lita Gaithers (born July 30, 1956) is an American singer and actress. Lita, who received a nomination for the ''Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical'', is the third of only four African American women who have ever been nominated in that category. As a veteran performer of legitimate stages that include: the Mark Taper Forum, Pasadena Playhouse, and Arena Stage, her lead and featured stage performances consist of: ''The Tin Pan Alley Rag'', ''Ain't Misbehavin' (musical), Ain't Misbehavin''', ''Nunsense'', ''The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'', ''A... My Name Is Alice'', ''Purlie'', ''For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf'', and being an original cast member of ''Blues'', which was developed at the Denver Center Theatre Company. Lita is married to the Reverend Dr. Oscar Otis Owens Jr. and resides in View Park-Windsor Hills, California. References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaithers, Lita African-American wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron Taylor (actor)
Ronald James Taylor (October 16, 1952 – January 16, 2002) was an American actor, singer and writer. He grew up in Galveston, Texas and later moved to New York City to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After graduating, Taylor began working in musical theater, appearing in ''The Wiz'' (1977), before getting his break with the 1982 off-Broadway production '' Little Shop of Horrors''. Taylor voiced the killer plant Audrey II in the show, which ran for five years and over 2,000 performances. Taylor created and starred in the musical revue ''It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues'', which charted the history of blues music from its African origin to American success. Originally performed at high schools in Denver as a 45-minute piece, the revue was expanded to two hours, played around the country and opened on Broadway in 1999. It was met with critical acclaim, ran for eight months, and saw Taylor receive two Tony Award nominations. He also had numerous television roles, appe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues
''It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues'' is a musical theatre, musical written by Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor (actor), Ron Taylor, and Dan Wheetman. It was originally produced at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts and later presented by the Crossroads Theatre, in association with San Diego Repertory Theatre and Alabama Shakespeare Festival in New York City at the New Victory Theatre, Lincoln Center, and Broadway's Ambassador Theatre (New York City), Ambassador Theatre, where it garnered five Tony Awards, Tony Award nominations, including Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Musical. The musical traces the history of "blues" music with more than three dozen songs. Ron Taylor acted as singing narrator. It was directed by Randal Myler with movement by Donald McKayle. ''It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues'' started as a Denver Center Theater Company school touring show in circa 1994. The Denver Center production played at the Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.), in Nove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ricardo Khan
Ricardo "Rick" Khan is an American playwright and theater director of African and Indian descent. He co-founded the Tony Award winning and highly influential Crossroads Theatre Company of New Jersey, and is an acclaimed director on both American and International stages. As a writer, Khan saw his first play, ''Fly'', premiered in 2007 at Lincoln Center Institute of Lincoln Center in New York and then at Crossroads, go on to win multiple NAACP Theater Awards in 2018. The play, co-authored with writer Trey Ellis and directed by Khan, has been lauded as a highly innovative and moving theatrical play that makes use of many mediums to tell the story and the trials and triumphs of American World War II heroes, the Tuskegee Airmen. Other plays written or co-written by Khan include '' Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing'', ''Freedom Rider'', and '' Letters From Freedom Summer''. Early life and education Ricardo Khan was born in Washington, DC, on November 4, 1951, the first of f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_with_Ossie_Davis_in_1998.jpg "Click for more on -> Ossie Davis")
