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Valarie Pettiford
Valarie Pettiford (born July 8, 1960) is an American stage and television actress, dancer, and jazz singer. She received a Tony Award nomination for her role in the broadway production '' Fosse''. She is also known for her role as "Big Dee Dee" Thorne on the UPN television sitcom ''Half & Half''. Stage Pettiford began her career as a dancer and choreographer in Bob Fosse productions on Broadway. Alvin Klein of the ''New York Times'' wrote of her role in the 1983 musical revue ''Ladies and Gentlemen, Jerome Kern!'' that "You will not for a moment take your eyes off Valarie Pettiford, the show's standout: a sinewy dancer who can be sultry or sweet, measure for measure, as prescribed.... Miss Pettiford appears to be a superbly trained dancer, schooled in balletic finesse and Broadway-style razzmatazz - and a stunning presence." Leah Frank, also in the ''NYT'', wrote of Pettiford's appearance in ''West Side Story'' in 1987: "The mainstay of the supporting cast is Valarie Pettiford, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wild Party (LaChiusa Musical)
''The Wild Party'' is a musical with a book by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe and music and lyrics by LaChiusa. It is based on the 1928 Joseph Moncure March narrative poem of the same name. The Broadway production coincidentally opened during the same theatrical season (1999–2000) as an off-Broadway musical with the same title and source material. The show is presented as a series of vaudeville sketches, complete with signs at the beginning and the end (but abandoned for most of the show) announcing the next scene propped on an easel at the side of the stage. Queenie and Burrs, whose relationship is disintegrating, host a party fueled by bathtub gin, cocaine, and uninhibited sexual behavior. It quickly devolves into an orgy that culminates in tragedy. The guests include fading star Dolores; Kate, Queenie's best friend and rival; Black, Kate's younger lover, who has his eye on Queenie; Jackie, a rich, "ambisextrous" kid who has his eye on everyone, regardless of gend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey and Ida B. Wells. Leaders of the organization included Thurgood Marshall and Roy Wilkins. Its mission in the 21st century is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination". National NAACP initiatives include political lobbying, publicity efforts and litigation strategies developed by its legal team. The group enlarged its mission in the late 20th century by considering issues such as police misconduct, the status of black foreign refugees and questions of economic development. Its name, retained in accordance with tradition, uses the once common term ''colored people,'' referring to those with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City. Paleo-Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Raisin In The Sun
''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known as "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a black family's experiences in south Chicago, as they attempt to improve their financial circumstances with an insurance payout following the death of the father, and deals with matters of housing discrimination, racism, and assimilation. The New York Drama Critics' Circle named it the best play of 1959, and in recent years publications such as ''The Independent'' and ''Time Out'' have listed it among the best plays ever written. Plot Walter and Ruth Younger, their son Travis, along with Walter's mother Lena (Mama) and Walter's younger sister Beneatha, live in poverty in a run-down two-bedroom apartment on Chicago's South Side. Walter is barely making a living as a limousine driver. Though Ruth is content with their lot, Walter is not, and desperately wishes to become wealthy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Lesson Before Dying
''A Lesson Before Dying'' is Ernest J. Gaines' eighth novel, published in 1993. It was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. The novel is based on the true story of Willie Francis, a young Black American man best known for surviving a failed electrocution in the state of Louisiana in 1946. Plot summary In the late 1940s backdrop of a small Cajun community, Jefferson, a young black man, is accused and convicted of a murder for perpetrating a shoot-out in a liquor store which left three men killed. Being the sole survivor of a crime that occurred unwittingly, Jefferson is sentenced to death. The story unfolds his search for justice as within his trial, Jefferson's attorney explains to the jury "What justice would there be to take his life? Justice, gentlemen? Why, I would as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this." Jefferson's godmother, Miss Emma Glenn, and Tante (Aunt) Lou, the aunt of local school teacher Grant Wiggins, ask Lou' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dael Orlandersmith
Dael Orlandersmith (born Donna Brown, 1960–) is an American actress, poet and playwright. She is known for her Obie Award-winning ''Beauty's Daughter'' and the 2002 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama, ''Yellowman''. Early life Orlandersmith, born Donna Dael Theresa Orlander Smith Brown in 1959, in New York City's East Harlem. She attended Hunter College but left to attend acting classes at the HB Studio and Actors Studio. She wrote of her work: "There is a theme throughout the work that I write...about childhood and the sins of the father, the sins of the mother, and how people take on the very thing they don’t like about their parents and they become them.” Career ;''Beauty's Daughter'' Her play ''Beauty's Daughter'' premiered Off-Broadway at the American Place Theatre from January 25, 1995 to March 26, 1995. Directed by Peter Askin it is a one-woman performance piece. As described by ''The New York Times'' reviewer, the show "aims at more than an extended poetry reading. Suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African-American Theatre
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of Slavery in the United States, enslaved Africans who are from the United States. While some Black immigrants or their children may also come to identify as African-American, the majority of first generation immigrants do not, preferring to identify with their nation of origin. African Americans constitute the second largest racial group in the U.S. after White Americans, as well as the third largest ethnic group after Hispanic and Latino Americans. Most African Americans are descendants of enslaved people within the boundaries of the present United States. On average, African Americans are of West Africa, West/Central Africa, Central African with some European descent; some also have Native Americans in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NAACP Theatre Awards
The NAACP Theatre Awards are a NAACP member voted awards started in 1991 and presented annually by the Beverly Hills-Hollywood branch of the NAACP to honor outstanding people of color in theater. The ceremonies usually take place in the Los Angeles area following the presentation ceremonies of the NAACP Image Awards. There are also honorary awards: the President's Award, the Trailblazer Award, the Spirit Award, the Community Service Award, and The Lifetime Achievement Award. Award ceremonies Award categories Equity * Best Choreography * Best Costumes * Best Director * Best Director of a Musical * Best Ensemble Cast * Best Lead Female * Best Lead Male * Best Lighting * Best Music Director * Best Playwright * Best Producer * Best Set Design * Best Sound * Best Supporting Female * Best Supporting Male Local * Best Choreography * Best Costumes * Best Director * Best Director of a Musical * Best Ensemble Cast * Best Lead Female * Best Lead Male * Best Lighting * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
