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Preaching To The Choir
''Preaching to the Choir'' is a 2006 American musical comedy-drama film directed by Charles Randolph-Wright and starring Billoah Greene, Darien Sills-Evans, Novella Nelson, Janine Green, Rosa Arredondo, Eartha Kitt, Tichina Arnold and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Cast *Billoah Greene as Teshawn *Darien Sills-Evans as Wesley *Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Bull Sharky *Janine Green as Kia *Novella Nelson as Aunt June *Tuffy Questell as Stumpy *Eartha Kitt as Sister Nettie *Patti LaBelle as Sister Jasmine *Rosa Arredondo as Rachel *Tichina Arnold as Desiree *Tim Reid as Prophet Release The film was released on April 14, 2006. Reception The film has a 36% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on fourteen reviews. John Anderson of ''Variety'' gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Despite the ungainly script and direction, the climactic performances — including one by young singer Anny Jules –absolve the movie of most of its sins." Bruce Westbrook of the ''Houston Chronicle Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Randolph-Wright
Charles Randolph-Wright is an American film, television, and theatre director, television producer, screenwriter, and playwright. Early life A native of York, South Carolina, Randolph-Wright graduated with honors from York High School. He attended Duke University where he received the A.B. Duke Scholarship and was a pre-med student. As an undergraduate, he studied acting with the Royal Shakespeare Company in London and dance with the Alvin Ailey School in New York City. Randolph-Wright changed his major, and graduated with honors from Duke University with a B.A. degree in theater and religion. Career Theater Randolph-Wright's earliest Broadway credit was in 1981 as a member of the original cast of the musical ''Dreamgirls''. He then went on to establish a distinguished career in the theater as a director, writer, and producer. Randolph-Wright directed the Broadway premiere of Alice Childress's ''Trouble in Mind'' at Roundabout Theatre Company's American Airlines Theat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kevin Heffernan (actor)
Kevin Heffernan (born May 25, 1968) is an American actor, writer, producer, and director, and member of the Broken Lizard comedy group. Life and career Heffernan was born in West Haven, Connecticut. His mother, Catheryn Jane (née Eiby), is the West Haven treasurer, and his father, Eugene Michael Heffernan, worked as a probate judge. His paternal grandfather, William J. Heffernan, was mayor of West Haven. Heffernan is a graduate of Fairfield College Preparatory School and later Colgate University, the latter where he was a part of comedy group Charred Goosebeak with other members of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. This group would stay together outside college, and become the group Broken Lizard. Heffernan is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School, and passed the Connecticut bar exam, but does not practice law. Also available as Instead, he and the other members of Broken Lizard spent several years to make the film ''Super Troopers''. They took it to the Sundance Film Festival, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darien Sills-Evans
Darien Evans, better known by his stage name, Darien Sills-Evans, is an American actor, writer, comedian, and director. He is best known for Darien in '' Cosby'' (1998-2000), CSU Tech Foster in ''Third Watch'' (2002-2005) and Andrew in '' The Reception'' (2005). Television career Early in his career, Evans was best known for his television career including playing "Darien" on 17 episodes of the CBS sitcom '' Cosby'' from 1998 until 2000, and as “Dr. Fields” on the NBC drama ''Third Watch'' in 22 episodes from 2002 until 2005. Other guest appearances include ''Law & Order'', ''New York Undercover'', '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', ''The Black Donnellys'', and ''Person of Interest''. More recently, he played "Darnell Nichols" on 8 episodes of '' Treme'' between 2011 and 2013. Since at least 2011, Evans has been the national spokesperson for U.S. Cellular. Cinema career Sills-Evans wrote, directed and starred in the 2002 film ''X-Patriots'', a romantic comedy about t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novella Nelson
Novella Christine Nelson (December 17, 1939 – August 31, 2017) was an American actress and singer. She established her career as a singer, both on the off-Broadway and Broadway stage and in cabaret-style locales. Career Starting in 1961, Nelson had a decades-long stage career, performing, directing and producing, primarily in New York. She was a featured performer on Broadway in 1970 in the musical ''Purlie''. In 1975, Nelson directed the play ''La Femme Noire'' at The Public Theater. Her film career began at age 39 with a small part in 1977's ''An Unmarried Woman'', and continued for the next several decades with roles in movies and television. She may be best known for her role as Mrs. Tate in the 2002 movie ''Antwone Fisher''. Early life Nelson was born on December 17, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York, to James and Evelyn (formerly Hines) Nelson. Her father was a pastor and a taxi driver. Her mother was an executive assistant at magazine publisher Women's Wear Daily. An African ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby". Kitt began her career in 1942 and appeared in the 1945 original Broadway theatre production of the musical ''Carib Song''. In the early 1950s, she had six US Top 30 entries, including "Uska Dara" and "I Want to Be Evil". Her other recordings include the UK Top 10 song "Under the Bridges of Paris" (1954), "Just an Old Fashioned Girl" (1956) and "Where Is My Man" (1983). Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the world". She starred as Catwoman in the third and final season of the television series ''Batman'' in 1967. In 1968, her career in the U.S. deteriorated after she made anti-Vietnam War statements at a White House luncheon. Ten years later, Kitt made a successful return to Broadway in the 1978 original product ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tichina Arnold
Tichina Rolanda Arnold (; born June 28, 1969) is an American actress and singer. She began her career as a child actor, appearing in supporting roles in '' Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986) and ''How I Got into College'' (1989) before being cast as Pamela "Pam" James on the FOX sitcom ''Martin'', which she played from 1992 until the show ended in 1997. Arnold also played the family matriarch Rochelle on the UPN/ CW sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris'' from 2005 to 2009, and portrayed Judi Mann in the TV Land original sitcom ''Happily Divorced'' from 2011 to 2013. From 2014 to 2017, she played the lead role of Cassie Calloway on ''Survivor's Remorse''. As of 2018, Arnold plays Tina Butler in the CBS sitcom series '' The Neighborhood.'' From 2018 to 2019, she played the role of Paulette in the South African series ''Lockdown''. Early life Arnold was born in Queens, New York City, to a working-class family. Her mother, Diane, was a sanitation worker and her father Gene Arnold was a police ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (, ; born 22 August 1967) is an English actor, director, and former fashion model known for his roles as Lock-Nah in ''The Mummy Returns'', Nykwana Wombosi in '' The Bourne Identity'', Heavy Duty in '' G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra'', Kurse in '' Thor: The Dark World'', Killer Croc in ''Suicide Squad'', Mr. Eko in ''Lost'', Malko in the fifth season of the HBO series '' Game of Thrones'', and Dave Duerson in the NFL biopic drama '' Concussion''. Akinnuoye-Agbaje's feature directorial debut, ''Farming'', wrapped production in 2017 and had its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. Early life and education Akinnuoye-Agbaje was born in Islington, London, to Nigerian parents of Yoruba origin, who were students in the UK. When he was six weeks old, his biological parents gave him up to a white working-class family in Tilbury, Essex. His foster parents had at least ten African children, including Akinnuoye-Agbaje's two sisters, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nona Hendryx
Nona Bernis Hendryx (born October 9, 1944) is an American vocalist, record producer, songwriter, musician, and author. Hendryx is known for her work as a solo artist as well as for being one-third of the trio Labelle, who had a hit with "Lady Marmalade". Her music has ranged from soul, funk, and R&B to hard rock, new wave, and new-age. She stated in an interview that her family's last name was originally spelled with an 'i' and that she is a distant cousin of guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Biography Early career Hendryx was born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1944 where she met fellow New Jersey native Sarah Dash and later met Philadelphia-born singer Patricia Holte (Patti LaBelle). After a short-lived tenure as a member of the Del-Capris, Hendryx and Dash formed a singing group with Holte (once the lead singer of a girl group in Philadelphia called The Ordettes). In 1961, Cindy Birdsong, from Camden, New Jersey, became the fourth member of the group, who became the Bluebelles and sign ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CodeBlack Entertainment
Codeblack Films is an American entertainment company. Codeblack focuses on films targeting African-American audiences. History Codeblack Enterprises was founded by Jeff Clanagan in 2005, who became CEO of the company. Originally focused on direct-to-video releases, Codeblack entered into an agreement with 20th Century Fox for film distribution. The multi-picture deal with Fox Faith was to produce six original films targeting the African-American faith-based market. The first two productions were film adaptations of the 1980s Off-Broadway gospel musical hit '' Mama, I Want to Sing!'' and the popular play, ''A Good Man is Hard to Find.'' 2012 to present Codeblack Enterprises entered a distribution deal with Lionsgate in 2012 forming Codeblack Films under Lionsgate. Codeblack's first film release under Lionsgate was Kevin Hart's stand-up special ''Let Me Explain''. That same year, Shaquille O'Neal's All Star Comedy Jam was released through Codeblack and Lionsgate. Codeback release ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TV One (American TV Channel)
TV One is an American basic cable television channel owned by Urban One, having acquired Comcast's stake in the TV channel in 2015. Headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, TV One's programming targets African American adults with a broad mixture of original lifestyle and entertainment-oriented series, documentaries, films, music performances and reruns of sitcoms from the 1970s through the 2000s. As of February 2015, TV One is available to approximately 57 million pay television households (48.9% of households with at least one television set) in the United States. History TV One launched on January 19, 2004, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as a competitor to the longer-established BET.Felicia R. Lee"A Network for Blacks With Sense of Mission,"''The New York Times'', December 11, 2007. At the time of its launch, the channel was in approximately 2.2 million homes in 16 markets. On July 7, 2008, the channel's president and CEO Johnathan Rodgers announced that TV One would pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freestyle Releasing
Freestyle Releasing, LLC is an independent film distributor based in Los Angeles, California, founded in 2004, specializing in releasing films theatrically. Unlike most distributors, Freestyle Releasing does not put up any prints and advertising money for its releases, leaving advertising costs to production companies. History Freestyle Releasing was founded in 2004 by Susan Jackson, Mark Borde and Mike Doban, formerly at United Artists Theaters. By January 2006, Jackson started the DVD label Freestyle Home Entertainment as an adjunct for additional leeway in its deal making. The company booked ''Winter Passing'' and '' Find Me Guilty'' for Yari Film Group in 2006. Jackson and Borde in 2010 formed Freestyle Digital Media, a film aggregator for the video on demand market. By May 2011, Doban left to be chief operating officer at Sycamore Entertainment Group, a film prints and advertising (P&A) financing firm. Jackson died in October 2014. In October 2015 Byron Allen's Entertain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singer and frontwoman of the vocal group Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. Following the group's name change to Labelle in the 1970s, they released the popular number-one hit "Lady Marmalade". As a result, after the group split in 1976, LaBelle began a successful solo career, starting with her critically acclaimed debut album, which included the career-defining song, "You Are My Friend". LaBelle became a mainstream solo star in 1984 following the success of the singles "If Only You Knew", "Love, Need and Want You" (later sampled for 2002's "Dilemma"), " New Attitude" and "Stir It Up". Less than two years later, in 1986, LaBelle scored a number-one album ''Winner in You'' and its number-one duet single, " On My Own", with Michael McDonald. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
