Harlem 1929 - Articles Page 2

Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show, is a different juke box show from Candlelight’s previous production of BEEHIVE. From the rock n’ roll of 60’s we time travel back 30- years to the American jazz pianist Waller. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid the groundwork for modern jazz piano. In 1922, at the tender age of 18, he produced his first piano roll, “Got To Cool My Doggies Now.” (I had to mention that only because the title cracked me up).

For their 38th season at Undermain they are creating an exciting array of diverse performance opportunities to inspire and enrich our community and support artists in North Texas. They hope to be able to offer live performances in addition to the virtual streaming videos for each production. 

So for this one last article, I am sharing one of, if not the most important accomplishment of my life: I moved to New York City!

Inspired by her own mixed-race heritage and career-long engagement with diverse musical traditions, pianist Lara Downes creates and curates a new digital recording venture, Rising Sun Music, that sheds a bright light on the music and stories of Black composers over the past 200 years.

Alexandra Eckhardt is an accomplished Music Supervisor and bassist, having worked with artists including Sara Bareilles, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alex Lacamoire, and many more! Eckhardt most recently supervised the music for the film, Passing, which premiered on January 30th at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.

The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the showcase of new independent work selected across the Feature Film, Short Film, Indie Series and New Frontier categories for the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.

Organizers today announced the second phase of the Harlem Renaissance 100, a multi-year celebration originally kicked off in February of this year to commemorate the milestone 100th Anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance and the artistic brilliance born from that movement.

The African-American Shakespeare Company will present Noël Coward's classic Private Lives, directed by Clay David for six performances only this April. This draws their 2019/20 season to a close, a season that has seen the company mount a much-praised Othello, their annual holiday Cinderella, and the dramatic satire The Trial of One Short-Sighted Black Woman vs. Mammy Louise and Safreeta Mae.

Fête Noire: A Festival Celebrating Black Culture Across the African Diaspora by New Match Collective and its powerful pieces and performances are the perfect way to close out February.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Pittsfield, MA., in the heart of the Berkshires, and under the leadership of Founder/Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, has announced its 2020 season. BSC will present two World Premiere musicals and new productions of a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical classic, a Tony Award-winning musical revue, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Pittsfield, MA., in the heart of the Berkshires, and under the leadership of Founder/Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, has announced its 2020 season. BSC will present two World Premiere musicals and new productions of a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical classic, a Tony Award-winning musical revue, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians, will take the stage at Irvine Barclay Theatre on February 6 as part of the venue's new speaker series, Fresh Take. Kwan, along with Tony-winning Ain't Misbehavin', Grammy winner Arturo Sandoval and others, highlight the variety of spring performances at Irvine Barclay Theatre. See below for some notable shows through May, and here is a link to the entire season: https://mailchi.mp/thebarclay/announcing-irvine-barclay-theatres-2019-20-season).

For the next month Portland Stage will be transformed into the Fats Waller Harlem Club where five performers and four musicians rock the stage each night recreating the sounds and sensations of the Harlem Renaissance era in music. The spectacular, soul-gripping show is AIN'T MISBEHAVIN', the musical dedicated to the work of the legendary Fats Waller, presented in a powerful co-production by Maine State Music Theatre and Portland Stage at the Portland venue. Directed by E. Faye Butler and choreographed by Kenny Ingram, this fourth collaboration between these two leading Maine theatres is an entertaining, moving, and enlightening theatrical experience.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and Music Director Louis Langree announced details of the much-anticipated 125th Anniversary Season beginning in September at Music Hall. The 2019-20 season welcomes acclaimed guest artists including Renee Fleming, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Artist-in-Residence Guy Braunstein and Grammy winner Isabel Leonard, among others. The season includes performances of Beethoven's legendary Akademie program, a fully staged production of Ravel's opera, L'Enfant et les sortileges, seven CSO commissions, five world premieres, three U.S. premieres, as well as an experimental new concert series titled CSO Proof. The 125th Anniversary Season marks the launch of new initiatives both on and off the stage that build on the CSO's legacy. Leading up to the season, the Orchestra presents CSO Look Around, a first-of-its-kind event celebrating community, diversity, and inclusivity on August 3.

Staged Reading of the 2018 LEZPLAY CONTEST Winner Set for Saturday, January 19

The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation proudly presents the 8th SATCHMO Award to: jazz vocalist and songwriter Ms. Sheila Jordan. LAEF is returning to the historic Alhambra Ball Room in Harlem, where swing dancers, big bands and jazz vocalists once reigned supreme – Friday October 12th 8:00 – 10:00pm. 

Barter Theatre is excited to present The "Fats" Waller Musical Show "Ain't Misbehavin'" running from August 17 through September 8. Take this incredible journey as audiences follow "Fats" Waller's music to the golden age of the Cotton Club. Enjoy an evening with rowdy and humorous songs that take you back in time to the Harlem Renaissance to a view of life that's meant for pleasure and play.

Rebecca Hall will make her directorial debut with Passing, an adaptation based on Nella Larsen's 1920s Harlem Renaissance novel that explores the practice of racial passing, a term used for a person classified as a member of one racial group who seeks to be accepted by a different racial group, according to Deadline.  Hall has also written the script, and Tessa Thompson and Oscar nominee Ruth Negga are attached to star.

HISTORY MATTERS/BACK TO THE FUTURE presents an evening of scenes from women's plays of the past, performed by renowned actors April Matthis (Lear; The Sound and the Fury; April Seventh, 1928), Maryann Plunkett (Blue Valentine, The Apple Family Plays) and Jay O. Sanders (Blindspot, The Apple Family Plays) directed by Joan Vail Thorne, founder of History Matters/Back to the Future.

The international movement and entertainment company, Pilobolus (Executive Producer, Itamar Kubovy; Renee Jaworski and Matt Kent, artistic directors), kicks-off its first ever Pilobolus Five Senses Festival this weekend. A celebration of arts and ideas convening the company's vast network of creative, world-renowned collaborators in its own backyard of Washington, Connecticut, the festival begins Friday, July 27 and runs through August 11, rain or shine. For more information and to purchase tickets to The Pilobolus Five Senses Festival, please visit www.FiveSensesFestival.com.

HISTORY MATTERS/BACK TO THE FUTURE presents an evening of scenes from women's plays of the past, performed by renowned actors April Matthis (Lear; The Sound and the Fury; April Seventh, 1928), Maryann Plunkett (Blue Valentine, The Apple Family Plays) and Jay O. Sanders (Blindspot, The Apple Family Plays) directed by Joan Vail Thorne, founder of History Matters/Back to the Future.

Totem Pole Playhouse, America's beloved summer theatre, located in Caledonia State Park between Gettysburg and Chambersburg, PA, will open its 68th summer season with the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat starring Broadway veteran, Matt Rosell from Les Miserables, as 'Joseph' and Marie Eife as the 'Narrator.'

The Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University (CBA), the first international institute devoted to the creation and academic study of ballet, today announced the 27 artists and scholars who will serve as CBA Fellows in the 2018-19 academic year. The group - which represents The Center's largest and most far-reaching cohort yet - features distinguished individuals in a range of disciplines, including scholar Cecile Feza Bushidi, lighting designer Brandon Stirling Baker, choreographer Chase Brock, choreographer, filmmaker, and dancer Pontus Lidberg, and scholar Janice Ross, among others.

The York Theatre Company in association with Documentary Arts presents the world premiere of the new musical Lonesome Blues, based on the true story of legendary bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson, created by Alan Govenar (Texas in Paris) and Akin Babatunde (Blind Lemon Blues), directed by Katherine Owens (How Is It That We Live or Shakey Jake + Alice), performed by Akin Babatunde with David Weiss on guitar.

Continuing the momentum created with the current season launch of its Music Knows No Borders series, Executive Director Thor Steingraber unveils the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts' 2018-19 Season, which features four world premieres, two American premieres, several of the world's greatest orchestras, innovative jazz programs, two tributes to Hollywood legends, Broadway classics plus artists from 18 different nations who will appear on stage at The Soraya next season.  New Subscription Series tickets will go on sale May 1, 2018.