HAPPY BIRTHDAY MALCOLM & LORRAINE! To Be Presented At Billie Holiday Theatre

The Billie Holiday Theatre in partnership with Bed-Stuy Art House, will present Happy Birthday Malcolm & Lorraine!: A Return to Foundation Through Theater Arts + Live Music, a dynamic, multidisciplinary celebration honoring the shared birthday and enduring legacies of  iconic civil rights leader Malcolm X, and the visionary playwright and activist Lorraine Hansberry.

Taking place on Friday, May 15, 2026, with performances at 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM, this one-night-only event will feature a mix of original short plays, live music, and contemporary performance - offering a compelling artistic response to two figures whose influence continues to reverberate across generations.

Through bold artistic expression and cultural inquiry, Happy Birthday Malcolm & Lorraine! engages both figures as living frameworks rather than viewing their legacies through a purely historical lens – exploring how their ideas around self-determination, resistance, and liberation continue to shape community, artistic practice and cultural identity in the present. Malcolm X's uncompromising commitment to truth, discipline, and Black consciousness, alongside Lorraine Hansberry's incisive interrogation of race, class, and power in American life, established a foundation that artists continue to build upon. Through performance and music, the work considers what it means to engage their legacies in real time—where their words, questions, and convictions remain urgent and generative. 

Happy Birthday Malcolm & Lorraine! brings together original works by Shaun Neblett, Nambi E. Kelley, and Felicia Cade, with music direction by Cinque Kemp, shaping the evening's sonic and emotional landscape.

“Malcolm and Lorraine helped shape how generations understood dignity, freedom, and the power of thought,” said Shaun Neblett, producer and curator, Bed-Stuy Art House. “This event is about returning to foundation and carrying those teachings forward through living art.”

“This work speaks directly to our mission at The Billie—to uplift storytelling that is rooted in history and responsive to the moment,” said Shadawn Smith, Executive Director. “Happy Birthday Malcolm & Lorraine! invites audiences to engage two visionary voices whose impact continues to resonate across generations.”