Photo Flash: Andre De Shields Serves As Grand Marshal Of Baltimore's 2019 Pennsylvania Avenue Cadillac Auto Parade

Tony and Emmy Award winning actor André De Shields was the grand marshal of Baltimore's 2019 Pennsylvania Avenue Cadillac Auto parade held on August 31. Check out the photos below!

Sponsored by the Historic Pennsylvania Avenue Main Street, Upton Planning Committee, Inc. and organized by Michael Johnson, the Parade kicked off the second day of the inaugural Billie Holiday Music and Arts Festival, marking the 99th anniversary of Pennsylvania Avenue and honoring Holiday's legacy.

De Shields led the parade in an antique 1976 light blue Cadillac Eldorado convertible. Highlights of the Parade included classic and high-end cars and performances by Lincoln University's and Morgan State University's marching bands and dance troupes along the route down Pennsylvania Avenue, beginning at North Avenue and ending at Dolphin Street.

The Hadestown star and Baltimore native returned to his hometown just two weeks after receiving the Key to the City from Mayor Jack Young, who was also in attendance. De Shields and Mayor Young were presented with Billie Holiday Music and Arts Festival 2019 Heritage Awards.

During the 1940s, 50s and 60s, Pennsylvania Avenue was the place to be to see the latest singers and musicians perform. Many jazz clubs and performance halls in the area, notably the Royal Theater on Pennsylvania Avenue, were part of the Chitlin' Circuit where African American entertainers, such as Redd Foxx, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and James Brown, could perform freely in a segregated America. The Royal Theater has since been torn down, but its spirit lives on in the community and at The Avenue Bakery where its history is recounted through murals and plaques on the walls. Source: historicupton.com

In July, the Pennsylvania Avenue corridor of West Baltimore became the city's fourth state-designated arts district. The program will offer incentives to spur economic development in the neighborhood according to a report in the Baltimore Business Journal. Resources available in Maryland Arts and Entertainment Districts include property tax incentives for buildings entirely or partially renovated for use by artists or for entertainment purposes.

André De Shields is the triple-crown winner of the 2019 theater awards season, having won the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Tony Awards as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his unanimously critically acclaimed performance as Hermes, Messenger to the Gods, in Hadestown. The Actors' Equity Foundation followed suit with the Richard Seff Award, which honors veteran stage actors' best supporting performances of the year. Mr. De Shields will receive The York Theatre Company's 2019 Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre on November 11. Prior to his Tony Award win, Mr. De Shields was best known for his show-stopping performances in four legendary Broadway productions: The Wiz, Ain't Misbehavin' (Emmy Award), Play On! (Tony Nomination), and The Full Monty (Tony Nomination). In a career spanning fifty years, he has distinguished himself as an unparalleled actor, director, and educator, receiving in 2018 the 8th Annual Off Broadway Alliance Legend Award, and the 33rd Annual Bob Harrington Life Achievement Bistro Award. Among his other accolades are the 2009 National Black Theatre Festival's Living Legend Award and the 2007 Village Voice Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance. www.andredeshields.com

Photo Credit: Lia Chang

Andre De Shields

 

 

Andre De Shields received the Billie Holiday Music and Arts Festival 2019 Heritage Award

Andre De Shields received the Billie Holiday Music and Arts Festival 2019 Heritage Award

 

Andre De Shields and Helen Holton

 

Councilman Eric Costello, Councilman Leon F. Pinkett III, Andre De Shields and Kevin Brown

 

Andre De Shields was the grand marshal of Baltimore''s 2019 Pennsylvania Avenue Cadillac Auto Parade

 

Baltimore Mayor Jack Young and Andre De Shields

 

Andre De Shields was the grand marshal of Baltimore''s 2019 Pennsylvania Avenue Cadillac Auto Parade

 

Andre De Shields

 

Andre De Shields

 

Andre De Shields

 

Andre De Shields

 

Senator Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, District 44 and Andre De Shields

 

Baltimore Mayor Jack Young, Annie Hall, President Penn North Community Association, Anthony Pressley, Executive Director, Druid Heights Community Development Corporation, Marion Blackwell, Manager, Historic Pennsylvania Avenue Main Street, Councilman Eric Costello, District 11, City Council President Brandon Scott, Senator Antonio Hayes, District 40, André De Shields, Councilman Leon F. Pinkett, District 7, Helen Holton

 

Helen Holton, Baltimore Mayor Jack Young and Andre De Shields

 

Baltimore Mayor Jack Young and Andre De Shields

 

Jules Dunham-Howie, Director Upton-Westside CDC, Helen Holton, Host, City Council President Brandon Scott, Marion Blackwell, Manager, Historic Pennsylvania Avenue Main Street, Anthony Pressley, Executive Director, Druid Heights Community Development Corporation, Annie Hall, President Penn North Community Association, Councilman Eric Costello, District 11, Baltimore Mayor Jack Young, Andre De Shields, Councilman Leon F. Pinkett III, District 7, Senator Antonio Hayes, District 40, Commissioner Harrison, Baltimore Police Department, Michael Johnson, Creative Director of the Cadillac Parade and Billie Holiday Jazz Festival, André De Shields, Baltimore Mayor Jack Young, Michael Johnson, Creative Director of the Cadillac Parade and Billie Holiday Jazz Festival, City Council President Brandon Scott.

 

Andre De Shields, Baltimore Mayor Jack Young, Michael Johnson, Creative Director of the Cadillac Parade and Billie Holiday Jazz Festival, City Council President Brandon Scott

 

Classic Corvette in the Pennsylvania Avenue Cadillac Auto Parade

 

Classic Cadillac in the Pennsylvania Avenue Cadillac Auto Parade

 

Billie Holiday Music and Arts Festival

 

Lincoln University Marching Band

 

Morgan State University Marching Band

 

Morgan State University Dancer Troupe

 

Morgan State University Marching Band

 

Morgan State University Marching Band

 

Beverly A. Cooper and Andre De Shields

 

Andre De Shields

 

Lia Chang and Andre De Shields. Photo by Kevin Brown

 

Andre De Shields