54 Below to Celebrate Juneteenth with Branden R. Mangan, THE DIVINE 9 SING BROADWAY & More

54 BELOW will honor and celebrate Juneteenth with a line up of shows including Branden R. Mangan: The Cookout, The Divine 9 Sings Broadway, Ivan Christopher: Freedom Song, and BRICKS: A New Musical by Charlene Jean and Franklin Rankin. 

Branden R. Mangan: THE COOKOUT – JUNE 11 AT 9:30PM

Branden R. Mangan, star of Thoughts Of A Colored Man at Roxy Regional Theater, Outcast Web-series, and the national tour of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, is making his 54 Below solo debut in THE COOKOUT. Take a journey through feel good songs you’d hear at a Cookout. The music of Luther Vandross, Frankie Beverly, Chaka Khan, Jill Scott, Michael Jackson, and more will all make an appearance, but the “DJ” may take some requests. This show is an uplifting experience just in time for all your summer festivities and gearing up for Juneteenth. Light up the grill, get your dance shoes on and get ready to party at the cookout! Participation is required!

Featuring Blu Allen and A.D. Weaver.

$45.50 cover charge (includes $5.50 in fees). $73 premium seating (includes $8 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

THE DIVINE 9 SING BROADWAY – JUNE 17 AT 7PM

The Wall Street Alphas proudly present The Divine 9 Sing Broadway. Join us for an unforgettable evening at 54 Below and prepare to witness a celebration of Broadway from a “Divine” Perspective.  The evening will feature exceptional talents from the Broadway and Off-Broadway musical community who are also members of the Divine 9. The Divine 9 is composed of five fraternities and four sororities. Each of these organizations were established with unique core values but shared a common goal: to educate and uplift the Black community from racial inequities.

Produced by Ken Alston Jr., with music direction by Gary Mitchell Jr., experience the harmonious fusion of culture and artistry as these gifted artists showcase their talents on stage. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind concert that promises to enchant and inspire audiences with the essence of Broadway magic from a unique perspective.

Featuring Ken Alston Jr, Leslie-Payton Alston, Antoine Dolberry, Tiffany Francés, Jeremy Kelsey, Tae Leon, Dayna Quincy, Alexis Tidwell, Melissa Victor, and more stars to be announced!

$62 cover charge (includes $7 in fees). $100.50 premium seating (includes $10.50 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

IVAN CHRISTOPHER: FREEDOM SONG – JUNE 19 AT 7PM

This performance will also be livestreamed. For tickets and more information, click here.

Ivan Christopher makes his 54 Below debut in Freedom Song, a Juneteenth journey through R&B, blues, spirituals, and gospel. Featuring some of your favorite classics as well as original music by Ivan Christopher and Dionne McClain-Freeney (Park Slope: 1976, The Cotillion, This One Girl’s Story), the show will be a celebration of hope and perseverance. Come prepared to sing, clap, cry, and shout during this unforgettable evening!

Ivan Christopher grew up a church kid in Philadelphia, PA, where his love for gospel music was enriched by the sounds of R&B and jazz in the car on the way to school, classical violin lessons on the weekends, and the occasional hip hop he snuck on the radio in the basement with his brother. It is those influences, coupled with rock and college a cappella, that would shape his vocal stylings. But it would be his journey toward accepting himself as a gay man, and the tragic loss of his beloved grandmother, that would compel him to become a songwriter, penning lyrics that express his belief in the perseverance of joy through life’s hardships. To hear Ivan Christopher is to hear the voice of one who has truly been tried in the fire, but has “come out as pure gold.”

$62 cover charge (includes $7 in fees). $100.50 premium seating (includes $10.50 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

BRICKS: A NEW MUSICAL BY CHARLENE JEAN AND FRANKLIN RANKIN – JUNE 19 AT 9:30PM

This performance will also be livestreamed. For tickets and more information, click here.

Join multi-faceted artists Charlene Jean and Franklin Rankin at 54 Below as they present a selection of songs from their new musical BRICKS, in honor and celebration of Juneteenth. BRICKS, a funk rock show, centers on a young woman blessed with the ability to see the spirits of Black and Indigenous spaces that flourished before her time; a gift inherited from her mother. We meet Maelle Etienne, a gifted child and her equally gifted and protective mother, Colette Etienne. D’Aija, Colette’s rebellious and late older sister, connects with Maelle in ways that Colette fears would lead to Maelle’s demise.

BRICKS has been described as “a 20-year music tour of retroactive-reparations,” reaching from modern-day Washington Square Park back to the biblical Jericho. Hear songs from BRICKS, including “Fog,” “Jericho,” “Let Me in So I Can Love You,” and other pieces centered around connecting our past to our futures.

Charlene Jean is a 2022 MAP Grant Fund awardee, a 2023 New Georges Audrey Resident, a 2023/2024 Creative Capital WILD FUTURES finalist, and a 2023 finalist for the Jonathan Larson Grant, Van Lier New Voices, Richard Rodgers Award, and NYSAF Founders Award. Jean also works as a dramaturg.

Franklin Rankin is a professional guitarist and songwriter. Having worked with world class artists such as Nona Hendryx, Azealia Banks, Mwenso and the Shakes, and Rashaad Newsome’s Assembly, Rankin has also been featured on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon in the “Battle of the Instant Songwriters.” Rankin leads the pop/soul group Big Stuff and The Franklin Rankin Quartet, a jazz/funk collective.

$40 cover charge (includes $5 in fees). $67.50 premium seating (includes $7.50 in fees). $25 food & beverage minimum.

LIVE AT 54 BELOW

54 Below’s new series is designed to make more shows accessible to fans all over the world. “Live from 54 Below” will feature LIVE performances of current shows on the calendar, streamed directly from Broadway’s Living Room. Seven cameras will capture the excitement of being at the venue – all paired with the club’s dramatic lighting and award-winning sound design. To recreate the live experience, all shows will be presented exclusively at the time of performance with an in-house audience and will not be available on demand afterwards.

The following performances will be streamed live. For tickets, visit www.54Below.org/LIVE.

IVAN CHRISTOPHER: FREEDOM SONG June 19 at 7pm ET / Tickets $28.50 (includes $3.50 in fees.)

BRICKS: A NEW MUSICAL BY CHARLENE JEAN AND FRANKLIN RANKIN June 19 at 9:45pm ET / Tickets $28.50 (includes $3.50 in fees.)

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