Taurean Blacque

Woodie King, Jr., Founder and Producing Director of New Federal Theatre (NFT), will retire from leadership of the famed theater company on June 30, 2021, handing the baton to NFT's newly appointed Artistic Director, Elizabeth Van Dyke.

The next installment of The Robey Theatre Company's online series of Evening Conversations will be on Friday, October 9, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. PDT, presented via Zoom.

a?oeI'm eighty years old. I find that unforgivable and suddenly it's a millennium and I stink of the past century, but what can I do?a?? So asks the title character in the final show of the Peterborough Players 2019 Summer Season, Rose. Written by Martin Sherman, the celebrated American author of Bent, the play features Players' favorite Carolyn Michel as Rose. This one woman, tour-de-force performance will run from September 11th-15th at the Players. Howard Millman returns to the Players to direct the piece.

2019 Tony winner Andre De Shields has been attending The National Black Theatre Festival® (NBTF) in Winston-Salem, N. C. since 1995. Dubbed the 'Black Theatre Holy Ground,' NBTF is the international outreach program of the North Carolina Black Repertory Company, founded by the late Larry Leon Hamlin in 1979. The Festival, also founded by Hamlin, has been held biennially since 1989. The NCBRC celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, while the NBTF celebrated its 30th.

???????Marjorie Moon, Executive Director Emeritus of Brooklyn's esteemed Billie Holiday Theatre, has joined the team of Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre (www.newfederaltheatre.com) as Administrative Consultant.  

Star of the 80s TV show Hill Street Blues and last seen locally in the Peterborough Players 2016 production of Driving Miss Daisy, Taurean Blacque will be returning to Peterborough this summer to open the Players season as 'Simon' in the Matthew Lopez drama, The Whipping Man.

It is April, 1865 and the Civil War is drawing to a close. Caleb DeLeon, a Jewish Confederate soldier, returns wounded from the battlefield to his home in Richmond only to find it in ruins. The house has been abandoned by everyone except Simon and John, two former slaves, who were raised as Jews in the DeLeon home. As the three men reunite, they uncover deep-buried secrets... ties that bind them together and that, ultimately, could cost each man his freedom.

Star of the 80s TV show Hill Street Blues and last seen locally in the Peterborough Players 2016 production of Driving Miss Daisy, Taurean Blacque will be returning to Peterborough this summer to open the Players season as 'Simon' in the Matthew Lopez drama, The Whipping Man.

Today, November 16 at 4:30 PM, a Sidewalk Signing and Honors Ceremony will be held onstage at Theater 80 St. Marks, 80 St. Marks Place.

On Wednesday, November 16 at 4:30 PM, a Sidewalk Signing and Honors Ceremony will be held onstage at Theater 80 St. Marks, 80 St. Marks Place. 

The historic Theatre Training Workshops of Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre will move uptown next month to Dwyer Cultural Center at 258 St. Nicholas Ave. (at 123rd Street).  They were previously held in spaces adjoining the theater's offices at 292 Henry Street.  The workshops have been a fertile training ground for leading African-American playwrights and actors.

Woodie King Jr.'s New Federal Theatre (NFT) held a festive Gala Benefit on Sunday, June 26 from 2:00 to 5:30 PM at Trump Place, 220 Riverside Boulevard (enter West 70th Street) honoring Novella Nelson and Melvin Van Peebles, two of many actors and directors who have worked at NFT over the theatre's 46 year history. Mr. Van Peebles was introduced by Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons. Ms. Nelson was introduced by former Mayor David Dinkins. Scroll down for photos from the event!

?The Peterborough Players Professional Theatre Company is proud to open its 2016 Summer Season with the play that won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy. The play is a warm-hearted, humorous and affecting study of the unlikely relationship between an aging, crotchety white Southern lady, and a proud, soft-spoken black man. In its initial run, Driving Miss Daisy was an Off-Broadway success and became an Academy Award-winning film.

Woodie King Jr.'s New Federal Theatre (NFT) will hold a Gala Benefit on Sunday, June 26 from 2:00 to 5:30 PM at Trump Place, 220 Riverside Boulevard (enter West 70th Street) honoring Novella Nelson and Melvin Van Peebles, two of many actors and directors who have worked at NFT over the theatre's 46 year history.

Woodie King Jr.'s New Federal Theatre (NFT) will hold a Gala Benefit on Sunday, June 26 from 2:00 to 5:30 PM at Trump Place, 220 Riverside Boulevard (enter West 70th Street) honoring Novella Nelson and Melvin Van Peebles, two of many actors and directors who have worked at NFT over the theatre's 46 year history.  Mr. Van Peebles will be introduced by Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons.  Ms. Nelson will be introduced by former Mayor David Dinkins.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe concludes its 2015-2016 season with the comedy-drama DRIVING MISS DAISY, which runs April 20 (with three additional special previews added on April 16, 17 and 19) through May 28. The play won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988; in 1989, it was adapted into a film that was awarded four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe concludes its 2015-2016 season with the comedy-drama DRIVING MISS DAISY, which runs April 20 (with three additional special previews added on April 16, 17 and 19) through May 28. The play won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988; in 1989, it was adapted into a film that was awarded four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre's 44th anniversary will culminate with a special Gala at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center (199 Chambers Street) on Sunday evening March 16th. This special event saluting NFT, for over 40 years a seminal force in Black Theater, will be hosted by Danny Glover and Debbi Morgan. Honorary Chairmen are Harry Belafonte and Hon. Mayor David N. Dinkins. The celebration will kick off at 4pm, and feature performances from Daniel Beaty, Impact Repertory Theater (Academy Award Nominee, 'Raise It Up' from the film August Rush), Chuck Jackson, and Valerie Simpson.

Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre will celebrate its 44th anniversary with a special fundraising campaign, 'Love For New Federal Theatre.' Celebrity participants and supporters of NFT themselves, including Phylicia Rashad, Spike Lee, Alicia Keys, Melba Moore, Marla Gibbs, Robert Hooks, Roscoe Orman, Ruby Dee, Avery Brooks, Glynn Turman, Kene Holiday, Chadwick Boseman, Petri Hawkins Byrd, Impotep Gary Byrd, Debbie Allen, Lynn Whitfield, Lamman Rucker, John Amos, Robert Townsend, Leslie Uggams, Ted Lange, Andre DeShields, Mike Tyson and Danny Glover, among others, will fans will have the opportunity to order a limited number of personalized Valentine's Day messages. These celebrity messages will be available for purchase on a first come, first served basis.