Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) will close out its golden anniversary season this Saturday, June 29 with the final performance of 125th & FREEdom. . Created, written and choreographed by Ebony Noelle Golden, 125th & FREEdom is a five-hour, immersive public performance dance piece that is part dance party, part parade, part protest and ritual performance, and all Harlem. Exploring the question, "If Harriet Tubman were alive today, how would she free Black people?" the program transforms Harlem's iconic corridor into a stage with performances along 125th Street from the East River to the Hudson River. The piece, free and open to the public, premiered on June 8 and is the culmination of a 50th anniversary season for the trailblazing theatre which also saw productions including In Perpetual Flight: The Black Body in Migration, a special in-progress staged reading of the musical WiLDFLOWER by Jason Michael Webb and Lelund Durond Thompson, and The Mothers of the Movement: The Black Woman She Does Exist.
Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) closes out its golden anniversary season with the world premiere of 125th & FREEdom, a five-hour public performance dance project by Ebony Noelle Golden this June. Written, choreographed and directed by Golden, the piece will make Harlem's iconic 125th Street its stage as it explores the question: “If Harriet Tubman were alive today, how would she free Black people?” The event is a part of the institution's new programmatic initiative, NBT Beyond Walls, which sees the esteemed Harlem institution presenting performances throughout the city, country and internationally.
Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) closes out its golden anniversary season with the world premiere of 125th & FREEdom, a five-hour public performance dance project by Ebony Noelle Golden this June. Written, choreographed and directed by Golden, the piece will make Harlem's iconic 125th Street its stage as it explores the question: "If Harriet Tubman were alive today, how would she free Black people?" The event is a part of the institution's new programmatic initiative, NBT Beyond Walls, which sees the esteemed Harlem institution presenting performances throughout the city, country and internationally.
Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) announces the culminating event to happen on Monday, May 13th, 2019 for the 2018 - 2019 SOUL Producing Residency with Black Girls Are From Outer Space. On the heels of Mother's Day, Black Girls Are From Outer Space is a celebration of black women! It is an opportunity to engage in a healthy dialogue on the holistic, rejuvenation of black women and girls who have experienced, witnessed or are the descendants of sexual trauma. How can we reclaim the social narrative that sees and treats our bodies as foreign objects? Perhaps it is our majestic beauty that the world doesn't understand? Or is it the complex grandeur we possess that cannot be named? This event is an opportunity to affirm just how beyond extraordinary we are with: "black girls are from outer space!"
The Apollo Theater Salon Series in partnership with Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) presented two special performances of the new musical WiLDFLOWER on Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 27, at the Apollo Theater Soundstage. WiLDFLOWER, a full-length musical with book, music and lyrics by Jason Michael Webb and Lelund Durond Thompson, featured Broadway stars Tshidi Manye (The Lion King) and Quentin Earl Darrington (Once on this Island) performing before a packed house on both night.
The Apollo Theater Salon Series in partnership with Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) will present WiLDFLOWER, the staged concert reading of the full-length musical with book, music and lyrics by Jason Michael Webb and Lelund Durond Thompson. The performance, directed by Logan Vaughn and starring Broadway stars Tshidi Manye (The Lion King) and Quentin Earl Darrington (Once on this Island), will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 27, on the Apollo Theater Soundstage.
Producer Vineyard Entertainment (a sole proprietorship) is pleased to announce casting for the New York showcase run of FEAST: A Yoruba Project at the Dorothy B. Williams Theater at HERE, July 11 through July 14, 2019. The show will preview July 11th and open July 12th.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary with a series of performances throughout the city, around the country and around the world, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) is partnering with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture for "In Perpetual Flight: The Migration of the Black Body" at the Schomburg Center. The 6:30 p.m. event on Tuesday, April 16, is part of Carnegie Hall's Migrations: The Making of America, a citywide festival featuring events about the journeys of people who have shaped and influenced American culture.
Magic Theatre (Loretta Greco, Artistic Director and Cierra Cass, Interim Managing Director) announced today the complete cast of Mfoniso Udofia's World Premiere In Old Age, the Company's first production of 2019. In Old Age will be directed by Victor Malana Maog. Previews begin on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at Magic Theatre's Fort Mason location (Fort Mason, 2 Marina Blvd., Building D, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94123), with a press opening on Wednesday, April 3, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets range from $15 - $75 and are on-sale now at MagicTheatre.org.
In celebration of its 50th anniversary as it's poised for a major capital redevelopment project of its current site, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) is taking it to the streets with a robust season of programming and partnerships that transcends the walls of its building. As a cultural anchor in Harlem for the last half century, NBT has been at the forefront of transforming lives and community through the power of theater. Through its new program, NBT Beyond Walls, the institution will now produce activities citywide, nationally and internationally. Highlights of NBT's 50th season include partnerships and programming with Carnegie Hall, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the World Famous Apollo Theater; the national tour of the critically acclaimed one-woman show The Peculiar Patriot; and the ongoing cultural exchange with the international sister institution, the National Black Theatre of Sweden, established in Stockholm in November 2018. Founded in 1968, the oldest continually run Black theater in New York City and one of America's longest continually operated theaters run by women of color will celebrate its half-century mark through October 2019.
Mondo Tragic, Eric Micha Holmes' imaginative, satirical and arresting new play will take center stage at Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) February 27 -- March 3. Directed by Miranda Haymon, the workshop production concludes Holmes' 18-month I AM SOUL Playwright Residency at NBT, as the institution is celebrating its 50th season, "Liberation: A Journey Beyond Walls."
The Strand Theater Company proudly presents the regional premiere of Sojourners by Mfoniso Udofia, directed by Cheryl J. Williams. Abasiama came to America with high hopes-for her arranged marriage and for her future. She was intent on earning a degree and returning to Nigeria. But when her husband is seduced by America, she must choose between the Nigerian and the American dream.
Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre [NBT] announces today the cast of the first workshop production for this years cohort of I Am Soul Playwriting Residency by playwright Lee Edward Colston II. Colston's workshop production (February 13 - 17, 2019) will be The First Deep Breath which will be directed by Malika Oyetimein. This production with feature Vanessa A. Jones & C. Kelly Wright. As part of NBT's Soul Series L.A.B. [Liberating Artistic Bravery], The First Deep Breath will conclude an 18-month residency for Lee Edward Colston II as the institution celebrating NBT's 50th season which is themed "Liberation: A Journey Beyond Walls."
Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre's announces its 50th season as it gears up for a major capital redevelopment project of its current site by launching a new programmatic arm entitled "NBT Beyond Walls". "NBT Beyond Walls" will allow National Black Theatre to work outside the confines of it's formal space, to share pedagogy and artistic offerings with various institutions, constituencies and audiences while helping NBT ignite a local, national and international presence. NBT will also utilize this program period to formalize the documentation and archiving of the institution's legacy in order to capture and preserve its contribution and impact on the field. Taking the institution on a journey beyond it's familiar walls the historic 50th Season will be the theme "Liberation: A Journey Beyond Walls," which will comprise seven signature productions and one international partnership. The international partnership is an exciting opportunity to work with the Kulturhuset Stadsteatern (National Theatre of Sweden), which is officially establishing NBT's international extension, the National Black Theatre of Sweden, opens in November of 2018.
ArtsEmerson, Boston's leading presenter of contemporary world theatre, is thrilled to welcome the first U.S. tour of National Black Theatre and Hi-ARTS's timely and urgent production, The Peculiar Patriot. Inspired by her decades-long work with prison populations, including on the notorious Riker's Island, Liza Jessie Peterson's one-woman show unpacks the human impact of mass incarceration in America. The production runs two weeks at the Emerson Paramount Center's Jackie Liebergott Black Box, located at 559 Washington Street in downtown Boston. Tickets can be purchased for $60 online at www.ArtsEmerson.org, by phone at 617.824.8400, or in person at the box office. Student, senior and group discounts are available.
The 3rd annual Hip Hop Film Festival was held, fittingly, at the historic National Black Theatre founded by Dr. Barbara Ann Teer who moved to Harlem in 1968 and saw that the once vibrant neighborhood was suffering from a sense of hopelessness after the losses of African American leaders Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X and desperately needed a community space and cultural arts institution that would 'be reflective of the power, grace and excellence of a people' (according to her daughter and current CEO Sade Lythcott).
Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT)has selected the artists for The L.A.B. [Liberating Artistic Bravery] Residency Program, which is comprised of threesignature programs: I Am Soul Playwright Residency withDarrel Alejandro Holnes& Tracey Conyer Lee; Soul Producing Residency with Emana Rachelle; and NBT will be launching this year the Soul Directing Residency with Ebony Noelle Golden. Through The L.A.B., NBT is able to strengthen the artistic relationship between historic Black theatrical institutions and cutting edge artists and administrators. The goal of The L.A.B. is to help diversify the narratives and possibilities being developed and produced about Black lifestyle in American theatre.
The Peculiar Patriot, Liza Jessie Peterson's powerful one-woman show and scathing indictment of the criminal justice system, opened Friday to fanfare at Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) in Harlem. The show is directed by Talvin Wilks and produced by NBT and Hi-ARTS and runs through July 29. Check out photos from opening night below!
The Peculiar Patriot, Liza Jessie Peterson's one-woman takedown of the criminal justice system, has been acknowledged with a grant of $100,000 from the Art for Justice Fund, a five-year initiative that aims to turn art into action, investing more than $100 million into strategic efforts to reform the criminal justice system.
Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts have announced playwright Mfoniso Udofia as the 2018 Aetna New Voices Fellow at Hartford Stage.
