Lou Bellamy News

Geva Theatre Center presents Thurgood, by George Stevens, Jr. and directed by Lou Bellamy, in the Elaine P. Wilson Stage from October 16 through November 18.

When David Ivers was named Artistic Director at Arizona Theatre Company, he made a commitment to spotlight Arizona artists: those who live here, were born here, return to or move here or who write about Arizona or our surrounding region. 

Arizona Theatre Company (David Ivers, Artistic Director; Billy Russo, Managing Director) lifts the curtain on Scene in America, the theme for its 52nd season and the first reflecting Ivers' influence and impact, with Karen Zacarias' hilarious new comedy that's anything but neighborly, Native Gardens, Sept. 8-29 at the Temple of Music & Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. in Tucson.

Single tickets for Arizona Theatre Company's 2018/2019 season, featuring six contemporary and classic American theatre productions at the Herberger Theater Center, 222 E. Monroe in Phoenix, go on sale beginning Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018.

Directed by Lou Bellamy and starring members of Penumbra Theatre, Portland Playhouse's FENCES is a must-see.

Geva Theatre Center's Artistic Director Mark Cuddy and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli are proud to announce the 11 major productions and 2 festivals of the much anticipated 2018-2019 Season, the non-profit theatre's 46th year of making professional theatre of a national standard in Rochester.

Penumbra Theatre embarks on an exciting new season under Artistic Director Sarah Bellamy. The 2018-2019 Season, Beyond Belief, explores the rituals, practices, and creative forces that both bind and enliven us. The lineup features classic and contemporary works by emerging and established black artists, the return of the popular Let's Talk series, and meaningful community outreach programming celebrating African American art and culture.

Soho Rep. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director), has extended the world premiere of Aleshea Harris's Relentless Award-winning Is God Is, directed by Taibi Magar, a second time, through March 31.

Arizona Theatre Company (David Ivers, Artistic Director; Billy Russo, Managing Director) is excited to announce the six shows selected for the 2018/2019 season, ATC's 52nd, and the first full season reverberating with the impact and influence of Artistic Director David Ivers.

In response to popular demand, Soho Rep. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director) extends the world premiere of Aleshea Harris's Relentless Award-winning Is God Is, directed by Taibi Magar by two weeks, through March 25. In this play, which dauntlessly cracks jokes as it eviscerates, twin sisters Anaia (Alfie Fuller) and Racine (Dame-Jasmine Hughes) undertake a murderous journey from the Dirty South to the California desert, seeking payback for a horrendous act. Is God Is treats both morality and genre as notions to be exploded, drawing on the ancient, the modern, the tragic, the Spaghetti Western, hip-hop and Afropunk in its subversion of theatrical constructs.

Children's Theatre Company, in collaboration with Penumbra Theatre, presents THE WIZ. At the time of its opening on Broadway in 1974, THE WIZ was a modern retelling of The Wizard of Oz, featuring Soul-inspired songs and an entirely African-American cast. It was later adapted into a popular 1978 film starring Diana Ross and a young Michael Jackson. The Children's Theatre Company's production of THE WIZ opened on January 23rd and will run through March 18th.

'Combining CTC's critical literacy work and Penumbra's racial justice work allows us to forge something together that neither could do alone.' These words in the playbill of THE WIZ, the first collaboration between these two acclaimed #TCTheater companies, brought tears to my eyes before the show even started. Especially after wading through a sea of children of all shapes, sizes, colors, and creeds. In an increasingly divided world, Penumbra (one of the longest-running and most acclaimed African American theater companies in the nation) and Children's Theatre (ditto for children's theater) give me hope, as individual companies and especially in this collaboration in which an all-black cast tells a story of a young black woman who discovers her own power through the help of friends. They give me hope that maybe we can overcome our seemingly insurmountable differences and join together in song and awesome dance to solve our problems. It's possible, right? Can't you feel a brand new day? Indeed I can.

Children's Theatre Company (CTC) in partnership with Penumbra Theatre will present The Wiz, adapted from L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Soho Rep. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director) today announces the complete cast and creative team for the world premiere of Aleshea Harris's Relentless Award-winning Is God Is, directed by Taibi Magar (Ars Nova's Underground Railroad Game), February 6 - March 11, 2018. The play, with which Soho Rep. reopens its longtime Tribeca theater, dauntlessly cracks jokes as it eviscerates. Alfie Fuller and Dame-Jasmine Hughes play Anaia and Racine, twin sisters who undertake a murderous journey from the Dirty South to the California desert, seeking payback for a horrendous act. Is God Is treats both morality and genre as notions to be exploded, drawing on the ancient, the modern, the tragic, the Spaghetti Western, hip-hop and Afropunk in its subversion of theatrical constructs.

Children's Theatre Company (CTC) in partnership with Penumbra Theatre will present The Wiz, adapted from L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; directed by Lou Bellamy, Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of Penumbra Theatre Company, assistant directed and choreographed by Patdro Harris (Broadway credits as Choreographer for A Raisin in the Sun), with music direction by Sanford Moore (Musical Director at Penumbra Theatre).

Children's Theatre Company (CTC) in partnership with Penumbra Theatre will present The Wiz, adapted from L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

I love a good tragic love story, and it doesn't get much more tragic than an interracial couple in 1918 South Carolina. But Penumbra's gorgeous production of the 1966 play WEDDING BAND by Alice Childress (whose TROUBLE IN MIND was seen at the Guthrie last year) is not just a beautiful, complicated, and ultimately tragic love story. It's also (not unlike TROUBLE IN MIND) a still timely work that speaks to the issues of race, racism, and privilege in ways that feel entirely relevant. With a super talented cast directed by Penumbra's founder Lou Bellamy (who recently passed the Artistic Director baton to his daughter Sarah) and gorgeous design, WEDDING BAND is a show not to be missed, and my favorite of my five-show weekend.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and Project1VOICE (P1V) in association with The Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (Rose Library) at Emory University and Theater Emory are proud to announce a screening for the #LegacyLeaders video of Douglas Turner Ward in Atlanta.

The Ensemble Theatre joins the Theatre Communications Group (TCG) Legacy Leaders of Color Video Project with a screening, Monday, October 23, 2017, 6:00 p.m. 3535 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and Project1VOICE (P1V) have announced a screening series tour for the #LegacyLeaders video of Douglas Turner Ward coming to three cities this fall.