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BWW Review: World Premiere of GIRL SHAKES LOOSE Triumphs at Penumbra Theatre

This fresh new musical is a terrific addition to the American musical canon, a show a lot of us have been waiting for. It's a rare thing: the main character is a young African-American woman struggling to find her way in present day USA. Without oversimplifying her struggles with love, sexuality, and work, it takes us all along on her search for self. Tuneful, funny, and soulful, GIRL SHAKES LOOSE is decidedly contemporary and honors the great Sonia Sanchez, a shining light of the Black Arts Movement.

Castillo Theatre to Screen LEGACY LEADERS OF COLOR Video Project

Castillo Theatre presents a special community screening in honor of New Federal Theatre Founder Woodie King Jr., as part of the Legacy Leaders of Color Video Project (LLCVP). The event will be held at the Castillo Theatre, 543 West 42nd Street in Manhattan, on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 7pm with a panel discussion, film screening, audience Q&A, followed by a reception.

Black Ensemble Theater to host screening of Legacy Leaders of Color Video Project

Black Ensemble Theater proudly announces a special, one-night-only event to screen Legacy Leaders of Color Video Project (LLCVP), which features interviews with BE Founder and CEO Jackie Taylor. The event will be held at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark Street in Chicago, on Monday, February 27, 2017, with a reception at 6pm and film screening and panel discussion at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public.

ART, RACE, AND A NATION ON STAGE Sets Scene for New History Center Exhibit

For 40 years, Penumbra Theatre has ignited social change through art grounded in the African American experience. Discover Penumbra with the new exhibit, "Penumbra Theatre at 40: Art, Race and a Nation on Stage," Feb. 18 to July 30, 2017, at the Minnesota History Center.

U.S. Premiere of THE LORAX and More Set for Children's Theatre Company in 2017-18

Children's Theatre Company has announced its 2017-2018 season, which includes four musicals, two world premieres, one preschool production and partnerships with other leading theatres such as The Old Vic (London, UK), The Civilians (New York, NY) and Penumbra Theatre (Saint Paul, MN). The season also celebrates Artistic Director Peter C. Brosius' 20th Anniversary with CTC.

STAGE TUBE: TCG Launches 'Legacy Leaders of Color' Video Project

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, launches the Legacy Leaders of Color Video Project (LLCVP). Working with MOPED, a video production company, and with support from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, TCG filmed a series of interviews chronicling the stories of founding leaders of theatres of color.

Penumbra Theatre Extends August Wilson's JITNEY

Due to a high demand for tickets, Penumbra Theatre will be extending its run of Jitney through Sunday, November 13, 2016. Directed by Lou Bellamy and featuring an all-star cast of company members and Wilson veterans, Penumbra Theatre's production of Jitney has been met with critical acclaim from both press and audiences alike.

BWW Review: The Rep's Sublime FENCES Proves Wilson's Portrait of Humanity Humbles the American Dream

Milwaukee Rep closes a successful season in sublime style staging a production of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize winning play Fences on the Quadracci Powerhouse stage. Lou Bellamy, who worked extensively with the acclaimed African-American playwright at St. Paul, Minnesota's Penumbra Theatre Company, directed the spellbinding Rep performance. On a stunning, realistic set courtesy of Vicki Smith, the Pittsburgh brownstone with a comfortable wood porch, “lays in the lap of the audience on the thrust stage” according to the Rep In Depth, and places Wilson's flawed characters directly near the seats of the theatergoers, Seats where Wilson's portrait of humanity, seen through the African American experience, exposes compassion and struggle.   

Photo Flash: First Look at August Wilson's FENCES at Milwaukee Rep

Milwaukee Repertory Theatre's 2015/16 season comes to a close with August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play FENCES. The production, which is a co-production with Arizona Theatre Company and Indiana Repertory Theatre, is helmed by legendary American theater director Lou Bellamy and features an all-star cast. FENCES plays in the Quadracci Powerhouse from tonight, April 26, through May 22, with Opening Night today, April 29. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Photo Flash: First Look at August Wilson's FENCES at Milwaukee Rep

Milwaukee Repertory Theatre's 2015/16 season comes to a close with August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play FENCES. The production, which is a co-production with Arizona Theatre Company and Indiana Repertory Theatre, is helmed by legendary American theater director Lou Bellamy and features an all-star cast. FENCES plays in the Quadracci Powerhouse from tonight, April 26, through May 22, with Opening Night on Friday, April 29. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

BWW Review: Penumbra Theatre Presents Two Powerful One-Act Plays from the Black Arts Movement, THE DUTCHMAN and THE OWL ANSWERS

In one of those strange theater-going coincidences, the night after I saw two one-act plays at the Guthrie, I attended opening night of Penumbra's presentation of two one-act plays. Both paired plays by different playwrights linked by a common theme. But unlike the theater comedies THE CRITIC and THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND, THE DUTCHMAN and THE OWL ANSWERS are dense and meaty dramas dealing with heavy issues. They might not make you laugh (except, occasionally, uncomfortably), but they will definitely make you think. Written in the '60s as part of the Black Arts Movement, these plays take an unforgiving look at the racism, sexism, and classism of the day, that still have implications in today's world. A stellar ensemble cast and top-notch production design tie the two very different plays together and highlight the playwrights' messages. Though they are not easy to watch and I can't say I understood everything that was going on, I certainly came away with much to chew on, and a greater understanding of our shared history. Which is pretty much a given at Penumbra Theatre.

BWW Review: FENCES is a Homerun in Tucson

When discussing August Wilson's Pulitzer-Prize and Tony Award winning play, Fences, it is most applicable to say that the Arizona Theatre Company's cast hits this poignant performance out of the park.

Arizona Theatre Company to Present FENCES, 2/11-28

Arizona Theatre Company celebrates the new year with a great American classic in August Wilson's stunning, Pulitzer-Prize winning play, Fences. A vivid, heartfelt exploration of the African-American experience set in the 1950's, the story remains strikingly relevant today.  Performances begin at the Herberger Theater Center, 222 E. Monroe, on Friday, Feb. 11 and continue through Sunday, Feb. 28. I. Michael and Beth Kasser are Arizona Theatre Company's 2015-16 Season Sponsors. The Stonewall Foundation is the Production Sponsor.

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