Martin Luther King, Jr. News

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts today announced that Norah Jones and Mavis Staples will perform a special Pavilion-only concert at the historic site on Saturday, August 1st. Tickets will go on sale to the public on Friday, February 28th at 10:00 AM at www.BethelWoodsCenter.org, www.Ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster outlets, or by phone at 1-800-653-8000.

Coming off a phenomenal year of black films, the Pan African Film and Arts Festival (PAFF) is raising the bar, and set to give movie-goers a 11-day marathon of offerings from around the Diaspora. PAFF is celebrating its 28th anniversary in grand style with a string of highly-anticipated films, which includes a comedy by the multi-hyphenated host and entertainer Nick Cannon; a feature, executive produced by NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal; plus, a special screening of the action-packed series, “Queen Sono,” out of South Africa, presented by Netflix; and to cap it all off … a film about a wedding! This year's theme is “20/20 Vision,” kicking off the decade with a fresh lens and solidifying its commitment to tell diverse stories with a global, luminous view.

Artistic Director, Hunter Foster has announced Redhouse Arts Center's 2020-21 Main Stage Season featuring several Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning productions that are sure to delight audiences of all ages. With every production this season, Redhouse will utilize its versatile theatre space to treat audiences to a thrilling theatre experience. 'We found our audiences really loved the intimacy of our productions, as they did with our musical, Rent', stated Foster. 'Having the actors so close to the audience really elevated the story's emotional level. No other theatre in Central New York gives such an immersive experience to an audience the way Redhouse can, and we want to continue experimenting with our spaces for the 20/21 season', he concluded. Building on this year's success, Redhouse will offer five Main Stage shows with some productions offering an extended three week run.

Audiences can celebrate Valentine's Day, honor Black History Month, and more during Chicago Theatre Week (#CTW20).  With over 120 participating productions, there is something for everyone during Chicago Theatre Week, running February 13-23, 2020. Value-priced tickets, priced at $30, $15, or less, are now available at ChicagoTheatreWeek.com. 

The theatre shook with applause for Jully Black last night as she opened the musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE at the Winter Garden Theatre. She was one of many in the cast to give powerhouse performances in a dramatically and musically challenging show.

Bounce will world premiere an original new one-hour special, Bounce Celebrates Black History, paired with a number of popular movies inspired by contributions of African Americans, in honor of Black History Month this month.

The venerated Los Angeles-based Lula Washington Dance Theatre returned to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts to celebrate its milestone 40th anniversary with a dynamic and powerful program exploring social and humanitarian issues from January 30 through February 1 in the Bram Goldsmith Theater. The program, which launched The Lula Washington Dance Theatre's year-long anniversary celebration, included three world premieres and a West Coast premiere, with new works from new voices, some of whom are a generation younger than co-founders Lula and Erwin Washington, which mixed jazz, hip-hop, African movement, ballet, modern, tap and other dance styles to perfection.

Multi-genre musical experience We Shall Overcome comes to Pepperdine University at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 8, 2020 at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts.

National Geographic, with Fox 21 Studios and Imagine Television Studios, announced today that Grammy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated musician Raphael Saadiq has been tapped to serve as executive music producer on GENIUS: ARETHA. Saadiq is responsible for producing, arranging and recording all of the original song elements within the series featuring live performances. The score will be written and produced by multi-Grammy Award-winner and Academy Award nominee Terence Blanchard ('Harriet,' 'BlacKkKlansman').

National Geographic, with FOX 21 Studios and Imagine Television Studios, announced today that Grammy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated musician Raphael Saadiq has been tapped to serve as executive music producer on GENIUS: ARETHA. Saadiq is responsible for producing, arranging and recording all of the original song elements within the series featuring live performances. The score will be written and produced by multi-Grammy Award-winner and Academy Award nominee Terence Blanchard ('Harriet,' 'BlacKkKlansman').

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) presents the Regional Premiere of Kunstler by Jeffrey Sweet, a revealing drama inspired by the real life and career of self-described a?oeradical lawyera?? and Civil Rights activist William Kunstler, who often took unorthodox approaches in the pursuit of justice. Called a?oeEye-openinga?? by The New York Times, this engaging play highlights Kunstler's most famous and controversial cases. Kunstler starts playing in FST's Bowne's Lab Theatre February 19. Tickets are now on sale at (941) 366-9000 or floridastudiotheatre.org. 

Martin's Big Words is an unforgettable portrait of a man whose dream changed America forever and whose image is depicted by various artists throughout Morven's latest exhibition Dreaming of Utopia: Roosevelt, New Jersey. Children will create a 'big words' collage to take home and inspire big dreams, following the reading.

The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts and 88.5 FM present American icon and GRAMMY Award-winner Mavis Staples for one-night only on Thursday, February 13 at 8:00pm. Mavis Staples also has the distinction of being in the Blues Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. GRAMMY Award-winning producer and singer-songwriter Son Little will open for Staples.

Soul to Soul, the electrifying and emotionally captivating theatrical concert that explores the parallels of African American and Jewish history took the stage at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend on Sunday, January 19. Presented by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (NYTF), Soul to Soul included for the first time the participation of Oscar- and Grammy-nominated IMPACT Repertory Theatre.

Every year, on January 20th, the world celebrates one of the black people heroes called Martin Luther King Jr. who died for defending black people across the world. According to reports, the Caribbean best online radio station called Bon Déjeuner! Radio or BDR! Live in Haiti air Martin Luther King Jr. speeches and quotes audio in order to honor the hero for his service towards black people.

Keke Palmer of ABC's “GMA3: Strahan, Sara & Keke” was announced today as the grand marshal of the 35th annual Kingdom Day Parade commemorating the 91st birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Organized by the Kingdom Day Parade committee of the Congress Of Racial Equality of California (CORE-CA), the parade will be broadcast and streamed live on ABC7 – Southern California's most-watched television station – Monday, Jan. 20 (11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. PST), in Los Angeles. 

Alonzo King LINES Ballet, the San Francisco-based, internationally celebrated contemporary ballet company, is pleased to present an expanded Spring Season in two iconic San Francisco venues: Grace Cathedral & Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.   

Traveling the world as an international opera star, Angela Brown noticed something about audiences. 'I would see very few people who looked like me,' says Brown. On the surface, it looked like a racial divide, but when Brown performed at schools and universities across the country, she learned that exposure and access also played key roles in the gap. This compelled her to create her show Opera...from a Sistah's Point of View that dispels the myths surrounding the sometimes-intimidating art form called opera. By demonstrating the ethnic, geographic, and socio-economic diversity portrayed in opera characters, she helps people from all walks of life and races find themselves in and enjoy opera. She blows up the preconceived expectations of opera by mixing show-stopping arias, poignant art songs, and moving spirituals with tongue-in-cheek commentary. The show breaks down barriers for audiences that wouldn't necessarily include opera as a part of their entertainment options.

The Kwanzaa Film Festival presents a special Martin Luther King Jr. Day program, themed 'A Kwanzaa Response to a Hanukkah Tragedy' with a program that focuses on African American-Jewish Relations. The feature presentation is this year's 'Best Film' winner Soul Doctor - the Broadway movie-musical about the life of the 'rock star' rabbi Shlomo Carlbach and his history shaping relationship with music icon Nina Simone. The film will be shown on Monday, January 20th at 4pm at AMC Magic Johnson Harlem (2309 Frederick Douglas Blvd.) as part of their Gala Awards evening.