Ntozake Shange News

Today’s subject Lileana Blain-Cruz is currently living her theatre life as the director of Signature Theatre’s latest Signature Features streaming offering entitled Daniel J.Watts’ The Jam: Only Child. The show recounts Watts’ life as the only child of a single mother. From the fierce growing pains of boyhood innocence to the awkwardness of teenage years to a proud Black man, Daniel digs through his memory’s attic in a powerful and playful story of metamorphosis. The production is available for streaming through May seventh on Marquee TV.

Broadway might be dark, but that doesn't mean that theatre isn't happening everywhere! Below, check out where you can get your daily fix of Broadway this weekend, April 10-11, 2021.

Bluebarn Theatre will present a virtual stage reading on March 31st, 2021 at 7PM.

Actress, playwright, and educator Anna Deavere Smith (Notes from the Field, Twilight: Los Angeles) will present a special series April 6–10, as part of Lincoln Center Activate. Events include  In Conversation: Anna Deavere Smith and Dr. Christopher Emdin and more.

Today's Theater Stories features the Booth Theatre! Learn about some of the theatre's best-known shows including Sunday in the Park with George, Next to Normal, Freestyle Love Supreme, and many more!

For 24 years, New Jersey Theatre Alliance has offered a spring festival of performances, workshops, and readings throughout the state. This year's festival will be held primarily online, due to the ongoing pandemic.

 As part of 'New Federal Theatre Celebrates Black History Month,' Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre is offering a live streaming virtual reading of 'Widows' by Mfundi Vundla on February 27 at 7:00 PM. The reading will be available on-demand through March 1. 

Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT)'s Executive Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan is proud has announced the selection of four Northeast Ohio-based artists as 2020/2021 Premiere Fellows, made possible by dedicated funding from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC).

The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi has announced the return of Barzakh Festival for its fifth edition; the event will be streamed online for three nights on February 1, 3, and 6. The cross-cultural lineup features three globally renowned groups who encapsulate The Arts Center’s theme for the season.

Cleveland Play House rings in the new year with the next installment of Theatre Thursday: Inspiring Resolutions on Thursday, January 21, 2021 at 7:00 pm. Hosted by Artistic Director Laura Kepley, the January edition features performances by Peter Hargrave, Eric Lockley, Laura Perrotta, and Mariama Whyte.

At New Federal Theatre's 50th Anniversary Gala Sunday January 17, special guests will include Debbie Allen, Trazana Beverly, Mya Carter, Patrice Johnson Cevannes, Debbi Blackwell Cook, D.K. Dyson, Joseph Edwards, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Ted Lange, Pauletta Washington, Kevin Maynor, S. Epatha Merskerson, Phylicia Rashad and more.

DeWanda Wise, star of the Netflix series 'She'd Gotta Have It,' and her husband, Alano Miller, best known for the WGN America drama series 'Underground,' will join Ted Lange as co-hosts of New Federal Theatre's '50th Anniversary Virtual Gala' January 17, 2021 from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM.  

Antipodes Theatre Company has announced the first half of their 2021 season, with a focus on presenting and developing new work. After shifting most of their 2020 programming to take place online, 2021 will see the continuation of virtual initiatives, like their Ricochet Reading Series and Contagious Cabaret, alongside small COVID-Safe in-person events in Melbourne as the world continues to cope with the pandemic.

Playwright Jeremy O. Harris has announced the launch of The Golden Collection, composed of 15 plays by prominent Black playwrights including Slave Play, which has received a historic 12 Tony Award nominations more than any other play in Broadway history.

Beginning Thursday, December 10, 2020, Marcia Pendelton, president and founder of Walk Tall Girl Productions, will produce and host the new radio program, 'Backstage Stories.' The hour-long broadcast will air on WBAI FM (99.5 FM) in the Metropolitan New York City region and stream internationally on WBAI.org on Thursdays from 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

Ghost Lights is set on the empty stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on the 5th September 1939 when all theatres were closed due to the outbreak of WW2. Novello meets Mary Ellis, Dorothy Dickson and Elisabeth Welch to reminisce about their work and also their concerns for theatre and its survival.

As part of CATF’s UNMUTED digital experience, they have joined forces with Shepherd University’s Contemporary Theater Studies program to bring a panel discussion that celebrates the work of playwright, artist, and civil rights leader Ntozake Shange and her book posthumously published book, Dance We Do: A Poet Explores Black Dance. 

The Drama League has announced the formation of its first Directors Council, featuring nationally-renowned directors Daniel Banks, Melia Bensussen, Christopher Burris, Jillian Carucci, Jennifer Chang, Desdemona Chiang, R.J. Cutler, Estefanía Fadul, Raz Golden, Brian Eugenio Herrera, Adam Immerwahr, Gwynn MacDonald, Tony Phelan and more.

The new 'Eighth Blackbird Presents: The Chicago Artists Workshop' (CAW) live stream concert series continues with Rebecca Rego in a concert inspired by Lucia Berlin's book, 'Songs for Cleaning Women,' 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov 11.

On 10/30 - 11/1, Woodie King Jr's New Federal Theatre's Octoberfest virtual revival play reading series will present 'Stories About the Old Days,' the acclaimed 1986 drama about hidden secrets, featuring co-stars Pauletta Washington and Michael Potts, associate producer Linda Herring and its original director LaTanya Richardson Jackson at the helm.