Ray Johnson News

*Rebecca L. Hargrove, who recently appeared in Academy Award Nominee Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in my Bones and in The Grammy Award Winning production (& will be performing in the upcoming 2021 revival) of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess at The Metropolitan Opera and *Peterson Townsend who starred as Jeffery in the world premiere of America v. 2.1: The Sad Demise & Eventual Extinction of The American Negro at The Barrington Stage Company will play the title roles of Birdie and Tim, respectively, in the upcoming industry presentations of Birdie & Tim - a new play by Kevin Ray Johnson.

Dubbed “New York’s most famous unknown artist,” Ray Johnson was a pioneer of mail art, a groundbreaking figure in the worlds of Fluxus and Conceptual Art, and an early Pop artist whose use of celebrity imagery heralded Andy Warhol’s own appropriation in the 1960s.

Kevin Ray Johnson's coming-of-age drama which recently premiered at Rise Above Performing Arts Summer Professional Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, will be heading 5,000 miles west this August to make its Alaska premiere at The Pier One Theatre in Homer, Alaska.

The Full Company has been announced for Kevin Ray Johnson's The Unpredictable Times, which has had numerous readings and workshops over the past decade, will make its regional premiere June 18-27, 2021 at Rise Above Performing Arts Summer Professional Theatre in Sarasota, Florida.

Kevin Ray Johnson's (Porgy and Bess at The Metropolitan Opera), The Unpredictable Times which has had numerous readings and workshops over the past decade, will be making its regional premiere June 18th - 27th at Rise Above Performing Arts Summer Professional Theatre in Sarasota, Florida.

It is a typical day at Polyphonic Studios. Chuck V is in the beat lounge working on a mix for a client, while ZYG 808 is in the control room at the boards, engineering a vocal session for Mwalim, as he adds backing vocals to 'DoYou Mind IfWeDanceWitYoDate?', a remix of the band's 2016 Indie Blues hit single.

Parity Productions, the New York based theatre company dedicated to producing new work and filling at least 50% of the creative positions (playwrights, directors, and designers) with women and/or trans and gender nonconforming (TGNC) artists, has announced the full cast and crew for their world premiere production of Mirrors by Azure D. Osborne-Lee, a 2018 Parity Commission Winner, co-produced by India Blake/IB Productions and Cecelia Johnson/Deep End Productions, and directed by Parity's founder and Artistic Director, Ludovica Villar-Hauser, premiering at Next Door @ NYTW this February 29 through March 22.

Saturday, November 23, 2019, at 3pm, Zion Union Heritage Museum will host a special performance of the piece 'BRONX JAZZ' by father and son duo, Mwalim and ZYG 808, followed by a special book and album signing of their respective upcoming releases. This event is free and open to the public.

In 2008, I was one of the few who was privileged enough to see a?oeGlory Daysa?? open (and close) on Broadway. So, when I saw that the show was in our area I made it a priority to attend. My anticipation for what I had hoped to witness did not go unfilled as Rise Above Performing Arts delivered a passionate rendition of this much maligned musical.

Check out behind the scenes pics of the Area Premiere of Glory Days at Rise Above Performing Arts which opens Friday November 1st! 

Rehearsals begin today for Rise Above Performing Arts (Jacob Ruscoe, Artistic Director) upcoming production of Glory Days by Nick Blaemire (Music & Lyrics) and James Gardiner (Book Writer) which opens on Friday, November 1st and will run through November 3rd.

Casting has been announced for the upcoming workshop performance of A (Funny) Imagination!

Grammy nominated Hip-Hop Jazz Artist, The ZYG 808 will be the featured performer at the June 26th VerBaLizatIon, Boston's longest running spoken-word series and open mic. Verbalization takes place at the Fort Hill Bar & Grill, 2805 Washington St, Roxbury, MA 02119. Doors open at 6:30 pm for a 7pm show.

On Sunday afternoon, the Riverway Lobster House's main dining room was packed to capacity for the 42 Annual Joseph Daluz Unsung Hero Awards, as hosted by the Cape Cod Branch of the NAACP. Among those being honored was GroovaLottos drummer, Eddie Ray Johnson (Billie J Atkins, II) for his accomplishments and contributions to music as well as his dedicated mentoring work through Song Keepers, LTD.

Actor rehearsal, band rehearsals, re-writes, guest artist appearances to confirm, it looks a lot like theater in the lower level of the Governor Bradford Restaurant as Oversoul Theatre Collective gears up for it's summer run of 'The Soul Session' a musical theater piece written and directed by award-winning playwright and GroovaLottos keyboardist, Mwalim.

Rise Above Performing Arts has announced their upcoming season which will include works by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim, and Lin-Manuel Miranda among others. Rise Above's mission is to bring exceptional talent with a focus on the education and development of the performing arts in the youth of the South Florida community. This will mark the company's fourth season since!

COTUIT - 'FUNK & SOUL' is a special concert in honor of Black History Month that is being presented by the Zion Union Heritage Museum at the Cotuit Center for the Arts in honor of Black History Month. 'FUNK & SOUL' is taking place today, February 16 at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Falmouth Rd (Rte 28), Cotuit, MA. Doors open at 7pm for a 7:30 start.

COTUIT - 'FUNK & SOUL' is a special concert in honor of Black History Month that is being presented by the Zion Union Heritage Museum at the Cotuit Center for the Arts in honor of Black History Month. 'FUNK & SOUL' is taking place on Saturday, February 16 at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Falmouth Rd (Rte 28), Cotuit, MA. Doors open at 7pm for a 7:30 start.

Rise Above Performing Arts will start out the new year with Andrew Lloyd Webber's first musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Book and Lyrics by Tim Rice. The show will open Thursday, January 10th with performances running until Sunday, January 13th.