Ruby Dee News

American Blues Theater announces the addition of five new Ensemble members and one new Artistic Affiliate to the Blues family. Joining the Ensemble is director, designer and Associate Producer Elyse Dolan, who directed several works in past Ripped and Blue Ink festivals; designer Jared Gooding, lighting designer of Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story; actor Philip Earl Johnson, who is slated to appear in the upcoming Chicago premiere of Steven Dietz's On Clover Road; director Chuck Smith, director of the recent American Blues production of Pearl Cleage's Flyin' West; and actress and playwright Wandachristine, who won many awards for her solo performance Beauty's Daughter. Actor Zachary Stevenson has been named an Artistic Affiliate. Stevenson recently made his Chicago debut as 'Buddy Holly' in American Blues Theater's Joseph Jefferson Award-winning musical Buddy - the Buddy Holly Story, in which he also won a Jeff Award for Performance in a Musical.

INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO. has been named the 2018 recipient of the PAUL ROBESON AWARD by Actors' Equity Foundation and Actors' Equity Association. The award was presented at the Association's National Membership Meeting in Los Angeles on October 15, 2018.

NAACP National Board of Directors Chairman Leon W. Russell announced the Association is soliciting nominations for the 104th Spingarn Award.  All nominations for the 104th Spingarn Medal must be submitted, in writing, on or before December 31, 2018.  To be accepted, the postmark date on the envelope must be no later than December 31, 2018.

Award-winning actor, writer, director, producer, polymath and advocate for science communication Alan Alda has been named the 55th recipient of SAG-AFTRA's highest tribute: the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment. Alda will be presented the performers union's top accolade at the 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019, at 8 p.m. (ET)/ 5 p.m. (PT).

The Broad Stage presents True Blues – Corey Harris and Guy Davis -- on Friday, September 28 at 7:30pm. Harris and Davis, two leading performers of acoustic blues, will each perform a set of their own before coming together onstage to celebrate the extraordinary music that has shaped their multifaceted careers.

Thomas Allen Harris is celebrating Harlem in his latest art exhibition titled Mother, Bethel, Harlem, USA, a collaboration with students from the Hunter College IMA MFA program to build an interactive exhibition at the Hunter East Harlem Gallery (HEHG), opening Thursday, August 30. Through an investigation of Harris's extensive body of work as a photographer, filmmaker, and creator of the interdisciplinary project Digital Diaspora Family Reunion (DDFR), the students have conceived works that are inspired by the family photo album, practices of archiving, and the local community in Harlem and East Harlem.

A staged reading of Rafael Moreno's family drama Fotos, which played to packed houses and critical acclaim last summer at The Producers Club, will close the 2017 -2018 season of the prestigious Frank Silvera Writers Workshop at the Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn on Monday June 18.

Goodman Theatre celebrates the lives of "two strong, vibrant women dispensing joy and wisdom" (Chicago Tribune) in a major revival of Emily Mann's Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years. Directed by the Goodman's longtime Resident Director Chuck Smith, the production features Ella Joyce and Marie Thomas as the Delany centenarians, Bessie (1891 - 1995) and Sadie (1889 -1999), respectively. The sisters were discovered in 1991 when Amy Hill Hearth interviewed them for The New York Times. Following the article, the trio co-authored the book, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years-a New York Times bestseller and heartfelt reflection of their family history and triumphs over prejudices in times of social unrest. Mann adapted it for the stage, first at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, New Jersey and then to Broadway, where it ran for 317 performances. Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years appears May 5 - June 10, 2018 in the Albert Theatre (opening night is Monday, May 14). Tickets ($20 - $75; subject to change) are now on sale at GoodmanTheatre.org/HavingOurSay, by phone at 312.443. 3800 or at the box office (170 North Dearborn). ComEd is the Major Corporate Sponsor, Conagra Brands Foundation is the Major Production Sponsor and ITW and PwC are the Corporate Sponsor Partners. 

Trinity Repertory Company announced today that actress Mary McDonnell will be honored with the 2018 Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts at the theater's 22nd annual Pell Awards Gala on Monday, May 21, 2018. A two-time Oscar nominee for Dances with Wolves and Passion Fish, McDonnell's theater, film and television career has spanned more than four decades with dynamic character portrayals in period and present-day roles, including TNT's The Closer and Major Crimes, Syfy's Battlestar Galactica, Donnie Darko, and Sneakers.

Iconic American singer, songwriter and performer Don McLeanis set to release his new album Botanical Gardens on March 23, 2018 via BMG. Don is set to appear on BBC Breakfast Thursday, March 15 along with multiple BBC radio stations and Absolute Radio in the U.K.

"Life is short, and it's up to you to make it sweet." - Sadie Delany (1889 -1999). Goodman Theatre revives Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, Emily Mann's "warming theatrical event" (Variety)that celebrates the lives of "two strong, vibrant women dispensing joy and wisdom" (Chicago Tribune). Goodman Theatre Resident Director Chuck Smith's production features Ella Joyce and Marie Thomas as the Delany centenarians, Bessie (1891 - 1995) and Sadie (1889 -1999), respectively, as they trace their lives in a heartfelt reflection of their family history and triumphs over prejudices in times of social unrest.

THE MAN IN ROOM 306, Luna's critically acclaimed signature piece, honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 50th anniversary of his assassination. April 12 through May 13th.

The AUDELCO and Obie Award-winning Billie Holiday Theatre brings back the groundbreaking 50in50: Women's Voices Initiative with the Obie Award-winning Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop with a reading March 17, 2018 at 7pm in The Billie Holiday Theatre, 1368 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY. 

Audible Inc., the world's largest producer and provider of downloadable audiobooks and other spoken-word entertainment, today announced the first class of theater commissions selected to receive support from its fund dedicated to the commission and development of innovative English-language works from playwrights around the globe. Announced earlier this year, the $5 million fund will enable the creation of one- and two-person audio plays driven by language and voice, in keeping with Audible's core commitment to elevating listening experiences through powerful performances of brilliantly composed words.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College continues its 2017-18 Kumble Theater season with Daniel Beaty's solo theatrical tour-de-force, Emergency, on Saturday, February 17, 2018 at 8pm and Sunday, February 18, 2018 at 3pm.  Originally titled Emergence-SEE when it made its New York premiere at the Public Theater in 2006 under the direction of Kenny Leon, the show has since toured nationally and internationally, earning Beaty a 2007 Obie Award for Writing & Performing and a 2007 AUDELCO Award for Solo Performance.

The Unique Panel Discussion will celebrate a new book by Ronald Rand, "CREATE! How Extraordinary Artists Live to Create and Create to Live" at the historical theatrical club, The Lambs 3 West 51st Street, New York City, Monday, March 12th, 2018, 7:00-8:00pm. There is no charge for the Event. Seating is limited - reservations are necessary at: (212) 586-0306 or RSVP@The-Lambs.org     

One week after the anniversary of her death, American Masters -- Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart premieres nationwide Today, January 19 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) and will stream the following day at pbs.org/americanmasters and PBS apps. Check out the trailer below!

From February 16 to March 5, The Morningside Players will present Carol Carter and Edythe Jason in 'Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters' First 100 Years' by Emily Mann, adapted from the book by Sarah H. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany. It will be the inaugural theater production at North of History, a new performance/gallery space founded by Gene Kaufman that is located at 445 Columbus Ave. (between 81st and 82nd Street). Edgar Chisholm directs.

The Broadway musical, I Have a Dream, first debuted in 1976 with Billy Dee William playing Dr. King. The play portrays the life of Dr. King and important moments of the civil rights movement through song and dance. Written by Josh Greenfield and directed by veteran actor Herman LeVern Jones of TheatreSouth, the production has toured internationally. It includes many gospel songs from the Civil Rights Movement, including We Shall Overcome and Free at Last to be performed by professional soloists and the Fresh Start Church Gospel Choir of Glen Burnie. Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks praised the show when they saw it in the 1980's. Order tickets at www.mlkjrmd.org. The two act musical begins at 7:00 pm Saturday, January 13 at the Key Auditorium of St. Johns College, 60 College Avenue, Annapolis. For more information, call 301-904-3690. Saturday-night theater tickets are $35 for general public and $20 for students (with ID) and seniors (over 65).

Broadway in the H.O.O.D continues with the third installment of its Resilience Personified season at The Smith Center with the Las Vegas premiere of Lorraine Hansberry's classic Tony Award-winning masterpiece, A Raisin in the Sun, January 12-14, 2018 in the Troesh Theatre.