Sidney Poitier News

We've rounded up 10 MORE books about Black theatre to read and educate yourself while in quarantine. 

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announced today the commemoration of the Juneteenth holiday with slate of special encore airings of programming

Beginning this Saturday, June 13, the L.A. Theatre Works audio theater recording of John Ball's In the Heat of the Night, adapted for the stage by Matt Pelfrey, will air on radio stations across the country and be available to stream free on the L.A. Theatre Works website.

Theater has always been an outlet for creative minds to discuss the issues that plague our society, whether it's racism, income inequality, or the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community. Learn our picks for musicals and plays that deal with important social topics.

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the 101 greatest scenes in cinema from 1901 to 2020. See if your favorite movie moments made the list!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest theatrical works (non-musical) from 1920-2020; see if your favorites made the list!

Dick D. Zigun, Artistic Director of Coney Island USA and Funhouse Philosophers, announces his latest production, Bloody Brains in a Juke Box, which will be presented Fridays thru Sundays, March 6-29, with an opening night scheduled for March 14.

BWW Review: SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION at University Of Louisville

Now presented by the Annapolis Shakespeare Company in Patrick Barlow's adaptation (London 2006, Broadway 2010), The 39 Steps is part music hall, part slapstick, part sex comedy, part thriller a?" and requires the skills necessary for each. Add to this that it contains 157 roles written to be performed by only four actors.

Ebony Repertory Theatre (ERT) and the family of Paula Kelly announced today that Emmy-nominated actress, dancer, choreographer and singer, Paula Kelly died on Saturday, February 8, 2020 in Whittier, California from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She was 77.

MGM has set Dee Rees is set to write and direct a feature film adaptation of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess for MGM, according to Deadline.

The year is 1967, the place is San Francisco, and the conflict? A young and optimistic mixed-race couple has just announced their upcoming plans of marriage to unsuspecting parents. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner extracts the nuances and subtleties of prejudice and plops them center stage, both literally and figuratively, in the living room of the liberal, upper-class Drayton family.

The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) Honors announced today the recipients of two of their most prominent awards - Hollywood Legacy Award and Industry Renaissance Award - which each honor outstanding accomplishments in film and television. Academy AwardⓇ winner Louis Gossett, Jr. (“Watchmen,” “An Officer and a Gentleman”) will be honored with the Hollywood Legacy Award for his contributions to the entertainment industry. The Hollywood Legacy Award honors a legendary artist whose trailblazing work has inspired generations and made an enduring contribution to film and television. Additionally, EmmyⓇ Award-winning producer, writer, and actor, Lena Waithe (“The Chi,” “Boomerang,” “Queen & Slim”) will receive the prestigious Industry Renaissance Award, which recognizes content creators whose exemplary work in film and television contributes to changing perceptions of people of color in the entertainment industry. 

Funhouse Philosophers, the resident experimental theater company at Coney Island USA announces its most ambitious project yet...

Deadline reports that 'Star Wars' producer Kathleen Kennedy will be honored at the EE British Academy Film Awards.

Filmmaker Robert Townsend is a born entertainer, and his solo show a?oeLiving the Shufflea?? is perhaps more than anything about the pleasure of his company. He seems so comfortable onstage, knowing precisely how to scale his performance to the size of the room, how to punctuate a laugh line for maximum effect, when to pull back a bit to give the material some room to breathe, that it's startling to realize it's been decades since he's done live performance. He first came to national prominence with his groundbreaking, satirical 1987 film, a?oeThe Hollywood Shufflea?? from which his stage show obviously takes its name. In the intervening years, Townsend has had a prolific career as an actor-writer-director-producer in film and TV. Based on the evidence currently onstage at The Marsh Berkeley, it's lucky for us that he's turned his focus to live theater.

Dick D. Zigun, Artistic Director of Coney Island USA and Funhouse Philosophers, announces that Bloody Brains in a Juke Box, previously slated to begin performances on November 8, has been rescheduled for Spring, 2020 in order to allow for a special casting drive to discover celebrity look-alike actors to portray characters resembling Sidney Poitier, Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Coogan and Jayne Mansfield. Special auditions for these parts will be held at Coney Island USA at 1208 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn on Sunday, October 27 from 1 to 5pm. The new performance dates for the production will be Fridays thru Sundays, March 6-29, with an opening night scheduled for March 14.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts announces the film screening of A Raisin in the Sun(1961) on Sunday, October 20 at 2 pm. It is the sixtieth anniversary of the play's first production on Broadway. The film is an adaptation of the play by Lorraine Hansberry. Bay Street Theater will present a live staged version as the 2019 Literature Live! production in November.

Today, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced that eight-time Golden Globe winner and fifteen-time nominee, Tom Hanks, will be honored with the coveted Cecil B. deMille Award at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards. The highly-acclaimed star of such legendary films as “Big,” “Forrest Gump,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Cast Away,” and the upcoming release of “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” will accept the honor at Hollywood's Party of the Year® on Sunday, January 5, 2020 airing LIVE coast-to-coast from 5-8 p.m. PT/8-11 p.m. ET on NBC.

The Players announces its next Pipe Night, honoring Tony Award-nominated composer and writer Joe Iconis (Be More Chill). A favorite Players tradition that has celebrated significant cultural figures for over a century, the Pipe Night for Mr. Iconis will be held on Monday, September 9th starting at 6:30 pm at The Players, located at 16 Gramercy Park South.