Zora Neale Hurston News

New Federal Theatre will present 'Telling Tales Out of School,' a new play by Wesley Brown, from May 2 to 7 as a work in progress at Castillo Theatre/ASP.

The Betsy's 11th Annual Overture to Overtown (OTO) Jazz Festival will run for the entire month of April 2023 to coincide with Jazz Appreciation Month in the USA. Community programming is a key element in honoring the legacy of Overtown as Miami's historic jazz mecca. 

Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe's 24th season will be a celebration of all things that are “Simply the Best!” In its 2023-2024 theatre season, WBTT will offer fan favorites as well as new pieces leaders hope will become favorites.

Park Avenue Armory's Making Space public programming series will present the second program it its 2023 season, Juke Joint, Friday, March 31st and Saturday, April 1st.

Grammy Award-nominated cellist Seth Parker Woods will release the world premiere recording of his multimedia concert tour-de-force, Difficult Grace in April

Acclaimed Storyteller Sheila Arnold (VA., US) returns to Toronto to present the world premier of Sweat – a ground-breaking short story by Guggenheim Fellowship Recipient Zora Neale Hurston, where 1920s feminism comes to fruition in the heart of the Harlem Renaissance. The piece is beautifully complemented with original musical composition and arrangement by Yorkville favourite and adult contemporary/soul musician John Campbell.

In addition to its broadcast and streaming premieres, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE will continue its series of monthly online events, Past Forward: Conversations with American Experience, in 2023. These events feature discussions with historians, authors and journalists and explore film-inspired themes and issues each month through the lens of the present.

Roundabout Theatre Company has announced that the second season of The Refocus Project, its multi-year project to elevate and restore marginalized plays to the American canon, is now available to stream online for free, through Sunday, October 16.

Mari Marchbanks (Founder and Executive Director) has announced that the 2022 Horton Foote Prize has been awarded to Christina Anderson for her play the ripple, the wave that carried me home.

The Public Theater has announced complete casting for the world premiere of PLAYS FOR THE PLAGUE YEAR, written by and featuring Pulitzer Prize winner and Public Theater Writer-in-Residence Suzan-Lori Parks and directed by Bessie Award winner Niegel Smith. 

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has announced casting for the world premiere production of the ripple, the wave that carried me home by Christina Anderson, directed by Jackson Gay, and produced in association with Goodman Theatre. 

Jobsite Theater, resident theater company at the Straz Center, is thrilled will kick off its 24th season with this hilarious comedy from the original “wild and crazy guy,” Steve Martin.

The Muny announced its full cast, design and production teams for the Muny Premiere of The Color Purple, August 3 – 9, 2022.   Joining the previously announced principal cast of Tracee Beazer (Shug Avery), Nasia Thomas (Nettie), Evan Tyrone Martin (Mister), Gilbert Domally (Harpo) and Nicole Michelle Haskins (Sofia) is Anastacia McCleskey (Celie).

The Philly POPS continues its 44-year Independence Week tradition with POPS on Independence at Independence Mall on July 3, 2022, at 7 p.m.

Roundabout Theatre Company will present the second season of The Refocus Project, its multi-year project to elevate and restore marginalized plays to the American canon. The final two readings will be The Harlem Hellfighters On A Latin Beat on Thursday, June 23 at 7pm, and El Corrido De California on Monday, June 27, 7pm.

The album was started in Stockholm, Sweden with revered session drummer and producer Brady Blade, with the rest completed at Chastity’s own home studio with her longtime drummer Greg Schutte. Additional production and mixing was done by Chris Bell in Austin, Texas.

The award-winning Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company's popular 'Tales of the Victorians' returns for its thirty-third year.  Take tea at a unique Cape May venue, indulge in tantalizing treats, and listen to stories by famous American authors like O. Henry, Zora Neale Hurston, and Mark Twain read by ELTC performers for only $12.00. Children are always welcome, and ages 12 and under are free. 

M³ will present its first Gala on June 22nd, hosted by music writer Kyla Marshell, presenting the inaugural M³ Lifetime Achievement Award to Shanta Nurullah. This award fills a gap that exists in honoring elder women in the jazz and creative music scene, whose musical contributions have been invisibilized due to racism and misogyny.

Writers Theatre will conclude its 2021/22 Season with Pearl’s Rollin’ with the Blues: A Night with Felicia P. Fields.  The production runs June 23, 2022 – July 24, 2022 in the in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. The Press Opening is Friday, July 1, 2022 at 7:30pm.

TFANA has extended the run of Alice Childress’s Wedding Band, directed by Awoye Timpo, to May 22. (The production, which began previews April 28—postponed from an original date of April 23 due to two COVID-19 cases—was formerly set to close May 15).