Multicultural Entertainment News

Harlem Stage announced highlights of its 30th Anniversary season, including world-premiere performances commissioned through its WaterWorks program by well-known artists of color working in dance, music, opera and more.  A national leader in producing and presenting, Harlem Stage will premiere the commissioned works this fall and next spring, along with its ongoing mix of diverse and intriguing artistic programs in various disciplines. “These exciting premieres showcase what’s wonderful about providing new opportunities of artistic expression by artists of color who may not otherwise have had a chance to fully realize and present  their ideas on  stage,” says Harlem Stage Executive Director Patricia Cruz.  Premieres in Harlem Stage’s 2012/2013 season year include  “Holding It Down: The Veterans Dreams Project” and “Sleep Songs”, a two-part musical and poetic distillation of the dreams and nightmares of veterans of color from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts on the one hand and the response from those affected by the conflict in Iraq; “Pavement”, a dance/theater work inspired by the seminal 1980s John Singleton film “Boyz N The Hood” by choreographer Kyle Abraham, who says the work “examines the state of Black males and the communities that have shaped them”; “We Insist! – Freedom Now Suite”, a new dance/music work conceived by Alexa Birdsong and choreographed by Ayo Jackson that reinterprets the 1963 Max Roach jazz suite on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.; “Makandal”, an ambitious new contemporary opera produced by Harlem Stage presented in English, Creole and Spanish inspired by the life of the revolutionary 18th Century Haitian leader and the relentless pursuit of freedom by the generations that followed him. Harlem Stage dedicates resources from its WaterWorks program to develop groundbreaking new work, or “art that reverberates,” as its current season theme indicates. For more information, visit www.harlemstage.org.   Read more >>

The Apollo Theater and the Manhattan School of Music in New York collaborated and announced the first show of “Ask Your Mama” crafted by Emmy Award-winning composer Laura Karpman and Grammy winner Jessye Norman will be on March 23, 2013 for Apollo’s 2012-13 season. “Ask Your Mama” is a 90-minute sonic tapestry of music, film, and spoken word by EmmyAward- winning composer Laura Karpman based on Langston Hughes’s “Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz” that bursts the boundaries of time, place, and verbal expression to trace the currents and tributaries of cultural diasporas. This is the first time the work is being performed at the Apollo stage, a  fitting home for the piece as it is just blocks away from the Harlem home of Langston Hughes, one of the foremost figures in the Harlem Renaissance. The performance will feature the Manhattan School of Music Chamber Sinfonia conducted by George Manahan, who also conducted the sold-out world premiere at Carnegie Hall and a subsequent performance at the Hollywood Bowl. The Apollo is a national treasure that has had significant impact on the development of American culture and its popularity around the world. Tickets are $35, $55, $75 and $125 (VIP Tickets) and will go on sale Monday, Nov 19th at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster. Visit www.apollotheater.org.  Read more >>