NTC Discusses Harlem’s History, Culture and Theatre
Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, 12:30 to 1:45 pm
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Blvd, Harlem, NYC,
Viewing of the American Negro Theatre Mural
2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Herbert Cave Auditorium, Harlem Hospital Center
506 Malcolm X Boulevard
2nd floor
2:00 pm to 3:15 pm
“History and Culture of Harlem and its Theatre”
Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Dr. Barbara Lewis, and William B. Branch
3:30 pm to 5:00 pm
Harlem Theatre Panel Discussion. Representatives: New Heritage
Theatre Group (Voza Rivers); National Black Theatre (Sade Lythcott); The H.A.D.L.E.Y.
Players (Gertrude Jeanette); The Classical Theatre of Harlem (Ty Jones); Take Wing and
Soar Productions, Inc. (Debra Ann Byrd); Faison Firehouse Theatre (George Faison); The
Movement Theatre Company (Deadria Harrington); Liberation Theatre Company (Sandra
A. Daley); Harlem9 (Bryan E. Glover)
The public is invited to join members of the National Theatre Conference (NTC) at Harlem Hospital’s Herbert Cave Auditorium for “History and Culture of Harlem and its Theatre,” an afternoon of renowned speakers and Harlem theatre makers. Speakers are Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture’s Director Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad and Scholar/Literary Historian Dr. Barbara Lewis. A conversation with noted playwright William B. Branch will be moderated by NTC member Woodie King, Jr., Founding/Producing Director, New Federal Theatre. A theatre panel discussion with Harlem theatre makers will be moderated by NTC Board Member Benny Sato Ambush, Senior Distinguished Producer- in-Residence, Boston’s Emerson College. “We endeavor to give NTC members a culturally immersive experience and impart to them Harlem’s rich, distinctive legacy of theatrical voices from African- descended people,” stated Benny Sato Ambush. “The panel of current black theatre practitioners will have the opportunity to discuss not only why they formed and what they are doing, but also to investigate their connection to Harlem’s historical black theatrical legacy.” An hour and one-half prior to the 2:00 pm session and inside the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture across the street from Harlem Hospital, NTC members will view the 75th Anniversary murals inside the historically significant American Negro Theatre (ANT, 1940-1949) that chronicles its history.
ANT, an outgrowth of the illustrious Negro Unit of the Federal Theatre Project in Harlem, launched the careers of such recognizable African-American artists as Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Frederick O’Neal, Alice Childress, Maxwell Granville, Hilda Simms, Earle Hyman, Clarice Taylor, Gordon Heath, Isabel Sanford, Roger Furman, and Rosetta LeNoire.
The National Theatre Conference, which is holding its annual New York meeting December 4 to 6, 2015, is an organization founded in 1925 that meets annually in New York City to celebrate outstanding achievement in the American Theatre. Membership is limited to no more than 150 distinguished leaders from the professional and academic theatre who serve as a “think tank” dedicated to the continued development of theatre in this country. In addition to awards recognizing and celebrating excellence in the theatre, the NTC works actively to promote positive change in the American theatre: http://www.nationaltheatreconference.org.
The event will be streamed http://howlround.com/tv