The Billie Holiday Theatre Artistic and Executive Director Dr. Indira Etwaroo announced the line-up today for The Billie Holiday Theatre’s Fall 2019 Season and 2019 – 2020 Season Highlights at their newly-renovated home at Restoration Plaza on 1368 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216. This historic landmark theater – theater home to the largest community of African Americans in the nation: Central Brooklyn – encompassing a 199-seat theater, state-of-the-art studio spaces, a gallery space, and outdoor plazas, has been home to world-class storytelling for 47 years. Forged in the sociocultural and aesthetic kiln of the Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements, The Billie Holiday Theatre continues to celebrate the diversity, intersectionality, and complexity of the African diaspora from around the corner and around the world with an almost-five decade, keenly honed consciousness for social justice through narrative.
“This is a season that celebrates the triumph of the human spirit, which remains at the core of the African American experience during this 400th commemorative year of the beginning of slavery in America. We enter this season with a profound knowledge that the African American story is the very foundation of the American story,” stated Artistic and Executive Director Dr. Indira Etwaroo. “We strive to stretch and innovate on Black narratives in the 21st century from 20th anniversary works by internationally renowned choreographer Ron Brown that are still profoundly resonant, to playwright James Sheldon’s world premiere Reparations, helmed by the incomparable Michele Shay, presenting our audience the first produced playwright of non-African descent in our theater’s history, to eclectic local musical talent in our daring Skylight Open, to new play readings by our resident company, Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop.”
This Fall 2019, The Billie launches the New Windows Festival, as a platform for deeply necessary cross-cultural and inter-racial dialogues around race, social justice, and equity, developed by an historic Black-led cultural institution to explore our shared humanity, while providing our audiences an opportunity to witness provocative, groundbreaking, and radical work in their own theater home in Central Brooklyn…all in a spirit of excellence and inclusion. The 2019 New Windows Festival includes the World Premiere of James Sheldon’s Reparations, an exhibit by internationally renowned artist Luba Lukova “Designing Justice,” and a reading of a new play by David Davila.
Our Education Division launches the 21st year of our Youth Arts Academy, which has been a haven of beauty, safety, and free expression for hundreds of youth annually, cultivating global citizens to become powerful contributors to their communities. YAA offers a wide range of classes, including West African Dance, Ballet, Modern Dance, Hip-Hop, Drama, and Drumming encompassing the Sabar, Steel Pan, and Djembe taught by a world-class faculty for students ages 3 – 18 years old. Registration ONLINE at https://TheBillieHoliday.org and IN PERSON at 718-636-6995. The Billie Holiday Theatre, in partnership with The Stella Adler Studio of Acting, also engages over 75 young theater artists annually, ages 18 – early 30s, from across the world at The Billie Holiday Theatre. With founding faculty Stephen McKinley Henderson, Ruben Santiago Hudson, Phylicia Rashad, Sonia Sanchez, and Michele Shay, The Billie and Stella Adler Studio have joined arms to address voids that are still missing in many mainstream college and university theater programs and training programs: a curriculum and theater canon, a peer group, performance experiences, and administration and faculty that fully reflect the exquisite diversity of students of African descent. BAI has focused on socio-cultural, historical, and political eras that have informed the creative expression of Black people on American soil, mainly the Black Arts Movement. Registration at https://blackartsinstitute.org/.
The 47-year partnership between The Billie Holiday Theatre and its founder, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, continues to provide a vital and viable platform for the sustainability of world-class art in the heart of Bed-Stuy.
Patrons who join the Friends of The Billie program as a donor, starting with a gift of $50, gain access to VIP tickets and events, and advance notice of events throughout the year. To find out how you can support The Billie by joining the Friends of The Billie program at https://thebillieholiday.org/support/ or call 718-636-0918.
Tickets for the 2019 – 2020 season are available ONLINE at TheBillieHoliday.org/show-and-events; IN PERSON at The Billie Holiday Theater Box Office at Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton Street from Wed – Fri, 4 – 7pm and Sat 1 – 4pm; and BY PHONE at (718) 636-0918.
THE BILLIE HOLIDAY THEATRE’S 2019 FALL SEASON AND SEASON HIGHLIGHTS:
LOCAL FILMS | BEDFORD STUYVESANT CROWN HEIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL
September 13 – 15, 2019
Founded by Attika J. Torrence, Joseph C. Grant Jr. and Ephraim FETTI Benton
Free and Open to the Public | The Billie Holiday Theatre and Outdoor Plazas
The Bedford Stuyvesant Crown Heights Film Festival brings together the best and brightest in the film and entertainment business from the Bed Stuy, Crown Heights, and surrounding communities.
GLOBAL FILMS | NOVA FRONTIER FILM FESTIVAL
September 20 – 22, 2019
Tickets starting at $20; Free for 18 and under | The Billie Holiday Theatre
The Billie Holiday Theatre presents the annual Nova Frontier Film Festival and Lab, a timely narrative, documentary and experimental film festival, and multi-disciplinary lab, passionately committed to showcasing the works of filmmakers and artists from and about the African diasporas, Middle East, Latin America, and Caribbean. The lab, which is a core component of the festival, focuses on the development of youth and emerging artists and media-makers from underserved and underrepresented communities.
DANCE | RONALD K. BROWN/EVIDENCE IN CONCERT
Fri, Sep 27 at 7PM
Sat, Sep 28 at 3PM with a Pre-Show Talk at 2PM | Sat, Sep 28 at 7PM followed by a House Party
The Billie Holiday Theatre
Tickets |$20 for all performances | $15 ticket for Sat post-show house party with a complimentary drink. House Music curated by Ronald K. Brown | The Billie Holiday Theatre
Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, hailing from Bedford Stuyvesant, celebrates with the highly-anticipated annual homecoming concert with a focus on the fusion of African dance with contemporary choreography and spoken word. The work provides a unique view of human struggles, tragedies, and triumphs, “creating a magnificently textured style, which shifts from earthy, raw-powered movement to jumps that send dancers sailing into the air like spirits.” – The New York Times. The program includes two 20th Anniversary works choreographed by Ronald K. Brown, Gatekeepers (1999) and Water (1999) with original text written and performed by Cheryl Boyce Taylor. “The rituals of ‘’Water’’ offered hope that evil stains can be removed from this world.” – The New York Times. Other highlights include Walking Out the Dark (2001).
MUSIC | RESTORATION ROCKS! 2019
In Partnership with Bed-Stuy Alive!
Sat, Oct 12, 2019 from 12 – 6PM, 2019
Free and Open to the Public | Fulton Street between New York Ave and Brooklyn Ave
RestorationROCKS!, a part of the annual week-long Bed-Stuy Alive! celebration, returns with a dynamic line-up of musical talent and community favorites, including Big Daddy Kane, Nona Hendryx, Maritri Garret and the Soulfolk Experience, as well as a takeover of Fulton Street with a Soul Summit House Party. Join thousands of community members to celebrate the legacy of Bed-Stuy as the mecca of Black arts and culture in Brooklyn with street vendors, live music, and delicious food .
NEW WINDOWS FESTIVAL
October – November 2019
As part of its continued role as a voice and convener for its community, The Billie Holiday Theatre will introduce the inaugural New Windows Festival, a radical step forward in furthering transformative conversations around race through the power of narrative. Based on the concept of “tearing down walls and not building them,” New Windows goes beyond social, intellectual, cultural and geographical borders to explore difference, intersectionality, and the complexity of identity, as a community with the simple question that literary legend Sonia Sanchez challenges us with: “what does it mean to be human?” New Windows spotlights voices and perspectives that have not historically been presented at The Billie, yet continues to place bold and daring storytelling and social justice at the center of the largest community of African descent in the nation.
TALK | IDENTITY AND DESIGN: A GLOBAL PARADIGM: AN EVENING WITH JAHNKOY
Tickets Not Yet Available | The Billie Holiday Theatre
Born and raised in Siberia, Russia, JAHNKOY is a New York based visual artist who will be joined in conversation by
Hollis King, Creative Director, The Billie Holiday Theatre. JAHNKOY’s work draws upon found materials and ready-made clothing to illustrate her ideas around consumerism, racial and cultural inequality, crafts and the political and economic restraints that surround it. She sees fashion as a powerful force to raise questions about the sustainability of the actual fashion system and seeks to bring awareness and raise consciousness among consumers about alternative, more viable modes of production, distribution and consumption. The aim of her practice is to reestablish cultural heritage in a new contemporary way, reconnect people to the knowledge of the past, promote hand skills and craftsmanship.
VISUAL ARTS | LUBA LUKOVA DESIGNING JUSTICE EXHIBIT
Opening Reception: Mon, Nov 4 at 6PM
Free and Open to the Public | The Billie Holiday Theatre Lobby
An artist and designer, Luba Lukova creates images that transcend language, cultures, and politics. Her thought-provoking posters address essential themes of humanity and injustice worldwide. Her messages help viewers develop empathetic understanding for social and cultural issues through indelible metaphors and an economy of line, color, and text.
“Creating some of the most iconic posters of the last decade, Luba Lukova is one of the most important visual artists of our generation. This is not up for debate. History will remember her work.” –John Foster, Rockpaperink
THEATER | REPARATIONS – World Premiere
By James Sheldon and Directed by Michele Shay
Previews – Oct 25 – Nov 5; Opening Night – Wed, Nov 6 and runs through Sun, Nov 24, 2019
Tickets Starting at $25 with Group Sale, Student, and Senior Discounts | The Billie Holiday Theatre
The Billie Holiday Theater presents the world premiere of Reparations, by playwright James Sheldon and directed by Tony Award-nominated Michele Shay. Reparations tells the story of a recently widowed white book editor who invites a younger black writer to her apartment, only to find that a night of tenderness and passion turns into a complex and unforeseen morning-after when he threatens to reveal a dark secret. Will the young writer succeed in claiming his reparations for a life of racial injustice?
The cast features Lisa Arrindell, Kamal Bolden, and Alexandra Neil
The artistic team includes Moriah and Isabel Curley-Clay as set and prop designers, and David Moodey as lighting designer with Sam Potochick as Production Stage Manager, Yohanna Florentine as Assistant Stage Manager, and Emma Pearl Nigut as Assistant Director. Casting by Anne Davison.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
THEATER | 50IN50: WRITING OURSELVES INTO EXISTENCE
Curatorial Statement by Dominique Morisseau
Call for Submissions: November 2019
Readings: March 2020
The Billie Holiday Theatre, in collaboration with Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop, presents the return of one of its most celebrated programs with the fourth installment of 50in50: Writing Ourselves Into Existence. Launched in 2017 during the 50th Anniversary of Restoration with a keen eye towards spotlighting the narratives of Black women, 50in50 was created as a theatrical reading event to provide a platform for Black women from all walks of life across the globe to share their stories in response to emerging social issues. Women writers respond to a global call for talent with a curatorial statement shaped by Obie Award-winning playwright and MacArthur Fellow Dominique Morisseau; and 50 monologues are brought to life on stage with award-winning actresses. 50in50 has touched a pulse and provoked an enormous response with over 700 black women and girls, ages 8 to 83, from around the corner to around the world (Holland, South Africa, Canada and more) sharing their stories.
This fourth installment of the series will feature a new group of 50 women writers who will “consider both the world they inherited and the one they’d like to create.” 50in50 is made possible with support from The Made in NY Women’s Film, Television & Theatre Fund by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with The New York Foundation for the Arts.
EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
EDUCATION | YOUTH ARTS ACADEMY
Sat, Sep 7 and 14 from 10AM – 2PM | Open Houses with free classes and registration discounts
Sat, Sep 14 and Sun, Sep 29 at 3PM | Pre-Professional Auditions led by Ronald K. Brown and Arcell Cabuag
Community Studio at 247 Herkimer Street
Our Education Division launches the 21st year of the Youth Arts Academy, which has been a haven of beauty, safety, and free expression for hundreds of youth annually since its inception in 1998, cultivating global citizens to become powerful contributors to their communities. YAA offers a wide range of classes, including West African Dance, Ballet, Modern Dance, Hip-Hop, Drama, and Drumming including the Sabar, Steel Pan, and Djembe taught by a world-class faculty for students ages 3 – 18 years old. The Youth Arts Academy is made possible with support from The Hearst Foundation, The Pinkerton Foundation, The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, The New York State Council on the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, and The Harkness Foundation for Dance.
Registration ONLINE at https://TheBillieHoliday.org, IN PERSON at the Billie Holiday Theater Administrative Offices at Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton Street from Wed – Fri, 4 – 7pm and Sat 12 – 4pm; and BY PHONE at 718-636-6995.
DANCE | THREE RITES: LIFE
Friday September 6, 2019, 6pm-9pm
Free | Participate in a community discussion about the Buen Vivir movement and alternative energy solutions.
Saturday September 7, 2019, 2pm-5pm
Free | Participate in a creative reuse workshop
Community members are invited to an immersive FREE work-in-progress showing of THREE RITES: LIFE by Choreoquest artist DELIRIOUS Dances/Edisa Weeks. The dance performance is durational, so come when you like and stay for as long as you like. Children welcome. THREE RITES is part of our ChoreoQuest artist-in-residence program that provides choreographers of African descent a platform to create thought-provoking, innovative art reflecting the community. Each of the resident artists brings bold innovative perspectives on gender, identity and community that aim to expand ideas on culture and our place within it. Edisa Weeks and Nathan Trice are the 2019 – 2020 ChoreoQuest Fellows with support from the Mertz Gilmore Foundation.
MUSIC AND SPOKEN WORD | SKYLIGHT OPEN
Monthly Series beginning Thu, Sep 19 at 6PM
Free and Open to the Public | Lobby of 1368 Fulton Street | Complimentary glass of wine
Skylight Open, a monthly series, opens the mic to local vocalists, musicians and spoken word artists, providing an evening social of music, art and fun. This monthly series is free and open to the public and is held in the Theatre’s historic lobby at 1368 Fulton Street. Complimentary wine provided. Some of the season’s featured cutting-edge artists include Krystal Renee (STOMP), Jules Styles (Jules and the Jinks and Afropunk), and Amaya Holley, soul-sensation.
THEATER | FRANK SILVERA WRITERS’ WORKSHOP NEW WORKS’ MONTHLY SERIES
INSTALLMENT ONE
Mon, Sep 9 at 7PM
Free and Open to the Public | Skylight Gallery | Complimentary glass of wine
The Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop, founded by Garland Lee Thompson, Sr., is the newest partner-in-residence at The Billie Holiday Theatre with a monthly reading series and key initiatives to cultivate writers of African descent from throughout New York City and the nation. The monthly reading series launches with David Davila’s Aztec Pirates & the Insignificance of Life on Mars. The protagonist is a LatinX Border Patrol agent. What makes someone a traitor to their race? Johnny Montenegro has just been accused of genocide by the man he’s been tasked with deporting. In a split-second he’ll have to choose between his identity, his duty, and his sanity. Curated by Garland Lee Thompson, Jr., Executive Director, Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop.
THEATER | BLACK ARTS INSTITUTE WINTER INTENSIVE
January 2020 | The Billie Holiday Theatre
The Billie Holiday Theatre, in partnership with The Stella Adler Studio of Acting, will engage over 75 young theater artists annually, ages 18 – early 30s, from across the world at The Billie Holiday Theatre. With founding faculty Stephen McKinley Henderson, Ruben Santiago Hudson, Phylicia Rashad, Sonia Sanchez, and Michele Shay, The Billie and Stella Adler Studio have joined arms to address voids that are still missing in many mainstream college and university theater programs and training programs: a curriculum and theater canon, a peer group, performance experiences, and administration and faculty that fully reflect the exquisite diversity of students of African descent. BAI has focused on socio-cultural, historical, and political eras that have informed the creative expression of Black people on American soil, mainly the Black Arts Movement. Registration at https://blackartsinstitute.org/.
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