Congratulations to Terrence Spivey, Artistic Director of Karamu House Theatre

Terrence Spivey

Karamu House Theatre Artistic Director Terrence Spivey was given a Proclamation from Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson and a Resolution from Councilwoman Mamie Mitchell on Thursday, August, 25, 2011. To watch a slide show of the presentation, please click here.

Legendary actor Robert Hooks offers up congratulations too:

Terrence,

Congratulations on being honored for your dedication and hard work at Karamu House. What a privileged you must feel to be apart of the true cultural and community history that Karamu has provided for the city of Cleveland over so many decades.

I recall in the early sixties- while starring in Leroi Jones' "Dutchman" being visited backstage at the Cherry Lane Theatre by the great poet laureate Langston Hughes- who spoke in such glowing terms about Karamu and how it was so important in his beginnings as a playwright. Through the years I've had the pleasure of knowing and performing with many Karamu alumni such as Ivan Dixon- Robert Guillaume- Clayton Corbin- Beverly Todd- Al Fann- Buddy Butler and many more from your classic Karamu House.

I also had the privilege of meeting both the Jelliffes (Karamu's founders) while visiting Karamu with the Broadway company of "A Taste Of Honey" in the sixties. All this inspiration- years before I co-founded another great theatre institution "The Negro Ensemble Company."

Cultural institutions like Karamu and the NEC have led the way in America's communities for so many creative artists in all areas of legitimate theatre.

To learn more about The Karamu House Theatre, please click the post's title.

Mike Oatman's ECLIPSE: THE WAR BETWEEN PAC AND B.I.G gets New York Times love

Michael Oatman's "Eclipse: The War Between Pac and B.I.G." and Cleveland's Karamu House, where Oatman is the playwright in residence, picks up NYT attention. You can read today's article online here and hear Mike's insightful take on Tupac's contribution to pop culture and society in the NYT video "The Hamlet of Hip-Hop" by clicking the post's title. Congratulations Mike and Terrence Spivey, Artistic Director at Karamu House.

Karamu House- Keeping the Spirit of Black Theater Alive (Cleveland)

As a native of Detroit and having spent a significant part of my adult life in Chicago, this writer has always had a love-hate relationship with the city of Cleveland, Ohio [you have to be a professional football fanatic to understand].

But Cleveland has been on a mission over the past 20 years, redeveloping its lakefront, encouraging businesses to relocate to its Great Lakes' shores and encouraging

a revitalization of the arts along with an influx of much-needed capital.

But what many readers may not know is that one of the beneficiaries of the positive changes in Cleveland has been a nondescript, old red brick building known to lovers of black theater as Karamu House , whose founding in 1915 makes it this country's oldest African-American theater.

To continue reading the December 2009 issue of GBM Magazines, please click the post's title.