Bernardo Solano's LANGSTON & NICOLAS Premieres 6/16 (LA)

Towne Street Theatre,

LA's Premiere African American Theatre Company,

presents a World Premiere Preview for TST On Tour !

LANGSTON & NICOLAS

will be the third staged reading of the series.

LANGSTON & NICOLAS, a new play commissioned by Towne Street Theatre and the Robey Theatre Company, will be presented at the third stop of TST On Tour!; an exciting 2009 staged reading series. Written by Bernardo Solano, LANGSTON & NICOLAS tells the true story of the forty year friendship between iconic African American writer Langston Hughes and the Cuban poet laureate Nicolas Guillen. This story of two countries, two voices, two dreams....one friendship, is told through poetry, music and dance.

TST On Tour! - a unique reading series, featuring six plays, from classic to contemporary, is "touring" to theatres throughout the City of Los Angeles. For Stop #3 we return to mid-city LA and Stage 52 - 5299 W. Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90016. Towne Street Theatre will present, one night only, the final public reading of LANGSTON & NICOLAS on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 7:00 PM. Conceived and directed by Towne Street Theatre Artistic Director, Nancy Cheryll Davis, this project is made possible in part by funding from The Ford Foundation and the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles.

Please join Towne Street Theatre for the third stop of TST On Tour! and see LANGSTON & NICOLAS before its World Premiere in March, 2010. All tickets for TST On Tour! are $5.00. To reserve your seat, please call (213) 624-4796 or email info@townestreet.org. Ample Free Parking

Click the post's heading to visit the Towne Street Theatre website.

How a Play gets to Broadway

Now that the Tony Awards are over, playwrights might wonder "How a play gets to Broadway?" This short video interview with Broadway producer Pun Bandhu is well worth the watch. Please click the highlighted copy to view video.

Get Listed in the Black Authors & Published Writers Directory

Grace Publishing Company is pleased to announce the publication of the new 2009/2010 Black Authors & Published Writers Directory.

• Contains a treasure-trove of Black History.
• Photo-illustrated.
• Annual Publication.

To add your free listing, please click the post's title to bring up the form. More information can be had at
http://www.bapwd.com/.

DeeWorks Live! Tonight 7pm to 10pm

Click Image to Enlarge.

Please join DeeWorks Live! on EliteRadio 97.5FM Fan Club. Our Show airs every Sunday from 7pm to 10pm EST. Streams live anywhere in the world at http://www.myeliteradio.com/

Dee Spencer

Host

To become a member, please click the post's title.

WritersCorps Showcase 6/16 (DC)

"Days I Moved Through Ordinary Sound" has arrived in Washington, D.C.!

"Days I Moved Through Ordinary Sounds" is a collection of work -- both poetry and prose -- from the talented people who have formed the ranks of WritersCorps teachers.

Come to a book discussion and hear former WritersCorps teachers read their work and describe their experiences. We'll be featuring: Kenny Carroll, Ryan Grim, Livia Kent, Uchechi Kalu, Melisssa Tuckey, and Joy Jones. Greg Bargeman, actor and librarian will give a performance.

Hosted by former WritersCorps teacher Joy Jones. Light refreshments will be served. Plus, the first 20 guests will receive a free copy of "Days" OR of "Tell The World", the teen anthology.

When: Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Historical Society of Washington D.C.
The Carnegie Library at Mount Vernon Square
801 K Street N.W., Washington D.C. 20001
Across K Street from the Washington Convention Center, 2 blocks north of the Chinatown Metro, climb the curvy stairs to entrance.

Cost: Free!

Thank you to our partners: The Spoken Word, Humanities Council of Washington D.C., The Literary Friends of D.C. Public Library, National Home Library Foundation

Contact: Joy Jones
202-832-2368
joyjones100@cs.com

Obamas attend August Wilson play on Broadway

Photo by Noel Y. Calingasan

BY Michael Mcauliff and Erin Durkin

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Monday, June 1st 2009

Call it the Obama effect.

Patrons flocked to the Broadway show "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" and the Greenwich Village restaurant Blue Hill Sunday after the First Couple stopped by the night before.

Miriam Childs, 38, visiting from New Orleans, said the Obamas' theater choice inspired her to buy tickets to the August Wilson show.

"Their time is about the most precious time in the world, so if they made time to see it, it must be worth it," she said.

She ordered "Joe Turner" tickets at 6a.m. to make sure she and her husband didn't miss out.

"We figured there would be a lot of spur-of-the- moment decisions to come see the play," she said. "[We said,] 'Why don't we get a jump on it and get [tickets] now, because there won't be any later.'"

There were just a few balcony seats remaining for Sunday's matinee.

The line for tickets stretched out the door an hour before the 3 p.m. performance. A week ago, an average of just 65% of seats at the show were filled, according to playbill.com.

Roz McCarthy, 59, of Norwalk, Conn., had bought tickets before the Obamas came to town, but their visit convinced her she had made the right choice.

"I really respect him," she said. "I think he's got good instincts. If he likes it, I'm going to like it."

Some theatergoers lamented that they were a day late to catch a glimpse of Barack and Michelle.

"I said, 'Shoot, I should have got Saturday night tickets,'" said Gayle Jones, 54, of Somerset, N.J.

Down in the Village, tables started filling up early in the evening at Blue Hill, where the President and First Lady had enjoyed their pretheater meal.

"It just made me curious about what kind of food they had," said Kaortini Gonzalez, 20, an NYU student who hadn't noticed the restaurant until she heard about the Obamas' meal there.

The hideaway is on the ground floor of a townhouse a block from Washington Square Park.

"I was curious to check the restaurant out because they came," Gonzalez said. "It's a cool restaurant and it's organic."

Reservations for prime dinner hours were booked through June 22, but early birds had a chance to snag a table when the restaurant opened at 5:30 p.m.

Obama has had much the same effect in the nation's capital, where eateries have reported big surges in business after the popular President drops by.

http://us.mc1107.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=mmcauliff@nydailynews.com
With Michael Roberts

Laurence Holder's MONK held over (DC)

Click Image to Enlarge.

"Rome Neal's one-man show, in which he portrays the legendary be-bop pianist Thelonious Monk, from a Laurence Holder script, is everything Monk fans need it to be, and that's saying quite a lot."
Barry Nix

Greetings Folks,

It gives me great pride and joy to let you know that after performing Laurence Holder's play MONK for four Sundays in DC at the fabulous Blair Mansion Inn, the show has been extended!!! So if you have friends and family members in the area, invite them over to Blair Mansion in Silver Springs to see MONK, any Sunday in the month of June, beginning with June 7th, this Sunday!

Peace & Blessings,
Rome Neal

Please click the post's title to visit the Blair Mansion Inn website.

THE UNBLEACHED AMERICAN 6/15 (NYC)

Click Image to Enlarge.

THE 2009 TRU VOICES NEW PLAYS READING SERIES!

Tenth annual series of new plays by TRU writers produced by TRU producers, followed by reception and our "Dollars and Sense" panels on producing featuring prominent commercial producers, artistic directors and general managers. Reservations required: reserve online at http://www.theplayerstheatre.com/ or phone 212/475-1449. All performances will be at 7pm. The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, NYC.

Filmmaking for Actors (Nashville)

**What Every Actor Should Know Before Arriving On Set**

You aced the audition and got the part! But do you know what to do next?

This course is designed for actors who want to be prepared for their first day on the set. What's proper set etiquette and protocol? Who do you report to? What do all those people on the set do?

Taught by award-winning local producer and director Steve Horswill-Johnston, this class will prepare you for what happens beyond the audition.

The 2-session course gives a basic understanding of the filmmaking process for actors from pre-production and casting through post-production and distribution.

Students Will Learn:

· What's expected from actors on the set.

· The names and functions of all major positions and related departments.

· How to read a "Call Sheet."

· How to understand the "Day-Out-Of-Days" (DOD) Schedule.

· What exactly happens when the camera starts rolling and before you have your first line?

ABOUT STEVE HORSWILL-JOHNSTON
Steve has more than twenty years experience as a television/film producer, radio broadcaster, and communications executive in Los Angeles and here in Nashville. He currently is an executive producer at the international headquarters of The United Methodist Church.

Prior to arriving in Nashville, Steve earned his Bachelor of Science undergraduate degree in Film Production from San Diego State University and attended the graduate program at the prestigious University of Southern California (USC) school of cinematic arts. While attending film school he wrote and produced programs for San Diego public television ( KCET), worked on "Simon & Simon" television series and was a radio broadcaster in the San Diego and Los Angeles markets. He has worked on several feature films, including "Pontiac Moon" and "That Thing You Do". Recently, he was co-producer, writer, and acted in "Becoming Jesse Tate", a feature filmed in the Nashville area. Steve has produced over 30 short films.

Steve was producer of The United Methodist Church's first $20 million dollar national television advertising campaign for 8 years and produced over 15 national commercials.

For producing, writing, and directing Steve has received two national Telly Awards, six Axiem Awards for Absolute Excellence in Electronic Media and numerous "Addy" Gold Awards for advertising.

Total cost for the two-session course: $150

Date: June 30th and July 7th - Tuesdays
Time: 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Location: The Actors School

To register, call The Actors School 615-500-7661 or or email: Alan@ActorsSchoolUSA.com.

Red Harlem Readers