Vinnette Carroll News

Jennifer Holliday took to Twitter to post an inspirational video of herself singing the hymn 'His Eye is on the Sparrow'.

For Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, the decision to go dark for the remainder of its 20th anniversary (2020-2021) season due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was particularly painful as it had just opened its newly-renovated theater building to patrons in January.

The Frank Silvera Writers Workshop kicks off its forty-seventh annual reading series this Monday September 9th at 7pm with David Davila's immigration drama, Aztec Pirates And The Insignificance Of Life On Mars. The reading, directed by Nilsa Reyna, features Ollie Corchado, Cory Alexander, Lillian Andrea De Leon, Julia Botero, Selina Michelle Fonseca, Gerard Lucero, Alexandra Castro, and Jatnna Marte.

Alicia Foxworth's period drama Ghost Writer will bring the curtain down on the 2018 -19 season of the Frank Silvera Writer's Workshop monthly play reading series in partnership with The Billie Holiday Theatre.

The Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop will present Douglas Lyons's new family comedy Chicken & Biscuits Monday May 13th at 7pm; at The Billie Holiday Theatre. Chicken & Biscuits, written in residence at The Directors Company, has previously been selected and performed in the Front Porch Reading Series and Queen Theatre's 2019 New American Voices Reading Series.

Over the course of each Broadway season, unexpected and unique storylines inevitably pop up. This morning, with the announcement of the 2019 Tony Award nominations, a number of new narratives have come to life.

Scottsdale Musical Theater Company has announced Tony Award-winner and Broadway legend Jennifer Holliday (Dreamgirls, The Color Purple) and Joey Lawrence (TV's 'Blossom', 'Brotherly Love', 'Melissa & Joey' , Broadway's Chicago) will lead their production of the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie (September 27 - October 7 at Tempe Center for the Arts in Tempe, Arizona). Holliday will play Muzzy Van Hossmere and Lawrence will play Trevor Graydon. They will be joined by Marc Koeck ('Tony' in last year's 50th Anniversary international tour of West Side Story.

New York City Center President & CEO Arlene Shuler today announced Anne Kauffman as Artistic Director of Encores! Off-Center for the 2019 season. Founding Artistic Director Jeanine Tesori will maintain her relationship with the popular summer series as Creative Advisor - working with Kauffman to curate programming which will conclude City Center's 75th Anniversary Season. Kauffman and Tesori served as Co-Artistic Directors for the 2018 series which included Jason Robert Brown's Songs for A New World, Michael Friedman's Gone Missing, and Micki Grant's Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope.

July 25-28, 2018 featured the vibrant and radical revival of Micki Grant and Vinnette Carroll's Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope at the New York City Center as part of their 2018 Encores! Off Center series. The Grammy Award-winning and Tony-nominated musical is a celebration of African American culture and community that highlighted the issues of race politics in America through a lively mix of song and dance- with a score that features various music genres including jazz, soul, gospel, calypso, and rock. This particular production was directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winning tap dancer Savion Glover with musical arrangements by Annastasia Victory.

Coming in at the heels of landmark musicals like AIN'T SUPPOSED TO DIE A NATURAL DEATH and INNER CITY, composer/lyricist Micki Grant's DON'T BOTHER ME, I CAN'T COPE was an important part of the early 1970s surge of Broadway musicals that were not only about African-American experiences but were written and directed by African-Americans as well.

New York City Center Encores! is celebrating its 25th season in 2018. Part of roster of concert productions of American musicals is Encores! Off-Center, founded in 2013 to present productions during the summer. On the evening of July 27th, a sassy and spirited rendering of “Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope” delighted a sold-out house of theater and dance lovers.

Encores! Off-Center will close out its 2018 season this week (July 25 - 28) at New York City Center with Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, starring Rheaume Crenshaw, Dayna Dantzler, Aisha de Haas, James T. Lane, and Wayne Pretlow. The ensemble includes Alexandria Bradley, Marshall L. Davis Jr., CK Edwards, Jeffry Foote, Shonica Gooden, Nina Hudson, Marla McReynolds, and Amber Barbee Pickens.

Encores! Off-Center will close out its 2018 season at New York City Center with Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, starring Rheaume Crenshaw, Dayna Dantzler, Aisha de Haas, James T. Lane, and Wayne Pretlow. The ensemble includes Alexandria Bradley, Marshall L. Davis Jr., CK Edwards, Jeffry Foote, Shonica Gooden, Nina Hudson, Marla McReynolds, and Amber Barbee Pickens.

Encores! Off-Center Co-Artistic Directors Anne Kauffman and Jeanine Tesori today announced final casting for Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, the third production of the Encores! Off-Center season at New York City Center. Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope will star Rheaume Crenshaw, Dayna Dantzler, Aisha de Haas, James T. Lane, and Wayne Pretlow.

Project1VOICE One Play One Day 2018 is set with national staged readings of Pearl Cleage's Flyin' West on Sunday, June 17, and Monday, June 18. Theater companies, museums, colleges and universities around the country unite for this eighth annual theater celebration that revives and re-introduces forgotten classic plays in the American theater. Check your local listings for exact dates and times in your area.

A staged reading of Rafael Moreno's family drama Fotos, which played to packed houses and critical acclaim last summer at The Producers Club, will close the 2017 -2018 season of the prestigious Frank Silvera Writers Workshop at the Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn on Monday June 18.

Project1VOICE One Play One Day 2018 is set with national staged readings of Pearl Cleage's Flyin' West on Sunday, June 17, and Monday, June 18. Theater companies, museums, colleges and universities around the country unite for this eighth annual theater celebration that revives and re-introduces forgotten classic plays in the American theater. Check your local listings for exact dates and times in your area.

Project1VOICE One Play One Day 2018 is set with national staged readings of Pearl Cleage's Flyin' West on Sunday, June 17, and Monday, June 18. Theater companies, museums, colleges and universities around the country unite for this eighth annual theater celebration that revives and re-introduces forgotten classic plays in the American theater. Check your local listings for exact dates and times in your area.

Encores! Off-Center Co-Artistic Directors Anne Kauffman and Jeanine Tesori today announced casting for New York City Center's popular summer musical theater series Encores! Off-Center.

Scottsdale Musical Theater Company has announced Tony Award-winner and Broadway legend Jennifer Holliday (Dreamgirls, The Color Purple) and Joey Lawrence (TV's 'Blossom', 'Brotherly Love', 'Melissa & Joey' , Broadway's Chicago) will lead their production of the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie (September 27 - October 7 at Tempe Center for the Arts in Tempe, Arizona). Holliday will play Muzzy Van Hossmere and Lawrence will play Trevor Graydon. They will be joined by Marc Koeck ('Tony' in last year's 50th Anniversary international tour of West Side Story.