Danny Glover, Lonette McKee et al. Set for Coalition of Theatres of Color Town Hall Meeting Tonight, 6/4

Danny Glover, Lonette McKee, Barbara Montgomery, Daniel Beaty, Roscoe Orman and other veterans of New York theater will address "Can NYC's Theatres of Color Survive in the New Economy?" at the Coalition of Theatres of Color (CTC) Town Hall Meeting tonight, June 4 at 6PM at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard (135th St. & Lenox Avenue) in Harlem.

The public is invited to attend this free Town Hall Meeting, which will also feature journalists Esther Armah, Bob Law and Felipe Luciano. There will be special performances by Obie winner Daniel Beaty and the Grammy and Oscar-nominated youth group Impact.

"Each of the CTC theatre institutions have been operating in New York for 35 to 45 years. These CTC members have launched careers of superstars and culturally inspired multicultural communities and the nation," pointed out Woodie King, chairman, CTC and the founder and producing director, New Federal Theatre. "Yet, according to various reports, CTC members receive less than one-tenth of one percent of the total funds earmarked for arts and culture from city, state and private funding. It's imperative that elected officials, public and private grantors and theatre audiences understand that it's important to ensure that New York's Theatres of Color receive equitable funding."

Founded in 2004 at the urging of Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee to address inequitable funding for theatrical institutions of color, CTC continues to advocate parity in funding and resource allocation between its members. The CTC institutions have a tradition of addressing the needs of the community and preserving and promoting its cultural heritage.

Some of America's most high profile actors from Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Morgan Freeman, Laurence Fishburne, Phylicia Rashad, Hattie Winston, Charles Dutton, Phyllis Stickney and Lucy Liu to Alimi Ballard ("Numb3rs," "Fast Five"), Daniel Dae Kim ("Lost,""Hawaii Five-O") and Donald Faison ("Scrubs," "Clueless") to South African producer/playwright Duma Ndlovu ("Shelia's Day") and playwright/director Mbongeni Ngema ("Sarafina") were nurtured and showcased on the stages of CTC's historically multicultural New York City theatres. While there has been a growth in Broadway shows featuring Black stories, the talented actors, writers, producers, technicians, designers, directors, dancers and choreographers are still sharpening their craft at historically Black and multicultural theatres.

Collectively CTC members brings over 350 years of artistic achievement with critically acclaimed and award-winning presentations. New York City members are AUDELCO, (Manhattan) Black Spectrum Theatre (Queens), Billie Holiday Theatre (Brooklyn), H.A.D.L.E.Y Players (Manhattan), Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center (Bronx), National Black Theatre (Manhattan), Negro Ensemble Company (Manhattan), New Federal Theatre (Manhattan), New Heritage Theatre Group (Manhattan), Pan Asian Repertory Theatre (Manhattan), Paul Robeson Theater (Brooklyn), and The Afrikan Poetry Theatre (Queens).

CTC is supported through grants from the New York City Council Committee, chaired by James Van Bramer, The New York Community Trust, New York State Council on the Arts and The Nathan Cummings Foundation.