The Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. has announced that Lillias White's concerts tomorrow have been canceled due to the inclement weather forecast and severe snow warnings.
To obtain a refund of tickets purchased, please contact
Smarttix.com or phone Smarttix at (212) 868-4444. For all other inquiries please call The
Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. Office at 212-582-5860.
The
Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. (NEC) (
Charles Weldon, Artistic Director; Karen Brown, Executive Director) provides African-American, African and Caribbean professional artists with an opportunity to learn, to work, to grow and to be nurtured in the performing arts. They present theatre performances by and about black people to a culturally diverse audience that is often underserved. In 1965, Playwright
Douglas Turner Ward, producer/actor
Robert Hooks, and theater manager
Gerald Krone made a dream a reality with The
Negro Ensemble Company. The catalyst for this was "A Raisin in the Sun." Hooks and Ward were castmates in the road company; and they dreamed of starting a theater company run by and for black people. Eventually with money from the Ford Foundation and a home at the
St. Marks Playhouse, The
Negro Ensemble Company formed officially in 1967. Success began with the play "The River Niger", that later moved to Broadway (Tony Award for Best Play), and later an extensive tour. In 1981, the NEC had probably its most successful production with "A Soldier's Play", winning the Critics Circle Best Play Award and the Pulitzer Prize. The NEC has produced more than two hundred new plays and provided a theatrical home for more than four thousand cast and crew members. The NEC is respected worldwide for its commitment to excellence, and has won dozens of honors and awards. It has been a constant source and sustenance for black actors, directors, and writers as they have worked to break down walls of racial prejudice.
