The M Ensemble Brings The Legendary 1939 Harlem Rens Basketball Team to Miami

Layon Gray's Off-Broadway hit stage play Kings Of Harlem will play a limited engagement January 5th through January 29 2017 at the Sandrell Rivers Theater. Opening night is set for January 5th, which will include a cast reception and party.

Written and directed by Layon Gray, Kings Of Harlem is inspired by the 1939 Harlem Rens basketball team. A story of seven men who overcame adversity to win more than 2,000 games while barnstorming throughout segregated parts of the country in the 1930s despite never being officially accepted professionally or socially. Harlem Renaissance Big Five was one the most successful renowned all-Black professional basketball teams in the 1920s and '30s that added grace and style to the game of basketball.

The team was formed five years before the Harlem Globetrotters, and provided African - American men with the opportunity to compete against white athletes equally on the court. The Rens got their name from playing at the Renaissance Casino ballroom in Harlem, New York, where they amazed fans with their innovative and unique style of play. It was the first ballroom in New York that was owned and operated by African Americans. In 1991 the Landmarks Preservation Commission agreed to set out to landmark the building but the vote never passed. It closed in 1979 and for the next 30 years it became a haven for graffiti, dirt, walls caving in and tree branches falling through its roof. Despite a petition to halt the destruction and demise of Harlem's historic building with over 4,000 signatories, it was bulldozed to the ground in April 2015 along with its memories. Kings of Harlem pays homage to the building and its most famous occupants the Harlem Rens.

The Rens toured the country competing against Black and white teams, and in the process, compiled the most impressive winning streak in basketball history. Featured in the cast are Isaac Beverly, Chris Boldon, André Gainey, Stevenson Jean, Ray Lockhart, Allan Louis, Marquise Rogers, and Scott Wesley. Director Layon Gray follows the success of his play Black Angels Over Tuskegee the story of the Tuskegee Airmen now in its 7th year Off-Broadway, with this next installment of African-American historical theatre.

Sandrell Rivers Theater is located at the Audrey M. Edmonson Transit Village 6101 NW 7th Ave Miami, FL. The play is produced The M Ensemble, Florida's oldest established African-American theater company. Show dates and times: Thursday - Saturdays, 8pm; Sunday Matinees, 3pm. General Admission - $25; Seniors & Students - $20. Group rates available. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheMEnsemble.com or by calling 786-773-3161.

To post a comment, you must register and login.