Woodie King to Tour 2015 Black History Month Play Series to Harlem, Queens and the Bronx, 2/8-22

Woodie King's National Black Touring Circuit's 2015 Black History Month Play Series will feature "Adam," the story of legendary Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, and a reading of Ossie Davis' seminal play "The People of Clarendon County" from February 8 - 22 in Harlem, Queens and the Bronx. It's produced in conjunction with Voza Rivers/New Heritage Theatre Group. Tickets are $20. For more information call 212-353-1176.

"Adam" stars Timothy Simonson as Powell. It is written by Peter DeAnda and directed by Ajene Washington. The drama follows the handsome and charismatic Congressman Powell on his political journey as the Congressman who represented Harlem between 1945 and 1971. Simonson won an Audelco Award for performing as the legendary political activist.

At the "Adam" performances, there will be special celebrity readings of Ossie Davis' "The People of Clarendon County." Set in rural South Carolina, this true story looks at the Black citizens who fought Jim Crow laws about separate and unequal schools for their children. The battle resulted in a lawsuit, which was one of five that led to the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis first performed the drama in 1955 as Civil Rights fund-raisers in New York.

Trezana Beverley will be the featured actress in the "The People of Clarendon County" readings. She won a Tony Award as "Best Featured Actress in a Play" and a Drama Desk Award for the 1977 Broadway production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf. Her performances include the Public Theatre, American Place Theatre and Arena Stage.

Queens
Sunday, February 8 at 4:00pm
Black Spectrum Theatre, Roy Wilkins Recreation Center at 177 Street & Baisley Blvd in Jamaica Queens
"Adam" and a celebrity reading of the Ossie Davis' Civil Rights school desegregation play "The People of Clarendon County" performed by Trezana Beverley, Ralph Carter and Kene Holliday.

Tony nominated actor-singer Ralph Carter is best known as Michael Evans in the hit sitcom "Good Times." As a child, he co-starred in the Broadway musical "Raisin," based on "A Raisin in the Sun," which earned him a Tony nomination as Best Supporting Actor. Some of his other Broadway hits included "Dude," for which he won the Drama Desk Award for the Most Promising Performer, and Via Galactica. Kene Holliday starred as a private investigator on the Andy Griffith hit series "Matlock." He was a co-star in the television series "Carter Country." Holiday has appeared in television shows including "The Jeffersons," "The Fall Guy," "Hart to Hart," "Law & Order: SVU and "Roots: The Next Generations." He appeared in David Rabe's play "Streamers" at Lincoln Theater.

Harlem
Sunday, February 15 at 4:00pm
Herbert Cave Auditorium, Harlem Hospital, 506 Malcolm X Boulevard
"Adam" and a celebrity reading of the Ossie Davis' Civil Rights school desegregation play "The People of Clarendon County" performed by Trezana Beverley ("For Colored Girls") and Peter
Jay Fernandez ("Dr. DuBois and Miss Ovington")

Bronx
Friday, February 20 & Saturday, February 21 at 7:30pm
Sunday, February 22 at 4:00pm
Mind Builders Creative Arts Center at 3415 Olinville Avenue in the Bronx
"Adam" will be performed February 20 - 22. There will be a special celebrity reading of "The People of Clarendon County" during the Friday, February 20 performance featuring Trezana Beverley ("For Colored Girls")

National Black Touring Circuit kicked off the 2015 Black History Month Play Series on February 2 with a special reading of Ossie Davis' Civil Rights play The People of Clarendon County at Aaron Davis Hall.Directed by Douglas Turner Ward, this was a one-time dramatic reading by actors Trezana Beverley, Roscoe Orman and Art McFarland.Douglas Turner Ward is a director, actor and playwright who is the co-founder and artistic director of the legendary Negro Ensemble Company. He's acted on Broadway in Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh and A Raisin In The Sun. As a playwright, he wrote the acclaimed drama Happy Ending/Day of Absence. Under his direction, some of the Negro Ensemble Company's notable productions include Pulitzer Prize winning A Soldier's Play and Tony Award nominated Broadway dramas Home and The First Breeze of Summer. He was an actor and director for The River Niger, which won a Tony Award for "Best Play." Roscoe Orman is best known for playing Gordon on Sesame Street. A founding member of Harlem's New Lafayette Theatre, he's performed at Joseph Papp's Public Theater and in August Wilson's Broadway production of Fences. Television credits include: Sex in the City, Law & Order, The Wireand Alpha House. In 2014, Roscoe earned a Best Actor Audelco Award for Ed Bullins' The Fabulous Miss Marieproduced by New Federal Theatre. When Art McFarland retired from WABC-TV News in 2014, he was the station's longest tenured reporter. At New York's Eyewitness News, he was an investigative, education and sports reporter. Art's stories included traveling to South Africa to report on the anniversary of Nelson Mandela and his race to the presidency. He's appeared in several plays, the TV series Political Animals and studied drama at Julliard. In May 2015, he will portray W.E.B. DuBois in Amiri Baraka's final play The Most Dangerous Man in America, produced by New Federal Theatre.

Tickets for the National Black Touring Circuit's 2015 Black History Month Play Series are $20. For more information call 212-353-1176.

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