10 Rising Black Women+ to Watch in Theatre

AMERICAN THEATRE: This Black History Month, as we celebrate our heroes and sheroes and pay tribute to some of the great Black artists from the past who have helped shape our current artistic landscape, it is also an ideal time to have an eye toward the future and uplift the next generation of young artists who are blazing trails today.

Spotlight on Black Broadway Producers: Rashad Chambers

Playbill: “Producer” is a term that can mean many things. Typically, a lead producer is not only a primary investor or moneyraiser but the creative lead on the show. They put together the creative team for a production, often pairing writers with composer-lyricists or composer-lyricist teams and directors. Most importantly, a lead producer controls the message—how to market and advertise, final approvals on anything to do with the show. Producers at a lower level have varying degrees of creative input and varying degrees of financial commitment, depending on the show. The current demand for more Black (and Indigenous and POC) producers is a rallying cry for inclusion at every level.

REVOLUTION GLOSSARY: What is Diversity?

rescripted.org: Earlier this year, a group of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color theatremakers drafted a public letter to the White American Theatre establishment about the harm they have suffered working in institutions that have failed to address the racism internal to their practices.

Spotlight on Black Broadway Producers: Irene Gandy

Playbill: “Producer” is a term that can mean many things. Typically, a lead producer is not only a primary investor or moneyraiser but the creative lead on the show. They put together the creative team for a production, often pairing writers with composer-lyricists or composer-lyricist teams and directors. Most importantly, a lead producer controls the message—how to market and advertise, final approvals on anything to do with the show. Producers at a lower level have varying degrees of creative input and varying degrees of financial commitment, depending on the show. The current demand for more Black (and Indigenous and POC) producers is a rallying cry for inclusion at every level.

I'll Never Forget My First Pair of Flesh-Tone Tights

Dance Magazine: I remember when I encountered the color cinnamon. Such warmth and comfort instantly saturated my soul. It was the summer of 2015, a time I will never forget, and I was trying on my first pair of flesh-tone tights. The band fit perfectly on my waist with such a calm gentleness. They were tights that looked like me—not ballet pink, the color that many were taught could be the only one in the ballet world. It was me, all the way from my head to my toes. No breaks, perfect continuity.

R.A.W: Shirley Prendergast

Blog | Women in Lighting: With the very recent #blacklivesmatter that took by storm worldwide on the inequality and biased attitude to a certain group of people on the basis of colour, opened up many discussions on inclusivity in workplaces within the design industry as well. To bring the much-needed change, it is important to raise awareness and to acknowledge the fact that diversity in workplaces is the only way to flourish. In this regard, sharing the notable work of 1st African-American lighting designer, Shirley Prendergast.

Black British Theatre Awards 2020: Winners include Miriam-Teak Lee, Rakie Ayola and Arinzé Kene

London Evening Standard: The winners of this year’s Black British Theatre Awards were announced last night, with Death of a Salesman winning the prize for best production of a play. The annual celebration of Black British theatre talent was hosted by actor Eddie Nestor in a socially distanced event at the Young Vic, and televised for the first time on Sky Arts.

GLOW Cast Letter Calling for Better BIPOC Representation Shared

Collider: Six cast members of the now-canceled Netflix series GLOW lobbied for better and fairer representation in their future storylines, according to a statement shared by one of the group’s members, Sunita Mani. The effort was initiated during the show’s COVID-19-mandated hiatus and spurred on by the Black Lives Matter protests occurring around the nation in recent months.

Global Platforms Offer Opportunities for Shows From Black Talent

Variety: In a panel discussion, titled “The Black experience: Creating community and diversity in the scripted industry,” hosted by MIA market in Rome on Saturday, TV executives discussed the opportunities for Black talent in television and the challenges they face.

'It's a game – and you're going to win': the black coaches electrifying dance

Dance | The Guardian: Dollie Henry started dancing when she was four and by seven had already moved on to choreography. “I used to take my tape recorder into the playground,” she says proudly, “and teach all my school friends.” By her late teens, she was attending Laine Theatre Arts in Surrey, and beginning to wake up to the implications of being the only black student. “I realised I was going to have problems: one, because I’m black; and two, because I’m a woman. The only way I’ve learned how to deal with it is to be the best you can.”

40 Black theater creatives on the industry’s racism

Los Angeles Times: For Netflix’s “The Forty-Year-Old Version,” writer-director-star Radha Blank channeled the frustrations of a career in theater into her first feature film. Chief among them: the white producer who helps her on-screen alter ego debut a play on Broadway. This gatekeeper’s less helpful notes include saying her piece isn’t “Black” enough, requires a white character to “grab the core audience” and would be perfect for a white director who just staged “A Raisin in the Sun.”

The movement will be beautified

Art Feature | Chicago Reader: As we reflect on the year so far and think forward to November, political art has never been more important. The Latinx community, which has a long history of "artivism," has brought power to racial struggles for decades and helped unite Chicago and capture the fervent energy this summer. In a culturally rich and diverse but segregated city, Latinx artivism shows there is power in community, especially in the midst of a pandemic that disproportionately hits Black and Brown Chicagoans the worst.

White NYC Theater Actors Get More Jobs and More Pay According to New Study

www.backstage.com: Despite industry calls for diversity, white actors continue to get more roles with higher pay, than BIPOC actors, according to a new study. The Asian American Performers Action Coalition, an advocacy group focused on advocating for diversity in the American theater, has released the findings of their newest demographic study, called “The Visibility Report: Racial Representation on New York City Stages.”

As Industry Calls for Change, Live Nation Starts Black Tour Directory

Rolling Stone: In response to calls to diversify the mainly white live-music industry, concert giant Live Nation launched the Black Tour Directory Tuesday, October 13th, a new online resource for tour organizers that the company hopes will create more work for black live-industry workers.

Mosaic Theater heads into fall season recommitted to anti-racism

DC Metro Theater Arts: A monthslong period of intensive introspection and evolution at Mosaic Theater Company, led by a recommitment to anti-racism, has culminated in the company’s recent announcement of fall programming, new play development, and virtual engagement initiatives, coupled with acknowledgement of the ​BIPOC Demands for White American Theatre​.

Colleges cancel diversity programs in response to Trump order

www.insidehighered.com: Two campuses are halting diversity efforts in relation to the White House’s recent executive order against “divisive concepts” in federally funded programs.

In a campus memo, the University of Iowa’s interim associate vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, Liz Tovar, said, “Let us state unequivocally that diversity, equity and inclusion remain as core values within our institution.”

How Black Dancers Regularly Confronting Racism Can Protect Their Mental Health

Dance Magazine: From dancers using their art to speak truth to power to theaters opening their doors to protesters, the dance community is mobilizing in our national reckoning with racial injustice. But what is the impact of confronting systemic racism in our dance organizations, especially for Black dancers? How does confronting racism and implicit bias regularly in their creative work affect artists psychologically?

William Jackson Harper: Trump Order Kept Cadets From 'Malcolm X'

Variety: In a lengthy statement posted to both his Twitter and Instagram, Harper explained that he was meant to make an appearance at a virtual event for Arts in the Armed Forces, for which he selected a movie to screen. According to Harper, he gave the organization three options to choose from: Andrea Arnold’s “American Honey,” Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” or Spike Lee’s “Malcom X.” “Malcolm X” was the selected film.

Black artistic leaders take charge at several Chicago theaters

Performing Arts Feature | Chicago Reader: Chicago theater is in the midst of a historic transition, with COVID throwing companies into financial turmoil, forcing season cancellations, mass layoffs, and in some cases, permanent closures. Yet alongside this devastation, demands for rapid social evolution have led some institutions to step (or be pushed) into dramatic growth. Historically, talented Black theatermakers have largely been relegated to onstage or lower-level administrative roles.

I have never been comfortable in theater, by Artemis Montague

DC Metro Theater Arts: I have never been comfortable in theater. Not safe. Not “safer.” Just completely unwelcomed.

We are in a global pandemic. There is movement building on the ground and online that no one in the United States has seen before. This is an unprecedented moment in our history.

Theater, just like the rest of society, will never be able to go back to “normal,” even if there is never another case of COVID-19. There is no going back to something that was built on inequity, inaccessibility, and injustice.