#Zhailon Levingston

[frontmezzjunkies]

"Cats - The Jellical Ball" at PAC NYC Death Drops Deliriously Divine and Feline-Free

#frontmezzjunkies reviews: #CatsTheJellicleBall at @pac_nyc #AndrewLloydWebber d: #ZhailonLevingston & #BillRauch ch: @omari_wiles & @arturo_thaengineer w/ @andre_deshields #SydneyJamesHarcourt #EmmaSofia #AntwaynHopper #JuniorLaBeija #GarnetWilliams

The cast of Cats – The Jellicle Ball at PAC NYC. Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman. The Off-Broadway Theatre Review: PAC NYC’s Cats – The Jellicle Ball By Ross “This is a ball darling, emote!” and with the glitter dust blown off an iconic album, this Jellicle Ball reimaging eyes the runway in classic form, giving a nod to the old, but radically restructuring this new version of Andrew…

[mt-nynj-queer]

[chambergambit]

"A radical reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic dance musical based on T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.

Inspired by the Ballroom culture that roared out of New York City over 50 years ago and still rages on runways around the world. Staged as a spectacularly immersive competition by Zhailon Levingston (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Chicken & Biscuits) and PAC NYC Artistic Director Bill Rauch (All the Way), with all new Ballroom and club beats, runway ready choreography, and an edgy eleganza makeover that moves the action from junkyard to runway.  Come one, come all, and celebrate the joyous transformation of self at the heart of Cats and Ballroom culture itself."

ok ngl i'd see this

[drowninginredink]

I figured I should post the director's note from Cats: The Jellicle Ball. So here it is:

From the Co-Directors:

Welcome to the culminating production of PAC NYC's Inaugural Season!

With its glorious and beloved score, Cats is in its essence the story of a competitive ball, a ball in which the ultimate prize goes to the unlikeliest but most deserving competitor.

T. S. Eliot's language, often playful, is also full of shadows: the bittersweet longing for lost youth and beauty; the wisdom of elders passing the baton across generations; and the spiritual depth in knowing that, even though we are alone in our mortality, it is ultimately our communities that save us.

The idea for this production was born when we began to think about Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic musical with T.S. Eliot's words through a queer lens.

The global phenomenon called Ballroom was created by Black and Brown communities here in New York City over 50 years ago, growing out of even older traditions of Harlem drag pageants. A safe haven for gay men and transgender women, the gender-fluid Ballroom community is often organized into "houses" in which "house mothers" and "house fathers" mentor their "children" to stylishly walk and dance on the runway (the "catwalk") in specific competitive categories. In the context of our production, "cat" is slang for any queer person or ally who is part of the Ballroom scene.

Both Cats and Ballroom celebrate transformation and self-acceptance, the power of choosing one's own name. And both this musical and the Ballroom scene remind us how essential it is that we respect the names—and the identities—that people choose for themselves. After all, all of us cats have nine lives...

There are so many generous and gifted Ballroom and musical theater artists who have given of their time and talent through multiple workshops to make this production a reality, including our extraordinary creative team and the musical theater titans and Ballroom icons who are part of today's performance. Our profound thanks to all of you. We also cannot overstate our gratitude to Andrew Lloyd Webber and his colleagues at The Really Useful Group for their bold leap of faith and their thoughtful collaboration throughout our production's journey.

On behalf of all of us who have worked on Cats: "The Jelicle Ball," we are so happy that you have come the ball!

-Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch

Photo:

[junkyard-gifs]

have you heard about this ballroom-style production happening in nyc this summer? i'm so intrigued!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6EnK7xuf8_/

Yes! It's been on my radar for a while though I don't think I've posted anything about it yet - at least, I haven't decided on a tag for the production.

Honestly, going by my usual tagging system it should probably be '2024 pac' or '2024 nyc' but. For these guys. I sort of want to name it after its most prominent attribute which is. '2024 ballroom' 😌

Anyway have a promo clip, from their official insta, and some random cast photos out of costume.

(We don't have a lot of costume photos yet but we do know that these Jellicles will be fully humans, not feline: they are people existing within the ballroom cultural milieu of the period and 'jellicle cats' is just the pride name they use for themselves and each other. So if you strongly prefer your cats as cats, this might not be the show for you—but it's certainly a show that speaks to somebody else!)

(Also I'm just really enjoying the flurry of excitement from former Jellicles in comments on this production's posts.)

Dudney Joseph: Munkustrap (Emcee) (he/him).

Dava Huesca: Rumpelteazer (she/her)

Jonathan Burke: Mungojerrie (he/him)

Andre Deshields: Deuteronomy

Sydney Harcourt: Rum Tum Tugger

Baby: Victoria

Choreographers Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles. (Obvs we're not going with Dame Gilly's choreo here.)

"A radical reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical based on T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Inspired by the Ballroom culture that roared out of New York City over 50 years ago and still rages around the world. Staged as a spectacularly immersive competition by Zhailon Levingston (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Chicken & Biscuits) and PAC NYC Artistic Director Bill Rauch (All the Way), with all-new Ballroom and club beats, runway-ready choreography, and an edgy eleganza makeover that moves the action from junkyard to catwalk.  Come one, come all, and celebrate the joyous transformation of self at the heart of Cats and Ballroom culture itself." (X)

[bestmusicalworldcup]

The drag-ball reimagining of Cats (officially titled Cats: The Jellicle Ball) now has its full cast with the following newly announced cast members: Xavier Reyes as Jennyanydots, Bebe Nicole Simpson as Demeter, and Dava Huesca as Rumpleteazer, along with understudy Shelby Griswold.

Previously announced cast members from the world of ballroom include Baby as Victoria, Dudney Joseph Jr. as Munkustrap, Capital Kaos as DJ, Junior LaBeija as Gus, Robert "Silk" Mason as Mistoffelees, "Tempress" Chasity Moore as Grizabella, and Primo as Tumblebrutus, along with understudies Dominique Lee and Kendall G. Stroud.

Previously announced musical theatre and dance names in the company include Jonathan Burke as Mungojerrie, Emma Sofia Caymares as Skimbleshanks, André De Shields as Old Deuteronomy, Sydney James Harcourt as Rum Tum Tugger, Antwayn Hopper as Macavity, Shereen Pimentel as Jellylorum, Nora Schell as Bustopher Jones, Garnet Williams as Bombalurina, and Teddy Wilson Jr. as Sillabub. Rounding out the company will be ensemble members Tara Lashan Clinkscales and Frank Viveros.

The production is directed by Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch.

Performances begin June 13 at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, with opening night set for June 20. Closing night is July 14.

[cryptidvoidwritings]

Full text below.

A D.J. pawing through a carton of old LPs — Natalie Cole, Angela Bofill — comes upon a curiosity: the original cast album of “Cats.” When he opens the gatefold, glittery spangles fly everywhere.

That’s how “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” begins, and it’s basically what the Perelman Performing Arts Center’s drag remake of the Broadway behemoth does to the drab original. It sets the joy free.

Whether upper- or lowercase, cats never previously offered me much pleasure. The underlying T.S. Eliot poems, ad libbed for his godchildren, are agreeable piffle, hardly up there with “Prufrock” as fodder for the ages. The musical, instead of honoring the material’s delicacy, stomped all over it, leaving heavy mud prints. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score, and especially the rigged-up story and original staging by Trevor Nunn, tried so hard to make big statements from little ditties and kitties that it wound up a perfect example of camp.

Camp, cleverly, is the new version’s base line, neutralizing that criticism. It turns out that the show once advertised vaguely (and threateningly) as “now and forever” — it ran on Broadway from 1982 to 2000 — works far better in a specific past.

That past is the world of drag balls, which at the time of the original “Cats” was beginning to achieve mainstream awareness. Madonna’s appropriation of the participants’ style and dance moves in her videos and concerts, as well as Jennie Livingston’s celebration of them in her documentary “Paris Is Burning,” helped pave the way for the supremacy of RuPaul and dragmania today. But beneath that triumph lay a darker truth: that the thrill of ball culture depended on its drawing extravagance from destitution, meeting prejudice with bravery, and staring down death with style.

The key insight of this “Jellicle Ball,” which opened on Thursday at the new downtown arts cube, is that at least some of those themes could resonate with Eliot’s subtext and Lloyd Webber’s score. The directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch have thus transported Grizabella, Skimbleshanks, Rum Tum Tugger and the rest from a metaphysical junkyard to a hotel ballroom for a vogueing competition, accompanied by new versions of the songs that go heavier on the synthesizers, turn some lyrics into raps and add a distinctive house beat.

It’s often a good fit. The former felines — now fantastically attired humans — compete in traditional categories, like Opulence and Hair Affair, that are to some degree matched to Eliot’s descriptions. The song “Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer,” for instance, pits those two “knockabout clowns” against the pairing of the balletic Victoria and the acrobatic Tumblebrutus in a showdown called Tag Team Performance.

Not that it is any easier to keep the cats straight just because they’re queer. The structure of the show doesn’t allow it. Hemmed in by the Eliot estate, Nunn could not add dialogue, making it difficult to flesh out any characters or encourage specific emotional investment. His solution was a bizarre framing device with late-1970s woo-woo overtones: The clan meets each year on the evening of the Jellicle moon so that their leader, Old Deuteronomy, can choose one lucky cat to ascend to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn.

That silliness didn’t help much. It remained difficult to keep Jellylorum and Sillabub apart or care about either. In revivals like the one on Broadway in 2016, let alone the dreadful 2019 movie, the material seemed fatally ludicrous.

And if “Jellicle Ball” doesn’t quite solve that problem, it succeeds in making it mostly irrelevant. The new frame allows you to feel something for the characters, at least as a group, even when you don’t know what’s going on, which is often. The design of the long, narrow room, with the audience surrounding a runway on three sides, is awkward in the way one imagines the balls were: You can’t see everything, you’re constantly craning, the sound (by Kai Harada) is blurry and some fuss or hilarity is always happening somewhere you missed.

Even so, we recognize Rum Tum Tugger (Sydney James Harcourt) far better now that he competes in the Realness and Body competitions. (He’s a smooth playah.) Gus, the theater cat, is a more instantly recognizable type as performed by Junior LaBeija, the M.C. of the “Paris Is Burning” ball, as a catty old queen who, though “no longer a terror” can still throw ample shade. And it takes little more than the arrival of André De Shields, with his unsurpassed ability to freeze attention onstage, to show us that Old Deuteronomy is a Moses.

It helps, too, that he’s given a glowing Ten Commandments-like set of tablets, and that he’s dressed (by Qween Jean) in royal purple topped by a gigantic matching lion’s mane (by Nikiya Mathis). Indeed, the wonderfully over-the-top design of the show is as important as the concept itself in filling out the vast blanks of the characters as written. Enjoyable as that is in itself, the chief benefit of the physical staging (on sets by Rachel Hauck, with lighting by Adam Honoré and projections by Brittany Bland) is that it grounds the performative mayhem on the runway in a real environment that suggests the struggles of real lives.

Among other things, this rescues the nominal star role, Grizabella, from bathos. A faded “glamour cat” seeking the reincarnation nod, she has no other function in the original story, not even suspense. (We know she’s going to be chosen because she keeps popping up to sing fragments of “Memory.”) But here, in smeary makeup, a ratty fur and carrying a tarnished old trophy, scrambling about the outskirts of the action, we see at a glance the pain of an outsider now exiled from the place she’d once been safe. Especially as played by Chasity Moore, known in the ball world as Tempress, that pain feels authentic.

That is not something that ever occurred to me in watching the old-school “Cats.” At best the Broadway show felt like a stoned oratorio about nothing, with a dog’s breakfast of song styles including ear-wormy music hall, grating electronica and the occasional Gilbert and Sullivan chorale. (The choral singing here, under the direction of William Waldrop, is gorgeous.) Likewise, the original choreography, by the Royal Ballet star Gillian Lynne, seemed totally random despite its supposedly catlike footwork. The athletic vogueing created for this production by Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, sometimes blended with throwbacks to Lynne’s classical style, is instead perfectly tailored to its milieu, and thrilling besides.

I should say at this point that, no, I haven’t turned into a fan of the show itself, the one you can see at your community theater or license for your high school. I don’t believe musicals should need whisker consultants. But as happens occasionally, the right idea can transform the wrong material. If “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” has managed a Grizabella turn, reincarnating itself in fabulousness, do not expect an 18-year run or, pardon me, copycat productions. It’s a lightning strike: not now and forever but now and once.

(Honestly, I'd respect this guy more if he came out and said 'I'm taking money to pretend to review the new show but actually am just regurgitating 40 years of The Smart, Cultured Critics Hate CATS.')

[morethanonepage]

i know it's easy to be cynical about Cats (and most people agree ALW is like. an awful person), but I saw this re-staging of the show a couple of weeks ago and loved it so much i cried:

Levingston and Rauch’s melding of “Cats” and the queer ballroom scene is so effortless that it seems to have required only the slightest alterations. The synthesizer groove has been juiced up with some new club beats by Trevor Holder, the directors have added a plotlet about the naughty thief Macavity (Antwayn Hopper) getting rumbled by the cops, and the entire number “Growltiger’s Last Stand,” in which the titular tom hates “cats of foreign name and race,” has been tastefully deleted. The true difference, though, lies in the piece’s shift from commercialized kitsch to camp sincerity. The performers here—among them the magnificent dancer Robert (Silk) Mason as Mistoffelees, with Cher hair swinging long, and the ultra-charismatic Hopper as Macavity, who can control the room just by dropping his hat—appear to be dancing for the love of it, and for one another. As the show goes on, a more mysterious literary synchrony emerges: how wonderful that Eliot, in 1939, placed such an emphasis on the power of names known only to those who understand you, and on a thriving community’s reverence for its elders.

[rndyounghowze]

Young Howze Theatre Awards 2023 Nominees

Our Award Show is March 26 at 5PM EST. If you see your name here please email us at rndyounghowze@gmail.com You can support our work by donating on Venmo @rndyounghowze. We are still looking for ASL interpreters! If you know of any service that could help please let us know!

Solo Awards

"All By Myself Award" For Solo Performer Of The Year

Megan Quick in “And Toto Too”

Anabell Ramirez in “Book of Sirens” 

Timothy Mooney in “Man Cave” 

“Flying Solo” For Solo Show Of The Year

“And Toto Too” by Megan Quick 

“Book of Sirens” by Pro English Theatre

“Man Cave” by Timothy Mooney 

 “Good Adoptee” by Suzanne Bachner

"Campfire Award" For Storyteller of The Year

Daniel Kinch in “Story of the Falling Don”

Erika Eileen Wade in “Da Rhythm Da Blues”

Mina Liccione in “Growing Up Ringside”

Mind-Blowing Awards

"Mind-Blowing Stage" For Stage Writing Of The Year

“Monsters of American Cinema” by Christian St. Croix

“La Race” by Bleu Beckford-Burell 

“Sherlock Holmes Valley Of Fear” by Nick Lane

“Lavender Men” by Roger Q Mason

“Whickams Christmas at Pemberley” by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon

"Mind-Blowing Shortie" For Short Form Writing Of The Year 

“Wookiee in The Wilderness” by Marcus Scott

“By The Way” by Lisa Rosetta Strum

“Faulty Lock” by AJ Maryn 

“Waterlillies” by Christine Hillary Lee

"Mind-Blowing Devising" For Devised Production Of The Year 

“From Number to Name”

“Posthumous”

“Afterlife Job Fair”

“Artemisias Intent”

Artists Of The Year

"Extensions" For Movement Artist Of The Year

Mita Ghosal for “Selected Fabrics”

Alicia Diaz for “Puerto Rico y Richmond”

Lena Adele Wolf and Clemence Debaig for “Discordance”

"Action" Award For Film Director Of The Year

Thomas Cote in “Memories of Over Development”

Yannis Sainte-Rose in “Tuff Guy”

Olivier Sagne in “Lovena”

Iida Valme in “Mirage”

"Dress Up" Award For Costume Designer Of The Year

Wendell Carmichael in  “Lavender Men”

X Hill in “Cymbeline Project”

Gail Russell “Wickhams: Christmas At Pemberley” 

"Mix It Up" Award For Sound Designer Of The Year

Adrian Bridges in “Artemesia’s Intent”

Stepy Kamei in “One Bad Day”

Leonie Bell in “Arrow Of Time”

"Maestro Award" For Outstanding Musical Composition

Diana Oh for “The Cymbeline Project” 

Nathan Leigh for “POV: You Are An AI Achieving Consciousness”

Maurice Soque Jr. for “Non Player Character” 

Director Of The Year

Taylor Reynolds in “La Race”

Lisa Scheps and Brian Cheslik in “Last Five Years”

Alex Borovenskiy in “Book Of Sirens” 

Nick Lane “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide”

Short Form Director Of The Year

Destiny Whitaker in “All Out Of Spoons”

Zhailon Levingston and Tracy Conyer Lee in “Fire This Time Festival 22”

Cayle Komara in “Waterlillies”

Creative Of The Year 

Christian St. Croix

Scarlett Kim

Roger Q. Mason

BIPOC Hero Award

TBA

“Magician” Award For Press Contact Of The Year

TBA

Shows/Festivals Of The Year

Festival Of The Year

“Fire This Time Festival”

“Frigid Fest”

“Talking It Out Fest”

"You Oughta Be In Pictures" For Film Of The Year

“Memories of Over Development” 

“Undine”

“Lovena”

"Billy Bard" For Digital Shakespeare Production Of The Year

“Rome-Oh No They Didn’t” 

“Romeo and Juliet” by Sister Shakes

“Breakneck Romeo and Juliet”

Show Of The Year

“Lavender Men”

“The Cymbeline Project”

“La Race”

“POV: You Are An AI Achieving Consciousness”

"360" Award For VR Show of The Year

“Queerskins” Ark”

“Anakwad”

“Non Player Character”

“Discordance”

"Free Fall” Award For Immersive Production Of The Year

“Section 230”

“Posthumous”

“POV: You Are An AI Achieving Consciousness”

“Afterlife Job Fair”

"Grace Notes Award" For Musical Production Of The Year

“Non Player Character”

“Lizard Boy”

“The Last Five Years”

"Can You Hear Me Now" For Audio Production Of The Year

“You’ve Reached Justin” By Christian St. Croix

“One Bad Day” By Stepy Kamei 

“Arrow Of Time” By Allyson Dwyer

Performers Of The Year

"More Than Merely Players" Award For Outstanding Dramatic Performer Of The Year

Krissy Lemon in "The Last Five Years"   

Mariah Freda in "Artemesia's Intent" 

Susannah Perkins in "Arrow Of Time"

Ben Holbrook in "Arrow Of Time" 

Blake Kubena in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" 

"Fools These Mortals Be" Award For Outstanding Comedic Performer

Imani Waweru in “Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley”

Monique "Momo" Holt in “The Cymbeline Project”

Cristofer Jean in “The Cymbeline Project”

Stacey Sargeant in “La Race”

Melanie Leon in “Afterlife Job Fair”

"Capture" Award For VR Performer Of The Year

Debbie Deer in “VR Christmas Carol” 

Brendan Bradley in “Non-Player Character”

Lena Adele Wolf in “Discordance” 

[writemarcus]

Zhailon Levingston Will Direct 2022 Fire This Time Festival in NYC

The festival will feature world premieres of six 10-minute plays, each written by Black artists.

BY DAN MEYER

OCT 27, 2021 

The lineup for the 13th annual The Fire This Time Festival, inspired by James Baldwin and his novel The Fire This Time, has been revealed. Zhailon Levingston (Chicken & Biscuits) will direct six world premiere short plays written by Agyeiwaa Asante, Rachel Herron, Fedna Jacquet, Marcus Scott, Phillip Christian Smith, and Lisa Rosetta Strum.

Presented by Frigid New York at The Kraine Theatre, The Fire This Time will run January 17–February 6, 2022, with performances also available to live stream. The festival was founded in 2009 by Kelley Girod to provide a platform for playwrights of African and African-American descent to write and produce evocative material for diverse audiences.

READ: Get to Know the Obie-Winning The Fire This Time Festival

Check out the lineup below. Casting and more information will be announced at a later date.

Wildest Dreams by Agyeiwaa Asante For over 187 years Maybelle and Jimmy Dale have haunted the Mason plantation, a now popular tourist attraction and event venue. Tired of their time on this plane, they wonder what it'll take to get them to the other side.

Red Red Wine by Rachel Herron Somm was well on her way to becoming the first Black female Master Sommelier in the world, but she gave it all up to produce her own wine label. Now she's enlisted the help of her mentee, Mel, to help grow the brand; the only question is whether Mel will still be on board once she learns the secret ingredient in their bestselling red.

Gurlfriend (Black is Black) by Fedna Jacquet Two black girls drinking wine and living their best lives. #BlackGurlMagic #UnapologeticAF. We get to see them—jokes and bruises on display. By leaving the world outside, these best friends are able to bond in a fresh and delightful way...until the ever-shrinking classification of blackness threatens to exclude one of them.

Wookiees in The Wilderness by Marcus Scott Bishop and Smokey are best pals. Smokey will do anything for Bishop, who is in the midst of recovering from a recent trauma. Bishop will do anything for Smokey including going out to the mountainside wilderness of the Lake of the Ozarks to prepare him for his upcoming Wilderness Survival test for the Eagle Scouts. But as the sundown begins and night falls upon them, the boys are reminded to truly be prepared for anything.

Mount Sinai by Phillip Christian Smith Gladys and Minerva, casual chemo friends, discuss life, the south, children, and the handsome cancer patient in Room A.

By the way... by Lisa Rosetta Strum Two best friends have been quarantined for the past month. When one of the friends reveals their true feelings for the other, perceptions, prejudices and fears get exposed and a friendship could be changed forever.

[caroleditosti]

'Chicken & Biscuits': Delicious Farcical Fare @ Circle in the Square

‘Chicken & Biscuits’: Delicious Farcical Fare @ Circle in the Square

The cast of ‘Chicken & Biscuits’ (Emilio Madrid) In this current time of COVID when our country faces daily crises of social disunity, dangerous political extremism, economic injustice and abdication of sound public health practices by craven Republican governors, Chicken & Biscuits written by Douglas Lyons, directed by Zhailon Levingston appears to lack currency on superficial inspection.…

[frontmezzjunkies]

Broadway's Chicken & Biscuits Isn't as Tasty as I was Craving

#frontmezzjunkies #reviews #broadway's #ChickenAndBiscuits by #DouglasLyons d: #ZhailonLevingston w/ #CleoKing #EbonyMarshallOliver #NormLewis #AlanaRaquelBowers #DevereRogers #MichaelUrie #AignerMizzelle #NatashaYvetteWilliams #circleinthesquare

The In-Person Experience: Douglas Lyons’ Chicken and Biscuits by Ross “Sorta looks fierce,” one might say, as the beginning of a long, very full, and exciting week of theatre-going gets going for this frontmezzjunkie. Being the first of seven shows, basically back to back, some Chicken & Biscuits just sounded too tasty and succulent to ignore. So I ordered a plate and sat down looking forward…

[harveyguillensource]

Need more Harvey in your life? Harvey appears in the first episode of a new anthology podcast series, Love in Gravity! He plays Andrés, a gay Latinx writer navigating a newly open marriage with his husband, Finn, as well as the dramas, big and small, of going home for an important family occasion. 

CW: Sex, Body Image Issues, HIV Discussion

[nickjcnas-archived]

nickjonas: Very excited to announce that I’ve joined the producing team of Broadway’s, Chicken & Biscuits! Broadway has always had a special place in my heart, it helped launch my career. And after the last year and a half, Broadway is exactly what we need in this world. This play highlights the importance of love, laughter, and family. It’s got energy, it’s got style, and it’s got heart — the kind of vibe that is so unique to live theatre. With the cast of Chicken & Biscuits being a largely black cast, I’m so beyond honored to be apart of such inclusivity. The play was written by black playwright, Douglas Lyons, and is directed by the youngest black director in Broadway history, Zhailon Levingston. I cannot wait for everyone to watch this feel-good comedy! 

[insanityclause]

Broadway Black, the multimedia organization highlighting the achievements of Black theatre artists, has announced the inaugural Antonyo Awards, a celebration of the Black Broadway and Off-Broadway community. This joyous online event will take place at 7:00 pm EST on June 19, 2020, also known as Juneteenth, a holiday which commemorates the end of slavery in America. The streamed ceremony will include a pre-show virtual red carpet, original musical numbers, star presenters and performers, and more. The Antonyo Award nominations will be announced today, Tuesday, June 9th at 7:00 pm EST on Broadway Black's YouTube and Facebook pages by Bryan Terrell Clark and Kristolyn Lloyd. In the Broadway Black spirit of community, winners will be chosen by the public. Online voting will be open from June 9th, 7:30 pm EST through midnight on June 12th at BroadwayBlack.com. Drew Shade, founder of Broadway Black and the companion podcast, Off Book, is Executive Producer of the Antonyos. Shade has gathered a team of creatives that include Catherine Caldwell, Darius Barnes, Kim Exum, Neville Braithwaite, Zhailon Levingston, Elijah Lewis, Allen Louis, Eric Lockley, Edward Maware, Emma Claye, Ianne Fields Stewart, and The Press Room, who are donating their time and talents to beautifully recognize Black theatre in NYC. All found this endeavor especially important given the shortened show season due to COVID-19. "In our first meeting we decided on Juneteenth for the awards, as it is a more accurate date of freedom from slavery for Black Americans," says Shade. "The Antonyos honor contributors to Black theatre from actors to stage and company managers, administrators and designers. Everyone in our community deserves to be acknowledged in what we hope will be a funny, authentic, celebratory event that is for us, by us." Current presenters and performers include: Audra McDonald, Tituss Burgess, Alex Newell, Jordan E. Cooper, Teyonah Parris, Ephraim Sykes, LaChanze, Derrick Baskin, Nicolette Robinson, Jelani Alladin, Christiani Pitts, James Monroe Iglehart, Amber Iman, Kalen Allen, Nzinga Williams, Jackson Alexander, Cody Renard Richard, Ashton Muñiz, Shereen Pimentel, Kirsten Childs, Aisha Jackson, Antoine L. Smith, Griffin Matthews, Michael McElroy, Jocelyn Bioh, and L Morgan Lee, with more to come. Four special "Kinfolk Awards" - the Lorraine Hansberry Award, the Langston Hughes Award, Welcome Award and The Doors of the Theatre are Open Award - will also be presented to members of the Black theatre community as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award to be announced prior to the event. The Antonyo Awards promise to be hilarious, uplifting and unapologetically Black. Anyone is welcome to vote for the nominees and all should join in watching on Juneteenth through Broadway Black's YouTube and Facebook pages. Visit BroadwayBlack.com for more information.

And congratulations to Zawe on her nomination for Best Featured Performer for Betrayal!! Head over to THIS LINK to vote before midnight on Friday, June 12th!! 

[rndyounghowze]

The Young-Howze Theatre Awards 2023 Winners

Our Blessing To You

I don’t just wish you success. I will it upon you like a blessing you never knew you needed. We don’t just want you to do well we want you to be the greatest you’ve ever been and to continue on a journey of ever-growing greatness. We need you to become the artist you’d always dreamed you could be. Your success is our success. When you become a household name we show up in your Google search results. When people interview you they learn you won an award from us. Selfishly we want the best for you and more. Unselfishly, you deserve it. We see you working hard every day working towards your dreams and goals. You put in the 9-5 then the 5-9. You work twice as hard as the average person and people might still look down on your art. We don’t. We think your art is amazing and getting better all the time. If this is what you create now we can’t wait to see what your future holds. More simply put: we are very proud of you. Please keep going.

Solo Awards

"All By Myself” Award For Solo Performer Of The Year

Megan Quick in “And Toto Too”

“Flying Solo” For Solo Show Of The Year

“Book of Sirens” by ProEnglish Theatre

"Campfire Award" For Storyteller of The Year

Daniel Kinch in “Story of the Falling Don”

Mind-Blowing Awards

"Mind-Blowing Stage" For Stage Writing Of The Year

“Monsters of The American Cinema” by Christian St. Croix

“Lavender Men” by Roger Q. Mason

"Mind-Blowing Shortie" For Short Form Writing Of The Year 

“By The Way” by Lisa Rosetta Strum

"Mind-Blowing Devising" For Devised Production Of The Year 

“Posthumous” by Phoenix Tears Productions 

Artists Of The Year

"Extensions" For Movement Artist Of The Year

Lena Adele Wolfe and Clemence Debaig for “Discordance”

"Action" Award For Film Director Of The Year

Olivier Sagne in “Lovena”

"Dress Up" Award For Costume Designer Of The Year

X Hill in “The Cymbeline Project”

"Mix It Up" Award For Sound Designer Of The Year

Leonie Bell in “Arrow Of Time”

"Maestro Award" For Outstanding Musical Composition, Arrangement, Or Orchestration

Maurice Soque Jr. and Brendan A. Bradley for Original Arrangement “Non Player Character”

Director Of The Year

Taylor Reynolds for  “La Race”

Short Form Director Of The Year

Zhailon Levingston and Tracy Conyer Lee for “Fire This Time Festival 22”

Creative Of The Year 

Christian St. Croix 

BIPOC Hero Award

Nataki Garrett 

“Magician” Award For Press Contact Of The Year

Emily Owens

Shows/Festivals Of The Year

Festival Of The Year

Fire This Time Festival 2022

"You Oughta Be In Pictures" For Film Of The Year

“Undine” By Stefanie Janssen and Sjaron Minailo

"Billy Bard" For Digital Shakespeare Production Of The Year

“Rome-Oh No They Didn’t” By Punchline Loading

Show Of The Year

“The Cymbeline Project” OSF Ashland

“La Race” By Bleu Beckford-Burell

"360" Award For VR Show of The Year

“Queerskins” Ark” By Illya Szilak at Quills Fest

"Free Fall” Award For Immersive Production Of The Year

“POV: You Are An AI Achieving Consciousness” By CirqueSaw

"Grace Notes Award" For Musical Production Of The Year

“The Last Five Years” Deaf Austin Theatre and Ground Floor Theatre

"Can You Hear Me Now" For Audio Production Of The Year

“Arrow Of Time” By Allyson Dwyer

Performers Of The Year

"More Than Merely Players" Award For Outstanding Dramatic Performer Of The Year

Krissy Lemon in "The Last Five Years"

Ben Holbrook in "Arrow Of Time"

"Fools These Mortals Be" Award For Outstanding Comedic Performer

Monique "Momo" Holt For “The Cymbeline Project"

Stacey Sargeant in “La Race”

"Capture" Award For VR Performer Of The Year

Brendan A. Bradley in “Non-Player Character”