Theater

Against a black background and on a square white platform within a larger stage, Roger Guenveur Smith put everything he had in Rodney King, a one-man play which opened Thursday night at Penumbra Theatre for a 11-show run.

Award-winning actor Roger Guenveur Smith brings the late Rodney King to life on stage beginning this week at St. Paul’s Penumbra Theatre. Smith stars in Rodney King for eight shows, October 1 – 11.

African American actors in Minnesota were well represented at this year’s 11th Annual Ivey Awards, held September 21 at the State Theatre in downtown Minneapolis.

From opening to close, the Iveys never missed a beat, with a variety of action on and off the stage.

To Kill a Mockingbird takes the Guthrie Theater stage this month, running from September 18 through October 18.

A cast top-loaded with Penumbra Theatre veterans James A. Williams, Aimee K. Bryant and Greta Oglesby, along with Shawn Hamilton (Guthrie Theater/Penumbra /Mixed Blood Theatre), showcases a knockout turn by supporting actor ShaVunda Horsley as the delightfully devilish Rachet Rhonda, and one auspiciously gifted Johannah Easley in the title role.

Lisa Marie Brimmer’s A Tribe Called Queer: Can We Kick It?, June 12 and 13 at Patrick’s Cabaret, was a refreshing change of pace for Twin Cities performance art, a welcome exception in field characterized more by attitude than aptitude.

Damn Yankees first premiered on Broadway in 1955, then later as a 1958 film and a 1967 U.S. television special. The story is about an aging baseball fanatic in the 1950s who turns into a young star slugger after making a deal with the Devil to help his favorite team beat the New York Yankees. The Yankees dominated baseball at the time.

Tinitha “Da Black Pearll” Warren has switched gears. She reigned quite a while as one of the true queens of Twin Cities spoken word, along with the likes of Sha Cage and a few others, reaching something of a peak with The Nucleus, a book of powerhouse poetry.

Friday, February 27 about 200 community members gathered with Youthprise in St. Paul Central’s auditorium to take part in the community forum “Eyes on the Prize: Honoring Black Excellence.” The night was full of entertainment, kicked off with phenomenal African dancing and electrifying singing from local music artists.

Veteran actor James Craven stands as a singular talent in Twin Cities theatre. He richly deserves the triumphant hour that will be his starring in Thurgood, as historic agent of social change, Thurgood Marshall.

It’s sad how much of Black History is marked by tragedy, perhaps none so heartrending as the 1963 murders of Denise McNair, 11, Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins, and Cynthia Wesley, all age 14, by Ku Klux Klan terrorist bombers while attending The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

Aimee K. Bryant, T. Mychael Rambo, Regina Marie Williams, Gary Hines a few of the local greats in new production at Park Square Theatre Easily one of the best known and most beloved titles in American lit, Alice Walker’s famed, historic novel The Color Purple dominated the best-seller list, was made into a hit movie and […]