Backstage Stories

                                    CLASSIX announced the launch of its Black playwright catalog which contains resources about playwrights who are both celebrated and forgotten. The catalog is now available and free for all to use, and is part of an initiative of CLASSIX to celebrate Black performance around the globe and through numerous eras. Today, the catalog launches with 10 artists: James Baldwin, Aimé Césaire, Alice Childress, Kathleen Collins, Bill Gunn, Pauline E. Hopkins, Ron Milner, Aishah Rahman, Ola Rotimi and Eulalie Spence.    Additional artists, including Loften Mitchell, Efua Sutherland, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Theodore Ward, Marita Bonner and more will follow in the coming weeks and months.    This year, through the generous support of a Black Seed grant, CLASSIX gathered a team of researchers and dramaturgs on a mission to collect information about plays, playwrights and productions. Each playwright entry includes biographical information on the writer, a selec

  The International Black Theatre Summit “Thriving Together”  Celebrates Inaugural “Black Theatre Day” with a Virtual Happy Hour and Social Media Campaign   Black Theatre Day increases visibility of Black Theatres to encourage donations of money, time and service throughout the year    BOSTON, MA – September 10, 2021 – The International Black Theatre Summit, a special initiative of The CRAFT Institute, held this year in collaboration with The Billie Holiday Theatre, will celebrate the inaugural  Black Theatre Day  with a daylong social media campaign and a virtual Happy Hour on Friday, September 17 at 5pm ET. The event will also recognize the 200 th  anniversary of the opening night for the African Company, also known as the African Grove Theatre, the first known professional Black theatre company in the United States. The Black Theatre Day social media campaign is an open call to action to all Black theatre institutions and supporters to join together to amplify the import

HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NEW MUSICAL “MJ” IN PARTNERSHIP WITH iHEART RADIO BROADWAY   ANNOUNCES THE NATIONWIDE SEARCH FOR THE ACTOR TO PLAY “YOUNG MICHAEL JACKSON” IN THE BROADWAY MUSICAL    DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS SEPTEMBER 20, 2021 Producers Lia Vollack Productions and The Michael Jackson Estate , in partnership with iHeartRadio Broadway , announced a nationwide search for a “Young Michael Jackson.” MJ , inspired by the life and art of Michael Jackson, will begin performances on Broadway on December 6, 2021, with an opening night set for Tuesday, February 1, 2022, at the newly refurbished Neil Simon Theatre (250 W 52 nd Street). To submit, please follow the steps below: In MJ, “Young Michael” appears at age 10 and should have an unchanged singing voice. Performers may be older or younger to audition, as long as they are still able to sing in Young Michael’s range. 1.   Make a video of yourself singing a Michael Jackson song! Click  HERE  for suggestions and additional instruction