With all the "Nutcrackers" and "Christmas Carols" featured in holiday shows at Christmastime, the birth of the baby Jesus barely gets a mention.
December 9, 2006 (Press Release) --
Editor's note: The following story contains an interview with Mike Malone, director and choreographer of "Black Nativity: A Gospel Song Play," who passed away just prior to press time.
Congo Square Theatre Company puts the Holy Family back in the picture in its three-year-old production of the exuberant musical, "Black Nativity: A Gospel Song Play."
A family-friendly musical with deep roots in the African-American experience, " 'Black Nativity' is unapologetically about the birth of Christ," said Derrick Sanders, Congo Square's co-founder and artistic director -- and not just the birth of Christ, but also the profound Christian faith of many in the African-American community, as well as the gospel music that so distinctively conveys that faith.
"Black Nativity" is by no means some solemn diorama, though. Music and dance tell the story, Sanders said. "It's a rabble-rousing, jump-to-your-feet show," he said. "It really is a celebration of the Nativity."
The first act tells the Christmas story, and the second act relates the development of gospel music in America, from slavery up through the present, with songs by the contemporary group Mary Mary alongside those by Mahalia Jackson and other more venerable gospel figures.
"There is a spirit of great joy and pride. You'll get goose pimples from the great singing and the power of the whole show. You'll be invested in the spirit, and in the holiday," Sanders said.
"Black Nativity" traces its origins to Langston Hughes, poet, playwright, essayist and star of the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural blossoming in New York in the 1920s. (He also wrote a column for the Chicago Defender.)
Mike Malone, the late director and choreographer of the production, in the mid-1970s discovered Hughes' script for a version of the play in a file drawer in the basement of Cleveland's Karamu House, one of the oldest African-American theaters in the country. "Black Nativity" had debuted on Broadway in 1961, and has been a holiday tradition for decades in many cities.
Source: http://www.msn.com
POSTED BY DELIA O'HARA
Congo Square Theatre Company puts the Holy Family back in the picture in its three-year-old production of the exuberant musical, "Black Nativity: A Gospel Song Play."
A family-friendly musical with deep roots in the African-American experience, " 'Black Nativity' is unapologetically about the birth of Christ," said Derrick Sanders, Congo Square's co-founder and artistic director -- and not just the birth of Christ, but also the profound Christian faith of many in the African-American community, as well as the gospel music that so distinctively conveys that faith.
"Black Nativity" is by no means some solemn diorama, though. Music and dance tell the story, Sanders said. "It's a rabble-rousing, jump-to-your-feet show," he said. "It really is a celebration of the Nativity."
The first act tells the Christmas story, and the second act relates the development of gospel music in America, from slavery up through the present, with songs by the contemporary group Mary Mary alongside those by Mahalia Jackson and other more venerable gospel figures.
"There is a spirit of great joy and pride. You'll get goose pimples from the great singing and the power of the whole show. You'll be invested in the spirit, and in the holiday," Sanders said.
"Black Nativity" traces its origins to Langston Hughes, poet, playwright, essayist and star of the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural blossoming in New York in the 1920s. (He also wrote a column for the Chicago Defender.)
Mike Malone, the late director and choreographer of the production, in the mid-1970s discovered Hughes' script for a version of the play in a file drawer in the basement of Cleveland's Karamu House, one of the oldest African-American theaters in the country. "Black Nativity" had debuted on Broadway in 1961, and has been a holiday tradition for decades in many cities.
Source: http://www.msn.com
POSTED BY DELIA O'HARA
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