DOUGLASS THE PROPHET A WORK IN PROCESS
Thursday, March 31–Saturday April 2, 2022, 7:30PM April 2, 2022, 2PM Harlem Stage Gatehouse Address: 150 Convent Avenue at West 135 Street, New York, NY 10031 Phone: 212.281.9240 ext. 19 | Website: www.harlemstage.org
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Photo Credit: Jonny Marlow
ABOUT THE EVENT For this performance at Harlem Stage, documentarian and playwright June Cross brings Frederick Douglass back from the dead in this new play starring Keith David. Invoking the spirits of Othello, Julius Caesar, and Duke Ellington, Douglass, reimagined as an eternal prophet, meets us exactly where we are – lost in the myopia of our current American tragedy. This performance features a live score by vocalist and violist Sunder Ganglani, drummer Mike Clark, and vocalist Kathryn Farmer, lighting design by Alan C. Edwards, dramaturgy by Sunder Ganglani, and direction by Charlotte Brathwaite. Thank you for joining us.
CAST AND CREW Frederick Douglass Keith David* Playwright June Cross Director Charlotte Brathwaite Lighting Designer Alan C. Edwards Dramaturg Sunder Ganglani Drummer Mike Clark Vocalist Kathryn Farmer Wardrobe Supervisor Yvette E. Stapleton Gobo design Sanford Biggers Production Stage Manager Tesia Childs* Assistant Stage Manager Alison Savino* Producer Robert G. O’Meally Co-producer Aidan Levy Harlem Stage and Columbia University present Douglass the Prophet as part of Columbia University’s series of public programs and events inspired by the “tone parallel” between William Shakespeare and the Duke Ellington Orchestra’s Shakespearean suite, Such Sweet Thunder. ACTORS AND STAGE MANAGERS EMPLOYED IN THIS PRODUCTION ARE MEMBERS OF ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION, THE UNION OF PROFESSIONAL ACTORS AND STAGE MANAGERS IN THE UNITED STATES.
BIOGRAPHIES KEITH DAVID
FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Keith David is a classically trained, multiple Emmy award winning actor. Keith stars, alongside Zoe Saldana, in the upcoming Netflix limited series From Scratch. He starred in the tv series Greenleaf for Oprah Winfrey’s Photo Credit: Jonny Marlow OWN network for 5 seasons. He stars in the recently released Black As Night for Blumhouse / Amazon. Keith is featured in Jordan Peele’s (Get Out) upcoming film Nope. In Greenleaf Keith portrayed ‘Bishop James Greenleaf’, the charismatic and God-fearing leader of the Calvary Fellowship and the patriarch of the family. The series followed the unscrupulous world of the Greenleaf family, their scandalous secrets and lies, and their sprawling Memphis megachurch. The series was praised for its push and pull dynamic, its hypocrisy, and its compelling characters. Keith’s stellar performance was best stated by The Hollywood Reporter, “... Keith David ...is perfectly cast as Bishop Greenleaf. Whether he’s playing to the congregation at the altar or getting conspiratorial in a smaller venue, this is an unusually great and meaty role for David.” On the big screen, Keith co-starred with Chadwick Boseman in 21 Bridges. Prior credits include Night School with Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish and Tales from the Hood 2. Additional titles include the Academy award-winning films Crash and Platoon. He is widely recognized for appearing in the highly-acclaimed films Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, Requiem for a Dream, Men at Work, They Live, There’s Something About Mary, and The Thing. Other recent TV credits include an upcoming appearance on Creepshow, NCIS: New Orleans, Blackish, MacGyver”, and Fresh Off the Boat. Earlier credits include Community, Enlisted, ER, and Mister Roger’s Neighborhood. On Broadway, Keith starred in August Wilson’s Seven Guitars and Jelly’s Last Jam for which he garnered a Tony Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical.
Keith’s work as a voice actor has made him a household name. His rich and powerful voice has been featured in national commercials, award shows, documentaries, video games, and animation. His work in narration has earned him three Emmys for Ken Burns’ Jackie Robinson, The War, and Unforgivable Blackness – The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. Some of his other voice acting credits include countless fan favorites such as Adventure Time, Bojack Horseman, Rick & Morty, Spawn, and Gargoyles. Keith has lent his voice to many video game titles. Recently he portrayed the character Spawn in the reboot of the Mortal Kombat videogame. Other appearances include the Halo series (games 2, 3, and 5), the Saint’s Row series (games 1, 2, and 4), as well as the Mass Effect series (games 1, 2, and 3).
JUNE CROSS PLAYWRIGHT
June Cross, a native New Yorker, tells uncomfortable stories that lie at theintersection of poverty, race and politics in the United States. She is a 2020Peabody winner for Whose Vote Counts, a FRONTLINE documentary coproduced with Columbia Journalism School Investigations and USA Today Network. Cross founded a program in journalistic documentary at Columbia Journalism School in 2010. A previous documentary, Wilhemina’s War (2015), explores the dilemmas facing people living with HIV in the rural South. It aired on PBS’ Independent Lens and was nominated for an Emmy. Cross has directed documentaries about post-Katrina New Orleans, Haiti, and class in Black America. She Executive Produced a six-part series about African-American faith and politics. She is best known for an Emmy-winning documentary about how race and kinship played out in her own family: Secret Daughter, which aired on Frontline in 1996. A book by the same title was published in 2006. She has worked for Blackside, Inc., PBS’ NewsHour, andCBS News. She lives in New York, with the jazz drummer Mike Clark.
BIOGRAPHIES CHARLOTTE BRATHWAITE DIRECTOR
Charlotte Brathwaite’s genre-defying work illuminates the realities and dreams of marginalized people; people whose stories have been silenced, disappeared, and ignored. Dealing with subject matter from the historical past to the distant Photo Credit: Barabara Anasatacio future, her work brings to light issues of social justice, race, sex, power, and the complexities of the human condition. A director of classical texts, multimedia, site-specific works, dance performances, operas, concerts, film, and installations - Brathwaite’s trans-disciplinary inquiry manifests in spectacles of color and music. Her works live in the deep time of aural/oral history and create an immersive experience for audience and performer alike which offers new perspectives in both form and content. Brathwaite’s live art has been presented across the globe from North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. She is the recipient of several awards and citations including an Art Matters Award, Creative Capital Award, a United States Artist Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Fellowship, a Rockefeller Bellagio Residency, multiple Map Fund Awards and the Princess Grace George C. Wolfe Award. Brathwaite has a MFA from Yale School of Drama, a BA from the Amsterdam School for the Arts (the Netherlands). Associate Professor of Theater at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). www.charlottebrathwaite.com
ALAN C. EDWARDS LIGHTING DESIGNER
Alan C. Edwards (lighting designer): Alan C. Edwards’ work Off-Broadway includes the world premiere of Harry Clarke at The Vineyard, for which he received a Lucille Lortel Award, the world premiere of Kill Move Paradise at the National Black Theatre, for which he received a Drama Desk nomination, and Anna Deavere Smith’s Fires in the Mirror at the Signature Theatre, which also received a Lucille Lortel nomination. Regional work includes: Pipeline, Skeleton Crew (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Paradise Blue (Geffen Playhouse), and Detroit ’67 (Chautauqua Theatre Co.); Twisted Melodies (Center Stage Baltimore); Lights Out: Nat King Cole at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, as well as its world premiere production at People’s Light & Theatre Co. in Malvern, PA in 2017. Additional credits include Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 and The Hot Wing King at Signature Theatre, Chasing Magic and Where We Dwell (by tap dancer Ayodele Casel), American Moor (Red Bull); Native Son (The Acting Company), productions of Seize The King, Dutchman, Antigone, and Macbeth for the Classical Theatre of Harlem, and Bluebird Memories featuring rap-artist Common (Audible Theatre). Recently he designed the world premier of Something Happened In Our Town at Children’s Theatre of Minneapolis. On Broadway he was the associate to Jennifer Tipton on The Testament of Mary. He is a graduate of Yale School of Drama, where he is also an assistant professor of lighting. For more information visit www.alancedwards.com.
BIOGRAPHIES SUNDER GANGLANI DRAMATURG, VIOLA, VOCALS
Sunder Ganglani (Dramaturg, viola) is a dramaturg and interdisciplinary artist who works in collaboration between forms; music, theater, civil disobedience, radical pedagogy, visual art. As Co-Artistic Director of The Foundry Theater his work with Ariana Reines, Claudia Rankine, W. David Hancock, David Greenspan and many others has toured nationally and internationally and won awards. At the moment he’s working on new experiments in music with composers Justin Hicks, Esperanza Spalding, Helga Davis, and Flutronix; new experiments in co-created performance with Charlotte Brathwaite, June Cross, Cauleen Smith, and Ak Jansen; and a public protest mass on the 6th extinction with Reverend Billy and The Stop Shopping Choir.
MIKE CLARK DRUMMER
Drummer Mike Clark achieved legendary status as one America’s foremost jazz and funk artists during his four-year tenure with Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters. His innovative playing on Hancock’s Actual Proof gave him an international cult following and influenced generations of drummers and musicians. Mike also toured with Brand X, making some groundbreaking recordings, such as Product and Do They Hurt? He has worked and recorded with Christian McBride, Kenny Garett, Eddie Henderson, Donald Harrison, Nat Adderley, Geroge Cables and Tony Bennett, among others. His latest recording, Mike Drop was named one of the best jazz CDs of 2021 by Downbeat. He is an active member of the worldwide jazz scene.
KATHRYN FARMER
VOCALS
Acclaimed Jazz and R&B vocalist Kathryn Farmer has enjoyed a stellar reputation on the world jazz scene. A musician’s musician with a 4 octave range and a mesmerizing electrifying stage presence. Her musical accomplishments are as deep as they are varied. Her gifted vocals have captivated audiences in over 16 countries headlining in Jazz and R&B venues from Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Sziget Festival Budapest, Bangkok, Berlin, Casablanca, Italy, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Belgorod Philharmonic,Irkutsk Philharmonic, Belgorod State Philharmonic Society, Montreux Jazz Festival Switzerland, The Hague North Sea Jazz Festival, Rixos Hotels southern Turkey, Beirut, Israel, Hanoi and Malaysia. Her 2013 debut CD MOONDANCE was named in April’s WBGO’s (NYC/NJ) upbeat magazine as one of the top five CD releases picked by program director Gary Walker! This gave Kathryn six month continuous airplay rotation on WBGO (a major US jazz station). Soon after stations WGMC, WKCR, WPRB Philadelphia, WBAI, and 99.7 FM in Taipei, Taiwan followed suit. Derrick Lucas of WGMC-FM said “She reminds me great singers like Phyllis Hyman, Angela Bofill, Nancy Wilson, Marlena Shaw and Jean Carn, the old school singers with a whole lot of soul. She can growl a note or sing a light breathy sweet tone. She’s a soulful inspiring storyteller.”
BIOGRAPHIES YVETTE E. STAPLETON WARDROBE SUPERVISOR
Yvette E. Stapleton has worked extensively in theater, film, and TV. Broadway (selected credits): Jelly’s Last Jam, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, My Fair Lady, Ragtime; Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk (2002 world tour), Spirit of Uganda (Joyce Theater). Film/TV (selected credits): Malcolm X, Law & Order (original, Criminal Intent, SVU), Luke Cage, Sisters, In the Heights, Pose. Concert: Whitney Houston (The Greatest Love World Tour, Moment of Truth World Tour, I’m Your Baby Tonight World Tour).
TESIA CHILDS
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
She is delighted to be joining this talented team of creatives. Selected Shows: Broadway: Six, The Book of Mormon, Cruise: Six, Jersey Boys, Regional: Fun Home, Fences, and First Date. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Stage Management at Columbia University and has received her B.A in Performing Arts Studies at Lees-McRae College. She is incredibly thankful to have this opportunity and would like to thank her family and friends for their unwavering support over the years. IG: TesiaC_SM, www.TesiaChilds.com
ALISON SAVINO
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
Alison is a New York based AEA Stage Manager, Producer and Artist. Recent credits include: Production Assistant to the creative team at Moulin Rouge! The Musical (World Wide) Production Stage Manager, Punk Rock Girl! (The Argyle Theatre / Lively McCabe, World Premiere), Production Stage Manager, Cabaret (The Argyle Theatre), Stage Manager, Lauren & The Case of the Missing Hair (Two River Theater, 29-Hour Reading), Production Stage Manager, Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow (Columbia University)
ROBERT G. O’MEALLY
FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR JAZZ STUDIES AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Robert G. O’Meally is the Zora Neale Hurston Professor of English at Columbia University, where he has served on the faculty for thirty years. Director of Columbia’s Center for Jazz Studies, O’Meally is the author of The Craft of Ralph Ellison, Lady Day: The Many Faces of Billie Holiday, The Jazz Singers, and Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey. His edited volumes include The Jazz Cadence of American Culture, Living With Music: Ralph Ellison’s Essays on Jazz, The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, History and Memory in African American Culture), and the Barnes and Noble editions of Mark Twain, Herman Melville, and Frederick Douglass. For his production of a Smithsonian CD set called The Jazz Singers, he was nominated for a Grammy Award. The curator of exhibitions at Jazz at Lincoln Center (2006-2012), O’Meally also has co-curated exhibitions for the High Museum in Atlanta and for the Smithsonian Institution. He has held Guggenheim and Cullman Fellowships, among others. His new books are The Romare Bearden Reader (edited for Duke University Press, February 2019) and Antagonistic Cooperation: Collage, Jazz, and American Fiction (Columbia University Press, 2022). According to his sons, Mr. O’Meally plays the soprano saxophone “for his own amazement.”
BIOGRAPHIES AIDAN LEVY CO-PRODUCER
Aidan Levy (Co-producer) is the author of the forthcoming Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins (Hachette Books, 2022). A former Leon Levy Center for Biography Fellow, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, JazzTimes, The Nation, and Some Other Blues: New Perspectives on Amiri Baraka (The Ohio State University Press). He is a doctoral candidate in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, where he has served as co-convener of the African American Studies Colloquium and works with the Center for Jazz Studies. He is a member of IATSE Local 52 and a former producing associate at Prospect Theater Company.
Special thanks to Sanford Biggers, Yulanda McKenzie, Andre and Cheryl Guess, and David Stone. Support for Columbia University’s Such Sweet Thunder project is provided by Columbia University Office of the President, African American and African Diaspora Studies, English and Comparative Literature, Core Curriculum, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Jerome A. Chazen, Miller Theatre, Gabriela and Michael Block, Crystal McCrary and Raymond J. McGuire, 92nd Street Y, Harlem Stage, The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities, Stephen Case & Margaret Ayres, James Basker, Mr. & Mrs. Cashin, Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Good, Dr. Richard E. Grant, Natasha Fatheree, Joshua Feigenbaum, Susan Sillins, the Columbia University Office of Communications and Public Affairs, and the Columbia University Arts Initiative.
OUR SUPPORTERS
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council. Harlem Stage’s Programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
ABOUT HARLEM STAGE Harlem Stage is the performing arts center that bridges Harlem’s cultural legacy to contemporary artists of color and dares to provide the artistic freedom that gives birth to new ideas. For nearly 40 years our singular mission has been to perpetuate and celebrate the unique and diverse artistic legacy of Harlem and the indelible impression it has made on American culture. We provide opportunity, commissioning, and support for artists of color, make performances easily accessible to all audiences, and introduce children to the rich diversity, excitement, and inspiration of the performing arts. We fulfill our mission through commissioning, incubating, and presenting innovative and vital work that responds to the historical and contemporary conditions that shape our lives and the communities we serve.
Board of Directors Courtney F. Lee-Mitchell, President Jamie Cannon, Vice President Michael Young, Secretary Mark Thomas, Treasurer Stefany Bergson Angela Glover Blackwell Jamila Ponton Bragg
JoAnn K. Chase Patricia Cruz Hugh Dancy and Claire Danes Trevor Gale Jenette Kahn LaChanze Sapp-Gooding Tamara Tunie
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