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FALL 2021 SEASON
Diverse Artists. Transformative Art.
FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CEO Photo Credit: Marc Millman Cover Photo Credit: Michael Baumann
When we closed our doors in March of 2020, I optimistically left messages on my voicemail that we would be back in a few weeks. Well, not quite. Following a stellar return of our programming in recognition of Sun Ra and in tribute to Marshall Allen with Craig Harris’ Nation of Imagination Band, we were resurrected in a coming out/back party with his Nocturnal Nubian Ball for Conscientious Ballers and Cultural Shot Callers. With performances at Bryant and Marcus Garvey Parks in partnership with Bryant Park, Jazzmobile, and NYC Parks, we celebrated life with intergalactic music in the August heat. It is important to acknowledge the extraordinary loss of life, the fires, the flooding, the pandemic, and the extraordinary pain and suffering that has befallen so many of the inhabitants of the earth. This is a time of reflection that has been made bearable by our steadfast belief in the healing power of the arts. We are carefully lifting the COVID curtain. With scrupulous attention to the safety of our staff, our artists, and you, our audiences, we are once again opening the doors of the Harlem Stage Gatehouse. We will begin with the first of four concerts in our Uptown Nights series. We kick off the series with the extraordinary Matthew Whitaker whom you may recall was honored with our Emerging Artist Award in 2018. We will celebrate the release of his third album, Connections. The series will continue with special concerts featuring exceptional artists that may be new to you but several of whom are residents of Harlem. We will continue our collaboration with the Harlem Chamber Players and the Talea Ensemble rediscovering the complex and almost forgotten compositions of Julius Eastman. And please don’t miss the world premiere of Partido created by tap dance and live music ensemble Music From The Sole, co-presented in partnership with City College Center for the Arts. We want to acknowledge those who have so generously supported our organization as we continue to fight for social justice, equity, and healing in a fractured world. We are abiding by the protocols for safety and welcoming all who are fully vaccinated and masked to gather in safe communion with one another. Come meet the artists, our new staff, and one another as we begin again. With fond appreciation,
Pat Cruz Artistic Director and CEO
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ABOUT US
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 Harlem Stage has stood proudly at the intersection of art and social justice with a singular mission 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. With a long-standing tradition of supporting artists and organizations around the corner and across the globe, Harlem Stage boasts such legendary artists as Harry Belafonte, Max Roach, Sekou Sundiata, Abbey Lincoln, 3
Sonia Sanchez, Eddie Palmieri, Maya Angelou, and Tito Puente, as well as contemporary artists like Maimouna Youssef aka Mumu Fresh, Jason “Timbuktu” Diakité, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Tamar kali, Vijay Iyer, Mike Ladd, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jason Moran, José James, Craig Harris, Nona Hendryx, Bill T. Jones, and more. Our education programs serve over 2,300 New York City school children each year. The New York Times has hailed Harlem Stage as “an invaluable incubator of talent” and we have been recognized as an organization still unafraid to take risks. Our investment in this visionary talent is often rewarded in the early stages of many artists’ careers and we proudly celebrate their increasing success. Five members of our artist family have joined the ranks of MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship awardees: Kyle Abraham (2013), Vijay Iyer (2013), Jason Moran (2010), Bill T. Jones (1994) and Cecil Taylor (1991). Harlem Stage is a winner of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters’ William Dawson Award for Programming Excellence and Sustained Achievement in Programming.
AUGUST 12–14
CRAIG HARRIS’ NOCTURNAL NUBIAN BALL FOR CONSCIENTIOUS BALLERS AND CULTURAL SHOT CALLERS
SEPTEMBER 10 DREW DOLLAZ IMPERFECT
SEPTEMBER 25 UPTOWN NIGHTS: MATTHEW WHITAKER
OCTOBER 9
HARLEM CHAMBER PLAYERS AND TALEA ENSEMBLE: JULIUS EASTMAN’S FEMENINE
OCTOBER 23
UPTOWN NIGHTS: NATU CAMARA
NOVEMBER 12–13 MUSIC FROM THE SOLE PARTIDO
NOVEMBER 20 UPTOWN NIGHTS: VUYO SOTASHE & CHRIS PATTISHALL
DECEMBER 11 UPTOWN NIGHTS: LAKECIA BENJAMIN
CALENDAR
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Photo Credit: Marc Millman
THU-SAT, AUG 12-14 | 7PM | FREE WATERWORKS
CRAIG HARRIS’ NOCTURNAL NUBIAN BALL FOR CONSCIENTIOUS BALLERS AND CULTURAL SHOT CALLERS Craig Harris’ Nocturnal Nubian Ball for Conscientious Ballers and Cultural Shot Callers is the culmination of Harlem Stage’s Afrofuturism series. Harris and his band Nation of Imagination performed with special guest Marshall Allen in two free outdoor concerts in Bryant Park (8/12) and Marcus Garvey Park (8/13) and one exclusive recording at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse (8/14). Commissioned by Harlem Stage through its WaterWorks program and supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, and The Leonard & Robert Weintraub Family Fund.
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FRI, SEP 10 | 6:30PM & 8PM | FREE The Isabel and Peter Malkin Stage at Hearst Plaza, West 65th Street, Lincoln Center
DREW DOLLAZ IMPERFECT Co-presented by Harlem Stage and Lincoln Center Brooklyn choreographer, dancer, and Harlem Stage WaterWorks Emerging Artist (formerly Fund for New Work) Drew Dollaz is a champion of Flexin’, a gracefully flowing and near-impossible elastic amalgam of street dance, ballet, and modern performance. His uniquely memorable movement involves elegant delicacy, gravity-defying footwork, glitchy pop-locking and outrageous “bone-breaking” contortion. His newly choreographed small ensemble work, IMPERFECT, commissioned by Harlem Stage, is anchored by original works of spoken word artist Steve Connell with creative direction by dance theater director Chisa Yamaguchi. Inspired by a social media campaign as an active step to address the rampant effects of bullying and how we carry those toxic experiences in
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our bodies throughout our lives, IMPERFECT, a double entendre of “I’m perfect” and “imperfect,” is a multidisciplinary work that considers how these profound scars can perpetuate deep divisions but just as trauma can be biologically inherited, so too can resilience. IMPERFECT, produced by Sozo Creative, and developed through Harlem Stage’s WaterWorks Emerging Artist Program (formerly Fund for New Work), is supported by the Jerome Foundation. Additional support for the development of IMPERFECT is provided by the Mertz-Gilmore Foundation and their Late Stage Stipend grant. Supported by the Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation’s Artist-InResidence Program.
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STEVE CONNELL
CHISA YAMAGUCHI
8 Photo Credits: Carol Dragon, Kelsey Cherry, Soza Artists
UPTOWN NIGHTS FALL 2021
NATU CAMARA MATTHEW WHITAKER
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Join us for Uptown Nights, our monthly music series featuring an array of artists and genres. This season we present five amazing artists in four concert events— pianist and organist Matthew Whitaker, guitarist and world music
singer Natu Camara, singer Vuyo Sotashe and pianist Chris Pattishall, and alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin. Each are masters of their craft and all duly renowned, so don’t miss a single performance!
CHRIS PATTISHALL
VUYO SOTASHE
LAKECIA BENJAMIN 10
“He’s not extraordinary because he’s blind. He’s extraordinary because he’s extraordinary.” — Ray Chew, Music Director of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars
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Photo Credit: Rahil Ashruff
SAT, SEP 25 | 7:30PM | $25 HARLEM STAGE GATEHOUSE
UPTOWN NIGHTS
MATTHEW WHITAKER Pianist/organist Matthew Whitaker returns to Harlem Stage following his 2018 Harlem Stage Emerging Artist Award to celebrate the release of his third and latest album, Connections. Since receiving the Harlem Stage honor, he has received numerous accolades including the 2019 and 2020 ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award, appeared on CBS 60 Minutes, and was chosen as a 2021 joint Artist in Residence at ALL ARTS. Whitaker’s new album not only communicates his growth as a player, composer, and bandleader, but also the importance
of community and the connections it fosters. Having been musically trained in Harlem, it’s fitting for Whitaker to debut his new album at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse, celebrating his ties to the city that has shaped him as one of the leading artists of his generation. Whitaker, a Yamaha artist, is joined by Marcos Robinson on guitar, Karim Hutton on bass, and Isaiah Johnson on drums.
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Photo Credit: Bob Curtis, Beowulf Sheehan
SAT, OCT 9 | 7:30PM | $25 HARLEM STAGE GATEHOUSE
HARLEM CHAMBER PLAYERS & TALEA ENSEMBLE JULIUS EASTMAN’S FEMENINE Considered one of the most controversial and progressive composers of the 1970s and ’80s, Julius Eastman’s music bonds minimalism, jazz, and pop to create a joyous mesmerizing experience. Building on the traditions of his minimalist contemporaries, such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass, Eastman’s music has drive and propulsion, but is considered to be more influenced by organic harmonic changes than strict structures. Tragically, Eastman’s music was nearly completely lost after he was evicted from his New York apartment in the late 1980s; his scores and music mostly lived on only with those who knew him after he died, alone, in 1990, and was nearly forgotten forever. Those who knew him as a strong, vocal African-American
queer artist say he left a deep impression on New York and that this late revitalization of his work will become a pillar in the development of contemporary music. In this performance of Eastman’s 1974 work Femenine, which The New York Times describes as “meditative, kaleidoscopic, [and] eventually ecstatic,” 10 musicians from the Harlem Chamber Players and the Talea Ensemble pay tribute to Eastman’s work as an important statement to the community and commitment to solidifying Eastman’s place in the canon.
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SAT, OCT 23 | 7:30PM | $25 HARLEM STAGE GATEHOUSE
UPTOWN NIGHTS
NATU CAMARA Heralded as the “Tina Turner of Guinea,” singer and songwriter Natu Camara has established herself as an impassioned performer whose commitment to social justice has solidified her unique presence in global music. Her years leading West Africa’s first all-female hip-hop group, the Ideal Black Girls (IBG), in the early 2000s inspired an entire generation of girls to believe Guinèya Moumonèra, meaning It’s Not a Shame to Be a Woman—which was the name of their multi-platinum opus advocating for women’s rights. Even in her solo debut Dimedi (“Child” in her native language, Susu), she continued to inspire her fans by emphasizing the significance of children having positive role models. Camara fought tooth and nail to expand her presence to New York, rapidly learning English, forming a band, and writing an entirely new form of music while still underscoring her values. A Harlem resident, her performance in her own backyard
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Photo Credit: Jamie Ambler
at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse with her six-piece band will pull from across her catalog, as well as new material. Performing her songs in five languages, her commitment to speak “the language of the heart” landed her on NPR’s Tiny Desk Meets globalFEST 2021, and she was an NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music, and Theatre 2020 Recipient. Staying true to her roots, The New York Times describes her evolutionary music as “West African pop [with] a tinge of American funk [where] she offer[s] determinedly uplifting messages.” Camara’s unique life experience has allowed her to blend Afro-rock, pop, and soul, speaking to the range of heroes who have influenced her individual sound: Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone, Fela Kuti, and Baaba Maal.
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Photo Credit: SaulZ
FRI-SAT, NOV 12–13 | 7:30PM | $25 HARLEM STAGE GATEHOUSE
MUSIC FROM THE SOLE
PARTIDO
Co-presented by Harlem Stage and City College Center for the Arts Catch the world premiere of Partido at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse, presented by tap dance and live music company Music From The Sole, which explores the convergence of percussive dance and live music with contemporary African-American and Afro-Brazilian culture. Partido is a reflection of lead choreographer Leonardo Sandoval’s experience as an Afro-Brazilian immigrant and artist in the United States, connecting tap with styles like samba and house dance through shared rhythms and footwork. Collaborating with composer and multi-instrumentalist Gregory Richardson, the union between Sandoval and Richardson is described by DanceTabs as “a friendly conversation, their voices replaced by tapping feet, claps, snaps, and pizzicato strings. It was bliss.” The performance features a diverse group of six talented tap dancers and a three-piece band, including piano,
saxophone, and bass, that deliberately invites the dancers to play percussion instruments at times, complementing the footwork. Co-presented with City College Center for the Arts, Partido hopes to convey tap’s essence as a crossing point for Black dance and music, especially in Harlem—a central place in tap history. Music From The Sole gratefully acknowledges support for the creation of Partido from The Yard, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, and CUNY Dance Initiative. Music commissioned by the Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation.
11/12 | GET TICKETS 11/13 | GET TICKETS
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Photo Credit: Wil Pierce (Vuyo Sotashe), Ebru Yildiz (Chris Pattishall)
SAT, NOV 20 | 7:30PM | $25 HARLEM STAGE GATEHOUSE
UPTOWN NIGHTS
VUYO SOTASHE & CHRIS PATTISHALL In this highly anticipated collaboration, acclaimed South African jazz vocalist Vuyo Sotashe and GRAMMY-nominated pianist Chris Pattishall come together for their Harlem Stage debut. Sotashe, born in South Africa and arriving in New York as a Fulbright Scholar, has performed with celebrated jazz legends, received the Van Lier Fellowship for Music at Joe’s Pub/The Public Theater, and made his commercial off-Broadway debut as part of the cast in Black Light. Pattishall has studied with celebrated jazz pianist Marcus Roberts, been awarded the 2019 Aaron Copland Fund Recording Grant, and in 2021 released his debut album Zodiac, a reimagining of the Zodiac Suite by pioneering pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams. Both experts in their own right, Sotashe and Pattishall earned endorsements from Wynton Marsalis,
who invited Sotashe as a featured artist on his 2018 Winter Tour and shortlisted Pattishall among his favorite young improvisers. In this special duo presentation, Sotashe’s soulful vocals, described as “a bright tenor that can easily spring from sonorous depths to the full-bodied top of his impressive range” (The Atlantic JournalConstitution), perfectly infuse with Pattishall’s “desire to push at the harmonic borders” (JazzTimes), creating a sensual vulnerability and intimacy. In a set that ranges from the Great American Songbook to South African Xhosa hymns to Stevie Wonder, Sotashe and Pattishall display their range as musicians, and artists as memory-keepers.
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SAT, DEC 11 | 7:30PM | $25 HARLEM STAGE GATEHOUSE
UPTOWN NIGHTS
LAKECIA BENJAMIN At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin forged ahead with the March 2020 release date for her third full-length album, Pursuance, which pays homage to the genius of John and Alice Coltrane. The ambitious album went on to be listed in Amazon Music’s best songs of 2020 and was named one of the albums of the year by the 2020 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. Described by The New Yorker as a “crafty traditionalist who remains in step with the rhythms of the young generation,” Benjamin’s success on the record lies in her ability to fuse elements from across genres into the already expertlycrafted jazz tunes that the Coltranes constructed decades ago.
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Photo Credit: Elizabeth Leitzell
Keeping the Coltranes’ essence present, the album features an astonishing cross-generational ensemble of over 40 jazz heavyweights that includes Ron Carter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Meshell Ndegeocello, Marc Cary, and Jazzmeia Horn, among others. Catch Benjamin’s live performance of her award-winning album at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse with Zaccai Curtis on piano, EJ Strickland on drums, and Lonnie Plaxico on bass.
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THE HARLEM STAGE FAMILY OF SUPPORTERS
THE ANDREW W.
MELLON FOUNDATION
The SHS Foundation
American Express
JoAnn Chase Company
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Mailing List Management • Mailing List Brokerage
Other major institutional support provided by New York Community Trust, The Black Seed, the Leonard & Robert Weintraub Family Fund, and Warner Bros. Discovery 23
Photo Credit: Marc Millman
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THE HARLEM STAGE FAMILY OF SUPPORTERS Harlem Stage deeply appreciates the many individuals and institutions that provide their generous support, making our programs possible. We are pleased to recognize the following contributors for their donation of $1,000 or more: ENDOWMENT Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation Leonard and Sophie Davis Estate Rockefeller Brothers Fund PUBLIC SOURCES New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Mayor Bill DeBlasio and Commissioner Gonzalo Casals and the New York City Council National Endowment for the Arts New York State Council on the Arts Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone FOUNDATIONS Altman Foundation American-Scandinavian Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc. The Black Seed Bloomberg Philanthropies Booth Ferris Foundation The BWF Foundation Inc. Capozzalo Heil Giving Fund Cheswatyr Foundation Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts Davis/Dauray Family Fund Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Embassy of Sweden Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation Francena T. Harrison Foundation The Ford Foundation The Howard Gilman Foundation The Harkness Foundation for Dance
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Hearst Foundation Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund Jerome Foundation Lambent Foundation/Tides Foundation The Leonard & Robert Weintraub Family Fund Lucille Lortel Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Mertz Gilmore Foundation Metzger-Price Fund Mosaic Network and Fund New York Community Trust NYC COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund Stavros Niarchos Foundation May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation The Scherman Foundation, Inc. SHS Foundation The Shubert Foundation, Inc. The Ted Snowdon Foundation The David and Sylvia Teitelbaum Fund, Inc. CORPORATIONS American Express BET Networks Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aid Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund Columbia Community Service Consolidated Edison Company JoAnn Chase Company JPMorgan Chase Local One IATSE Theatrical Stage Employees New Music USA Manhattan Beer Distributors Paradigm Talent Agency Paula Cooper Gallery SESAC, Inc.
Simon Says Entertainment Vision Marketing, Inc. WABC-TV Warner Bros. Discovery West Harlem Development Corporation Wonderland Ultra INDIVIDUALS Tracy L. Austin Rosemarie and Burnside Anderson Neal Baer* Catherine Baker-Pitts Stefany* and Simon Bergson Angela Glover Blackwell* and Fred Blackwell Jamila and Alvin Bragg Bill Bragin Jamie Cannon* Patty and Bill Cannon Kathleen and Henry Chalfant JoAnn K. Chase* Kinshasha Holman Conwill Caroline and Paul Cronson Patricia Cruz* Hugh Dancy* and Claire Danes* Wendy Davies Angelina Fiordellisi and Matt Williams Trevor Gale* Stuart Gelwarg and Karen Lipkind Myrna and Freddie Gershon Gail Gregg Agnes Gund Michael Haggen Maya L. Harris and Tony West William Holtzman and Sylvia Shepard John Josephson and Carolina Zapf Jenette Kahn* and Al Williams Michael Kenny Steven Kirkpatrick Brad Learmonth and John Gilman Steve Levine Marcia and Maurice Lyons
Courtney F. Lee-Mitchell* and Marcus Mitchell Glenn Ligon Carey Lovelace Allison and Howard Lutnick Mickey Lyons Marilu Marshall Edward McBrien Sherman and Chris Meloni Marti Noxon Ryan Scott Oliver Daniel Oliverio Estelle Parsons and Peter Zimroth Marguerite Pitts Maxine and John Potts Judith Rubin LaChanze Sapp-Gooding* L. Josh Schmell Robyn L. Stein David Stone Elizabeth Streb and Laura Flanders Jordan Thaler Mark Thomas* Jennifer and Derek Trulson Tamara Tunie* Reginald Van Lee and Corey L. McCathern Fran and Barry Weissler Katy and Greg Williamson Carol Wood Moore Michael A. Young* *Board Members As of August 31, 2021, list in formation. Donations under $1,000 are greatly appreciated, but not acknowledged publicly. If your name has been omitted or misprinted, please accept our apologies and contact Associate Director of Development, Shante Skyers at sskyers@harlemstage.org
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS Courtney F. Lee-Mitchell, President Jamie Cannon, Vice President Michael Young, Secretary Mark Thomas, Treasurer Neal Baer JoAnn K. Chase Stefany Bergson
Angela Glover Blackwell Patricia Cruz Hugh Dancy and Claire Danes Trevor Gale Jenette Kahn LaChanze Sapp-Gooding Tamara Tunie
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Patricia Cruz, Artistic Director & CEO MANAGEMENT Eric Oberstein, Managing Director DEVELOPMENT Shamar Hill, Director of Development Shanté Skyers, Associate Director of Development Julia Marrero, Development Associate MARKETING Deirdre May, Senior Director of Digital Content and Marketing Andre Padayhag, Marketing Manager and Graphic Designer BOX OFFICE Daniel Im, Box Office Manager PRODUCTION Amanda K. Ringger, Director of Production OPERATIONS Rodney Bissessar, Director of Operations Lamont Askins, Operations Assistant Acey Anderson Sr., Maintenance PHOTO BY MARC MILLMAN
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ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE Ncheng LLC, Accountants/Advisors Michelle Blankenship, Principal Aaron Lam, Supervising Senior Accountant CONSULTANTS Aon/Albert G. Ruben Company (NY) Claudia Kaufman, Insurance Digital Video Services—BriGuel Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, P.C. —Lisa Davis Itelagen, IT Consultant Lutz & Carr/Chris Bellando, Accountants Madison Consulting Group, —Matt Laurence Manchester Benefits—Greg Martin Marc Millman Photography Digital Video Services —Jess Medenbach PR Canvas Public Relations & Marketing RL Stein Group—Robyn L. Stein Development Consultant The Whelan Group Incorporated —Charles Whelan
Photo Credit: Marc Millman
ABOUT THE DESIGN The Fall 2021 brochure design is inspired by the return to public spaces, thanks in part to masks, social distancing and vaccines, and the idea of freedom in the creative process. The free-flowing forms of Harlem Stage’s brand colors are layered over the images of this season’s artists, providing different areas of focus and interesting interactions of color and shape.
Andre Padayhag, Marketing Manager & Graphic Designer 28