According to Sandy

The ambitious intentions of a playwright resulted in the impressive, and enjoyable, “August Wilson Century Cycle”. It consists of a play for every decade of the 20^th century and chronicles a part of the black experience in America.

One of his Pulitzer Prize winning plays, “The Piano Lesson”, returns to Broadway this Fall (it debuted in 1990).  There have been several revivals since its first production at the Yale Rep in 1987.

This is the 4^th play of the Century Cycle, taking place in  1936, and will star Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Brooks and John David Washington. It will be directed by a women for the first time, Latanya Richardson Jackson.

Using his great ear for dialogue, Wilson (1945 – 2005) was able to give us some insight into the daily life – both struggles and triumphs – of an assortment of universal characters to whom his   audience could easily relate.

An ambitious undertaking, but, his huge vision was realized and resulted in 2 Pulitzer Prizes and a Tony award. He accomplished a lot doing what he loved to do and perhaps more importantly, August Wilson left a powerful body of work that will be read and performed for years to come. Dreaming big has rewards of all kinds.

BTW, all 10 of August Wilson’s plays are collected in hard cover with a nice presentation box. Each has an introduction by an actor, director or writer familiar with his work.

In 2005, August Wilson completed the ten-play cycle:

• 1900s – Gem of the Ocean (2003)
• 1910s – Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1984)
• 1920s – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1982)
• 1930s – The Piano Lesson (1986) – Pulitzer Prize
• 1940s – Seven Guitars (1995)
• 1950s – Fences (1985) – Pulitzer Prize
• 1960s – Two Trains Running (1990)
• 1970s – Jitney (1982)
• 1980s – King Hedley II (2001)
• 1990s -Radio Golf (2005)

*The Piano Lesson, by August Wilson* 

~ Ethel Barrymore Theatre ~

Limited engagement

~~~~ *** ~~~~

“Those that stop their questioning at 75, 60, even 30, cut short their explorations and end up with permanently unfinished lives.” (From “Life Beyond Measure: Letter to My Great-Granddaughter”)

Mr Sidney Poitier, whom I considered a national treasure, has left us, 1/7/22 at age 94,  with great stories, great images and lots of pride and warm thoughts. He lived his life. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a Grammy. He had success as an actor, director, author and perhaps more importantly, as a man.

Born in 1927 in the Bahamas, Mr. Poitier went to New York as a teen, taught himself to read and catapulted himself into an acting career- a movie star. Not an easy road, but he did it with humor, grace, determination and a never wavering belief in him self.

He condensed some of the life lessons learned into books, not just about his journey, but also about how to conduct himself in an often difficult  and complicated world.

“The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography”, 2000

“Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter” 2005

****^^^****

The annual event will be different this year. After 22 years of welcoming children and adults to their wide selections of events in person, the 2020 HBF will be “virtual”.

~ “HBF2020 will be live-streamed on Facebook Live, with simultaneous links to YouTube, Instagram Live, QBR.com, Harlembookfair.com, CAOTtv.com” 

~ “Multi-platform broadcasting: The Harlem Book Fair will be available where online readers go for their information. New readers; new audiences”

~ “Your favorite books, authors, and most compelling issues presented directly to your device.” 

22nd Annual Harlem Book Fair

Saturday, July 18, 2020

“The vision of the Harlem Book Fair is to partner with local
and national leadership organizations under the banner of literacy
awareness, affirming HBF as the nation’s largest African American
literary event celebrating family literacy, community empowerment,
and community cooperation.“

~ * ~

by Sandy | Nov 3, 2019 | Art, Arts, Entertainment and Music, music, Photograhy

I always loved that famous 1958 black and white photo of 57 Jazz musicians, arranged on the steps of an apartment building in New York City (17 East 126th Street between Fifth and Madison). It was expanded into a documentary in 1995 and can be found on DVD.

Director Jean Bach assembled pictures and stories about how it all came together – photographer Art Kane’s assignment for Esquire Magazine, artists such as Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Marian McPartland, Thelonius Monk, Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, May Lou Williams, the neighborhood kids that wanted to be in the picture too.

~ * ~ A Great Day In Harlem ~ * ~

See below for a list of all the musicians in the photo:

The ambitious intentions of a playwright resulted in the impressive, and enjoyable, “August Wilson Century Cycle” box set. It consists of a play for every decade of the 20^th century that would chronicle some part of the black experience in America. 

Through the use of his great ear for dialogue, Wilson (1945 – 2005) was able to give us some insight into the daily life – both struggles and triumphs – of an assortment of universal characters that his audience could easily recognize.

An amazing undertaking, but, his huge vision was realized and it resulted in 2 Pulitzer Prizes, a Tony award and many other accolades. He accomplished a lot doing what he loved to do and perhaps more importantly, August Wilson left a powerful body of work that will be read and performed for years to come. Dreaming big has rewards of all kinds.

All 10 of August Wilson’s plays are collected in hard cover with a nice presentation box.  Each has an introduction by an actor, director or writer familiar with his work

In 2005, August Wilson completed the ten-play cycle:

• 1900s – Gem of the Ocean (2003)
• 1910s – Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1984)
• 1920s – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1982)
• 1930s – The Piano Lesson (1986) – Pulitzer Prize
• 1940s – Seven Guitars (1995)
• 1950s – Fences (1985) – Pulitzer Prize
• 1960s – Two Trains Running (1990)
• 1970s – Jitney (1982)
• 1980s – King Hedley II (2001)
• 1990s – Radio Golf (2005)

On Saturday July 21, 2018, the Harlem Book Fair is celebrating its 20^th anniversary with spoken word events, exhibit booths, music, panel discussions and children’s activities. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday in the city.

“The vision of the Harlem Book Fair is to partner with local and national leadership organizations under the banner of literacy awareness, affirming HBF as the nation’s largest African American literary event celebrating family literacy, community empowerment, and community cooperation. “

Harlem Book Fair

Saturday, July 21, 2018 * 10 AM – 6 PM

West 135th Street  (Betw. Malcolm X Boulevard &

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard) Harlem, NY

Everyone knows who Harry is – just listening to a few chords of “Day-O” or “Ma-tilda” brings his handsome face to the mind’s eye. At 91 (he just had a birthday on March 1), he is still attractive of course, but Harry Belafonte: Sing Your Song, a fascinating documentary out on DVD, fills in and rounds out the well lived life of the entertainer to be more than a man in a sexy shirt and tight pants. Besides being a singer, actor, husband and father, Mr. Belafonte is an activist, a pioneer and a humanitarian. A full life.

BTW:  There is a book My Song: A Memoir and a CD, Harry Belafonte Sing Your Song: The Music that also celebrate this man’s life and music.

On Saturday, 7/15/17, there will be spoken word events, over 200 exhibit booths, music, panel discussions and children’s activities will be on hand at the Harlem Book Fair. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday in the city.

“The vision of the Harlem Book Fair is to partner with local
and national leadership organizations under the banner of literacy
awareness, affirming HBF as the nation’s largest African American
literary event celebrating family literacy, community empowerment,
and community cooperation. “

19^th Annual Harlem Book Fair

Saturday, July 15, 2017 – 10 AM – 6 PM

SCHOMBURG CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN BLACK CULTURE

515 Lenox Avenue, West 135th Street,, NYC

The National Museum of African American History and Culture will open on September 24, 2016. The museum’s 11 massive galleries display, in total, more than 30,000 priceless artifacts according to its website.

Founding director Lonnie G. Bunch, III says, “This is not (nor was it ever intended to be) the National Museum of Discrimination…For me, the African American experience is an experience not of tragedy, but of unbelievable belief — belief in themselves, belief in an America that often didn’t believe in them”.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture

I really thought I was raising whatever back in the day when I graduated from “kitten” or “Cuban” heels to a 2 incher. Of course, seeing women prancing around on sky high stilettos today has put me in my place. I don’t /won’t wear them, but I think 6 inch needle heels are fierce and fascinating. The folks at the Brooklyn Museum think so too evidently. They’re putting on a show: ”Killer Heels: The Art of the High Heeled Shoe” until February 15, 2015.

“Killer Heels explores fashion’s most provocative accessory. From the high platform chopines of sixteenth-century Italy to the glamorous stilettos on today’s runways and red carpets, the exhibition looks at the high-heeled shoe’s rich and varied history and its enduring place in our popular imagination.”

Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe

Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York