Tag: Langston Hughes

Keeping the Faith: Voncille Ross on 55 Years of Boston’s “Black Nativity”

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Black Nativity’s Voncille Ross

By Killian Melloy

For 55 years, the National Center of Afro-American Artists’ (NCAAA) production of Langston Hughes’ “Black Nativity” has been a holiday tradition, a community gathering, and what some have called “Boston’s Black community’s holiday card to the world.” At the helm of this enduring celebration is Voncille Ross, Executive Producer and Director of NCAAA Black Nativity, whose connection to the production has endured nearly as long as the show itself.

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A.R.T’s “The Black Clown” a Searing New Work

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by Mike Hoban

 

The Black Clown – Adapted from Langston Hughes poem by Davóne Tines and Michael Schachter; Music by Michael Schachter; Music Direction by Jaret Landon; Choreography by Chanel DaSilva; Directed by Zack Winokur; Scenic & Costume Design by Carlos Soto; Lighting Design by John Torres; Sound Design by Kai Harada. Presented by the American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Mainstage, 64 Brattle St., Cambridge through September 23

 

Reading Langston Hughes’ poem The Black Clown after experiencing the world premiere of this stunning new work of the same title, it’s pretty amazing to see how literal the interpretation of the poem is – especially considering the complexity of the music, dance and movement in the piece. The original poem is broken into two sections, “The Mood”, which essentially reads like bare-boned stage directions, and “The Poem”, which provides all of the lyrics for the entire production – despite being just 17 stanzas long. The Black Clown, said Hughes, is “a dramatic monologue to be spoken by a pure-blooded Negro in the white suit and hat of a clown, to the music of a piano or an orchestra.”

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