Connect with us

New Jersey

Two River Theater Launches Its 2015/2016 Season With August Wilson’s Seven Guitars, Featuring Original Music By Jason Moran, Directed By Brandon J. Dirden

Two River Theater announces the full cast and creative team for its production of August Wilson’s Seven Guitars, directed by Brandon J. Dirden

Unheard Voices Magazine

Published

on

Seven Guitars Lineup Announced : At Two River Theater

Two River Theater announces the full cast and creative team for its production of August Wilson’s Seven Guitars, directed by Brandon J. Dirden, an award-winning actor who is making his directorial debut with this production.

Seven Guitars director

Among his many credits as an actor in the plays of August Wilson, Brandon J. Dirden made his professional debut in a 1990 production of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Alley Theatre and was honored with an Obie Award for his performance in The Piano Lesson at Signature Theatre in 2012.

He made his Two River Theater debut in Wilson’s Jitney. He has also appeared at Two River in the world premiere of Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine and in Topdog/Underdog, in which he starred opposite his brother Jason Dirden under the direction of the play’s author, Suzan-Lori Parks.

On Broadway, his credits include Clybourne Park (in which he appeared with his wife, Crystal Dickinson) and, most recently, All the Way, in which he starred as Martin Luther King Jr. opposite Bryan Cranston’s Lyndon Johnson. On television, he can be seen as Agent Aderholt in the FX series The Americans.

About August Wilson’s Seven Guitars

Seven Guitars is the 1940s play in Wilson’s 10-play cycle exploring the African American experience in each decade of the 20th century. Set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1948, it tells the story of Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton, played at Two River by Kevin Mambo (Fela!), a blues guitarist who sits on the edge of stardom. The production will feature original music by acclaimed jazz musician Jason Moran.

See also  A first look at Topdog/Underdog starring Brandon & Jason Dirden

Subscribe to UVM

* indicates required

Intuit Mailchimp

Seven Guitars lineup

Featured in the cast are Brittany Bellizeare (Ruby), Brian D. Coats (Hedley), Crystal Dickinson (Louise), Jason Dirden (Canewell), Charlie Hudson III (Red Carter), and Christina Acosta Robinson (Vera).

Performances

Seven Guitars is the third play in Wilson’s American Century Cycle produced by Two River, following the theater’s acclaimed mountings of Jitney and Two Trains Running.

Performances will begin in Two River’s Rechnitz Theater, 21 Bridge Avenue, on Saturday, September 12 and continue through Sunday, October 4. The opening night performance is Friday, September 18 at 8pm. Tickets are available from 732.345.1400 or tworivertheater.org.

The lead production sponsor is Springpoint Senior Living Foundation at The Atrium at Navesink Harbor.

 


----------------------------------------------------------
Connect with Unheard Voices on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube

Download the app on Google Play or ITunes.
----------------------------------------------------------
Unheard Voices Magazine is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Unheard Voices is an award-winning news magazine that started in 2004 as a local Black newsletter in the Asbury Park, Neptune, and Long Branch, NJ areas to now broaden into a recognized Black online media outlet. They are the recipient of the NAACP Unsung Hero Award and CV Magazine's Innovator Award for Best Social Justice Communications Company.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Crime & Justice

New Jersey detective shot and killed after suspects kicked in front door of her home

Monica Mosley, a revered detective in South New Jersey, was shot and killed during a home invasion at her residence, authorities said.

Unheard Voices Magazine

Published

on

Monica Mosley
Det. Sgt. Monica Mosley is seen in a photo released by the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office.

Monica Mosley, a revered detective in South New Jersey, was shot and killed during a home invasion at her residence, authorities said.

New Jersey detective Monica Mosley killed

Detective Sgt. Monica Mosley, with the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, was fatally shot at her home in Bridgeton on Tuesday night, according to police.

The incident

Bridgeton Police responded to the home around 10:30 p.m. for a report of “several subjects kicking in a front door at a residence,” the Bridgeton Police Department said in a press release.

Mosley, 51, died at the scene, police said.

An individual who had been treated for a gunshot wound at a nearby hospital was detained for questioning in connection with the incident, police said. No additional information on the individual was released.

Subscribe to UVM

* indicates required

Intuit Mailchimp

Law enforcement career

Mosley began her career in 2006 at the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office as a paralegal specialist. She then became a county detective in 2009, “where she served our community with honor, dignity and respect before her untimely passing,” Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said in a statement.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy expressed he was “outraged and heartbroken by the murder” of Mosley.

“As a detective with the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, Sgt. Mosley served her community with distinction, working every day to ensure the safety and well-being of the people of Cumberland County,” he said in a statement. “This act of violence impacts our entire law enforcement community and all of New Jersey.”

See also  Raisin In The Sun Two River Theater Review

No arrests have been made or charges filed in the case, police said.

Multiple agencies are investigating the deadly shooting, including the State Police Major Crime Bureau, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office and the Bridgeton Police Department Criminal Investigation Bureau.


----------------------------------------------------------
Connect with Unheard Voices on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube

Download the app on Google Play or ITunes.
----------------------------------------------------------
Unheard Voices Magazine is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Continue Reading

Black Excellence

In Memoriam: Cissy Houston (September 30, 1933 – October 7, 2024)

Cissy Houston, beloved soul and gospel singer and mother to Whitney Houston, has died at age 91 from Alzheimer’s.

Unheard Voices Magazine

Published

on

Cissy Houston dies at 91
Photos: Tom Marcello Webster, New York, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons | Kingkongphoto from Laurel Maryland, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cissy Houston, beloved soul and gospel singer and mother to Whitney Houston, has died.

She was 91.

Cissy Houston dies at 91

Houston, a two-time Grammy winner, passed away at her home earlier this morning in New Jersey, according to her daughter-in-law Pat Houston. Houston, who was surrounded by her family, was under hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease.

“Our hearts are filled with pain and sadness. We loss the matriarch of our family,” the family shared in a statement.

“Mother Cissy has been a strong and towering figure in our lives. A woman of deep faith and conviction, who cared greatly about family, ministry, and community. Her more than seven-decade career in music and entertainment will remain at the forefront of our hearts.”

Music career

Born as Emily Drinkard on September 30, 1933 in Newark, N.J., Houston started performing in church at an early age, singing with her family’s gospel act before getting into in popular music in the 1960s as a member of the group The Sweet Inspirations with Doris Troy and her niece Dee Dee Warwick. The group sang backup for a variety of soul singers including Lou Rawls, The Drifters, and Otis Redding. They also sang backup for Dionne Warwick, who is also Houston’s neice.

Houston’s many credits included Franklin’s “Think” and ”(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” and Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man.” The Sweet Inspirations had their own top 20 single with the soul-rock “Sweet Inspiration”.

See also  Raisin In The Sun Two River Theater Review

Houston was one of the top in-demand studio session singers and recorded more than 600 songs in multiple genres throughout her career. Her vocals can be heard on tracks alongside a wide range of artists including Luther Vandross, Beyoncé, Donny Hathaway, Jimi Hendrix, Chaka Khan, Roberta Flack, Paul Simon, and her daughter Whitney Houston.

She inspired the youth

Cissy love her hometown of Newark and often spent much time there, presiding for decades over the Youth Inspirational Choir at Newark’s New Hope Baptist Church and was also the church’s musical director, where Whitney Houston sang as a child.

Cissy Houston and Whitney Houston

When she was not directing the youth choir, she was guiding her daughter’s music career.

Subscribe to UVM

* indicates required

Intuit Mailchimp

Whitney Houston made her debut on national television when she and Cissy Houston sang a medley of Franklin hits on “The Merv Griffin Show”.

They would later sing together often in concert and appeared in the 1996 film “The Preacher’s Wife.” Cissy also appeared in the video for one of Whitney’s biggest songs from the mid-1980s, “Greatest Love of All.” The video was filmed as a mother-daughter homage.

Whitney would predecease her mother in 2012 at 48 years old, when she was found unconscious in a bathtub at the Beverly Hills hotel over Grammy weekend.

See also  Two River Theater announces 2015/16 season which will launch August Wilson's Seven Guitars

Several years later in 2015, her granddaughter, Bobbi Kristina, passed away at only 22 years old from similar circumstances like her mother. She was found unconscious in a bathtub causing her to be put on life support before she passed.

Life for Cissy Houston

After her daughter’a death, Cissy wrote a book entitled Remembering Whitney, detailing her life in New Jersey while also honoring her daughter’s legacy.

Gilda Rogers interviews Cissy Houston

Cissy Houston was briefly married to Freddie Garland in the 1950s and had one son, Gary Garland. Garland was a guard for the Denver Nuggets and later sang on many of Whitney Houston’s tours. Cissy Houston then married Whitney’s father, entertainment executive John Russell Houston, from 1959-1990. In addition to Whitney, the Houstons also had a son named Michael.

Cissy Houston was the youngest of eight children of a factory worker and a housewife. She was just 5 when she and three siblings founded the Drinkard Singers, a gospel group that lasted 30 years, performing on the same bill as Mahalia Jackson among others and releasing the 1959 album “A Joyful Noise.”


----------------------------------------------------------
Connect with Unheard Voices on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube

Download the app on Google Play or ITunes.
----------------------------------------------------------
See also  Catch the final performance of "The Wiz" on April 21th at 7:00pm at Asbury Park High School

Unheard Voices Magazine is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Continue Reading

In Memoriam

In Memoriam : John Allen Amos Jr. (Dec. 1939 – Aug. 2024)

Amos passed away on August 21 in Los Angeles from natural causes but his death wasn’t announced until recently by his son Kelly Christopher Amos.

Unheard Voices Magazine

Published

on

John Amos
Photo Credit: U.S. National Archives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

John Amos, the actor best known for his characters in Good Times, Roots, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, has died. He was 84.

Death details

Amos passed away on August 21 in Los Angeles from natural causes, but his death wasn’t announced until recently by his son Kelly Christopher Amos.

“It is with heartfelt sadness that I share with you that my father has transitioned,” Kelly Christopher Amos said in a statement. “He was a man with the kindest heart and a heart of gold… and he was loved the world over. Many fans consider him their TV father. He lived a good life. His legacy will live on in his outstanding works in television and film as an actor. My father loved working as an actor throughout his entire life…. most recently in Suits LA playing himself and our documentary about his life journey as an actor, America’s Dad. He was my dad, my best friend, and my hero. Thank you for your prayers and support at this time.”

John Amos’ Career

Born on December 27, 1939 in New Jersey, John Amos’ impeccable acting career has spanned more than five decades. His career took off when he casted as the role of weatherman Gordon “Gordy” Howard on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. Following, he landed his first role on the big screen with Melvin Van Peebles‘ blaxploitation classic Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song in 1971.

Award-winning roles

From there, he brought his comedic prowess to CBS’ Good Times, a spinoff of Maude and All in the Family, and played father James Evans Sr. in 1974. The Norman Lear program made history as the first TV show to follow an African American family with a two-parent household. Amos character as a hardworking and devoted father resonated with audiences. But after three seasons, Amos was displeased with the direction of the show and the portrayal of his character’s son, James “J.J.” Evans Jr. He was fired after Season 3, and Season 4 began by killing James Evan Sr. off-screen.

John Amos and Esther Rolle in Good Times

CBS Television. Uploaded by We hope at en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1977, Amos starred in one of his most acclaimed roles as adult Kunta Kinte in the ABC historical miniseries Roots, which earned him an Emmy nomination. The series, about slavery in the United States, won nine Emmys, a Golden Globe a Peabody Award, and had an impressive viewership. More than 130 million people tuned into the series, which was more than half of the population of the U.S. at the time. The final episode holds the record for the third-highest-rated episode for any type of TV series and the second-most-watched series finale in history.

See also  Raisin In The Sun Two River Theater Review

Subscribe to UVM

* indicates required

Intuit Mailchimp

Television and film

Amos also appeared in television shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which he played Will Smith’s father-in-law; The World’s Greatest Athlete, Let’s Do It Again, About the Andersons, The West Wing, Two and a Half Men and The Ranch. His final tv role is in the forthcoming series Suits LA.

On film, he had roles in Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America and its 2021 sequel Coming 2 America, The Players Club, Die Hard 2, Ricochet, The Beastmaster, For Better or Worse , Lock Up and Me Tyme. He and his son also produced the upcoming documentary about his life, titled America’s Dad.

Theatre

Amos also lent his talents to theatre. He wrote, produced and starred in a one-man play, titled Halley’s Comet. He also appeared on Broadway in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean.

John Amos’ life before acting

Born and raised in Newark, N.J., Amos mom cleaned the home of a cartoonist who drew for the Archie comics, and that led to Amos and a friend attending a taping of radio’s The Archie Show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. “It blew my imagination wide open,” he said.

At East Orange High School, Amos drew cartoons and wrote columns for the school newspaper, played a convict in a production of The Man Who Came to Dinner and was a star running back.

See also  Two River Theater announces extensions for two productions

Before becoming serious in acting, Amos played college football at Long Beach City College and Colorado State University on a scholarship. After college, he then became a free agent for several football teams including the Denver Bronco’s in 1964, suited up for the 1967 NFL offseason with the Kansas City Chiefs. After football didn’t pan out, Amos set out to pursue tv writing followed by acting, leaving a timeless legacy of iconic, memorable roles and acting prowess.

 


----------------------------------------------------------
Connect with Unheard Voices on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube

Download the app on Google Play or ITunes.
----------------------------------------------------------
Unheard Voices Magazine is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Continue Reading

Facebook

Tags

Archives

unheard voices shop
unheard voices on google play unheard voices on itunes

Trending