| Greetings Black Theatre Lovers,
It's that time of the year again when New York City's Black Theatre gets to celebrate and honor it's own best productions of the year at the Audelco Awards on Monday, Nov 14, 2011.....
This Just In:
The Co- Chairs for the 39th Annual 2011 Vivian Robinson/ Audelco Recognition Awards will be husband and wife teams:
LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson  Samuel L. Jackson a past recipient of an Audelco Award with Denzel Washington in A Soldier's Play, usually played bad guys and drug addicts before becoming an action hero, as the character Mitch Henessey, in The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) and in Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995). From character player to leading man. His performance in Pulp Fiction (1994) gave him an Oscar nomination for his character Jules Winnfield. He was active in the black student movement. In the seventies he joined the Negro Ensemble Company (together with Morgan Freeman). In the eighties he became well known by three movies made by Spike Lee - Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo' Better Blues(1990) and Jungle Fever (1991). He received a Silver Berlin Bear for his part in the movieJackie Brown (1997) as Ordell Robbi. You can now see Mr. Jackson on Broadway as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in a new play by Katori Hall entitled, THE MOUNTAINTOP.
LaTanya Richardson Jackson most recently starred on Broadway in the revival of August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone, a performance of which was attended by President Barack Obama and the First Lady. She is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, and a graduate of Spelman College. LaTanya was invited to New York by the legendary Joseph Papp where she appeared in several plays for his New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theatre. Those plays included Casanova, Spell#7,Unfinished Women, and the critically acclaimed For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf. LaTanya has appeared with a number of theatre companies which include The Negro Ensemble Company, The Alliance Theatre, The Henry Street Playhouse, The New Federal Theatre, The Manhattan Theatre Club, The Westport Country Playhouse, and New York's Second Stage Theatre to name a few. Some of her motion picture credits include, Mothers And Daughters, Bolden, The Fighting Temptations, U.S. Marshals, Losing Isaiah, Lone Star, When A Man Loves A Woman, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Malcolm X.After spending many years in Harlem with her husband, actor Samuel L. Jackson and Daughter Zoe, she moved with her family to Los Angeles to star in the CBS series Frannie's Turn. She then co-starred with Alan Arkin in the highly acclaimed Sidney Lumet series,100 Center Street. She has a number of television credits including HBO's Introducing Dorothy Dandrige, and their Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives.  Hattie Winston and Harold Wheeler.
Hattie Winston
, recognized as a renowed actor, singer, director and entrepreneur, starred opposite Ted Danson in the CBS-TV hit comedy series BECKER for six seasons as Margaret, the strong, level-headed nurse/office manager of Dr. John Becker’s medical practice. Among other accolades, Winston was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award for her role on the show
Winston starred in the Broadway hit The Tap Dance Kid; she also appeared on Broadway in Two Gentlemen of Verona, I Love My Wife, and The Me Nobody Knows. She was a member of the Negro Ensemble Company.Winston rose to prominence during the mid-1970s as a member of the cast of the PBS children's series The Electric Company, produced by the Children's Television Workshop. Her most notable character was Valerie the Librarian, who was best friends with Easy Reader (portrayed by Morgan Freeman). She also played many villainess roles versus Spider-Man on the Spidey Super Stories sketches, such as the Fox, the Thumper, the Queen Bee, and the Queen of Diamonds. [2] Winston joined the series during the third season (1973–1974), replacing Lee Chamberlin. She remained with the series until its cancellation in 1977. In 1990 she starred in Sesame Street Home Video Visits The Hospital as Nurse Flowers. In 1991, Winston starred on the critically acclaimed television show Homefront (1991–1993). In 1998, Winston landed the role of Margaret on the CBS sitcom Becker (1998–2004).
Harold Wheeler was named Music Conductor for the 76th Academy Awards, becoming only the second African-American conductor in the Academy's history. He also was a music arranger on the 79th Academy Awards. Wheeler was one of two conductors (the others being fellow composers John Williams and Paul Shaffer) during the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics.He is currently the musical director on the ABC Network show, Dancing with the Stars. He has had this position for all of the show's seasons.
 The first co-host to be chosen is Cheryl Wills of NY1 News.
Cheryl Wills is an award-winning anchor for Time Warner Cable’s flagship cable news network, New York 1 News. Wills, who has been with the news channel since its launch in 1992, is one of the station’s most recognizable journalists for breaking news and special coverage.Wills wears many hats. She is the author of Die Free:A Heroic Family Tale which was released by Bascom Hill Press in January 2011. On March 25, 2011, she was invited to speak before the General Assembly of the United Nations about the impact of slavery on her family during the UN’s International Remembrance of Victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Cheryl also takes great pride in being the Founder and Commander of the New York Chapter of the Sons & Daughters of the United States Colored Troops – a national organization based in Washington, DC. With that platform, she raises awareness about the contributions of the 200,000 black soldiers who valiantly fought during The Civil War.
Danny Simmons is an artist and writer and co founder of the Tony and Peabody award winning Def Poetry Jam... The president of the Rush Arts gallery in Chelsea and the Corridor gallery in Brooklyn, NY. Simmons is founder and vice chairman of the Rush philanthropic arts foundation which provides arts opportunities to emerging artists of color and runs a children’s art programs in the NYC school system and provides arts education to young people in both gallery spaces. He sits on the board of directors of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn Bridge park and the New York State Council on the Arts. He is the chairman emeritus of the State Arts Council and a former board member of the New York Foundation on the Arts, the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Public Library and is a co founder of the Brooklyn Book Festival.
This year's Rising Star Award will go to Eden Sanaa Duncan-Smith
![]() Eden Sanaa Duncan-Smith age 12, made her Broadway debut as the character Raynell Maxon in 2010 Tony award winning revival of August Wilson’s Fences featuring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, She is now Young Nala in Disney’s Broadway production of Lion King.
The 2011 Vivian Robinson/Audelco Award nominees have been announced and Woodie King, Jr's New Federal Theatre production of Knock Me A Kiss sweeps in nominations (13).
The 39th Annual Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO Recognition Awards For Excellence in Black Theatre will take place on Monday, November 14, 2011 at the
HarlemStage/Aaron Davis Hall, 133rd Street & Convent Avenue, New York City. Tickets are on sale now ($150 orchestra, $75 mezzanine and $35 balcony) If you would like to attend, call now for tickets (212) 368-6906
GENERATIONS
Awards Presentation
6:30 pm
Gala Reception
10:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Location:
HarlemStage/Aaron Davis Hall, Inc
133RD STREET & CONVENT AVENUE,
NEW YORK CITY |
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