Greetings! It’s GBE Black Media Month 2018, and we are saluting all the members and institutions that comprise today’s Black Press, radio, TV, print, magazines, websites and social media. We acknowledge the reporters, commentators, publishers and people whose creativity and dedication to “telling our story” is in sync with the “voices” of our ancestors, committed to “lifting every voice” in the time honored tradition of the Black press. May we together create a powerful new vision for our people, empowered with all the new technologies we now have in our hands.
The month of July is also Minority Mental Health Month and National Black Family Month.
THEATER
“Summer: The Donna Summer Musical” brings the music of iconic disco diva Donna Summer to Broadway. The musical includes more than 20 well-known Summer hits. Starring Tony Award winner La Chanze, Anana Dubose and newcomer Storm Lever, who portray three different phases of Summer’s life and career. Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 W. 46th St., New York, N.Y. Call 212-379-0370 or visit luntfontannetheatre.tickets.com/.
“On Kentucky Avenue,” created by Jeree Wade, written by Adam Wade and Ty Stephens and directed by Lee Summers, is a celebration of Atlantic City’s famed “Club Harlem.” July 12 to July 28 at Aaron Davis Hall, The City College of New York, 160 Convent Ave., at West 135th Street and Convent Ave., New York, N.Y. Visit citycollegecenterforthearts.org.
From the creators of “Mama I Want to Sing,” Vy Higginsen’s Mama Foundation for the Arts proudly announces the brand-new 30th anniversary production of their acclaimed musical, “Let the Music Play…Gospel!” Dempsey Theater in Harlem,127 W. 127th St., between Lenox and Seventh avenues. Tickets are available by calling 212-280-1045 or through OvationTix at Mamafoundation.org. For more information, please visit mamafoundation.org.
“Chicago,” the Tony Award-winning, record-breaking hit musical, is celebrating its 21st anniversary on Broadway at the Ambassador Theatre, 219 W.49th St., New York, N.Y. For show information and tickets, call 212-239-6200 or visit telecharge.com.
“Little Rock,” written and directed by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj. History called it heroism. They called it high school. The riveting true story of the Little Rock Nine, the first Black students to attend their city’s formerly segregated Little Rock Central High School three years after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. Limited run through Sept. 8, 2018, at the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture, 18 Bleecker St., New York, N.Y. Visit littlerockplay.com or sheencenter.org.
JD Lawrence’s “Harriet, Rosa & Me” is a thought-provoking, inspiring and witty theatrical presentation written and directed by the NAACP Legacy Award recipient, 8 p.m. at Paramount Hudson Valley Theater,1008 Brown St., Peekskill, N.Y. Tickets are available at the door and on the website http://paramounthudsonvalley.com/events/black-girls.
MUSIC
“The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” 20th Anniversary Tour, Sunday, July 15, at 6 p.m., Northwell Health Jones Beach Theater, 895 Bay Parkway, Wantagh, N.Y. For information, visit ticketmaster.com.
Janelle Monae—Dirty Computer Tour, Wednesday, July 18, at 8 p.m., Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street, New York, N.Y. For information, visitticketmaster.com.
The Smooth Cruise sets sail with Russell Tomkins Jr. and the New Stylistics, along with The Delfonics, Friday, July 20, 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. Hornblower Infinity Pier 40, West Houston Street at West Side Highway, New York, N.Y. For information, visit ticketweb.com.
NAS, Friday, July 20, at 8 p.m., The Grand Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino, 39 Norwich Westerly Rd., Mashantucket, Conn. For information, visit ticketmaster.com.
Carnegie Hall Presents NYO Jazz, Friday, July 27, at 8 p.m. featuring Grammy Award-winning vocalist Dianne Reeves at Stern Auditorium/Perelman, 881 Seventh Ave., New York, N.Y. For information, visit ticketmster.com.
40th Anniversary of Dance Fever, featuring Tavares, France Joli, The Trammps with Earl Young, Disco Unlimited, Cory Daye and more. Saturday, July 28, at 7 p.m., Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island Boardwalk, 3052 W. 21st St., Brooklyn, N.Y. For information, visit ticketmaster.com.
COMEDY
Sinbad, Friday, July 20, at 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m., Saturday, July 21, at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., and Sunday, July 22, at 7 p.m., Nyack Levity Live, 4210 Palisades Center Dr. A-401, West Nyack, N.Y. For information, visit ticketmaster.com.
Marlon Wayans, Caroline’s on Broadway, 1626 Broadway, New York, N.Y., Thursday, July 26, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, July 27, at 7:30 and 10 p.m., Saturday, July 28, at 7:30 and 10 p.m. and Sunday, July 29, at 7:30 p.m. For information, visit: ticketmaster.com.
Kevin Hart: The Irresponsible Tour, Saturday, July 28, at 7 p.m., Prudential Center, 25 Lafayette St., Newark, N.J. For information, visit ticketmaster.com.
COMMUNITY
March with the People’s Organization for Progress to commemorate the 51st anniversary of 1967 Newark Rebellion, Thursday, July 12, 4:30 p.m., starting at the Rebellion Memorial, 250 Springfield Ave., between Hayes Street and Irvine Turner Boulevard in Newark, N.J.
CEMOTAP presents a new book, “Elombe Brath: Selected Writings & Essays,” highlighting the work of late, great media and political commentator Elombe Brath. Introduced for the Elombe Brath Foundation by Herb Boyd and Cinque Brath, with foreword by veteran radio personality Bernard White, formerly of WBAI. Saturday, July 14, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at CEMOTAP Center, 135-05 Rockaway Blvd., South Ozone Park, Queens N.Y.
The Children’s Teens’ Back to School Fashion Show is casting for a fashion show for the 2018 Harlem Week Festival, July 17. Casting call for multiracial and international youth ages 5 to 17. Contact Ms. Sutton at 212-862-8477 or csutton@harlemdiscover.com.
Hear Imhotep Gary Byrd on 107.5 WBLS-FM weekly with “Express Yourself,” Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and simulcast over WLIB 1190AM. The full show can also be heard on HD radio at WBLS-HD2 and at WBLS.com., WLIB.com and iHeartRadio. IGB is also heard on WBAI-FM 99.5 with Radio GBE: “The Global Black Experience” and “The Global Beat Experience,” Fridays 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Archived online at www.wbai.org. For bookings or to reach us about your GBEvent or for comments, email co-editor Nyerere, nyerere1@aol.com,find us at Imhotep Gary Byrd on Facebook or call 212-592-3279.