Greetings! We bring the news heard round the world of the passing of the “Father of Rock ‘n Roll,” brilliant singer, songwriter, guitarist Chuck Berry, who died at his home in Missouri at age 90. Berry was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its opening in 1986 and honored with Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984 and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2000. His life story is a road trip through the challenges of being a Black man in America.
THEATER
“X: Or, Betty Shabazz vs. The Nation” by Marcus Gardley. Friday, March 17, and March 24 at 7 p.m., Saturday, March 18, and March 25 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., New Victory Theater, 209 W. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. For information, call 646-223-3010 or visit newvictory.org.
“Plantano and Collard Greens” returns updated, funny and still relevant. Saturday, April 8, at the York Performing Arts Center in Jamaica, Queens. Imhotep Gary Byrd hosts. For tickets, call at 718-262-2840 or visit http://ny.platanosandcollardgreens.com/.
MUSIC
The Sugarhill Gang, Tuesday, March 21, at 9 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 W. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. For information, call 212- 997-4144 or visit ticketmaster.com.
Aretha Franklin, Mohegan Sun Arena, Thursday, March 23, at 8 p.m., 1 Mohegan Sun Blvd., Uncasville, Conn. For information, call 860-862-TIXX (8499) or visit ticketmaster.com.
The Temptations and the Four Tops, Thursday, March 23, at 8 p.m., Bergen Performing Arts Center, 30 N. Van Brunt St., Englewood, N.J. For information, call 201-227-1030 or visit ticketmaster.com.
The Temptations and the Four Tops, Saturday, March 25, at 8 p.m., NYCB Theatre at Westbury, 960 Brush Hollow Rd., Westbury, N.Y. For information, call 516-334-0800or visit ticketmaster.com.
Charlie Wilson’s In It to Win It Tour with Fantasia and Johnny Gill, Wednesday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m., Barclays Center, 620 Atlantic Ave. (at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Flatbush Avenue), Brooklyn, N.Y. For information, call 917-618-6700 or visit ticketmaster.com.
Chris Brown: The Party Tour, Saturday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m., Prudential Center, 25 Lafayette St., Newark, N.J. For information, call 973-757-6600 or visit ticketmaster.com.
Carl Thomas, Friday, April 7, at 8 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 W. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. For information, call 212-997-4144 or visit ticketmaster.com.
The Spinners and Little Anthony & The Imperial, Saturday, April 8, at 8 p.m., Kupferberg Center for the Arts, 153-49 Reeves Ave., Queens, N.Y. For information, call 718-793-8080 or visit ticketmaster.com.
Jeffrey Osborne, Friday, April 14, at 8 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 W. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. For information, call 212-997-4144 or visit ticketmaster.com.
Will Downing, Friday, April 21, at 8 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 W. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. For information, call 212-997-4144 or visit ticketmaster.com.
Regina Belle, Saturday, April 22, at 8 p.m., B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 W. 42nd Str., New York, N.Y. For information, call 212-997-4144 or visit ticketmaster.com.
COMEDY
Trevor Noah, Friday, March 31, at 10 p.m., New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark, N.J. For information, call 888-466-5722 or visit ticketmaster.com or njpac.org.
Shawn Wayans, Friday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m., Nyack Levity Live, 4210 Palisades Center Dr. A-401, West Nyack, N.Y. For information, call 845-353-5400 or visit ticketmaster.com.
FILM
“Fences,” directed by Denzel Washington and written by August Wilson, based on Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name. The film stars Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen Henderson, Jovan Adepo, Russell Hornsby, Mykelti Williamson and Saniyya Sidney. Check your movie listings.
“Hidden Figures” is based on the lives of mathematicians Katherine Goble-Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae). Check your movie listings.
COMMUNITY
Ella! A Centennial Celebration, presented by the Apollo Theater Education Program, Thursday, March 23, at 6:30 p.m. Live Wire’s celebration of Fitzgerald’s centennial will explore “The First Lady of Song” through her musicianship and as a woman revered in an art form dominated by men. Apollo Theater, 253 W. 125th St., New York, N.Y. The event is free. Registration is required at eventbrite.com/e/apollo-live-wire-ella-tickets. For information, call 212-531-5305 or visit ticketmaster.com.
Marc Lamont Hill, professor, lecturer, author and media contributor, Saturday, March 25, at 4 p.m. Post-Obama America: Political Insight, Social Injustice and the Effect of “Nobody.” Muhammad Mosque No. 7, 106-108 W. 127th St., Harlem, N.Y. For information, visit www.noinewyork.org.
Christian Times “Easter in NY” live TV recording, Saturday, March 25, at 5 p.m., Jerusalem Worship Center, 122-05 Smith St., Jamaica, N.Y. For tickets and information call 718-638-6397.
C.E.M.O.T.A.P: 30th Anniversary. Keynote address by Professor Gloria Browne-Marshall. Also speaking are Imhotep Gary Byrd, Brother Larry Hamm and Hero and Shero awardees Professor James Blake, Sister Pam Africa, Sister Fredrica Bey and Brother Lucien Pinckney. Saturday, April 1, at 2 p.m. Robert Ross Johnson Family Life Center, 172-17 Linden Blvd., Jamaica, N.Y. For information call 347-907-0629.
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 Shannon @ nyerere1@aol.com, find us at Imhotep Gary Byrd on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @GBELIFE or call 212-592-3279.