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New Freedom Theatre is an African-American theatre company in residence at the Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia established in 1966. The theatre has mounted several hundred productions as well as having taught tens of thousands of students in their 50-year-old educational programs history, making it Pennsylvania's oldest African-American theatrical institution. [1]
The New Freedom Theatre was founded in 1966 by John E. Allen Jr while working as a supervisor at the Sun Oil Company (now known as Sunoco). [1] [2] He left his job in 1973 to run the theatre full-time. At first, the theatre used the facilities of the nearby Temple University and ran out of a storefront in North Philadelphia but was able to move in 1968 to the Edwin Forrest House on North Broad Street with help from Robert E. Leslie Sr. [3] The building was initially owned by a brewer called William Gaul. In 1853 Edwin Forrest, a prolific tragedian, purchased the home. Upon his death in 1872, Edwin left his estate to retired actors.
In the early days of the theatre, crime such as prostitution and drug dealing that occurred within the theatre's neighborhood. To protect the theatre students, Allen would ask criminals to leave the area before they arrived for classes. Crime has since decreased with time and the installation of more streetlights. [4]
The facility now houses small meeting & rehearsal rooms, a black box theatre, a private reception lobby, and 299-seat proscenium John E. Allen, Jr. Theatre. [5]
On July 10, 1990, The New Freedom Theatre was acquired by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, which provided renovations for the New Freedom Theatre for a nominal sum. [6]
The New Freedom theatre is surrounded by other historical sites including the Blue Horizon boxing venue, located on the same block as the theatre, which dons a mural of Muhammed Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, and Larry Holmes on its wall facing the theatre. Across Master Street sits the Great Harvest Baptist Church, built in 1823. North of the theatre is the Leon H. Sullivan Human Services Center, which houses a variety of social service organizations. [4]
After the death of co-founder and artistic director John E. Allen, Jr., the theatre's board of directors appointed Walter Dallas, former head of Philadelphia's University of the Arts theatre program. Dallas made the theatre an Equity house and created links with theatre professionals across the country to bring prominence to the New Freedom Theatre. Under the leadership of Walter Dallas, the company completed a $10-million capital fund-raising drive which created the 299-seat John E. Allen, Jr. theatre, which opened for the 1996–1997 season (American Theatre 1995 Graham). [7]
The current artistic director of The New Freedom Theatre is Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj. He is an Indo-Caribbean American artist, educator and activist. His credits at the New Freedom Theatre include The Ballad of Trayvon Martin, Jamaica, Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, The Colored Museum, and Walk Through Time.
The executive producing director is Sandra Norris Haughton. She is known as a successful professional in evaluating and implementing new strategies for cultural institutions in distress and developed transformational strategies to redefine and make them viable. [8]
New Freedom Theatre offers educational programs for all age groups including elementary, middle school, high school, and adults. Educational program participants study traditional and contemporary performance skills and theory, theatre techniques, writing and aspects of technical production. [9] [5]
65% of Philadelphia school children finish high school while 98% of Freedom Theatre students do, and 55% of Philadelphia high school graduates move on to higher education while 85% of Freedom theatre students do. [5]
Alumni of the theatre include: Leslie Odom, Erika Alexander, Samm-Art Williams, and Wanya Morris. [1] [9]
In 2016, there was backlash when a group of instructors at the New Freedom Theatre Performing Arts Training School were fired after years of service, three of which were long-time faculty members, including two of Robert E. Leslie's daughters (Gail Leslie, Diane Leslie). Leadership says they were revamping the program due to low enrollment, and to make the theatre stronger and more sustainable. [9]
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materials from the early modern period (1500–1750) in Britain and Europe. The library was established by Henry Clay Folger in association with his wife, Emily Jordan Folger. It opened in 1932, two years after his death.
Edwin Forrest was a nineteenth-century American Shakespearean actor. His feud with the British actor William Macready was the cause of the deadly Astor Place Riot of 1849.
The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to neglected works of the past; and to established classical texts reinterpreted in refreshing new ways. Over the past forty years it has garnered many of the nation's most distinguished awards, including a Pulitzer Prize (1982), a Tony Award (1986), and a Jujamcyn Award (1985). In 2002, the A.R.T. was the recipient of the National Theatre Conference's Outstanding Achievement Award, and it was named one of the top three theaters in the country by Time magazine in 2003. The A.R.T. is housed in the Loeb Drama Center at Harvard University, a building it shares with the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club. The A.R.T. operates the Institute for Advanced Theater Training.
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer. The Festival now offers matinee and evening performances of a wide range of classic and contemporary plays not limited to Shakespeare. During the Festival, between five and eleven plays are offered in daily rotation six days a week in its three theatres. It welcomed its millionth visitor in 1971, its 10-millionth in 2001, and its 20-millionth visitor in 2015.
Great Lakes Theater, originally known as the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, is a professional classic theater company in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1962, Great Lakes specializes in large-cast classic plays, often performing the works of Shakespeare. The company performs its main stage productions in rotating repertory at the Hanna Theatre in Playhouse Square, which reopened in 2008. The organization shares a resident company of artists with the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. On its main stage and through its education programs, GLT reaches approximately 85,000 adults and students each season.
The Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) is an off-Broadway professional theatre company founded in 1999 at the Harlem School of the Arts. Producing on average 2–3 productions a year as well as implementing extensive educational programming, CTH remains the only year-round theatre company operating on an Actors' Equity Association LORT contract in Harlem. Its season selections present a world repertory ranging from Euripides to Derek Walcott, featuring classical and new playwrights. Since its founding, CTH has put on over 40 productions.
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the support of specific programs and all acquisition of artwork, as well as additional general support.
Sam Houston High School, located in east Arlington, Texas, is a public high school serving grades 9–12.
Perseverance Theatre is a professional theater company located on Douglas Island in Juneau, Alaska. It is Alaska's only professional theater and is particularly dedicated to developing and working with Alaskan artists and to producing plays celebrating Alaskan culture, history, and themes.
The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT) is an American professional ballet company based in the Strip District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1969.
Two River Theater is a professional, not-for-profit, regional theater company producing plays and educational programs for audiences from central New Jersey and beyond. It is located in Red Bank, New Jersey, on the peninsula between the Navesink and Shrewsbury Rivers that gave the theater its name. Two River Theater produces a multi-play subscription season.
Anna Davida Shapiro is an American theater director, was the artistic director of the Steppenwolf Theater Company, and a professor at Northwestern University. Throughout her career, she has directed both the Steppenwolf Theater Company production of August: Osage County (2007) along with its Broadway debut (2008-2009), the Broadway debuts of The Motherfucker with the Hat (2011) and Fish in the Dark (2014), and Broadway revivals of This Is Our Youth and Of Mice and Men, both in 2014. She won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for her direction of August: Osage County.
The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, commonly known as CAPA, is a magnet school in South Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the edge of the Christian Street Historic District. It is a part of the School District of Philadelphia. Students major in one of seven areas: creative writing, instrumental music, visual arts, theater, dance, vocal music, and media, design, television & video (MDTV). Students may also minor after their freshman year as long as they meet the audition requirements. The school is located on South Broad Street, in the former Ridgway Library. Notable alumni include Boyz II Men, Questlove and Black Thought of The Roots and Leslie Odom Jr.
The Oklahoma City Ballet is a professional dance company and school located in Oklahoma City. The company began under the artistic direction of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo dancers Yvonne Chouteau and Miguel Terekhov in the Science and Arts Foundation building on the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds.
The Hangar Theatre is a non-profit, regional theatre located at 801 Taughannock Boulevard in Ithaca, NY. Its mainstage season and children's shows occur during the summer, but the Hangar, and other organizations, utilize the space year-round for special events. The tenets of the Hangar's mission statement are to enrich, enlighten, educate and entertain.
Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj is an Indo-Afro-Caribbean American theater director, playwright, producer and activist. He holds an associate degree in Criminal Justice from St. John's University, a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts from St. John's University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Theatrical Directing from Brooklyn College. He is currently the Associate Artistic Producer of Milwaukee Repertory Theater. He started Rebel Theater Company in 2003 in New York City, and served as Producing Artistic Director. He is the former Artistic Director of New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia. He is the Third Vice President for the Brooklyn Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He is the Chair of the Equity in the Arts and Culture Committee for the NAACP Brooklyn Branch.
Greensboro Ballet is a professional ballet company in North Carolina. It is the only ballet company in the Piedmont Triad. It is one of the few non-profit ballet companies in North Carolina. Greensboro Ballet has presented works by George Balanchine. The company also has performed a number of works made especially for the Greensboro Ballet by Rick McCullough, Jill Eathorne Bahr, Leslie Jane Pessemier, Elissa Minet Fuchs, and Emery LeCrone. Maryhelen Mayfield, who served as artistic and executive director of Greensboro Ballet from 1980 to 2019, choreographed over twenty-five works for the company.
Leslie Lloyd Odom Jr. is an American actor, singer and songwriter. He made his acting debut on Broadway in 1998 and first gained recognition for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in the musical Hamilton, which earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in the same year. His performance was captured in the Disney+ live stage recording of Hamilton which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role in a Limited Series or Movie nomination.
Jane Placide was an American actress.
Hope Boykin is an American dancer and choreographer who is currently a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
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