The show can't go on (it's not just venue concerns, but rehearsals, tech, etc.), yet the fundraising must! Second Generation Theatrehas elected to damn the coronavirus and go full speed ahead with a virtual version of "Page to Stage: Miscast" in which some of Buffalo's most talented performers tackle material that is entirely inappropriate for them, online on Sunday, June 28, 2020 at 7 p.m. For online entertainment, Broadway Black's inaugural Antonyo Awards airs tonight, June 19, at 7 p.m.
A celebration of the Black Broadway and Off-Broadway community, the streamed ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. and will include a pre-show virtual red carpet, original musical numbers, presenters (including Audra McDonald), and performers.
At 8 p.m. a few Wednesdays back, "Starring Buffalo" hosted its first High School Showcase on Instagram live. Dudney Joseph presented an impressive lineup of local high school talent from Newfane High School, West Seneca West High School, and Lockport High School. The featured performers were Anthony Chavers, Carissa Clarcq, Joey Porth, Isabella Santos, Emma Hicks, and Talia Mobley [lead image]. Watch these talented young performers here.
As we await the time when the Artie Awards can explode in all their glory on stage (with the traditional co-hosts of Charmagne Chi, Amy Jakiel, and Anthony Chase) you can visit Anthony's blog TheaterTalkBuffalo.com for memorabilia from early Artie Awards.
And COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc among the theater community in so many ways, including the postponement of a new Buffalo Hispanic Cultural Center, as reported by WBFO's Mike Desmond here, The Center, which received a grant of $250,000 as reported by WBFO's Kyle Mackie here, was, among other things, to house Buffalo's Latinx Raices Theatre Company.
Friday is Juneteenth, which commemorates June 19, 1865, when the news of liberation came to Texas more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863. This year through an Executive Order from Governor Cuomo, Juneteenth is officially a state holiday, as reported on WBFO. The 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was ratified in 1865, but contained a clause "except as a punishment for crime" which has led to mass incarceration, as explained in the documentary "13th" available for free viewing here.
