Theater & Music: 50 YEARS IN THE GROOVE (A Rhythm Revue Salute to Woodie King, Jr.’s New Federal Theatre)

SALUTING FIVE DECADES OF NEW AMERICAN THEATER
WITH GROOVIN’ MUSIC

New York’s beloved radio hosts Felix Hernandez (WBGO’s Rhythm Revue Dance Party) and G. Keith Alexander (WBLS from 1973-2017) are teaming up to bring you 50 Years in the Groove, a Rhythm Revue salute to Woodie King, Jr.’s New Federal Theatre (NFT). It’ll be an evening of music and celebrity interviews celebrating the history and achievements of one of America’s longest-running and most prominent Black theaters, which is now in its 50th season. For those who don’t know, this is the company that brought us Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, and also saw early successes with the late Chadwick Boseman, Debbie Allen, Morgan Freeman, Phylicia Rashad, Denzel Washington, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Issa Rae, and many more.

On Saturday, November 14 from 7pm – 9pm EST an evening of dance music and remembrances will be streamed on the New Federal Theatre website and Harlem America, a radio podcast channel founded recently by Mr. Alexander. The evening will adapt the festive style of DJ D-Nice’s “Club Quarantine” to theatrical subjects. Celebrities attending will include actors Danny Glover, and Robert Hooks and singer Sarah Dash (co-founder of Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles). These stars and surprise guests will chat with NFT founder Woodie King, Jr. about the Theater’s storied history. Their interviews will be interlaced with a very dance-able 70s-’80s Rhythm Revue that has been selected and mixed by Mr. Hernandez to recreate the aural environment of NFT’s formative years. Listeners will be able to do more than dance to the mix: since the program will be powered by YouTube, audience members will be able to log in and leave comments.

 Admission is free but donations will be gratefully accepted.