TOP 10
SINGLES
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2
3
4
5
6
7
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10
TOP 10
ALBUMS
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The Middle
Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey
Psycho
Post Malone Feat. Ty Dolla $ign
Nice For What
Drake
Never Be The Same
Camila Cabello
Delicate
Taylor Swift
No Tears Left To Cry
Ariana Grande
In My Blood
Shawn Mendes
Meant To Be
Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line
God’s Plan
Drake
Mine
Bazzi
EVERYTHING IS LOVE
The Carters
Nasir
Nas
Youngblood
5 Seconds Of Summer
Liberation
Christina Aguilera
Post Traumatic
Mike Shinoda
The Greatest Showman
Soundtrack
SQUARE UP (EP)
BLACKPINK
Redemption
Jay Rock
?
XXXTENTACION
KIDS SEE GHOSTS
KIDS SEE GHOSTS
Presented by
wireless
National Black Theatre celebrates 50 years
Continued from Page 45
in being a go-to place for black
art, and its team takes pride in
reaching its turning point, said
its artistic director.
“This is huge to reach our
half century mark, because
when we look at the kind of
institutes that survive over the
years and the legacy they’ve
built and manifested — it’s
pretty exciting to see the foundation
and legacy that we’ve
started,” said Jonathan McCrory.
He said the theatre standing
tall through the years, and
being there to highlight the
many cultural shifts happening
overtime, was a display of
how vital the theatre was for
the city and its community,
and why it remained a force.
“To still be trailblazing
today in a way that allows for
a new foundation to be forged
and built — it’s a moment,”
he said. “Because we’re not
only remembering our impact
in real time but how we’re
reimagining, reinventing, and
anchoring the fundamental
principle of the National Black
Theatre.”
For seven years now McCrory
has operated as the director
of arts at the theatre. He
Caribbean L 46 ife, Feb. 22–28, 2019 BQ
joined in 2012, spearheading
and incorporating several new
changes into the organization.
One of those changes he is
proud of, is helping to create
an environment of self-awareness.
“I’ve been able to bring a different
perspective around the
artistic oversight and rigor of
National Black Theatre, allowing
us to center a lot of beautiful
questions we have,” said
McCrory.
Throughout the duration of
his leadership, McCrory said
actualizing one of the theatre’s
beloved slogans: “Welcome
to a home away from
home,” creates opportunity
for other decision-makers at
the organization to further
conceptualize their role, and
give artists the chance to be
as candid with their work in
every way.
“For seven years I’ve been
able to navigate through an
enlightening approach by promoting
our slogan, and seeing
what it looks like,” he said.
Coming up as an artist,
McCrory often found himself
in a constant search for creative
spaces where he felt represented
by his peers, and places
that made room for error. He
said what the theater works
to bolster is creating room for
learning.
“As a young black artist I
was looking for a home that
was crafted for me and where
people looked like me,” he
said. “As an artist you need
the resources to dream, the
resources to fail, and then
from failure — being able to
learn from a space of growth,
opportunity, and to dream
unabashedly.”
Cummings said with the popular
demand of the concert, he
hoped that it continued to grow
and become something much
bigger in the future because
there were many songs in Belafonte’s
catalog to be revived.
“If we had more time and
more rehearsals, we could
put together a new idea and
even spawn a different show,”
he said. “We are hoping that
perhaps someone might see
show this year’s show and be
someone that will support us
in bringing the show forward,
because we do this all on our
own, and we are producing the
show as artists.”
Last year, Belafonte was
scheduled to be overseas on
the day of the concert but made
a surprise appearance. Cummings
hopes he comes again
should his schedule allow it, as
it brings him great pride.
“It’s very special to perform
in front of an icon and do their
material and have them love
what’s happening,” he said.
He added that the concert
was extremely important to
himself and the group because
as aging entertainers, many of
our hard work goes unnoticed.
Cummings said the reason the
group will continue to work
to retain the show every year,
is to not let Belafonte’s work
disappear.
“I think what we’re doing is
especially important because
when you look at older icons,
you can see how bitter so many
have become and that’s because
the work they’ve done over the
years has been cast aside,” said
Cummings. “We want Harry to
see his age but not with bitterness,
and by keeping his music
alive, we’re keeping a smile on
his face.”
“Turn the World Around:
The Music and Legacy of Harry
Belafonte” at Aaron Davis Hall
at the City College Center for
the Arts 129 Convent Ave.
between W. 133rd and W. 135th
streets in Manhattan, (212)
650-6900, www.citycollegecenterforthearts.
org. March 1
at 7:30 pm. $40.
Continued from Page 45
A tale of injustice
tom of a tree. He thought about
them, drew them on paper, and
imagined what they might feel
like. Frank loved elephants but
he’d never seen a real-life one.
That’s why he became superexcited
when his mother mentioned
Miss Fancy, how she
was retiring from the circus,
and that the city was hoping its
schoolchildren might raise the
money to afford to buy her. And
they did. They did!
On the day that Miss Fancy
finally arrived, Frank was
there to welcome her. She was
ENORMOUS and loud and he
couldn’t wait to meet her in
person, but as Frank followed
the crowd into Avondale Park,
he was stopped by a small sign
at the entrance.
“No Colored Allowed.” And
that meant Frank.
But that couldn’t be! How
was he supposed to feed
peanuts to Miss Fancy if he
couldn’t go to the park? Mama
said it was the law, but that
didn’t make Frank feel any
better, and so he did his second
best: he tossed peanuts
over the fence to his big friend
while he thought.
There had to be a way
inside, right? Miss Fancy had
escaped from a park a time or
two — and if an elephant can
get out of a park, why couldn’t
Frank get in? Alas, even that
was impossible so Frank had
to face facts: he simply wasn’t
ever going to meet Miss Fancy
— but then, Miss Fancy had
other ideas…
Continued from Page 45
Tribute to Belafonte
Writer and founder of the National Black Theatre, Dr. Barbara
Ann Teer. National Black Theatre
Book cover of “Meet Miss
Fancy” by Irene Latham,
illustrated by John Holyfi
eld.
Artistic Director at the National
Black Theatre, Jonathan
McCrory.
Christine Jean Chambers
/www.citycollege-centerforthearts.org
/www.citycollege-centerforthearts.org
/www.citycollege-centerforthearts.org