Classical Theatre of Harlem

The Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) is an award-winning off-broadway professional theatre company founded in 1999 at the Harlem School for 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 AEA LORT contract in Harlem. Its season selections and present a world repertory ranging from Euripides to Derek Walcott, featuring classical, American, and new emerging playwrights. Since its founding, the CTH has put on over 40 productions, including Dutchman Waiting for Godot, Macbeth, Detroit '67", The Blacks: A Clown Show, Henry V, A Midsummer Night's Dream and various others for which the company has received numerous AUDELCO, OBIE, Drama Desk, American Theatre Wing and Lucille Lortell nominations and awards.

Classical Theatre of Harlem
Formation1999
TypeTheatre group
PurposeClassical, Musicals, Plays
Location
  • 8 W 126th St New York, NY 10027-3811 USA
Artistic director(s)
Ty Jones
Websitehttps://www.cthnyc.org

The Classical Theatre of Harlem is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation that strives to provide areas of representation and opportunity for artists of color working in the classical cannon. Their extremely diverse casting is known for allowing actors of color the opportunity to play leading roles in a classical play.

Classical Theatre of Harlems' production of Antigone, July 2018

Mission

To maintain a professional theatre company dedicated to presenting the “classics” on the stages of Harlem; To create employment and educational outreach opportunities in the theatre arts for the Harlem community; To create and nurture a new, young, and culturally diverse audience for the “classics”; To seek out socially and politically challenging topics while encouraging social action; and To heighten the awareness of theater and of great art in Harlem[1]

With a strong focus on community engagement and outreach, The Classical Theatre of Harlem provides many educational resources to those who are financially inaccessible. Through their growing number of organizations, CTH benefits 18,000 New Yorkers annually with a strong presence and influence in Harlem. [1]

History

The Classical Theatre of Harlem was founded in 1999 by theatre directors Alfred Preisser and Christopher McElroen at The Harlem School of the Arts where Alfred served as the director of the Theatre Division until 2007. Both men directed the majority of shows produced at The Classical Theatre of Harlem during their time of leadership with the exception of Funnyhouse of a Negro, directed by Billie Allen, and Ma Rainey s Black Bottom, directed by Arthur French.[2] Preisser served as artistic director and McElroen as executive director for ten years before simultaneously stepping down in early November of 2009.[3] Towards the end of their management, the company struggled significantly due to financial mismanagement and near bankruptcy, but fortunately made a comeback under the new African American administration.

Ty Jones, Artistic Director

Ty Jones has worked at The Classical Theatre of Harlem as an actor and artistic collaborator since 2003 before taking over as producing artistic director in 2009. Ty was able to erase the companies $400,000 debt during the time of the 2009 recession. Under new leadership, CTH has not only become economically and administratively secure, but many new collaboration and educational programs have been created as a resource for the neighborhood of Harlem and beyond.[4] These programs range from a literary series that promotes playwrights of color, to large matinee holidays shows produced for school children in New York. Since this change in management, CTH has become well-known as a Black theatre, celebrating the work and talents of African American theatre-makers at the performance and production level.

In 2018, CTH partnered with Columbia University in a community program featuring Columbia's MFA third-year Acting students. These students form 'The Young Company' who provides educational shows to larger groups of children, around 467 students as of 2019 with nearly 70% of them reporting positive experiences after the production.[5] As of 2019, The Classical Theatre of Harlem has celebrated its 20th anniversary and the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance.

Educational Programming

The Classical Theatre of Harlem provides three educational and skill building programs on top of their general programming.

The "Playwrights Playground" program allows emerging and unrepresented playwrights to take part in a cold reading series that will help promote their work.

A "Future Classics" program aids in the development of new plays that may be of future significance, allowing the playwrights to share their piece with an audience and gather feedback, which is critical to their growth process.

Lastly, "Project Classics" is a free theatre arts educational training program for students ages 8-18 in partnership with the Dream Center NYC.[6]

Production History
Production Season Director Playwright
A Midsummer Nights Dream 2013-14 Justin Emeka William Shakespeare
Detroit 67 2013-14 Kwame Kwei-Armah Dominique Morriseau
Romeo N Juliet 2014-15 Justin Emeka Adapted by: Justin Emeka
Light it Up 2014-15 - Lelund Durond Thompson

Jason Michael Webb

Dutchman 2014-15 Carl Cofield Amiri Baraka
The Tempest 2015-16 Carl Cofield William Shakespeare
The First Noel 2015-16 Steve H. Broadnax II Lelund Durond Thompson
Macbeth 2016-17 Carl Cofield William Shakespeare
The First Noel 2016-17 Steve H. Broadnax II Lelund Durond Thompson
Fit For A Queen 2016-17 Tamilla Woodard Betty Shamieh
The Three Musketeers 2017-18 Jenny Bennett Catherine Bush
Sancho: an Act of Remembrance 2017-18 Simon Godwin Paterson Joseph
Antigone 2018-19 Carl Cofield Sophocles
A Christmas Carol In Harlem 2018-19 Steve H. Broadnax II Charles Dickens

Awards and nominations

The Classical Theatre of Harlem holds 61 AUDELCO nominations[7] and has won 18 awards for excellence in Black theatre. Many of their other accomplishments include:

  • 2 Lucille Lortel Awards
  • 5 OBIE Awards
  • 2004 Drama Desk Award for Artistic Excellence 2004 Drama Desk nomination for Best Actress
  • 2005 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Musical Revival
  • Trojan Women 2004 Edwin Booth Award for Artistic Excellence
  • 2008 American Theater Wing Ward
  • CTH named "1 of 8 Theatres to Watch in America" by The Drama League[8]

In 2010, CTH received a National Endowment for the Arts for the development of Radha Blank's Seed.

References
  1. "Mission". The Classical Theatre of Harlem. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  2. ""Ty Jones: Rescuing the Classical Theatre of Harlem" by Bradford, Patrick A. - Black Masks, Vol. 23, Issue 1, Summer/Fall 2016 | Online Research Library: Questia". www.questia.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  3. "Founders to Leave Classical Theatre of Harlem". www.backstage.com. 2009-11-02. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  4. Sarachan, Risa. "Actor Ty Jones, Who Once Saved The Classical Theatre Of Harlem, Now Presents Its 20th Season". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  5. "The Young Company". Columbia - School of the Arts. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  6. https://www.cthnyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/POSITION-GUIDE-Classical-Theatre-of-Harlem-Director-of-Development.pdf
  7. "AUDELCO, Audience Development Committee, Inc". Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  8. Mouth, World of (2012-02-14). "World of Mouth". World of Mouth. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.