Cincinnati Black Theatre Company Presents TOPOLA, A Festival of Sharing, April 1--11

(Cincinnati, Ohio, March 29, 2004) Cincinnati Black Theatre Company (CBTC) will present a two-week festival of drama, musicals, workshops, poetry, puppetry for adults and children April 1-11. Cincinnati Black Theatre Company proudly presents TOPOLA, A Festival of Sharing, at several venues in Cincinnati as part of its 4th Biennial Midwest Regional Black Theatre Festival.

Cincinnati, Ohio (PRWEB) March 31, 2004 --Cincinnati Black Theatre Company (CBTC) will present a two-week festival of drama, musicals, workshops, poetry, puppetry for adults and children April 1-11. Cincinnati Black Theatre Company proudly presents TOPOLA: A Festival of Sharing So That All Are Included, at several venues in Cincinnati as part of its 4th Biennial Midwest Regional Black Theatre Festival.

The Festivals opening weekend presents two one-person shows by visiting artists from New York: A Song For You...The Civil Rights Journey of Negro Woman: Lena Calhoun Horne, written and performed by Wendi Joy Franklin and Free Jujube Brown, Hip-Hop Theatre, written and performed by Psalmayene 24.

A Song for You...The Civil Rights Journey of a Negro Woman: Lena Calhoun Horne is April 3-4 at Cincinnati Museum Center's Reakirt Auditorium. Written and performed by Wendi Joy Franklin, the play follows Horne from her childhood in the South in the 1920s through her early music and film career to the March on Washington and her work as a civil rights activist. The New York Times reported, "Miss Franklin's rendering of her subject is uncanny."

Hip-hop performer Psalmayene 24, a Helen Hayes Award nominee in Washington, performs Free Jujube Brown!, which explores a young man and his community when he accidentally shoots and kills a police officer. The show was a success at the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Hip-Hop Theatre Festival in New York and the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, N.C.

According to Don Sherman, Festival Executive Director, Theres something for everybody-- new and established plays and musicals, readers theatre, community discussions, a talent showcase, music, dance, visual art, poetry, seminars, workshops for children and adults in writing, acting, make-up, and costuming. Were also bringing back local hits that people cant stop talking about A Tribute to Motown, and The Kitchen Committee and An Evening with Paul Robeson!"

Cincinnati Black Theatre Company will stage A Tribute to Motown, April 3-4 at Cincinnati Art Museum and For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf on April 10 at the Reakirt Auditorium, Cincinnati Museum Center; Carlos Edwards The Kitchen Committee at Arts Consortium April 8-11, and Phillip Hayes Dean's An Evening with Paul Robeson, will be performed April 8-9 at Reakirt Auditorium.

Children's educational arts programming and workshops are scheduled both festival weekends. An opening gala is scheduled April 2. Festival coordinators are expecting 10,000 visitors to the two-week festival.

Tickets to readers theatre are $5. Advance discount tickets to festival theater performances are $20 and can be purchased online at http://www.cincyblacktheatre.com. Tickets to all theater performances are $25 at the door or by reservation. For more information and reservations, call 513-241-6060 or 513-421-1100.

For more information on tickets, performance locations and schedules, call Linda at 513-421-1100 or visit CBTs website at http://www.cincyblacktheatre.com. Email: dsherman@cincyblacktheatre.com

Festival Contacts:
Linda Jackson-Pointer and Linda L. Hilson
513-241-6060 or 513-421-1100
Arts Consortium of Cincinnati
1515 Linn Street
Cincinnati, OH 45214