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Through the committed efforts of local dramaturg/promoter Jaz Dorsey, the African American Playwrights Exchange (AAPEX) has provided encouragement and outlets for black theater writers, with staged readings taking place periodically in New York, Nashville and elsewhere. This event, which kicks off the AAPEX Black Women's Stage Project 2009 and also celebrates Black History Month, features excerpts from two plays slated for later production in Music City: Hannah Elias by Winston-Salem-based filmmaker Nathan Ross Freeman and Madam: The CJ Walker Musical by New York's Adriana Rodgers and Paul Johnson. Each work focuses on a singular woman who made her distinctive mark in the post-Civil War period. A terrific local cast has been assembled for the readings, including leading ladies Helen Shute-Pettaway and Jewel Lucien. Angel Michelle, granddaughter of legendary blues and jazz singer Dinah Washington (1924-1963), entertains pre-show with her rendition of Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child."
Mon., Feb. 16, 7 p.m., 2009
Mon., Feb. 16, 7 p.m., 2009
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