Events and Happenings
Walk Tall Girl Productions Celebrated 15 Years With A Taste of My World
Founder and president Marcia Pendelton, of Walk Tall Girl Productions, celebrated her company’s 15th anniversary Sept. 28, when she presented A Taste of My World: An Anniversary Celebration in Two Acts featuring friends from the performing arts, fashion and media worlds.
Marcia Pendelton
In association with Project1Voice and Harlem Hospital, the free event took place in the Herbert Cave Auditorium of Harlem Hospital Center. Act 1 – entitled “Sip, Shop and Bid” – featured Pendleton’s favorite fashion and accessory designers, with silent-auction proceeds benefiting designated theatre companies. Act 2 – titled “Show Out!” – was 90 minutes of special performances by artists and organizations among the rolodex of Walk Tall Girl Productions.
Featured artists were: Darius Crenshaw; Tony nominee André De Shields (The Wiz, The Full Monty); Eden Duncan-Smith (Fences, The Lion King); Marva Hicks (Motown The Musical); Ebony JoAnn (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom); Jamal Story (Motown the Musical, The Color Purple 2005); and Rema Webb (The Lion King, Violet, The Book of Mormon, The Color Purple 2015). Organizations included: Classical Theatre of Harlem; Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn; Dr. Barbara Ann Teer’s National Black Theatre; Sounds of Praise of Emmanuel Baptist Church; and The Designers Corner.
Founded in 2000, Walk Tall Girl Productions is a boutique marking, audience development and group sales agency dedicated to bringing diverse audiences to the arts on Broadway and beyond. The company, which specializes in theatre and reaching communities from the African Diaspora, has a client list that includes The Public Theater, The New York Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, National Black Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Urban Bush Women Dance Company. Productions receiving Pendleton’s services have included: Motown: The Musical; the Debbie Allen-directed Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Fences (with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis); and Fela!
Born and raised in Philadelphia and now a resident of Brooklyn, NY, Pendelton holds a bachelor’s in sociology (St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia) and a master’s in theatre management (University of Maryland, College Park). She is a member of the Harlem Arts Alliance and the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce.
Walk Tall Girl Productions Promo Video
Uploaded by Eddie Bailey on 2011-04-02.
Playwright Erika Dickerson-Despenza
There is limited seating left for Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s new play CULLUD WATTAH at The Public Theater. Opening today, Thursday, March 7th and running until Sunday, March 10th in the Public Studio is about three generations of Black women living through the current water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
“It’s been 936 days since Marion’s family has had clean water. When local activists file a class action lawsuit against the city, Marion—a third-generation employee at General Motors—must decide how best to support her two daughters, sister, and mother while lead seeps into the community, their home, and their bodies. As corrosive memories and secrets rise among them, the family wonders if they’ll ever be able to filter out the truth.”
2018 Relentless Award Semifinalist and poet-playwright makes her Public Theater debut with CULLUD WATTAH directed by Lilly Award winner Candis C. Jones; the cast includes Deonna Bouye (Marion), Alana Raquel Bowers (Reesee), Caroline Stefanie Clay (Big Ma), Nikiya Mathis (Ainee), and Kara Young (Plum).
The creative team includes Production Stage Manager Gregory Fletcher, Stage Manager Priscilla Villanueva, and Movement Director Adesola Osakalumi. Along with scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado, Costume Design by Ntokozo Fuzunina Kunene, lighting Design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, and sound design by Megan Culley
We believe in this work so much we’re giving away 4 tickets to the performances on March 10th. 2 tickets to the matinee and two the evening performance thanks to our founder Drew Shade and actress/playwright Jocelyn Bioh. Go to our Instagram to find out how!
Also, find out more about how you can help the Flint Water Crisis and support this show HERE.
Listen to Erika talk about her work on an episode of Off Book Podcast below
Performances begin today, Tuesday February 26th, for the New York premiere of Surely Goodness and Mercy, presented by Keen Company. A story about an exceptional boy living a troubled life in Newark, NJ who does a good deed for an often unnoticed person. Sarita Covington, Jay Mazyck, Brenda Pressley, Courtney Thomas, and Cezar Williams star under Jessi D. Hill’s direction.
Set in an under-funded public school in Newark, Surely Goodness and Mercy by rising playwright Chisa Hutchinson, tells the story of a bible-toting boy with a photographic memory who befriends the cantankerous old lunch lady. Against all odds, Tino and Bernadette help each other through the mess of growing up and growing old.
Surely Goodness and Mercy has spent the last year charming audiences across the country: “Notably absent from Hutchinson’s frank and sobering story: cynicism” – Chicago Reader; “(Surely Goodness and Mercy has) a soul-stirring quality, touching audiences with its sincerity” – Daily Utah Chronicle; “it’s impossible not to like it” – The Salt Lake Tribune. Now, Keen is honored to bring this big-hearted new play to New York for the first time.
Performances for this limited Off-Broadway engagement of Surely Goodness and Mercy will continue through Saturday, April 13th only, with opening night set for Wednesday, March 13th.