It was a big night when 20 members of Eisa’s extended family — including Angela, Fania and Cess, all portrayed in the show — came to see the MIXTAPE! Anna Hayman snapped these pix.
From top: EVERYBODY!; Cecilie Davis Carter and Ayesha Ngaujah (Cess); Kim Brockington (Mommy), Fania Davis; Cecilie Davis Carter, Angela Davis, Kim Brockington (Mommy); the cast with Cecilie, Angela and Fania; Linda Powell (Angela), Angela Davis
Left to right: Eisa Davis (as Eisa), Kim Brockington (Mommy), and Denise Burse (Grandma) in Eisa Davis' "Angela's Mixtape," presented by New Georges and Hip-Hop Theater Festival at the Ohio Theatre, 66 Wooster Street (between Spring and Broome Streets). The production is directed by Liesl Tommy. Performances run from April 6 through May 2, 2009. Photo credit: Jim Baldassare.
The final installment is here! DJ Spinna releases his specially made mix, making this the third, and final installment on the ANGELA’S MIXTAPE special features component of our live theater production.
So come check it out, live live totally live.
Lia Chang snapped these pics at the MIXTAPE opening night part at the Ohio Theatre! Thanks Lia! Everybody go see more at liachang.wordpress.com!
From left, we’ve got Kim and Eisa; Kim, Kim’s mom and Denise; Susan, Denise and Clyde; below, Liesl and the company (from left, Linda, Ayesha, Liesl, Eisa, Denise and Kim); and everybody dancing!
As promised, the 2nd installment of hot new mixes by the best DJs around — Check out DJ Reborn’s Mix made especially for ANGELA’S MIXTAPE!
Eisa Davis & Linda Powell in ANGELA'S MIXTAPE, Photo by Jim Baldassare
Phew! If you opened your Weekend section on Friday — what are we saying!? You didn’t need to open your Weekend section! We were on the front page! Read what Mr. Isherwood had to say right here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/theater/reviews/10mixt.html?_r=3&ref=theater
Which reminds us, tickets are selling fast, Saturday night was sold out! Get ‘em now to make sure you got ‘em!www.smarttix.com
Eisa, Linda, Ayesha and some of the kids from the Geller House
So the first showing of ANGELA’S MIXTAPE was pay-what-you-will Monday, and full of thrills! The packed house included a group of 11-15 year olds from the Geller House and the buzz was audible in the Ohio’s lobby. I heard snippets of “that was great” and “wish it was a movie so I could watch it over and over…”
Well, kids, we got 24 shows left if you want to come back! We loved having you!
And for the rest of you out there, the houses are just gonna get more crazy full, so come out early and get cozy with us! Leave some time for a second showing 
Hi y’all! The name’s Naomi Lynch, and I’m currently a intern for the Hip Hop Theater Festival. I’m 16, and only a few days ago I was invited to one of the most awesome events of my life – I’m never going to forget. I was invited to the reading of Angela’s Mixtape alongside another HHTF intern, Kavon Johnson, and some other students from my high school, because HHTF wanted our reflections on the show and to see if high school students, like ourselves, would be interested in seeing such a play.
I attend Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School, commonly known as BCAM. It’s a high school that strongly encourages creative expression, and that’s a big part of what drew HHTF to my school and keeps the collaboration we have now.
At first, I have to admit I had no idea what I was going to attend. “A reading,” Daphne (the Director of Education at HHTF) called it. I literally thought we were going to see the play! Instead we heard it read… It was the whole thing – but just not on stage. (There was a miniscule version – set design – of the stage…it looked cool).
Then the reading began. It was almost like I was in a car, just driving through moments of time. It was captivating, and like…..you really have to see it for yourself. You will be spellbound by those five women on stage, I promise you. Eisa Davis brought each character to life so honestly; I got disappointed when I heard the play might be edited again. It was neat to learning about Angela Davis through the eyes of her niece. And learn about Eisa Davis…by Eisa Davis. Sure we didn’t grow up during the same time period, but…she was a black girl like me who really didn’t know where she belonged. And I loved the
play for showing so much vulnerability.
-Naomi L. BCAM Jr. (intern at HHTF)
Being apart of the reading of “Angela’s Mix-tape” was an amazing opportunity and I was so grateful to take part in watching the pre-production process. I am John Dargan and I am an 11th grader at Brooklyn Community Arts & Media HS located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant/Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn. I was invited to the reading of “Angela’s Mix-Tape”, through my school’s partnership with the Hip Hop Theater Festival. Being able to watch the reading was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I loved how the play kept a musical and mix-tape type theme and always had something to catch your attention. It also stuck to a historic theme and was an overall great experience. I can’t wait to see the show come to stage and I think in watching the reading I am even more eager to see little things such as the wardrobe and lighting because the words spoke deeply to me and I hope the other things do the same. My favorite moments in watching the reading was when the girls would always go back to music to help describe the history. Something like, “When I was in NY I found myself on Bleeker St”. I do agree that other young folks would definitely find this play amusing. I think in being young it’s easy to get bored with the things we learn in school. I think this play will hit us on the head with great knowledge in a fun and amusing way.
-John D, BCAM Jr.(Friend and assistant at HHTF!)
I went to rehearsal yesterday and saw a runthrough and it was GREAT!! I’m more excited than ever about the show and the kind of experience it’s going to be for the audience. Can’t wait for you to see it.
Meanwhile, I’ve been wanting to post this little glossary we put together. Helps to know a little bit about the stuff the show is talking about… Read on!
All mixed up? A short glossary of terms.
Back to the Future The most popular film of 1985 features Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, a teenager who travels back in time from 1985 to 1955 and accidentally prevents his parents from meeting, putting his own existence at stake. Ronald Reagan quoted the film in his 1986 State of the Union Address.
Communism As codified by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, communism is the ultimate result of socialism, a process occurring only after capitalism has collapsed in on itself. In this stage of social evolution, the working class, bourgeoisie, and the ruling class can no longer exist. From the Manifesto: “Communism deprives no man of the power to appropriate the products of society; all that it does is to deprive him of the power to subjugate the labor of others by means of such appropriation.”
Davis, Angela Y. American political activist and professor of philosophy. In 1970, at age 26, Davis became the third woman and the 309th individual to appear on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List. A target of then-California Governor Ronald Reagan and FBI director J. Edgar Hoover’s Cointelpro policies, she was first fired from UCLA for her activism and membership in the Communist party, then charged with murder, conspiracy, kidnapping, and interstate flight after a gun registered in her name was used in an attempt to free the Soledad Brothers, political prisoners for whom she had sought justice. She went underground for two months before being arrested in New York City, and was acquitted of all charges in 1972. John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s song “Angela” and the Rolling Stones’ “Sweet Black Angel” advocated for her release. In the 80s, Davis ran for Vice President on the Communist Party ticket. Currently Professor of History of Consciousness at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Davis speaks nationally and internationally with a focus on the eradication of the prison industrial complex. Aunt of American playwright and performer Eisa Davis.
Flint’s Bar-B-Q Oakland, CA. Mmm, mmm!
Grenada An island nation peopled mainly by descendants of Africans in the southeastern Caribbean sea. A peaceful socialist revolution in Grenada toppled a dictator in 1979, then President Ronald Reagan and the United States invaded the country in 1983 in response to the government’s close ties with Cuba. Grenada’s population was approximately the same at the time of the invasion as it is now: a whopping 90,343.
Hip-Hop Theater As delineated by the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, live theater written by and about the hip-hop generation. Often using elements of hip-hop culture (including MCing, DJing, hip-hop dance, graffiti, spoken word), hip-hop theater tells urgent stories seldom represented on stage, through language that embraces hip-hop’s multi-literate and poly-lingual vitality.
Macrobiotic From the Greek “macro” (large, long) and “bios” (life), is commonly known as a dietary practice based on the principles of yin and yang. Meals often include whole grains, legumes, vegetables (from earth and sea), and fermented soy. A macrobiotic lifestyle encourages living in balance with nature by eating local, seasonal and organic foods with the belief that this will lead to world peace.
Mixtape Also known as a mixed tape. A compilation of songs recorded in a specific order, traditionally onto a compact audio cassette, it generally reflects the musical tastes of its compiler, which can range from a casually selected list of favorite songs, to a conceptual mix of songs linked by theme or mood, to a highly personal statement tailored to the tape’s intended recipient. Notable subgenres include the romantic mix and the break-up mix.
New York Women’s House of Detention Built on the site of the Jefferson Market Prison that succeeded Jefferson Market at the corner of Sixth and Greenwich Avenues in Manhattan. Mae West, Billie Holiday and Black Panther Afeni Shakur, mother of Tupac, were some of the women arrested and held there before Angela Davis’s arrest. Believed to have been the world’s only art deco prison, it was demolished in 1973 and replaced with a garden and library.
ANGELA’S MIXTAPE is mixing it up with a hot new track from DJ Center – the first of three mixes specially commissioned by Hip-Hop Theater Festival for the show! Check it out here, then watch for 2 more coming soon!
Click the link, or hover over it till you see the sign for play! Come check out the show where you can buy full CD compilations from some of the hottest DJs in NYC…
