Billie Holiday Theatre Inc
Programs
Youth Arts Academy and Black Arts Institute
Theatrical Productions1)Youth Arts AcademyThe Youth Arts Academy (YAA) provides weekly multidisciplinary arts instruction to youth (ages 3-18) in beginner/pre-professional Dance, Theater and African Drumming. The program is driven by a mission to further the development of the next generation of artists and provide students with the highest level of instruction. Youth Arts Academy also boasts a 24-year partnership with the Brooklyn Academy of Musics DanceAfrica festival, providing 16-weeks of free instruction with a focus on the dance and culture of a visiting country of the Diaspora. In addition, YAA has historically hosted the pre-opening DanceAfrica performances each year at Restoration Plazas outdoor amphitheater before the official performances take place on BAMs mainstage over Memorial Day weekend.2)Black Arts InstituteThe Black Arts Institute (BAI) is a unique partnership between The Billie Holiday Theatre and the Stella Adler Studio for Acting. The BAI meets a need for professional theater training programs focused on Americas Black Theater Canon, addressing the gap in Black Theater education that persists across many mainstream college and university theater programs. BAI offers both a one-week winter and five-week summer comprehensive exploration, and The Billie also partners with the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University on the BAI Transfer Track, a 14-week theater intensive which is accredited by NYU with The Billie Holiday Theatre serving as an NYU satellite program.In 2020, The Billie connected with 56 students through our Black Arts Institute; we offered both a virtual and hybrid one-week winter and five-week summer comprehensive exploration of the history of the contemporary Black theater tradition, led by a world-class faculty including: Stephen McKinley Henderson, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Phylicia Rashad, Michele Shay and Sonia Sanchez. In 2021, we served 28 students through two virtual sessions; a one-week winter immersion (16 students) and a five-week summer session (12 students).3)50in50: The Shattering of the Glass Ceiling: Wear Shoes Ladies, Theres Glass EverywhereThe Billie launched 50in50: Writing Women Into Existence, a platform for Black women from all walks of life to share their oftentimes unheard stories. Over 220 women and girls responded, ages 8 to 83 from around the world (Holland, South Africa) to around the corner in Bed Stuy. Their authentic and deeply touching stories addressed topics from sexuality and identity, aging and motherhood, to isolation and racism- all in response to a curatorial statement by Obie Award-winning playwright and MacArthur (Genius Grant) Fellow Dominique Morriseau. Submissions were then shaped into an original, full-length theatrical work and presented onstage by an ensemble of acclaimed actors to a sold-out audience. Since its launch, over 1,000 women have submitted their stories, and 250 have been brought to the stage in world premiere performances. Indeed, just days after the New York State Pause Order cancelled our live Brooklyn performance this year, The Billie used 50in50 to reach audiences online with two streamed readings of 50in50 (Letters to Our Sons and Love in the Time of Corona) garnering over 47,000 in views. In 2021, The Billie launched its fifth iteration of 50in50 which was streamed on Mothers Day, 2021, entitled The Shattering of the Glass Ceiling: Wear Shoes Ladies, Theres Glass Everywhere. 50in50 addressed womens response to the shattering of the glass ceiling personified by the election of the first woman of color as Vice President. Monologues were guided by a curatorial statement by Dominique Morriseau, fifty monologues were brought to life by award-winning actors, and the entire performance was filmed and streamed online before thousands.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesJul 1, 2020 – Jun 30, 2021Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$5.6MProgram 1 [2024]
Artistic Programming:FY24 marked The Billies return as a producer of a full staged production inside the theatre. FABULATION or the Re-Education of Undine by Lynn Nottage had a four-week run of 31 performances from April to May. This production required significant funding with close to 100 creatives working onstage, backstage, front of house, and offsite. Total sales were over $50k and the production received great press and three AUDELCO award nominations. In the visual arts world, BHT received high praise for its Sky is the Limit: Music as Resistance exhibition by centering the public statue of Bed-Stuys own Christopher Wallace, the renowned rapper the Notorious B.I.G. by artist Sherwin Banfield. The series also included an exhibition focused on style with a fashion show as part of the exhibition opening reception. BHT received a small portion of the sales of the artwork in the exhibitions.Other key programming activities included a literary talk to promote the first memoir by Mrs. Viola Ford Fletcher Dont Let Them Bury My Story, the live audience recording of the hip-hop podcast HARD2EARN on the 35th anniversary of Wu-Tangs 36 Chambers, and another literary talk centered on a young adult story that included a partnership with the Brooklyn Childrens Theater. BHT continued its robust SummerFest outdoor programming, which includes the Summer Music Series, Black Joy FilmFest, and Skylight Open. SummerFest events continue to attract close to 10,000 people.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesJul 1, 2023 – Jun 30, 2024Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$2.4M
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