KALAMAZOO, Mich. – "Mahalia," the highly respected musical drama about legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, kicks off the Black Arts & Cultural Center's Face Off Theatre Company's fifth season in February. It is timed to coincide with Black History Month.

“Her voice became the center point for the Civil Rights Movement, alongside the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.," said Artistic Director Marissa Harrington, noting that the story of Jackson, who faced death threats for singing at anti-racism rallies, continues the company’s founding mission of thought-provoking Black theater that invites social change.

The rest of Season 5 is devoted to the exciting, original works of emerging and seasoned African-American playwrights with local ties: Von Washington Sr., Michelle Johnson, Earlene McMichael, Denise Miller and Shawntai Brown, all active in the performing arts community.

Here’s the lineup:

• JULY 2019 – Summer New Play Series. Staged at the Black Arts Festival, featuring Michelle Johnson’s “Dreamin’” and Denise Miller’s “A Ligature for Black Bodies,” plus Earlene McMichael’s “You’re Gonna Learn Today” that premiered at the 2018 "Black Lives, Black Words" project co-sponsored by Face Off and Western Michigan University's Theatre Department.

 

• APRIL/MAY 2019 – Annual Youth Series. Von Washington Sr., a veteran playwright/director/actor and a mentor to Face Off Theatre from its beginning, directs two of his plays, "The Ghost of Moosha" and "The Word Trap.”

 

• NOVEMBER 2019 – Season Closer. Shawntai Brown’s “eLLe” comes to the stage through Face Off Theatre’s first-ever collaboration with Queer Theatre Kalamazoo. The play follows the lives and intersections of queer women navigating self-love, community, career and identity.

For more information, email faceofftheatre@gmail.com. (Photo credit: Mahalia Jackson, Wikimedia Commons.)

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Black Arts & Cultural Center's Face Off Theatre Company announces the addition of six people to the management team,  its largest expansion since founding in 2015.

"As a company, we have come to realize the importance of our presence in the community as well as the need for us to push for sustainability," said Artistic Director Marissa Harrington. "We went through a formal interview process to recruit talented members from the community that would strengthen the company creatively, and operationally."

The individuals selected are: Christie Coleman, Community Outreach Coordinator; Kai Harris, Production Manager; Avery Kenyatta, Company Apprentice; Betty Lenzy, Volunteer Coordinator; Earlene McMichael, Brand Marketing and Social Media Manager, and Shea-Lin Shobowale-Benson, Season Stage Manager. The outreach and marketing positions are new. Nearly all the appointees have served the company as actors or in other roles. 

They join co-founders Marissa Harrington; Micealaya “Mickey” Moses, Season Planning & New Play Development Director; and Bianca Washington, Youth Programs Director. 

The management team now stands at nine persons, all volunteers, up from three.

MEET THE NEW COMPANY MEMBERS:

• Christie Coleman, Community Outreach Coordinator, has performed locally and regionally as an actress and singer. She has graced the stages of the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, Western Michigan University Theatre, Farmer’s Alley Theatre and Face Off Theatre Company. She studied fiction writing and playwriting at Columbia College Chicago. She currently oversees box office operations and personnel for the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in downtown Kalamazoo.

 

• ​Avery Kenyatta, Company Apprentice, graduates with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in acting from Western Michigan University in December. The Detroit native has worked with Face Off Theatre in multiple shows as a performer and, earlier this year, as a director for the premiere of a short play by Company Member Earlene McMichael at the “Black Lives, Black Words" global playwriting project co-sponsored by Western Michigan University and Face Off. He hopes to open his own theater company one day.

 

• Kai Harris, Production Manager, is a published writer of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. She is also an actress and director with extensive production experience. Her writing started with playwriting, evolving to include screenwriting and other writing forms. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English language & literature from the University of Michigan, a master’s in English, creative writing from Belmont University in Nashville, and is working on a PhD in fiction at Western Michigan University.

 

• Betty Lenzy, Volunteer Coordinator, has taught drama in middle and high school, describing herself as a “mother, grandmother, great grandmother, teacher, lover of children.” Lenzy helped create a drama club with support from the Kalamazoo County Education for the Arts. Her most recent and challenging theatrical experience was appearing in Face Off Theatre Company’s play, “Ships, Shells & Chains.” She says it re-energized her longing to be part of the local theater community.

 

• Earlene McMichael, Brand Marketing & Social Media Manager, is a former print journalist-turned-public radio reporter who started out with local church theater, transitioning to radio plays for All Ears Theatre. She was in Face Off’s “Been Lovin’ You,”  “Lyrical Invasion” (Dr. Von Washington Sr.) and "Rich Soil." She made her debut as a playwright at the 2018 "Black Lives, Black Words" global playwriting project at Western Michigan University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s in journalism. Her latest foray is into video production.

• Shea-Lin Shobowale-Benson, Season Stage Manager, has been performing onstage since the age of three as a dancer, singer and actress; she is also a writer. She was a member of The VUU Players at her alma mater, Virginia Union University in Richmond, Va., performing in several stage plays and impromptu nights. She honed her dance skills as a member of Expressions Liturgical Dance Troupe and Unique Image Dance Troop, and on the dance line as a Dancing Diva with the VUU Marching Band.

 
For more information, email faceofftheatre@gmail.com.​ (Photo credits: Mahalia Jackson, Wikimedia Commons; staff photo, Tanisha Pyron Photography.)