Virtual Event In Montclair: Blackface Minstrelsy And U.S. Theater

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of the Vanguard Theater Company. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site.

Blackface minstrelsy, which derived its name from white performers who blackened their faces, was a form of entertainment that reached its peak in the mid-nineteenth century and still rears its ugly head today.

On Thursday, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m., join Seton Hall University Adjunct Professor and Founding Artistic Director of Vanguard Theater Company, Janeece Freeman Clark, and Susheel Bibbs, award-winning singer-filmmaker and founder of the Living Heritage Foundation, for a video presentation and rich conversation about the history of minstrelsy and how black producers, playwrights and composers used this form of entertainment as a catalyst to change the narrative and begin telling their own stories.

The event is free. Register here: http://bit.ly/VTCWebHis

Susheel Bibbs is an award-winning singer, filmmaker and founder of the Living Heritage Foundation, which advances the careers and projects of professional artists who enrich programming with works by/about African-Americans or women of note.

Janeece Freeman Clark is a Producer, Director, and Educator residing in the NYC region. Under her direction, the New York productions of Everything is Fine Until It’s Not, and A Portrait of Ray, won numerous awards and critical acclaim. Her production of Showtime with Shakespeare premiered at Georgestreet Playhouse and NJPAC, followed by two successful national tours. In 2015, Janeece co-founded Vanguard Theater Company to address the lack of diversity in theater casting and training. There she serves as Artistic Director as well as serving as Adjunct Professor of Theater at Seton Hall University.

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