City Life Org – the little OPERA theatre of ny in association with National Black Theatre and Harlem Opera Theater presents American One Acts

The little OPERA theatre of ny (LOTNY) will present American One Acts, a double bill, conducted by Gregory Hopkins and directed by Philip Shneidman, from May 31 – June 4, 2023 at Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue, NYC. Performances: Thu-Fri at 8pm, Sat at 2 & 8pm, Sun at 3pm. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased at https://ci.ovationtix.com/35006/production/1155684. Student rush tickets will also be available in person at the box office two hours prior to showtime.

LOTNY’s new project pairs Highway 1, U.S.A. by William Grant Still, libretto by Verna Arvey, with Down in the Valley by Kurt Weill, libretto by Arnold Sundgaard.

American One Acts, a double bill

Highway 1, U.S.A. by William Grant Still, libretto by Verna Arvey 

Down in the Valley by Kurt Weill, libretto by Arnold Sundgaard

Directed by Philip Shneidman

Choreography by Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish

Fight direction by Brad Lemons

The production is conducted by Harlem Opera Theater’s Music Director Gregory Hopkins, joined by LOTNY Associate Musician Catherine Miller at the piano. Featured artists include sopranos Lynnesha Crump and Victoria Davis; mezzo-soprano Sarah Nelson Craft, tenor Omar Bowey, baritones Kyle Oliver, Ron Loyd; and bass-baritone Andrew Richardson, with other artists to be announced.

This unique double bill is composed of two one act American operas rarely seen in New York City and never before seen together. Highway 1, U.S.A., by African American composer William Grant Still, premiered in 1963 and is based upon a libretto by his wife Verna Arvey, a daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants. Down in the Valley, by German immigrant Kurt Weill, premiered in 1948 and is based upon a libretto by first generation playwright Arnold Sundgaard. The two iconic composers and their librettists, with their varied backgrounds, sought to merge classical European and populist American music traditions to create a new kind of hybrid operatic form that is uniquely American.

Highway 1, U.S.A. is about a couple named Bob and Mary who run a gas station convenience store along Highway 1, and the sacrifices they endure to put Bob’s brother Nate through college. The family dynamic turns tragic and the sheriff arrives. Down in the Valley is set in Birmingham City and tells the story of forbidden love, jealousy, and a hanging. LOTNY’s production will help uncover issues of inequality, the burden of family, and the racial boundaries inherent in both works.

The scores for both one act operas are tremendous, featuring great lyric passages and powerful dramatic moments. Both operas are written in English and intended for an English-speaking audience, featuring common ground settings and recognizable characters, increasingly accessibility to what can sometimes be an intimidating art form.

American One Acts was presented as a preview concert in May 2022 as part of the Seventh Annual New York Opera Fest, presented by the New York Opera Alliance (NYOA) in partnership with OPERA America.

This program is supported, in part, by Public Funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council. Additional leadership support is provided by The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc.

About the Artists

Gregory Hopkins was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. He received his advanced education in voice from Temple University, and in opera from The Curtis Institute of Music. As a conductor he has led performances of Blake’s Shuffle Along, Britten’s The Burning Fiery Furnace both with Harlem Opera Theater, Gershwin’s Blue Monday with On-Site Opera, and HL Freeman’s opera Voodoo at The Miller Theater in a co-presentation by Harlem Opera Theater and Morningside Opera. Hopkins has prepared singers for Martina Arroyo’s “Prelude to a Performance” and Alvin Ailey’s “Revelation” Celebration at Lincoln Center. His Harlem Jubilee singers completed a tour of Chile with the Concepcion Symphony performing Porgy and Bess, as well as concerts in Argentina and Japan. Upcoming is The 7 Last Words of the Unarmed at The Apollo. For more than one third of a century he has been Minister of Music for Harlem’s Convent Avenue Baptist Church. He is also Artistic Director for Harlem Opera Theater, Music Director for the Harlem Jubilee Singers, and Cocolo Japanese Gospel Choir. Gregory Hopkins began his career as a singer winning numerous prizes in competitions including: The Verdi Prize in Busetto, Italy; Outstanding Tenor Award, Mantova, Italy; The Dealy Award and The Opera Index Grant. As a singer, pianist, organist, choral conductor, teacher and clinician, Hopkins has traveled throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and The Middle East, with recent performances including The Cervantes and Pitic Festivals (Mexico); Orvieto, Rome and Umbria Festivals (Italy); Vienne Festival (France) and Vitoria-Gasteiz Festival (Spain). Additional performances included Mozarteum (San Juan, Argentina); Teatro Mayor (Bogota, Columbia); Sodre (Montevideo, Uruguay); Pro Arte (Cordoba, Argentina). He is a featured artist on more than 6 commercially released CD projects; one of which was nominated for a Grammy. Equally occupied as an educator, he has served on the faculties of: Community College of Philadelphia; Morgan State University; Westminster Choir College and NY Seminary of the East. Currently, he is Coordinator of Classical Voice and Operatic Activities at Howard University DC.

Director Philip Shneidman founded the little OPERA theatre of ny. Recent productions include Benjamin Britten’s Owen Wingrave, J.A Hasse’s Piramo e Tisbe, the NY Premiere of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players, an original adaptation of Chevalier de Saint-Georges L’Amant Anonyme, Floyd’s Slow Dusk & Markheim, and Gioachino Rossini’s Opportunity Makes the Thief. Previous seasons include Gluck’s The Reformed Drunkard; an evening of two one-act operas by Gustav Holst entitled Travelers. Other opera includes Eugene Onegin and Dialogues of the Carmelites at The Mannes College of Music, Purcell’s The Tempest at Rutgers. His theater directing credits include: Fully Committed (Adirondack Theatre Festival); and Romeo & Juliet (Queens Theatre in the Park), A Drowned Girl [1919] (HERE). As an assistant director on Broadway he worked on The Full Monty, and the Gutierrez productions of A Delicate Balance and The Heiress.

Choreographer Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish started dancing at the age of five and became the youngest member of Ballet Philippines. She came to the United States as a teenager and studied at the Ailey School and then danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Joyce Trisler and other companies before joining Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1984. She was the First Filipina principal dancer with the company. The New York Times described her as “a cool, still, lyrical center of the Ailey Storm”. She was featured in 1997 for Dance Magazine’s cover article and named by Avenue magazine as one of the 500 most influential Asian-Americans. After leaving Ailey in 1997, she continued to guest for the Ailey company through the years and continues to teach at the Ailey School. She has also taught at Harvard, Sara Lawrence and other colleges. Elizabeth received the Ma-Yi Theater Award honoring her contributions to the Arts. She has choreographed for regional theaters as well as for Off Broadway shows in New York as well as being commissioned to create works Internationally and in the United States. She has created several dance films as well as for the 2020 Soho International Film Festival and for The Philippines Fifth Wall Fest in 2021. Her most recent project was creating a work for the Ailey II Dance Company.

Fight Director Brad Lemons has collaborated with LOTNY on Piramo e Tisbe, Prince of Players, and Markheim. Metropolitan Opera House: Romeo et Juliette, Otello, Carmen. Broadway: currently Camelot, previous: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Off-Broad- way: Treasure Island, Hamlet, Macbeth. Film: Bear With Us. TV: All My Children. Current Faculty: Circle in the Square and The Neighborhood Playhouse. He is the President of the American Association of Fight Directors.

Jamaican-born Omar Bowey is a burgeoning young tenor with stunning versatility. Meche Kroop has described his voice as a “fresh sweet tenor.” Mr. Bowey’s operatic work includes the lead roles of “Tamino” in Die Zauberflöte, “Don Ottavio” in Don Giovanni, “Ferrando” in Cosí fan tutte, and a recently covered “Nemorino” in L’elisir d’amore. Other operatic roles include “Borsa” in Rigoletto as well as “Soldato #2” and “Famigliario #1” in L’incoronazione di Poppea. Mr. Bowey’s solo concert work includes Schubert’s Mass in G, Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël, the first part of Handel’s Messiah, and Kathleen Battle’s groundbreaking Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey concert at the Metropolitan Opera.

Mezzo-soprano Sarah Nelson Craft has received wide acclaim for her solo and operatic performances. In response to her 2016 Spotlight Recital at Carnegie Hall with pianist Warren Jones, Opera News called her “exquisite… glowing… genuine,” while Voce di Meche hailed her as a “born storyteller.” Carnegie Hall invited her back for another solo recital in 2018 for their Neighborhood Concerts Series, and in 2019 she continued to bring her passion for art song to the stage, performing Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder with pianist Martin Katz at the Five Boroughs Music Festival. Recent concert debuts include Joseph Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne with the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra and the title role in Handel’s Solomon with Amor Artis Chorus and New York Baroque Inc. For her latest concert with Brooklyn Art Song Society’s 2020 digital season of Schubert lieder, Seen and Heard International praised her “sincerity and warmth” as well as “the rich beauty of her voice and her dramatic instincts.” Engagements that were canceled in 2020 included a tour of Bach arias and Harbison songs with Camerata Pacifica throughout Southern California, Bach’s Mass in B minor with the National Philharmonic, and the role of Melisande in Pelleas et Melisande with Maryland Lyric Opera. Other notable concert work has included her Lincoln Center debut in 2012 as both alto and soprano II soloist in Bach’s Mass in B minor with the National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall, Mozart’s Coronation Mass with the American Classical Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall, Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Masterworks Festival Chorus at Carnegie Hall, Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody and Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with Princeton Pro Musica, and Mahler’s Symphony No.2 with the New Jersey Festival Orchestra. In 2019 she gave a New England recital tour with pianist Deidre Brenner, culminating in a performance and residency at Dartmouth College. On the opera stage she most recently brought her “pleasing, well-formed mezzo” (Opera UK) to the challenging role of Piramo in Johann Adolph Hasse’s Piramo e Tisbe with The Little Opera Theatre of NY. Her performance as Dorabella in LoftOpera’s Così fan tutte, drew universal acclaim as well; Opera News noted that her “warm, rich voice brought out the magic” while Parterre Box called her performance “excellent… pliant and luminous.” Other favorite operatic roles have included Cenerentola, Cherubino, Dido, Rosina, Hansel, Hermia, Nancy in Albert Herring, and the title role in Cendrillon, working with companies such as the Caramoor International Music Fesitval, Opera North, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, and the Macau International Music Festival. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Ms. Craft holds a Bachelor’s Degree (cum laude) in Italian and music from Dartmouth College and a Master’s Degree in vocal performance from the University of North Texas College of Music. She trained as a Young Artist with Bel Canto at Caramoor and at the Music Academy of the West where she worked with Marilyn Horne, who continues to be a mentor. She has been a first prize and audience choice award winner at the district level of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and won third place in The American Prize in Art Song and Oratorio 2016.

Soprano Lynnesha Crump “owned the stage” singing soulfully and tenderly with poise (Oregon Artswatch). Ms. Crump recently played the role of Strawberry Woman in Porgy and Bess with Des Moines Metro Opera and the role of Verna in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut up in my Bones in its Lyric Opera of Chicago premiere. Earlier she was in the original production of Fire Shut up in my Bones with the Metropolitan Opera (soon available on the Met: Live in HD). Other live and HD appearances at the MET include Verdi Requiem, Boris Godunov, and Don Carlos, and onstage in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. This season Ms. Crump made her debut at Harris Theater as a soloist in a live album recording titled Emancipation, as well as debuting the role of Rachel in the world premiere of The 42 project; both written and composed by Adrian Dunn. Past season highlights include: an original featured soloist in the Metropolitan Opera’s Grammy Award Winning production of Porgy and Bess, resident artist with Portland Opera, finalist in the Opera Ebony Vocal Competition, soloist in Stinney by Frances Pollock with the Prototype Festival, a virtual production of Salt, also by Pollock, singing the role of Angel with Yale University, and work as Stella in Tales of Hoffman at the Aspen Music Festival. Ms. Crump’s performance in the title role of Suor Angelica in Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance was hailed by critics saying, “We were blown away with twice the force [of her voice] (Voce di Meche).” Recent engagements of note include: the opening performance of Lift Every Voice and Sing at the Nike World Headquarters’ Annual Sneaker Ball; the Star-Spangled Banner for the D.C. United Soccer Club; Venus in Wagner’s Tannhäuser with Apotheosis Opera; and the inaugural concert of President Barack Obama with Beyoncé Knowles. Ms Crump was also featured as one of the young artists in ‘The Song Continues’ at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, Ms. Crump is decorated with awards from the Benjamin Matthew’s Vocal Competition, Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition, the Gerda Lissner Vocal Competition, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council. She is a proud graduate of the Mannes School of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory where she received her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance.

Soprano Victoria Davis has been a featured soloist in many concerts and events including the Welcoming of the First Lady of Russia with Michelle and Barack Obama and the Kennedy Center’s Young Artist in America presentation. Recent and upcoming engagements include Mrs. Zegner in Proving Up and Mary in Highway 1 with Opera Ithaca, the world premiere of composer Felix Jarrar’s Stardust, a piece written especially for her, with Helios Opera, and the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica with Opera Susquehanna, and several performances with the innovative Fresh Squeezed Opera in New York City. On the competition circuit in 2022, Ms. Davis has placed as District Winner in The Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition, Finalist in The Jensen Foundation’s Competition, received a Grant Award from the Giulio Gari competition, and an Encouragement Award from The Gerda Lissner Foundation. Past awards include Encouragement Winner in The Metropolitan Opera’s 2021 Laffont Competition, First Place in the Harlem Opera Competition, and others.

A frequent performer with Opera on Tap, Ms. Davis recently joined the New York City chapter as a Creative Producer, as well as The Director of Education. She is a proud alumnus of Oberlin Conservatory and Mannes College of Music, where some of her favorite roles included Lady Billows in Albert Herring and Marguerite in scenes from Faust.

Recognized by The New York Times as a “robust baritone” and “agile comedian” and by The Sondheim Review for his “opulent baritone and nuanced phrasing,” Ron Loyd has been praised for thoughtful portrayals and versatility on operatic, concert, and musical theatre stages across the United States. After his role debut of RIGOLETTO with Salt Marsh Opera, Connecticut’s The Day wrote “it was the vocal power and characterizations by Loyd, in the title role, that carried the night. Physically compelling in his characterization…Loyd mined dramatic material at every turn, whether cowering, raging or pouring affection on Gilda. His seething musing on his fate, to be mocked daily by those who stand straight and tall, ‘Pari siamo,’ came across as a Shakespearean soliloquy writ larger than life.”  In recent seasons, Ron added the title role of Verdi’s MACBETH to his repertoire with New Hampshire’s Raylynmor Opera, appeared as FORD in Verdi’s Falstaff with Winter Opera St. Louis, returned to Mobile Opera as TONIO in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, and performed LEPORELLO in Don Giovanni for his seventh role with Albuquerque’s Opera Southwest. The baritone performed THOMAS BETTERTON in the NY stage premiere of Carlisle Floyd’s newest opera Prince of Players with the little OPERA theatre of NY, returned to the Helena Symphony in Montana for MARCELLO in Puccini’s La Bohème, and reprised the title role of SWEENEY TODD in a return to Baltimore Concert Opera. In his 2018 company debut with St. Petersburg Opera as GERMONT in La Traviata, the Tampa Bay Times wrote “Ron Loyd blossoms from his earlier passages as a sturdy supporting player to an indispensable rock. This metamorphosis, brilliantly written into the score, happens as Violetta agrees to break off the romance and his suspicion turns into admiration for her character. Time and again throughout the rest of the show, Loyd added depth to everyone else on stage, [which] allowed Loyd to emerge as the opera’s surprise star.” In the season prior to the COVID 19 pandemic, Ron debuted as FREDRIK in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music with Opera Ithaca and with The Chorus of Westerly and New England Symphony Orchestra as bass soloist in Beethoven’s NINTH SYMPHONY. He made returns to Raylynmor Opera as Falke in a new English translation of Johann Strauss II’s DIE FLEDERMAUS, Cambridge Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven’s NINTH SYMPHONY, and Baltimore Concert Opera for his role debut of John Sorel in Menotti’s THE CONSUL.

Heralded as a “ripe baritone that makes one sit up and wish for more,” Kyle Oliver has enchanted listeners time and again over the course of his career. Previous operatic highlights include portraying Zurga in Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers with Sarasota Opera, Junius in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia with Loft Opera in New York City, Lincoln Center’s reopening as Fiorello in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia with Teatro Nuovo, as well as Berto in Manuel Garcia’s Un avvertimento ai gelosi with Caramoor Opera. Oliver has frequently performed with Pittsburgh Opera singing the roles of Prince Yamadori in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Count Robinson in Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto, the Father in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, and, most memorably, as Dave Hoskins in the world premiere of Pittsburgh Opera’s production of The Summer King, a story detailing the life of legendary Negro League baseball star Josh Gibson. Kyle has been honored as a recipient of the Jeanette Rohatyn “Great Promise” Award by the Metropolitan Opera National Council, a Career Development Award from the Sullivan Foundation, and was the grand prize winner of the Bel Canto Foundation competition in Chicago, IL. He holds a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School and Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University.

American bass-baritone Andrew Richardson has been acclaimed for his “very beautiful, very good, and well produced voice” as well as having “an evident potential in the dramatic repertoire” (Wagner Society of New York). Richardson has performed with many regional companies, recently making his New Amsterdam Opera debut singing the role of Bethune and covering the role of Procida in their production of I vespri siciliani.  In September of 2021, he sang a recital of verismo repertoire with soprano Kirstin Chambers with Opera at Florham. In 2018, he sang Doctor in La traviata with Martha Cardona Opera. Richardson was a young artist with Palm Beach Opera where he covered the roles of Scarpia (Tosca), Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro), as well as performing the roles of Cacambo, Don Issachar, and the Baron in Bernstein’s Candide. While at Palm Beach Opera, he performed the bass solo of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Atlantic Classical Orchestra. Richardson was an apprentice artist with Sarasota Opera where he made his house debut as M. Javelinot in Dialogue of the Carmelites. Other roles performed include Zuniga (Carmen), George Benton (Dead Man Walking), Sprecher (Die Zauberflöte), Peter (Hansel and Gretel), and the Maharajah (The Last Savage). In the fall of 2021, Richardson won an Encouragement award from the Wagner Society of New York. He has been a finalist in a number of international competitions including the 2021 Vincero World Singing Competition, the 13th International Lyric Competition Citta’ di Brescia in Memory of Maria Callas. He also competed in the 2022 George London Competition. Richardson holds a Doctor of Music from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music as well as a Master of Music from Indiana University. He received his Bachelor of Music from DePauw University. Richardson has been a student of Armen Boyajian since 2018.

About the little OPERA theatre of ny

Since its founding in 2004, the little OPERA theatre of ny (LOTNY) has presented four NY Stage Premieres : Britten/Piper’s Owen Wingrave; Hasse/Coltellini’s Piramo e Tisbe; Floyd’s Prince of Players; Mozart/Cigna-Santi’s Mitridate, re di Ponto; two US Stage Premieres: Saint-Georges/ Desfontaines/De Genlis’ L’ Amant Anonyme ; Cui/Pushkin’s A Feast in the Time of the Plague; one World Premiere: Zaretsky/Kharms Man in a Black Coat: and commissioned a new translation of Mozart/Metastasio’s Il re pastore as The Shepherd King from Mark Herman & Ronnie Apter. Other notable projects include the original Holst double bill Travelers; Gluck’s The Reformed Drunkard; Rossini’s Opportunity Makes the Thief; and Floyd’s Slow Dusk & Markheim at venues including 59E59 Theaters, Baruch Performing Arts Center, the former GK Arts Center, The Bushwick Starr, and the JCC Manhattan.

In its return to live indoor performance last June, LOTNY presented American One Acts, a preview concert at Merkin Hall Kaufman Music Center. During the pandemic, LOTNY livestreamed three original concerts from St. John’s in the Village: Monteverdi & other Treasures of the Seicento, Zemlinskys Zimmer (Zemlinsky’s Room); and Mozart & Friends. LOTNY also released six videos – created remotely – based upon the adaptation of The Shepherd King. They remain available on LOTNY’s YouTube channel.

LOTNY’s production of Owen Wingrave was noted in Opera News as “(a) shadowy, haunting, attractive production…superbly prepared” and as “long overdue..a world class production” in Credenza. Piramo e Tisbe received wide critical acclaim, heralded again by Opera News as “superlative [and] an excellent and irrefutable case for programming this rare work, [with] indelible performances that should count among the finest and most complete interpretations heard in New York this season.” The NY premiere of Prince of Players was praised by The New York Times as “well made and stylish” and for being “delightful, impressive, [and] affecting” in the NY Classical Review.

LOTNY’s concerts have included Past & Present: Scenes from American Opera on Governors Island; This Little Light of Mine at Merkin Concert Hall; The Bohemians at Socrates Sculpture Park and Floydiana at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music. lotny.org

About Baruch Performing Arts Center

Baruch Performing Arts Center convenes a conversation across the disciplines of art, science, and the humanities, as well as across the panoply of world societies that are represented in Baruch’s diverse student body. We do this by presenting theater, music, dance, literary and spoken word, film, and discussions which inform through relevant content and engage through singular experiences, enriching the appreciation of Baruch students, faculty and alumni for culture in its broadest sense, while serving as a resource for all New Yorkers.

About Harlem Opera Theater

Founded in 2001, Harlem Opera Theater’s mission is to provide performance opportunities for gifted professional and developing singers, as well as other musicians of exceptional potential for an operatic career in local, national and international forums. 

Harlem Opera Theater develops an audience for the classical art form in underserved communities. Harlem Opera Theater gives a particular, though not exclusive, emphasis to the music about the African American experience and projects that link different aspects of the performing arts. HarlemOperaTheater.org

About National Black Theatre

National Black Theatre (NBT), the nation’s first revenue-generating Black arts complex, was founded in 1968 by the late visionary artist Dr. Barbara Ann Teer. NBT is the longest-running Black theatre in New York City, one of the oldest theatres founded and consistently operated by a woman of color in the nation, and most recently included in the permanent collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. NBT’s core mission is to produce transformational theatre that helps to shift the inaccuracies around African Americans’ cultural identity by telling authentic stories of Black lives. As an alternative learning environment, NBT uses theatre arts as a means to educate, enrich, entertain, empower and inform the national conscience around current social issues impacting our communities. Under the leadership of Sade Lythcott, CEO, and Jonathan McCrory, executive artistic director, NBT helps re-shape a more inclusive American theatre field by providing an artistically rigorous and culturally sensitive space for artists of color to experiment, develop and present new work. Working with trailblazing artists from Nona Hendrix to Jeremy O. Harris, and helping to launch the careers, most recently, of artists such as Dominique Morisseau, Radha Blank, Mfoniso Udofia, Saheem Ali, Lee Edward Colston II, and Ebony Noelle Golden, and incubating Obie Award-winning companies like The Movement Theatre Company and Harlem9’s 48Hours in Harlem, NBT’s cultural production remains unparalleled. Located in the heart of Harlem, NBT welcomes more than 90,000 visitors annually; has produced 300+ original works; won an Obie award and 56 Audelco Awards; received a CEBA Award of Merit; and has been nominated for multiple Drama Desk awards. NBT is supported by grants from Booth Ferris Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, New York Community Trust, Shubert Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, William Randolph Hearst Foundation, City Council of New York, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and private donations. Visit nationalblacktheatre.org or follow NBT on Facebook (@NationalBlackTheatre) and Twitter/Instagram (@NatBlackTheatre).