Act Black: The Alchemy of Black Performance — Panel Conversation

Poster House is thrilled to partner with National Black Theatre in celebration of the current exhibition Act Black: Posters from Black American Stage & Screen for an in-person conversation among Tony Award-winning performer Adrienne Warren; Kent Gash, arts professor and the director of the New Studio on Broadway at Tisch School of the Arts’s Department of Drama; and exhibition curator Es-pranza Humphrey, moderated by Jonathan McCrory, NBT’s executive artistic director. In Act Black: The Alchemy of Black Performance, these specialists will explore key themes and topics from the exhibition, including the groundbreaking musical Shuffle Along and other historic Broadway productions that reshaped opportunities for Black performers and creative teams. They will also reflect on the ways in which the graphic language and the powerful imagery of these posters influenced a cultural shift in Black storytelling. It is one that persists in Black theater and performing-arts education today, pointing to an extraordinary resilience that honors the legacy of Black performance.

Don’t miss this chance to hear from artists and creatives who continue to shape the direction of Black theater!

Doors open at 5:40pm; seating is first come, first served. A cash bar will be open.

Adrienne Warren is a Tony and Drama Desk Award winning actor best known for her acclaimed performance as Tina Turner in TINA The Tina Turner Musical, a role she originated in the West End. She has appeared on Broadway in Shuffle Along, Bring It On: The Musical, The Wiz, and Dreamgirls, and most recently starred as Cathy in The Last Five Years. Her film and television work includes Rustin, Black Cake, The Woman King, and Women of the Movement, and she is a Co Founder of the Broadway Advocacy Coalition.

Kent Gash is an award winning director whose recent work includes Stokely for New York Stage and Film, We Are Gathered at Arena Stage, and Jelly’s Last Jam at Pasadena Playhouse. He has directed more than one hundred productions nationwide, with notable credits at Steppenwolf, the Public Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Guthrie. He currently serves as Artistic Director of The Acting Company and is the Founding Director of the New Studio on Broadway at NYU.

Es‑pranza Humphrey is the Assistant Curator of Collections at Poster House, where her research centers on Black performance, fashion, and visual culture. Her work has been featured in The New Yorker, NPR, ABC Here and Now, the Fashion and Race Database, and several international publications for her scholarship on the graphic language of the Black Panther Party. Her current exhibition Act Black: Posters from Black American Stage and Screen explores Black American theater and film posters from the 1870s to the 1940s.

Jonathan McCrory is a Tony and Emmy nominated producer, director, and two time Obie Award winning artist who has served as the Executive Artistic Director of the National Black Theatre since 2012. His directing and producing work includes projects at The Kennedy Center, The Apollo Theater, NYMF, and NAMT, along with numerous productions developed through NBT and partnering institutions. He is a founding member of Harlem9, Black Theatre Commons, The Jubilee, Next Generation National Network, and The Movement Theatre Company, and is recognized as a leading voice in contemporary Black theater.

Accessibility Note: Masks and clear masks are available free of charge at the museum. Assistive listening devices and stools are available. ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or a CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) is also available upon request. Please contact access@posterhouse.org or (914) 295-2387 to request interpretation services and to address any other accessibility needs. For other event-related questions, please contact info@posterhouse.org.