Angela Barrow-Dunlap is a veteran playwright, producer and now filmmaker who has created multimillion dollar grossing stage plays, such as My Brother Marvin, Why Good Girls Like Bad Boyz and If These Hips Could Talk. Her latest hit, Church Girl, is currently airing on BET and Netflix. Barrow-Dunlap is now bringing the critically acclaimed Broadway play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange to the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts.
Starring Robin Givens, along with “X-Factor” favorite Lillie McCloud, Kelly Price and Angie Stone For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf is playwright and poet Ntozake Shange’s first work. The choreopoem is an innovative combination of poetry, drama, music and dance. For Shange, the combination is important. She discovered her identity as a woman through words, songs, and literature; she discovered her identity as an African through dance.
Actress Robin Givens returns to the stage after a successful run in the play in 2009 under the direction of “A Different World” star Jasmine Guy. “This is a piece that stands the test of time and it’s especially important as we stand on the cusp of having a woman as president,” said Givens. “I personally believe that white could be one of the colors of the colored girls. We certainly have our story as black women but I think women have their story as women.”
The dramatic and compelling series of stories reveal the hardships and triumphs of black women in America. Each story is as striking as it is empowering, as the audience is wrapped up in the journey that leads the characters to their realization of inner strength, hope and love.
R&B singer Lillie McCloud shares her excitement at getting to perform as the Lady in Brown, a character that she feels is representative of her own life. “All of the characters have a story of struggling and surviving, but this one correlated to my relationship with music,” said McCloud. “Music is such a part of me. I minister in music, I communicate my emotions better through writing and music, and when I think of the struggles I’ve been through as a musician and as a woman I really relate to this character.”
Angela Barrow-Dunlap says she chose For Colored Girls… to mark her return because “this play embodies the human experience of life through the eyes of proud African American women and their attempt to make sense of a broken world. “For Colored Girls… has been praised as encompassing every feeling and experience a woman has ever had, and I was honored to have the opportunity to bring that to life on stage.”
Performances run Nov. 17 – Nov. 20, with tickets available at the Music Hall box office, (313) 887.8501, Ticketmaster outlets or charge by phone at (800) 745-3000. Groups of 20 or more should call (866) 653-6918 for group pricing. Ticket prices range from $50 to $60.
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