2/2/24 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: It Don’t Mean a Thing! Phyllis Hyman, Hinton Battle and Gregg Burge.

On March 1 1981, Sophisticated Ladies debuted on Broadway. The show run for 767 performances  and garnered two Tony Awards for Willi Kim for Best Costume and Hinton Battle for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. It Don’t Mean a Thing! featuring the sultry Phyllis Hyman, Hinton Battle and Gregg Burge.  Continue reading

11/20/23 O&A NYC THEATRE- REVIEW: Hadestown- Sometimes True Love Can Be Hell.

By Walter Rutledge

Recently I had the extreme pleasure to see the Broadway smash hit Hadestown at the Walter Kerr Theater. The 2019 eight-time Tony Award winning musical is still wowing audiences with Anais Mitchell’s incredible lyric music score and touching book featuring dual love stories. Before we talk about Hadestown lets first have a Greek mythology tutorial. Continue reading

10/6/23 O&A NYC THE MORNING FUNNIES: Moments in History – Key & Peele

Moments in History created and performed by comedy duo Key & Peele showcases the fearless wit of stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Continue reading

9/28/23 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Debbie Allen Part Two- On Choreography and Directing

By Walter Rutledge

The second installment from the Out and About NYC Magazine 2015 interview with entertainment icon Debbie Allen. In this section we discussed her views on choreography and directing.  Continue reading

9/17/23 O&A NYC REVIEW: Is Heart of Brick A Black Queer Sex In The City?

By Walter Rutledge

The Joyce Theater’s fall 2023 season began September 15 with the interdisciplinary gay romance saga Heart of Brick. The theatrical production combined live vocal music, spoken narrations, voiceovers, dance, lighting and a clean, simple set design to recreate an evening at Langstons, New York City’s oldest Black gay bar. This is the first presentation in Director of Programming Danni Gee augural season, and in the truest downtown dance style she left the audience with something to talk about.   Continue reading

8/19/23 O&A NYC ITS SATURDAY- ANYTHING GOES: Carmen DeLavallade- The Creation (TEDxEast 2012)

Dancer, actor and choreographer Carmen DeLavallade performs The Creation featuring choreography by her husband Geoffrey Holder. Holder also designed the costume and music. 
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2/20/23 O&A NYC DANCE REVIEW: Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet Dance Theater of Brooklyn

By Walter Rutledge

Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet Dance Theater of Brooklyn (JGCO) presented Remembering… on February 17th and 18th at BAM Fisher, Fishman Space. The 70-minute one act was an extremely enlightening audience friendly black history celebration. This multi-media event is a perfect example of art as education.   Continue reading

4/18/22 (Repost) O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Shakespeare’s King Lear. James Earl Jones, NYC Shakespeare Festival, 1974

Reposted by popular demand O&A NYC Magazine present an extraordinary live performance of William Shakespeare’s King Lear with the one and only James Earl Jones in the title role. Filmed in 1974 before a live audience in Central Park for the New York Shakespeare Festival the production featured  Jones, Paul Sorvino and Raul Julia. Continue reading

3/6/22 O&A NYC MUSIC: Staten Island Jazz Festival 33- Her Legacy Continues

By Walter Rutledge

In August Universal Temple of The Arts founder Sadja Musawwir Ladner joined the ancestors. A fixture in Staten Island arts scene for over fifty years Ladner provided arts education, performance opportunities and outreach to the underserved communities of her beloved borough- Staten Island. Her untimely passing shocked and saddened all who encountered this “community spirit”, fortunately her legacy lives on. On Saturday March 12, at 5pm the Universal Temple of the Arts will present the Staten Island Jazz Festival 33 at the historic St. George Theatre located at 35 Hyatt St, downtown Staten Island.

The festival will feature jazz music seven artists/groups including Nikara Presents…Black Wall Street (Nikara Warren), Bria Skonberg, Winard Harper & Jeli Posse, The Leopoldo F. Fleming Afro Caribbean Ensemble, Danny Mixon Quartet featuring vocalist Antoinette Montague, Dal Segno Trio featuring Darrell Smith, Michael Morreale and Houston Person and The Universal Temple of the Arts Jazz Ensemble. The evening will honor Women’s History Month as it celebrates the life and legacy of Ladner. There will also be a spoken word presentation featuring Professor Charles Thomas, Jordan Bracy and dancer Nubia Briathwaite, and a dance tribute choreographed by Walter Rutledge featuring Roumel Reaux, Briathwaite and Rutledge.

Musician Darrell Smith will make his debut in the role as the festival’s Music Director. Smith first met Ladner as a sixteen-year-old jazz enthusiast, now his many credits include imbuing and inspiring the next generation of young jazz aficionados at Jazz at Lincoln Center. O&A Editor-in-Chief sat down with Musical Director Smith to discuss the upcoming festival and all things jazz.

Staten Island Jazz Festival 33

Tickets can also be purchased at the St. George Theatre Box Office.

1/26/22 O&A NYC WILDIN OUT WEDNESDAY: Bones The Machine- Jail Break

The incomparable Bones The Machine multi-talented dancer, artist, sculptor and director. In his 2013 dance/theatre film Jail Break.The legend of bonebreaking is not forgotten. Continue reading