EXCLUSIVE: Stax Records, the label responsible for hits such as Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay and Sam & Dave’s Soul Man, is getting the docuseries treatment.
EXCLUSIVE: Stax Records, the label responsible for hits such as Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay and Sam & Dave’s Soul Man, is getting the docuseries treatment.
EXCLUSIVE: Electromagnetic Productions, the company set up by 300 and The Spiderwick Chronicles producer Mark Kimsey and former MGM boss Roger Birnbaum who produced films including The Sixth Sense and Rush Hour, is moving into non-scripted television.
American Prophet: Frederick Douglass in His Own Words (★★★☆☆), in its world-premiere production at Arena Stage, wisely draw directly from the source for their expansive, though not exhaustive, biography of the great abolitionist, author, publisher, statesman, escaped slave, and public speaker.The bulk of Douglass’ lines and lyrics in the show are words that the man either spoke or wrote, interpreted and interpolated fluidly by book writers Charles Randolph-Wright and Marcus Hummon.Randolph-Wright also directs, while Grammy-winner Hummon composed music and lyrics for the score, which floats between R&B, pop, and gospel influences, but stays too comfortably within theater conventions.The music doesn’t start down the most adventurous path. Opening with Douglass plaintively singing “What Does Freedom Look Like?” feels way too obvious.The follow-up number, “Going to the Great House,” turns out to be a sharply satirical subversion of happy-dancing-slave tropes, but then shifts into a sober — and, again, very on-the-nose — “Wade in the Water,” complete with choreography reminiscent of Alvin Ailey’s “Revelations.”Fortunately, the show goes bolder in its characterization of Frederick Douglass.
Neon said Wednesday that it has come aboard Fire of Love, Sara Dosa’s documentary that world premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. That’s where Deadline boke the news that National Geographic Documentary Films acquired worldwide rights to the pic, which explores the lives and work of French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft through rare archival footage.
ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATERThe acclaimed modern dance company, founded more than 60 years ago, has been an integral part of programming at the Kennedy Center from the very start, performing at the arts complex’s formal opening ceremony in 1971. This year, the company returns to celebrate the center’s 50th anniversary with a week-long run of performances in the Opera House.Per tradition, every performance ends with Revelations, the signature masterpiece Ailey created in tribute to his African-American heritage, drawing inspiration from childhood memories of growing up in the Black church in Texas as well as from the writings of James Baldwin and Langston Hughes.
As a choreographer, dancer, director, and founder of the 1958 theater company named after him, Alvin Ailey was an instrumental figure in showcasing the African American experience through dance. The new film, “Ailey” — documenting the icon’s life — is now in theaters.
Alvin Ailey, which opens in New York on Friday — greatness recognizes greatness when Cicely Tyson calls him “the Pied Piper of modern dance” at his 1988 Kennedy Center Honors induction.And for this master of movement — who founded the internationally renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company in New York in 1958 — it was all about bringing black people to the traditionally white world of dance.“I wanted it to be the kind of dancing that could be done for the man on the street, for the
The past decade’s so-called “golden age of documentaries” has yielded memorable projects about all sorts of cultural icons, including musicians, filmmakers, and athletes. The world of dance, however, has been disappointingly underrepresented.
Neon has picked up Jamila Wignot’s documentary Ailey, about dance and choreography legend Alvin Ailey, after its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The deal is Neon's second at Sundance after it nabbed the North American rights to Flee, an animated doc from Jonas Poher Rasmussen that counts Riz Ahmed and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as executive producers.
Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaNEON strikes again.The indie label has picked up its second film out of this year’s Sundance, nabbing rights to Jamila Wignot’s “Ailey,” a documentary about dancing icon Alvin Ailey. The film debuted on Saturday and offers rare archival footage of performances by the Ailey Company, along with never-before-heard audio interviews recorded in the last year’s of Ailey’s life.
NEON has made its second acquisition of the Sundance Film Festival with Jamila Wignot’s Ailey, about dance legend Alvin Ailey.
Alvin Ailey All AccessThrough a recently launched online initiative, the celebrated New York-based Alvin Ailey Dance Company presents a diverse range of programming, including a rotating roster of performance broadcasts showcasing works by notable African-American composers, including its namesake, who died of AIDS-related complications in 1989.New streams are available for one week only every Thursday evening. Next up, on Aug.
Gregg Goldstein By Gregg GoldsteinJamila Wignot has won two Peabody awards and an Emmy for producing and directing documentaries. This week in Cannes’ digital market, Cinetic Media is screening 20 minutes of footage of her third feature-length directorial effort, “Ailey,” for individual buyers.
Also Read: Apple, Paramount Teaming Up for Martin Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon'Jenkins wrote and directed the upcoming Amazon series “The Underground Railroad,” he wrote the screenplay for “Flint Strong,” the directorial debut of cinematographer Rachel Morrison, and he’s attached to next direct a feature biopic on the life of choreographer Alvin Ailey for Searchlight Pictures.
Roger and Me: Michael Moore (right)
What about having some fun reading the latest showbiz news & updates on Alvin Ailey? Those who enter popstar.one once will stay with us forever! Stop wasting time looking for something else, because here you will get the latest news on Alvin Ailey, scandals, engagements and divorces! Do not miss the opportunity to check out our breaking stories on Hollywood's hottest star Alvin Ailey!