South Florida - A play about racial intolerance and hatred has victims "Anne & Emmett" exploring through imaginary conversation in this new premier heatrical play, presented by The African American Performing Arts Community Theatre.
"Anne & Emmett" is written by Janet Langhart Cohen. The stunning play stars Shawn Burgess and Zasha Shary. Featuring Kandace Crystal, Sheldon Cohen and Tommy O’Brien and Directed by Teddy Harrell, Jr. AAPACT keeps Florida on the map for "the fun in the sun arts destination". BroadwayGlobal.
Performances will run from April 17, 2013 through May 12, 2013 at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center located at 6161 NW 22nd Avenue, Miami-Dade, Florida. Free performances are offered at the bottom of this article by following the steps provided. "AAPACT is a leader in our arts community for African American's and all those who enjoy live theatre. The fact that they make theatre affordable for all is reason alone to support this ground breaking theatre company." Theatre Chat.
In the South Florida premiere of "Anne & Emmett", Zasha Shary stars as Frank, the 13-year-old Jewish girl whose diary provided a gripping perspective of the Holocaust. Shawn Burgess stars as Till, the 14-year old African-American boy whose brutal murder in Mississippi sparked the American Civil Rights Movement.
The play opens with the two teenagers meeting in Memory, a place that isolates them from the cruelty they experienced during their lifetime. The beyond-the-grave encounter draws the startling similarities between the two youths’ harrowing experiences and the atrocities against their respective races.
In Memory, Anne recounts hiding in a cramped attic with her family after German dictator Adolf Hitler ordered the Nazi military to round up Jews and put them in concentration camps en route to gas chambers. Anne died of typhus at the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp in March 1945, a few weeks before British troops liberated the concentration camp. Emmett tells Anne about how he, in 1955, ended up being brutally attacked by a group of racists and thrown in the Tallahatchie River with a cotton gin fan tied to his neck. This happened after he whistled at a white woman while visiting his uncle in Money, Mississippi.
Janet Langhart Cohen (Playwright) is President of Langhart Communications. Mrs. Cohen is an Emmy-nominated journalist, author and playwright. Her career began in television on CBS in Chicago. During her 25-year career, Mrs. Cohen has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC and BET; hosted ABC’s “Good Day in Boston”. She has covered special assignments for Entertainment Tonight, and produced several programs, including “On Capitol Hill with Janet Langhart”.
As an overseas correspondent, she covered news in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. A mentee of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., she was active during the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout her career, Mrs. Cohen interviewed many prominent leaders of the 20th century including President Bill Clinton, who acknowledged her during his last State of the Union address, President Jimmy Carter, Margaret Thatcher, Rosa Parks, Mel Gibson, Bill Cosby, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Denzel Washington, Dan Rather, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters and Larry King as well as David Duke former head of the KKK.
Mrs. Cohen has also worked as a columnist for the Boston Herald, U.S. News and World Report and served as a spokeswoman for Avon Cosmetics. She has been a judge for the White House Fellows Program and served as a judge for the Miss America Organization an unprecedented four times.
Mrs. Cohen is the wife of former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen. She was known as “First Lady of the Pentagon,” due to her active and visible public role to support the military and their families while her husband was in office. She wrote her first book, a memoir entitled, From Rage to Reason: My Life in Two Americas, in 2004. In 2007, she and her husband co-wrote Love in Black and White, a memoir about race, religion, romance and the bonds Langhart and Cohen share over similar life circumstances and backgrounds.
She was also awarded with an Honorary Doctorate from Emerson College. Mrs. Cohen’s play “Anne and Emmett” was produced in Washington, DC in November of 2011 at Atlas Performing Arts Center and is currently in development to be a film. She also is actively involved in the provision of higher education for underprivileged children.
Teddy Harrell, Jr. (Director) conceived AAPACT in 1999 and produced its debut production, "The Island" written by Athol Fugard in 2001. Harrell has produced and directed many of the company’s productions including AAPACT’s 2013-2014 season opener of James Baldwin’s "The Amen Corner" and last season’s "Jelly Belly", "Fathers and Other Strangers" and "Dutchman". As an actor Teddy has been featured in numerous productions in South Florida including AAPACT’s "The Island", "Sizwe Bansi is Dead" and "Zooman and the Sign".
Regular evening performances are 8:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Matinee Performances are Sundays at 3:0 p.m. Regular Admission is $20. Wednesday, April 17, 2013 and Thursday, April 18, 2013, AAPACT is offering PREVIEWS of these Performances at 8:00 pm. Admission is $10.
Friday, April 19, 2013 Florida Humanities Council "Special Talk Back Nite Performance". Showtime is 8:00 p.m. Admission is $15. (FREE to the First (50) Fifty Individuals to RSVP their Name, Mailing Address, Email and Phone Number by calling (305)-456-0287 Leave a message. Not Applicable to Groups!)
Saturday, April 20, 2013 Official Opening Performance. Showtime is 8:00 p.m. Admission is $25. Sunday, April 21, 2013 Arts Industry/Social Media Friends Performance. Showtime is 3:00 p.m. Admission is $15. (FREE to the First (25) Twenty-Five Individuals to RSVP their Name, Mailing Address, Email and Phone Number by calling (305)-456-0287 Leave a message. Not Applicable to Groups!)
Discount Rates for Groups of 10 or More beginning at $15 per person for all shows except the April 20, 2013 The Official Opening Performance. To RSVP your seats call: (305) 456-0287 (Leave A Message); Purchase tickets at AAPACT online: www.aapact.com. Send an email to: theatre@aapact.com. The box office opens an hour before show time and the house opens 15 minutes before show time. The running time for "Anne & Emmett" is 90 minutes; There is no intermission.
The African American Performing Arts Theatre Company was founded in 1999. The company is composed of local black actors, directors and stage technical professionals who strive to enhance and promote cultural awareness and education through the performing arts to inner city youth and theatergoers in the surrounding Miami-Dade County community. AAPACT is a not-for-profit 501(3) c organization, all contributions are tax deductible. Their mission is still true today, "Building Better Communities Through Theatre"
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