To support Black artists and amplify Black voices in our theater community, we are donating 500 hours in creative, strategic and marketing hours to emerging, independent Black producers in order to aid in the building of vital tools needed to tell their stories on Broadway and beyond. We believe that action is everything, and we hope that this small contribution to the conversation will open doors for new, diverse and necessary storytellers on New York stages and performance spaces across the country.
The initiative’s most recent collaboration with producer Rashad V. Chambers on his new musical, Little Girl Blue, was announced earlier this year. The show features a tour-de-force performance by award-winning actor Laiona Michelle and is inspired by Nina Simone’s words and music.
Prior to that, in 2020, we announced the inaugural recipients of the 500 Hours Initiative: producer Blair Russell for Resounding—a new series of live, original audio plays utilizing immersive 3D sound technology, and featuring top Broadway talent—and producers Dale A. Mott and Nolan Williams, Jr. on the new musical Grace, written by Williams—Grace captures a day in the life of the Mintons, a proud Philadelphia restaurant family with deep African American culinary traditions.
Those wishing to participate should visit aka.nyc/black-producer-initiative for application information.
