Tag: Ekundayo Bandele

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Hattiloo Theatre’s Succession

Photo: Courtesy Memphis Brand

Hattiloo Theatre’s production of Succession has been making a splash on the Memphis theater scene since its opening weekend in February. This is the show’s regional premiere, and performances run through March 23rd.

Written by Charles White, the play, as the title suggests, focuses on succession within Black theater. “You have in the play this young Black actor who has talent and is using the older Black actors who have pretty much paved the way for him to have opportunities in theater,” says Hattiloo’s executive director and founder Ekundayo Bandele. “So he is making his bones in Black theater. And then an opportunity to perform at a white theater becomes available, and he forgoes the Black theater and the friends that he made there to enter into the predominantly white theater community, only to find that he isn’t accepted and he’s second or third tier in that community. And he goes back to the Black theater; they give him a hard time but still accept him back into the community.”

Bandele first saw White’s play last summer in South Carolina, and immediately, he knew he wanted to produce the show on Hattiloo’s stage. “I went straight to Charles White,” he says, “and he gave us the rights.”

Bandele says he saw his own experience running Hattiloo reflected in White’s work. “We have artists who use or attempt to use Hattiloo as a stepping stone. And so not only is there a story for individuals to come in and become more acquainted with the travails and triumphs of Black theater, but it is also kind of a mirror that can be turned around to some of the Black artists who find themselves replicating that story in their real lives.”

With each show Hattiloo produces, Bandele hopes to encourage audiences to explore new points of view. “The first thing that I look for are plays that show the Black experience through a lens that you typically don’t see,” he says. “What I love about [Succession] is that it pulls the curtain back on what it takes to run and maintain a Black theater in this particular century. … I’m looking at stories that Black people, white people, Latinx, Asians, young, LGBTQ, traditional, whoever can come and sometimes they may see themselves in the story, but a lot of times we want to show, especially Black audiences, a part of their experience or a part of their history or a part of their now that they be completely unaware of.”

Following Succession, Hattiloo has one remaining show before this season wraps — Blues in the Night — a blues revue, which runs April 12th to May 5th. Hattiloo’s upcoming season will kick off in July with Carmen Jones, followed by Coconut Cake, Paradise Blue, Disney’s The Lion King Jr., A Motown Christmas, Black Odyssey, Thoughts of a Colored Man, and The Boy Who Kissed the Sky.

Purchase tickets for Hattiloo’s upcoming shows at hattiloo.org, where a full schedule of performances can be found.

Succession, Hattiloo Theatre, 37 S. Cooper, performances through March 23, $35.

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Hattiloo’s “The Mountaintop” Reimagines MLK’s Final Night

For the next four weeks, Hattiloo Theatre is putting on a production of The Mountaintop, written by Memphis native and Pulitzer-winning playwright, Katori Hall. 

“The Mountaintop is a reimagining of what was it like for Martin Luther King Jr. in his room the night before his assassination. It is — without giving anything away — a supernatural reimagining,” says Ekundayo Bandele, founder and CEO of Hattiloo. In a stripped-down version of Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, King, played by Emmanuel McKinney, orders room service, and a mysterious waitress Camae, played by Bianca McMillian, brings him coffee, and the two delve into a deep conversation about King’s life and legacy. “At the end of the day, you have a man who was constantly putting himself in harm’s way. And he possibly knew at some point that his time was going to come, so how is it in that room by himself the night before he is called home to God? It is the same night he delivered his ‘Mountaintop’ speech, and that’s where you get the title.

“The supernatural element adds to the question of martyrs and how they feel,” Bandele continues. “Sometimes, we see figures like Malcolm X and so on as super-beings, but at the same time they’re human and they have fears and premonitions, so this play really shows the humanity of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”

As for the impression the play leaves on the audience, Bandele says, “I think they’ll take away the courage that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had to exhibit to continue the civil rights path that he was on, despite the constant threat of assassination. That’s what they’ll take away — that this was a man, he was a flawed man. Sometimes, we fictionalize individuals who are martyrs and who are superstars and think about them one way. Well, he was a lot more complicated than that.” 

The one-act play will run for an hour and 15 minutes, and performances will continue Thursdays through Sundays until February 13th, with matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at hattiloo.org or by calling (901) 525-0009.  

The Mountaintop, Hattiloo Theatre, 37 S. Cooper, Opens Friday, January 21st, 7:30 p.m., $30.

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Hattiloo Theatre Hosts “A Holiday Juke Joint”

Hattiloo Theatre as a juke joint (Photo: Greg Soloman)

Developed by Ekundayo Bandele, CEO and founder of Hattiloo, this show is a montage of holiday jokes and stories, rap, singing, dancing, and so much more. “The story is these four people who get together and enjoy Christmas,” Bandele says. “For one of them, it’s her club, and the others are her regulars. There’s not really an arc in the traditional sense; it’s just fun.”

And, Bandele emphasizes, the show is interactive. “What we’re missing in theater is the interactive spirit — having audiences not just sit there watching something but being an active participant,” he says. “I’ve always loved spoken word things, and when you go to these spoken word shows, you snap and you hoot and you’re a part of the performance as opposed to just a spectator. I wanted to create something that gave the audience permission to enjoy themselves.”

That’s why the juke-joint set extends into the crowd, why there’s no separation between what is scripted and what isn’t, why the performers address the audience and walk from table to table. “You’re laughing with your friends and shouting at the stage because there’s no fourth wall,” Bandele says.

The family-friendly performances are about an hour and 10 minutes long, and the show will run through December 19th. Tickets are available to purchase online at hattiloo.org.

A Holiday Juke Joint, Hattiloo Theatre, 37 Cooper, Thursday-Sunday, December 2nd-5th, Various Times, $30.

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Lag in Corporate, Foundation Funding Hurting Arts Groups

Local arts organizations are looking at a 25 percent decrease in 2021 income compared to pre-pandemic figures.

The data comes from ArtsMemphis on the arts groups it funds. It says that contributions from individuals increased in 2020 and that trend is continuing in 2021, but a decrease in corporate and foundation giving is reducing earned revenue for 2020-21 over 2019.

“Our arts organizations have made strategic shifts in operations and programs in order to continue harnessing an audience and providing artists a platform to create,” said Elizabeth Rouse, president and CEO of ArtsMemphis. “Hope and anticipation for a sense of recovery are brimming, but this recovery period requires major support. We’ll need community support to return to the economic powerhouse position the nonprofit arts sector was for the county prior to the pandemic.”

Arts organizations have reported an 80 percent reduction in the number of artists hired in 2020 versus 2019, resulting in 8,570 arts jobs lost. Layoffs or furloughs were reported by 53 percent of arts organizations, impacting 560 positions, or 44 percent of the arts sector workforce.

Hattiloo Theatre’s Ekundayo Bandele, speaking to a group of ArtsMemphis donors recently, said, “As we continue to modify our strategic plan, we’re putting our earned revenue in a separate column. We’re not counting on it, however, we are setting ourselves up for the long haul so we may remain a strong cultural resource for our community and one that is at the tip of the spear for the Black theater network.”

ArtsMemphis distributed $2.8 million in fiscal year 2020 to 137 individual artists and 71 organizations. It also hosted more than 30 convenings of the arts sector, and provided grantees with assistance in CARES funding opportunities. It will award its latest round of operating support grants this quarter.

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A Holiday Cabaret Streams Free from Hattiloo Friday

CREDIT: Facebook/Hattiloo Theatre

Sit down with a cabernet for the cabaret.

Until last week, Hattiloo Theatre’s production of A Holiday Cabaret was only open to patrons and Season 14 and 15 subscribers, presented as a series of six limited-seating shows. The unfortunate consequences of our COVID predicament changed things a bit.

A post from the Hattiloo Theatre Facebook page broke the news: “We planned to perform this musical before a few live patrons over six performances, but because of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities, we have canceled all live shows. Still, we are excited to gather virtually and celebrate the season with this perfect blend of holiday music, jokes, and stories.”

Facebook/Hattiloo Theatre

A Holiday Cabaret

The unique Black repertory theater has generously opened this show — for free — to the public. Show some love for the talented performance artists and venue by purchasing a season subscription for when things open back up again. Subscriptions start at only $105.

In the meantime, the show must go on, and in this case it will be a live performance recorded and streamed from the theater’s stage. The production, written by Ekundayo Bandele, founder and CEO of Hattiloo Theatre, is a gathering of four friends for the holidays. The friends will sing traditional carols, tell stories, and share the merriment of the season in a family-friendly atmosphere.

What better way to bring joy to Memphis than celebrating with friends during A Holiday Cabaret.

“A Holiday Cabaret,” online from hattiloo.org, Friday, Dec. 4, 7 p.m., free.

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Hattiloo’s Bandele Awarded Grant for Play on Confederate Statue Removals

CREDIT: Ekundayo Bandele

Ekundayo Bandele

The Hattiloo Theatre has been awarded a near $20,000 grant to produce a play about the removal the city’s Confederate statues.

Ekundayo Bandele, executive director of Hattiloo, is one of 42 creatives across the country who were awarded grants from the MAP Fund to produce live artistic performances. Grants range from $10,000 to $45,000.

Bandele was awarded $18,725 to write and produce the play Take ‘Em Down 901.

The MAP Fund “invests in artistic production as the critical foundation of imagining — and ultimately co-creating — a more equitable and vibrant society,” according to the program’s website.

MAP supports original live performances that “embody a spirit of deep inquiry, particularly works created by artists who question, disrupt, complicate, and challenge inherited notions of social and cultural hierarchy across the United States.”

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Bandele’s one-act play will center around the grassroots movement that helped lead to the removal of statues of Nathan Bedford Forrest in Health Sciences Park, as well as of Jefferson Davis statue and Capt. J Harvey Mathes in Memphis Park in December 2017.

The play will tell the story “from the perspectives of the 50 concerned citizens who succeeded in legally toppling the controversial landmarks, in the process, upending the powerful institutions that had long protected them and the enduring legacy of oppression they represented for Memphis’ marginalized majority,” the project’s description reads.

The play is slated to premiere in 2021 with free performances in Health Sciences and Memphis Parks.


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Coming Attractions

Once a Memphis underdog, the Hattiloo found its niche by offering something no one else in the city could provide: quality live theater performances aimed primarily at African Americans. Mastermind Ekundayo Bandele leveraged his success on Marshall Avenue into a brand new theater facility in Overton Square. Now the hands-on impresario is returning to Marshall with a new endeavor: the Baobab Filmhouse.

Set in the Hattiloo’s former black-box space, the 42-seat theater is a labor of love. “I installed all of the seats,” Bandele says. “My wife and I have been in here for the past month building and painting.”

Bandele’s Baobab

Like the Hattiloo, Baobab Filmhouse is intended for an overlooked population. “My impetus was the Academy Awards, when no blacks were nominated this year,” Bandele says. “There are so many great black films out there — they may not be mainstream, many of them are indie. So my goal is to share those great films made not just by black Americans, but by blacks worldwide. We’ve got films coming out of Zimbabwe, Toronto, Jamaica. We want to provide a platform for people to come see great black film.”

Baobab opens this Friday with CRU, a 2014 film by director Alton Glass that traces the ripple effects of a single car accident on the lives of a group of friends. A new film will start every two weeks, with each offering running for a month in a staggered schedule to fit on Baobab’s single screen. Next up is The Tested, which Bandele calls “A timely film, because it deals with a white police officer killing a black teen. It’s not only about how the black community deals with it; it’s about how the white officer deals with it.”

Other future offerings include the Chris Rock vehicle 2 Days in New York and Charles Burnett’s classic Killer of Sheep. “We have films lined up all the way to next March,” Bandele says. “I think it’s going to be a good addition for our city.”

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The Hattiloo Theatre plans expansion.

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

The Hattiloo Theatre has come great distance in only 10 years. Ekundayo Bandele’s black repertory theater launched in 2006 in a cramped but lovingly converted storefront on Marshall Avenue just north of Sun Studio. Eight years later, following an innovative capital campaign, Bandele moved his company into a new, custom-built playhouse on Overton Square. Now, only 18 months — and not quite two full performance seasons — after the big move, Bandele and his board of directors are preparing to undertake the Hattiloo’s first major expansion.

Longtime board member Cardell Orrin says the need to expand physical resources became apparent during a strategic planning effort. “We thought about our mission and the kind of staffing we’d need to meet these goals,” he says. “It became clear that we were bursting at the seams in terms of multiple plays on stage, multiple plays in rehearsal.”

$750,000 in funding is already in place, and plans have been developed to build a two-story, 3,200 square-foot Development Center just off the northwest corner of the existing theater building at 37 S. Cooper at Monroe. “We’re calling it the D.C.,” Bandele says. The list of benefactors for the expansion is only four names long: An anonymous Friend of the Hattiloo Theatre, the Assisi Foundation, Hyde Family Foundations, and the City of Memphis.

“Of course the first question we had to answer was why so quick?” Bandele says. “The new building generated a level of growth — or more accurately a pace of growth — that we weren’t prepared for. We’ve always done a lot, but we’ve done it with so little,” Bandele explains. “We had to make compromises.”

The Hattiloo has never been a playhouse only. It has doubled as a teaching space, cultural center, and hub for artists. It has hosted everything from book clubs to film festivals to conversations about social justice. Orrin describes the Hattiloo as “This dream of what Memphis could and should look like.”

Ambitious programming found the growing company with one play running on its mainstage, a second play in technical rehearsals in the adjoining black box theater, a youth program rehearsing in the lobby, and no space available for anything else. To accommodate all the activity, many rehearsals moved off site to Rhodes College or the Urban League on Union.

“The real problem with all these locations is that parents take their kids to a rehearsal at the Urban League one night, then to Rhodes the next night, then Hattiloo,” Bandele says. “There’s been no consistency. So whenever we were rehearsing or doing programs, it was a full-time job just figuring out where things are being placed. Now everything we do is going to be on the same campus.”

Like the Hattiloo, the D.C. is being designed by Barry Yoakum and the design team at Archimania. The new space will be divided equally into two 1,600 square-foot stories. There are 10 small office spaces, a modest conference/rehearsal room, and a smaller office/meeting room on the first floor. The second floor is dedicated primarily to the development center — a large open room with an adjoining lobby and green room. Although it is laid out like a third performance space, the D.C. won’t be used as a venue for additional programming. “I mean, where would we rehearse then?” Bandele asks. “We might do an occasional showcase there or something like that but nothing else. That would defeat the whole point.”

Bandele sees the new building as both a solution to his growth problems and as a chance to create more opportunities for theater education and community engagement. “We are definitely going to amp up our youth theater program,” he says. He anticipates growing a program for young adults with special needs.

Oluremi (Loo), Bandele’s youngest daughter, has cerebral palsy. “As soon as a young person with special needs graduates from high school, their entire social circle collapses,” he says. “Not only will this allow young adults with special needs to continue to have a social life, it helps in the same ways theater helps everybody. It helps with speech, with the expression of emotion, and with their bodies.”

There are plans to relaunch the Hattiloo Theater School for adults, which focuses on playwriting, directing, and acting.

Construction on the Hattiloo’s Development Center should begin before the end of the first quarter and be complete before the end of 2016.

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The Hattiloo Theatre to Expand.

The Hattiloo Theatre has come great distance in only 10 years. Ekundayo Bandele’s black repertory theater launched in 2006 in a cramped but lovingly converted storefront on Marshall Avenue just north of Sun Studio. Eight years later, following an innovative capital campaign, Bandele moved his company into a new, custom-built playhouse on Overton Square. Now, only 18 months — and not quite two full performance seasons — after the big move, Bandele and his board of directors are preparing to undertake the Hattiloo’s first major expansion.

Longtime board member Cardell Orrin says the need to expand physical resources became apparent during a strategic planning effort. “We thought about our mission and the kind of staffing we’d need to meet these goals,” he says. “And it became clear that we were already bursting at the seams in terms of multiple plays on stage, multiple plays in rehearsal, and everything else.”

$750,000 in funding is already in place, and plans have been developed to build a two-story, 3,200 square-foot Development Center just off the northwest corner of the existing theater building at 37 S. Cooper at Monroe. “We’re calling it the D.C.,” Bandele says. The list of contributing benefactors for the expansion is only four names long: An anonymous Friend of the Hattiloo Theatre, The Assisi Foundation, The Hyde Family Foundation, and The City of Memphis.

“Of course the first question we had to answer was why so quick?” Bandele says. “That answer was simple. The new building generated a level of growth — or more accurately a pace of growth — that we weren’t prepared for. “We’ve always done a lot, but we’ve done it with so little,” Bandele explains. “We had to make compromises.”

The Hattiloo has never been a playhouse only. It has doubled as a teaching space, cultural center, and hub for artists. Since its move to Midtown, the theater has hosted everything from book clubs to film festivals to conversations about social justice. Orrin describes the Hattiloo as “This dream of what Memphis could and should look like.”

Ambitious programming found the rapidly growing company with one play open and running on its main stage, a second play in technical rehearsals in the adjoining black box theater, a youth program rehearsing in the lobby, and no space available for anything else. To accommodate all the activity many rehearsals moved off site to Rhodes College or the Urban League on Union Avenue. “The real problem with all these locations is that a parent takes their kids to a rehearsal at the Urban League one night, then to Rhodes the next night, then Hattiloo,” Bandele says. “There’s been no consistency. So whenever we were rehearsing or doing programs, it was a full-time job just figuring out where things are being placed. Now everything we do is going to be on the same campus.”

Like the Hattiloo, the D.C. is being designed by Barry Yoakum and the design team at Archimania. The new space will be divided equally into two 1,600 square-foot stories. There are 10 small office spaces, a modest conference/rehearsal room, and a smaller office/meeting room on the first floor. The second floor is dedicated primarily to the development center — a large open room with an adjoining lobby and green room. Although it is laid out like a third performance space the D.C. won’t be used as a venue for additional programming. “I mean, where would we rehearse then?” Bandele asks. “We might do an occasional showcase there or something like that but nothing else. That would defeat the whole point.”

“Archimania has done a fantastic job of building a lot into a small space,” says Orrin. “They figured out how to grow it from one to two stories and put in an elevator.”

Bandele sees the new building as both a solution to his growth problems and as a chance to create more opportunities for theater education and community engagement. “We are definitely going to amp up our youth theater program,” he says. He also anticipates growing a program the Hattilooo started for young adults with special needs.

Oluremi (Loo), Bandele’s youngest daughter, has cerebral palsy. “I noticed that, as soon as a young person with special needs graduates from high school, their entire social circle just collapses,” he says. “So not only will this allow young adults with special needs to continue to have a social life, it helps in the same ways theater helps everybody. It’s going to help with speech, with the expression of emotion, and with their bodies.”

There are also plans to relaunch the Hattiloo Theater School for adults, which focuses on playwriting, directing, and acting.

If all goes according to plan, construction on the Hattiloo’s Development Center should begin before the end of the first quarter and be complete before the end of 2016.

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Stick Fly at Hattiloo Theatre

The Hattiloo Theatre’s founding director Ekundayo Bandele is often described as tireless, but that’s not the case. A week before the opening of Stick Fly, the second production in the Hattiloo Theatre’s new, custom-built theater in Overton Square, Bandele has the stunned look of a brand new parent of multiples.

“I’m dizzy,” he says, walking into the theater bright and early after a long night of working at his new Edge district jazz venue Dizzy Bird. He’s also dedicated and checks in on his set construction crew before heading back to his office to start the morning.

The new Hattiloo opened to the public in July. Since then, Bandele has struggled with an overly complicated HVAC system, commodes that conspired to back up in unison, and all the other normal, terrible stuff that happens as you settle into a new space. Between smoothing the wrinkles and launching Dizzy Bird, Bandele has also managed to sell an unprecedented number of new Hattiloo subscriptions and open a crowd-thrilling Once on This Island, showcasing everything good about the new Hattiloo and a lot of local talent.

Stick Fly, which opened last week and runs through September 14th, is a different kind of show. The classic family drama follows one eventful weekend in the life of an affluent, African-American family with secrets that are determined to come out. It’s set in a posh Martha’s Vineyard home and echoes of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, as brothers Kent and Flip bring their girlfriends home to meet their parents for the first time.

“Once on This Island was a pace car. Everything following is going to have to measure up,” Bandele says.

Hattiloo is also hosting Broadway’s Stick Fly star Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who will conduct a two-hour workshop Saturday, September 6th. Tickets and details are available at hattiloo.org.