Phylicia Rashad to help launch ‘new dawn’ at August Wilson Cultural Center
Phylicia Rashad and Ruben Santiago-Hudson, two Broadway and screen names closely associated with the works of August Wilson, are coming to Pittsburgh in April to support the center that bears the name of the late prize-winning playwright.
The August Wilson Cultural Center, a quick jaunt from where Mr. Wilson spent his childhood in the lower Hill District, will “launch a new dawn” April 26 — the eve of Mr. Wilson’s birthday — with the Take Center Stage gala — a program slated to include dance performances by Pittsburgh native and MacArthur “genius” fellow Kyle Abraham, an excerpt by Mr. Santiago-Hudson from his play “Lackawanna Blues,” accompanied by guitarist Chris Thomas King, and an ensemble from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Ms. Rashad, Mr. Santiago-Hudson and Mr. Wilson’s widow, Constanza Romero Wilson, will serve as co-chairs of the event at the Downtown center, which is settling into its new name as the former August Wilson Center approaches it 10th anniversary on Sept. 17.
Last year, the first under the leadership of CEO and president Janis Burley Wilson, the center that almost succumbed to financial woes finished with a surplus, Ms. Wilson said at a press conference Monday. The purpose was to announce the gala and future plans, but looking back, Ms. Wilson noted that the AWCC exceeded its goals for rental revenues, held 178 events and ended the year with a surplus and building capital reserves.
There is new flooring as you enter the building at 980 Liberty Ave., and the fully funded kitchen completion project is scheduled to begin in August, a further boost for rentals.
What hasn’t changed are programming and festivals that have become an important part of AWCC programming. Coming up this week is the AWCC’s third annual Black Bottom Film Festival,
Friday through Feb. 24.
In addition to screening films at the center and Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville, the festival creates a space for people to speak with black actors, writers and directors during master classes and Q&A sessions. Workshops this year include acting, led by Kim Coles (TV’s “In Living Color” and “Living Single”), screenwriting led by artist-writer Gerard Brown, and improv classes by Pittsburgh’s Arcade Comedy Theater.
Black History Month programming and beyond includes journalist, poet, activist Felipe Luciano for the TruthSayers speaker series (Saturday); Grammy-nominated jazz singer Gregory Porter in concert (Sunday); “Tubman,” a one-woman show by Lacresha Berry as part of a Hi-Arts Theatre Company Residency (Feb. 20-21); and the new Wall of Sound series, “fresh sounds for the interested ear,” with the jazz band Butcher Brown (March 1).