Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre’s 2024 season of four productions will open with the original musical 1619: THE JOURNEY OF A PEOPLE by Chicago writer and performer Ted Williams III. The musical commemorates the arrival of the first 20 Africans on the shores of Point Comfort, Virginia on August 20, 1619. In it, three modern characters lead audience members on a journey through multiple performance pieces, leaving viewers both inspired and challenged about the progress of America’s African sons and daughters. This production uses various musical forms including hip-hop, jazz, and blues, to commemorate the struggle for survival and equality and to celebrate the stories and journeys of America’s African sons and daughters. FJT is partnering with Evanston Public Library and Northwestern University for this production. 1619: THE JOURNEY OF A PEOPLE will play Saturdays and Sundays from June 15-30, 2024, with the press opening on Sunday, June 16 at 3 pm.
Performances will be Saturdays at 7:00 pm and Sundays at 3:00 pm, at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. Tickets are $30.00 and are on sale now at www.fjtheatre.com. Additionally, 2024 Premium Gold Member Cards, good for all three 2024 summer and fall play productions and A MOODY EXPERIENCE: MUSIC BEYOND THE MARGINS, are now on sale for a very limited time for only $90 - a nearly 30 percent discount off of the regular season ticket prices.
LISTING INFORMATION
1619: THE JOURNEY OF A PEOPLE
A Musical by Ted Williams III
Directed by Tim Rhoze and Ted Williams III
This is a co-production with Evanston Public Library and Northwestern University
June 15-30, 2024
Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Press opening Sunday, June 16 at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets $32.00, on sale now at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
From the beginning of American slavery to Reconstruction, the Great Migration, the Civil Rights Era, and modern movements for justice, 1619 packs generations of history into an amazing musical theater experience that traces the African American journey toward freedom and equality.
BIOS
TED WILLIAMS III (writer, 1619: THE JOURNEY OF A PEOPLE), is a performing artist and educator who lives to inspire. He has taught Political Science at Wright College, Chicago State University, and currently is the Chairman of the Social Sciences Department at Kennedy-King College. He holds degrees in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago and Rutgers University and is the former host of WYCC-PBS Television’s THE PROFESSORS weekly talk show. He has provided political commentary for BET-TV, WGN-TV, NBC-TV, UPFRONT WITH JESSE JACKSON, PRI’s SMILEY AND WEST, WVON radio, and a host of additional media outlets.
He has also appeared in commercials for companies including Empire Carpet, Six Flags, Cheerios, and Subway; and recently appeared in the films HUMAN ZOOS, THE CHRISTMAS THIEF, NBC's CHICAGO PD, and Showtime's THE CHI. Moreover, he is the creator of the productions 1619: THE JOURNEY OF A PEOPLE, TORN the Musical, and of the book THE WAY OUT: CHRISTIANITY, POLITICS, AND THE FUTURE OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY. 1619 was funded by the Illinois Arts Council and was nominated for the 2020 August Wilson Award for the Best Writing of a Musical, by the Black Theater Alliance Awards. He is also a contributor to the Third World Press text, Not Our President and a former candidate for the Chicago City Council. Williams is currently an Illinois Humanities Road Scholar and was appointed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to serve on the state's Reparations Commission. He considers his most important work his role as a mentor to young people and as a husband and father to Roslyn and their three beautiful children, Gabrielle, Amaris, and Ted IV.
TIM RHOZE (Artistic Director) Tim Rhoze has been the Producing Artistic Director of Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre since 2010. His directing credits include: THIS BITTER EARTH, THE BALDWIN
GIOVANNI EXPERIENCE, THE LIGHT, AMERICAN SON, HOME, TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES 1992, THE MEETING, FIRES IN THE MIRROR, BLACK BALLERINA (co-writer), NUTCRACKER(ISH), CROWNS, HAVING OUR SAY, FROM THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA, FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, WOZA ALBERT!, GOING TO ST. IVES, SINGLE BLACK FEMALE, A SONG FOR CORETTA, YELLOWMAN, SWEET, LADY DAY AT EMERSON BAR & GRILL, BEAR COUNTRY, NOBODY, FENCES, PIANO LESSON, AIN'T MISBEHAVIN, K2, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, et. al. Tim is also the writer/director of WHY NOT ME? A SAMMY DAVIS JR. STORY, and MAYA’S LAST POEM, both produced at FJT; and BLACK BALLERINA, produced at FJT and Pittsburgh Public Theatre. He was co-writer and director of A HOME ON THE LAKE, co-produced with the Piven Theatre Workshop.
ABOUT FLEETWOOD-JOURDAIN THEATRE
Founded in 1979, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre is a professional, award-winning theatre company that has been thrilling audiences with over four decades of unique, inspirational, and invigorating African American and African Diaspora-centered storytelling. The company has been honored in the Black Theatre Alliance/Ira Aldridge Awards. From original plays to the best of Broadway, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre has remained committed to supplying the very best in theatre. "Umoja!! ….Working Together in Unity" is the foundation from which FJT began and continues to thrive!
It is our mission to present powerful, thought-provoking, Theater Arts programming with a commitment to diversity and creative excellence. We are dedicated to providing a nurturing and creative environment for directors, playwrights, actors, set, light, and costume designers. In this positive environment, they can further develop their creative skills and share their artistic expressions. The Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre is funded by the City of Evanston and in part by the Illinois Arts Council, A State Agency.
ALSO AT FLEETWOOD-JOURDAIN THEATRE IN 2024
FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF
By Ntozake Shange
Directed by Tim Rhoze
July 20 – August 4, 2024
Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Press opening Sunday, July 21 at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets $32.00, on sale now at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
Filled with passion, humor, and raw honesty, legendary playwright/poet Ntozake Shange’s form-changing choreopoem tells the stories of seven women of color using poetry, song, and movement. It speaks to our world today about women’s struggles, strengths, desires, resilience, and the sanctified magic of love and possibility.
Cast: Angelena Browne, Candice Jeanine, Caitlin Dobbins, Jazzma Pryor, Jenise Sheppard, Nehanda, Tuesdai B. Perry
A MOODY EXPERIENCE: MUSIC BEYOND THE MARGINS
Saturday, August 24 at 7 pm, Sunday, August 25 at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets $32.00, on sale now at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
Grammy Award-winning gospel artist Pastor Carlis L. Moody Jr. (Faith Temple) joins musical forces with his talented family, MC4, and local Evanston singing powerhouses Dudley Fair and Rene Black, to bring us a musical concert event like no other. The tickets will go fast for this special event, so don’t delay.
UNTIL THE FLOOD
by Dael Orlandersmith
Directed by Tim Rhoze
October 26 – November 10, 2024
Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Press opening Sunday, October 27 at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets $32.00, on sale now at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
This tour de force theatrical journey builds a sobering brick-by-brick portrait of a society still reckoning with racism in all its insidious forms…the effect is akin to that of a prayer, a poetic plea for understanding and peace that ought to be heard everywhere. Powerful and thought-provoking theatre.
THE GLORIA BOND CLUNIE PLAYWRIGHT’S FESTIVAL 2024
Saturday, June 1 at 4 pm & 7:30 pm, Sunday, June 2 at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets Saturday $15.00, Sunday $10.00, or $20 for all three plays. Tickets are sale now at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
Public staged readings of three new plays by Chicago-based African American playwrights: Jessica Posey, Michael Jones, and Nehanda Loiseau Julot; directed by Melissa Golden, Jamal Howard, and Aurelia Clunie.
Schedule of Plays
Saturday June 1
4:00pm - BORING BLACK PLAY by Jessica Posey, directed by Melissa Golden
Jade, a young Black writer, struggles to write a story that feels true to her. White voices “offer” criticism in Jade’s head and cause her further stress as she feels pressured to appeal to them. As she gets caught up in appealing to others instead of following her, she grapples with the relationships in her real life, too.
7:30pm - INHERITANCE -OR- BROTHERS FROM THE DEEP by Michael Jones,
directed by Jamal Howard
Two brothers go on a fishing trip at night to speak of their childhood and tumultuous relationship with their father.
Sunday, June 2
3:00pm - 3 SISTERS FORCED TO FACE THE SKY by Nehanda Julot, directed by Aurelia Clunie
Three sisters are abandoned yet again. This time it's Haiti. Three years after the earthquake. From politics to orgasms, personalities clash between those who left Haiti and those decided to stay behind. In one night, these sisters discover that while the rest of the world may have forgotten, they are forced to remember.