#BLACKLIVESMATTER & The New Phoenix Theatre

As it pertains to the Black Lives Matter movement, we at The New Phoenix Theatre on the Park are going to do better, and work to drive change.  We will continue to strive to reject racism and inequality of any kind, and to also support art that mirrors and commemorates our wonderfully diverse world. 

The New Phoenix Theatre believes that the current climate in America, with racial violence and injustice against the black community, is unconscionable.   Since our inception we have strived to speak to current issues that support the black community as well as those that are misunderstood and disadvantaged, and have always and will continue to support the work of all artists, regardless of race.

Last year’s production of Steven Elliott Jacksons’s “The Seat Next to the King” addressed divides in racial equality as well as gay rights and politics.  Executive Director Richard Lambert’s trilogy of “Sweet Street”, “Fillmore” and “Buffalo Moon” addressed many social and societal inequities right here in Buffalo.

Through the last 25 years there are countless examples of productions that have featured artists of color, including “Othello”, featuring the late Tim White which toured London and Scotland, and “Alice Underground” which was performed right in our neighborhood, Johnson Park.  “The Correspondent”, “Judgement at Nuremberg”, “Of Mice and Men”, “Buffalo Gal”, “Bounty”, On the Waterfront”, and “Inherit the Wind” are other examples.

This year’s series of “New Works, New Phoenix”, run by Verneice Turner featured many local artists of color including Shirley Sarminento’s “Tolley’s Place”, and Loren and Jim Keller’s “A Pitch from Satchel Paige”, featuring Russell Holt.