Jun 17th 2017

An Evening at Pekin Theatre

@

Northwest Corner of 27th St and South State Street

Opening Saturday, June 17th, from 7PM - 11PM

Did you know that the first black-owned and -operated theatre in the United States stood at the corner of 27th and South State Street?

Join us as we celebrate Chicago’s legacy of black music and performance through a free, outdoor concert featuring some of the city’s best musicians and performers!

Illinois Humanities presents
An Evening at the Pekin Theatre
Featuring Reginald Robinson
Direction and Script Development by Cheryl Lynn Bruce
Written by McKenzie Chinn
Musical Arrangements by William Hayes

In partnership with Empty Bottle Presents
With generous support from the Joyce Foundation

Sat., June 17th, 2017
7:00pm; FREE
NW corner of 27th and S. State St.

Bronzeville’s Pekin Theatre, often called the “Temple of Music,” was the first black-owned and -operated stock theatre company in the United States. The Pekin opened the first all-black show ever produced in Chicago on June 18th, 1905 to an estimated crowd of 400 patrons.

Join us just one day shy of 112 years later as we reanimate history at the corner of 27th and S. State Street. This boisterous evening of ragtime-era music, song, and dance offers a change to peer into the past, draw connections to the present, and envision the future.
This live, outdoor concert will be free and open to the public.

Featuring Sydney Charles, Breon Arzell, Destiny Strothers, Christopher Audain, MacArthur-winning pianist Reginald Robinson, and his band:

Aidan Sinclair Daniels
Ernest Dawkins
Dushun Mosley
Samuel Williams
Robert Griffin
Roosevelt Griffin III
Tracy Kirk

Cultural Historian and Consultant: Tim Samuelson
Production Stage Manager: Adia Alli
Choreographer: Breon Arzell

“An Evening at the Pekin Theatre” is proud to be a part of the 2017 Year of Public Art Chicago.

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