Wanda's Picks Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Simone Missick as Camae & Adrian Roberts at MLK Jr.
at the Lorraine Motel in The Mountaintop

Wanda Sabir welcomes Simone Missick, (Camae) in Katori Hall's The Mountaintop at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto, CA, through Apr. 7, 2013 with performances Thursday, Friday and Sunday afternoon. Visit www.theatreworks.org Wanda's Picks is a black arts and culture show.

This play looks at the evening before Martin Luther King is killed. The one act play takes place at the Lorraine Motel the night before. King and Camae, a maid, spend the night together in conversation, comradery and comfort. We meet a King who smokes Pall Malls, is honest about his fears, loves his family, and is a devoted servant to his creator even when the two disagree. Visit http://www.theatreworks.org/shows/1213-season/themountaintop

On Thursday, April 4, 2013, 8 p.m., Dr. Claybourne Carson, a Stanford history professor who also edits the papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., will speak at the theatre. It should really deepen the experience for audience members.

Jovelyn Richards

Our next guest Jovelyn Richards joins us as scheduled to speak about her Nappy Hair Love Stories and the kickstarter campaign to mount them all (4) this summer. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/nappy-headed-love-stories/x/711728

We close with Konda Mason who speaks about the benefit program for East Bay Meditation Center: The Dream Never Dies at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall, Thursday, April 4, 2013, 7 p.m. Visit http://www.eastbaymeditation.org/




Music: Sweet Honey's Hope; Sowethu Gospel Choir's Grace.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wandas-picks/2013/04/03/wandas-picks-radio-show
Bios:

SIMONE MISSICKBorn in Detroit, Michigan, Simone always knew she was meant to perform. Growing up, Simone spent years playing the violin, singing, and playing sports before she decided to focus on acting. While in her first year as an English major at Howard University, she decided to take a theatre for non-majors course. This class solidified her commitment to acting, and she graduated with a minor in Theatre arts. Following graduation, Simone traveled to Oxford, England, where she participated in the British American Drama Academy taking Master Classes with greats Ben Kingsley, Alan Rickman, and Jane Lapotaire. She then honed her craft performing in regional theatre in Detroit, Michigan before packing it all up and moving to Los Angeles. Simone has experienced success filming several short films, features and has begun writing and producing her own series of one act plays. In 2010, Simone will begin production on a self-written web series, and a documentary. From http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1395855/bio


JOVELYN RICHARDS

Ms. Richards, MFA, Published Writer & Solo Performance Artist resides in Oakland, CA. Jovelyn Richards, is the creator of the Nappy Headed Love Stories a series of theater performances examining, black love and intimacy, told through the voices of women and children. She is a radio host of Cover to Cover, Open Book on KPFA 94.1 radio.

Jovelyn Richards, theater performances has been presented at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, San Francisco Festival, La Pena’s Cultural Center, Berkeley, CA, The Marsh, San Francisco, CA, and Afro Solo Festival, in San Francisco.

Jovelyn performed her Nappy Headed Love Story’s to audiences internationally at The Merlin Theater, and Central Eastern University, in Budapest, Hungary.

Ms. Richards is currently working on her first short film ‘Birds in the Attic’ and raising funding for her next series of Nappy Headed Love Story’s.

KONDA MASON
Konda Mason honed her business leadership skills in the entertainment industry as a Grammy winning artist manager in London, an Academy Award nominated film producer in Hollywood, and an Off Broadway hit theater producer in New York…just to name a few.

Turning her attention to sustainable personal and global living solutions, Konda is a facilitator trainer for The Pachamama Alliance, a certified yoga instructor, and a partner in Earthseed Consulting, LLC, where she is producing/directing a web series called “Green Street Loft”, a program aimed at deepening the connection of the African American community with land, place and the sustainability movement. She was a co-host for the Shift Network’s 2012 Season of Sustainability, and is often a panelist or moderator in the impact investing space.

Most recently Konda Mason is the Co-Founder and CEO of Hub Oakland LLC, an inspiring space for socially engaged people and social entrepreneurs to create community and bring their projects to life as they create a better world.

Konda’s leadership style leverages her innate wisdom with tools of permaculture, sustainable business practices, yoga, storytelling, Buddhist theory, and Integral theory. A human equity advocate, Certified Permaculture Designer, and social entrepreneur, Konda’s work is driven by the vision of realizing in her lifetime a genuinely just and sustainable world. See www.huboakland.net