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Black Nativity
39 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1992
63 people want to read
About the author
Langston Hughes
635 books2,163 followersThrough poetry, prose, and drama, American writer James Langston Hughes made important contributions to the Harlem renaissance; his best-known works include
Weary Blues
(1926) and
The Ways of White Folks
(1934).
People best know this social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist James Mercer Langston Hughes, one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry, for his famous written work about the period, when "Harlem was in vogue."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langsto...
People best know this social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist James Mercer Langston Hughes, one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry, for his famous written work about the period, when "Harlem was in vogue."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langsto...
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 13, 2019
Thin book, phat show.
Although in its fourth annual iteration, this musical finally attracted me during opening weekend earlier this month.
I liked the first act, the traditional story but set in a city like Milwaukee as Mary and Joseph could not find housing when she was about to deliver. Of course they find a place, leading to a moving birth scene, the nativity. https://www.marcuscenter.org/resident...
I like gospel shows. My mother and her father, my Grandpa Art, played spirituals and Irish songs on their pianos. Mahalia Jackson appeared often on Chicago television, where she settled from New Orleans. And it is that style of gospel — a soulful piano, an oozing organ and a full-throated woman — that set the standard for me. The energetic songs give a lift as we rock ’n’ roll our way to Heaven. This show includes many styles of gospel and other American music that blacks created, according to the director, including rock, jazz, blues, as well as rhythm and blues.
Langston Hughes, who wrote this in the early sixties, worked to express the everyday African-American voice. He recognized that spirituals and gospel songs mingle with contemporary problems. Here, for example, Joseph and Mary face a housing issue the night she delivers. Then they found their place.
Raniya Edwards deserves a special shout-out for her natural dance moves which flowed easily from her while she hit and held every note. As a thirteen-year-old performing for four years, she could grow into a fine and fun artist on stage and as choreographer.
This year’s edition closed last week. Looking forward to future versions. Check it out.
As a white guy who grew up as a generic Protestant, I enjoyed this modern take on the well-known nativity story.
Although in its fourth annual iteration, this musical finally attracted me during opening weekend earlier this month.
I liked the first act, the traditional story but set in a city like Milwaukee as Mary and Joseph could not find housing when she was about to deliver. Of course they find a place, leading to a moving birth scene, the nativity. https://www.marcuscenter.org/resident...
I like gospel shows. My mother and her father, my Grandpa Art, played spirituals and Irish songs on their pianos. Mahalia Jackson appeared often on Chicago television, where she settled from New Orleans. And it is that style of gospel — a soulful piano, an oozing organ and a full-throated woman — that set the standard for me. The energetic songs give a lift as we rock ’n’ roll our way to Heaven. This show includes many styles of gospel and other American music that blacks created, according to the director, including rock, jazz, blues, as well as rhythm and blues.
Langston Hughes, who wrote this in the early sixties, worked to express the everyday African-American voice. He recognized that spirituals and gospel songs mingle with contemporary problems. Here, for example, Joseph and Mary face a housing issue the night she delivers. Then they found their place.
Raniya Edwards deserves a special shout-out for her natural dance moves which flowed easily from her while she hit and held every note. As a thirteen-year-old performing for four years, she could grow into a fine and fun artist on stage and as choreographer.
This year’s edition closed last week. Looking forward to future versions. Check it out.
As a white guy who grew up as a generic Protestant, I enjoyed this modern take on the well-known nativity story.
June 4, 2024
HUGHES’ FAMED TELLING OF THE NATIVITY STORY
James Mercer Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri; he was perhaps the most prominent leader of the ‘Harlem Renaissance.’ This ‘Gospel Song Play’ was first performed in 1961, and has since been performed annually since then.
This edition includes a quotation from Hughes: “it all began with that first Star in Bethlehem almost two thousand years ago---the Star that brought us to the Mange to kneel at the feet of Christ.”
The play retells (in a modern setting, with an all-Black cast) the story of the birth of Jesus. The set is only several platforms, and a single glowing star above. Joseph and Mary have non-speaking roles, as do the three Wise Men. A Narrator provides the setting (often quoting the biblical stories), and the other speaking parts (a Woman; Man; Old Woman; four Shepherds; and an Elder) provide the dramatic “action.”
The majority of the play, however, is sung: both a few traditional Christmas carols (e.g., Joy to the World; O Come All Ye Faithful), and more modern folk spirituals (such as What You Gonna Name Your Baby?; Go Tell It on the Mountain; Sweet Little Jesus Boy).
The play is intended to be “open-ended,” allowing productions to add, subtract, and modify the script/text, to add music, dance, pantomime, or anything else. For example, see the 2013 film version (starring Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Tyrese Gibson, Jennifer Hudson, etc.).
The continuous restaging of the play is the clearest attestation of the play’s ongoing vitality.
James Mercer Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri; he was perhaps the most prominent leader of the ‘Harlem Renaissance.’ This ‘Gospel Song Play’ was first performed in 1961, and has since been performed annually since then.
This edition includes a quotation from Hughes: “it all began with that first Star in Bethlehem almost two thousand years ago---the Star that brought us to the Mange to kneel at the feet of Christ.”
The play retells (in a modern setting, with an all-Black cast) the story of the birth of Jesus. The set is only several platforms, and a single glowing star above. Joseph and Mary have non-speaking roles, as do the three Wise Men. A Narrator provides the setting (often quoting the biblical stories), and the other speaking parts (a Woman; Man; Old Woman; four Shepherds; and an Elder) provide the dramatic “action.”
The majority of the play, however, is sung: both a few traditional Christmas carols (e.g., Joy to the World; O Come All Ye Faithful), and more modern folk spirituals (such as What You Gonna Name Your Baby?; Go Tell It on the Mountain; Sweet Little Jesus Boy).
The play is intended to be “open-ended,” allowing productions to add, subtract, and modify the script/text, to add music, dance, pantomime, or anything else. For example, see the 2013 film version (starring Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Tyrese Gibson, Jennifer Hudson, etc.).
The continuous restaging of the play is the clearest attestation of the play’s ongoing vitality.
August 2, 2019
Emphasis should be given on 'Black' and not to 'Nativity'.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews