An official with the 2022 National Black Theatre Festival said the festival has been “absolutely awesome.”
“All of our productions have gotten extremely good feedback,” April Broadway, the new managing director for the North Carolina Black Repertory Company said Saturday morning. “Our stars are being congratulated over and over and over again for their performances, which makes us very excited. Also, our ticket sales have been going extremely well.”
Over the six-day event, festivalgoers got to experience about 130 theatrical performances, as well as workshops, films, spoken word poetry, an international vendors market, tours and more. The event started with a gala Monday and was set to end with a closing parade late Saturday night.
The celebrity co-chairs for this year’s event were Lisa Arrindell, known for “Madea’s Family Reunion” and “Livin’ Large” in films and the Broadway production of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and Petri Hawkins Byrd, best known as a bailiff on “Judge Judy.”
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Typically it takes festival officials 18 months to plan the festival, but because of pandemic precautions, the recent death of the festival’s executive producer Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin, among other things, it wasn’t until March that the N.C. Black Repertory Co. officially decided to move forward with the event.
“That’s a lot less months, but I have to say everybody on the team pulled together and said, ‘I know what I’m supposed to do,’" Broadway said. “Each person took complete ownership of their part of the festival to help to make it a grand success."
The gala was a hit with people.
“Lots of people have said that they felt it was the best gala we’ve had, and I would have to echo those sentiments,” Broadway said.
Two productions, “I Wanna Be Evil: The Eartha Kitt Story” and “Zora Neale Hurston: A Theatrical Biography” had sold out shows by late Thursday.
Broadway said the N.C. Black Rep Co.’s productions of “Succession” and “Freedom Summer” and its teen ensemble’s “The Golden Tales of Hip-Hop” performance in Bailey Park did well.
Shows that returned from past years added a new twist to give audiences something different, Broadway said.
“It’s very important for us to make sure that we have theater for everyone,” Broadway said. “That was something that our founder definitely believed, that Black theater was for everyone.”
As of Saturday morning, ticket sales were more than $750,000, she said.
“We expect to surpass that,” Broadway said.
The 2022 attendance is not yet available. In a typical year, between 30,000 and 50,000 people attend the event.
Broadway said the 2022 festival has gone off with few hiccups.
“Something that we need to work on for 2024 is to be in more contact with the restaurants about their hours, because once an 8:30 p.m. performance lets out around 10 p.m., a lot of the restaurants are closed — especially for our 10:30 p.m. performances that are getting out at 12 a.m.” Broadway said.
She said the Twin City Quarter did adjust their times for the Butcher & Bull Steakhouse in the Marriott to be open until 1 a.m.
“We were extremely grateful because at 12 a.m. they had lines still lined up,” she said.
At one venue, air conditioning went out.
“We offered cold water and a refund if they (festivalgoers) chose not to stay once they were advised about (it),” she said. “We also brought some portable air conditioners.”
Although a lot of people were nervous at first about the festival going digital for tickets and playbills, the switch from paper has been a success, Broadway said.
Shows and nightlife
Mariella Owens of Mableton, Ga., said she attended the National Black Theatre Festival this week for the first time.
“I’ve enjoyed it so much,” Owens said as she stood Thursday in the Benton Convention Center. “It’s been inspirational with the Blacks coming together in the different activities, the theater performances and the storytelling.”
Owens, a potter, said that Winston-Salem is a wonderful city.
“I would love to live here,” Owens said. “The people have been so friendly.”
Later Thursday night, nearly 2,500 people attended The Old School Block Party in Corpening Plaza in downtown Winston-Salem. The free event was put on by the City of Winston-Salem, a sponsor of the National Black Theatre Festival.
Some people wore face masks to that event, but most attendees didn’t.
At the party, Darryl Summey of Winston-Salem said he enjoyed Thursday’s performance, “Natural Woman: An Aretha Story,” which portrayed the life of legendary Aretha Franklin.
“I thought it was spectacular,” said Summey, a retired executive with Roadway Express in Kernersville.
The festival “is great for Winston-Salem,” Summey said. “It brings a lot more people to the city, and it’s an infusion of money after the pandemic.
“I like the vibes, and going to the different spots,” Summey said.
At the party, Anetta Evans of Winston-Salem said that the festival was an excellent event for the N.C. Black Repertory Co. to stage.
“I’ve been impressed about how all of the people have come together after two years of COVID-19,” Evans said.
Brian Harris of Greensboro, a filmmaker, said he also enjoyed the festival. One of his films, “Bigger Matters,” was shown at the festival, he said.
“Everything is A1,” Harris said. “I like the atmosphere, and the vibe is great.”
David Miranda of Winston-Salem and his wife, Heidi Imperial, stood in line at the food trucks during the party.
“It looks pretty cool,” Miranda said of the party that attracted more than 2,000 people. “It looks really hype, and the music is really good.”
Imperial said she and her husband had a more practical reason for attending Thursday’s party.
“We came here for the food,” Imperial said.
Millicent Lee of Greensboro got to see “I Wanna Be Evil: The Eartha Kitt Story” before all four shows were sold out.
She said Jenelle Lynn Randall’s portrayal of the legendary performer showed “the multidimensional layers of Eartha Kitt.”
“I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got there, but she (Randall) was so much like what I think Eartha Kitt would have been like, so much so that I forgot she was actually acting,” Lee said. “Her story was so compelling.”
Lee added, “I was entertained and I was pleasantly informed. There was so much more to Eartha Kitt than I imagined. It was fun. I think everybody in there enjoyed it.”
Food and restaurants
Local food businesses said sales were good during the festival.
“It was really good for business,” said Andre Gonzales of Xcaret Mexican Grill and Cantina on Fourth Street in downtown Winston-Salem.
He said he saw more people at night after shows ended.
Dedrick Roseboro of Winston-Salem set up his food truck, Wings-N-Fins, on Thursday at The Old School Block Party at Corpening Plaza.
He has had his food truck at the biennial NBTF the past couple of festivals and missed it when it was postponed last year due to the pandemic.
“Everybody missed it,” he said. “That’s one of our biggest money makers of this time of the year.”
He said his food truck sold out on Thursday 20 minutes prior to the block party wrapping up.
A tribute
This year, the National Black Theatre Festival reserved two chairs in honor of its late leaders Larry Leon Hamlin and Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin at each theatrical performance.
Sprinkle-Hamlin led the N.C. Black Repertory Co. as both its board chairwoman and executive producer of the NBTF. She took on producing the festival in 2007 after the death of Larry Leon Hamlin, her husband, who founded the company and produced its first festival in 1989.
“The final light was on those two chairs for each performance,” Broadway said.