Lia Chang: Knock Me a Kiss Sweeps Audelcos with 9 Wins Including Best Dramatic Play, André De Shields, Marie Thomas, Charles Smith and Chuck Smith

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André De Shields as W.E.B. Du Bois with Erin Cherry, who play his daughter Yolande, in Charles Smith's Knock Me A Kiss. Photo by Lia Chang

On Monday, November 14, 2011, Woodie King Jr.’s New Federal Theatre and Legacy Creative Arts Co.’s production of Charles Smith’s Knock Me a Kiss was the toast of the 39th Annual AUDELCO “VIV” Awards, given in recognition of Black Excellence in Theatre, at Harlem Stages within Aaron Davis Hall, located at the Marion Anderson Theatre, on 133th Street and Convent Avenue in New York City.

Morocco Omari, André De Shields, Marie Thomas, Erin Cherry, Sean Phillips, Gillian Glasco of Knock Me a Kiss have all been nominated for 2011 Audelco Awards. Photo by Lia Chang

In addition to top honors for Best Dramatic Play, Knock Me a Kiss won 9 of the 13 categories for which was it was nominated: André De Shields (Lead Actor), Marie Thomas (Supporting Actress), Charles Smith (Playwright), Chuck Smith (Director-Dramatic), Shirley Prendergast (Lighting), Ali Turns (Costumes), Anthony Davidson (Set Design) and Bill Toles (Sound Design).

André De Shields as W.E.B. Du Bois in Charles Smith's Knock Me A Kiss © Lia Chang

Knock Me a Kiss is a fictional account inspired by the actual events surrounding the 1928 marriage of W.E.B. Du Bois’ (Andre De Shields) daughter Yolande (Erin Cherry) to one of Harlem’s great poets, Countee Cullen (Sean Phillips). The marriage marked the height of the Harlem Renaissance and was viewed as the perfect union of Negro talent and beauty. It united the daughter of America’s foremost Black intellectual, cofounder of the NAACP and publisher of Crisis Magazine, with a young poet whose work was considered to be one of the flagships for the New Negro movement. The marriage is a triumph of pomp and pageantry but fails to be a union of man and woman.

Erin Cherry and Marie Thomas Photo by Lia Chang

Charles Smith, playwright of Knock Me A Kiss © Lia Chang

Chuck Smith © Lia Chang

NY-1 Anchor Cheryl Wills and Def Poetry Jam co-founder Danny Simmons co-hosted the ceremony.
Below is the Complete List of Winners, congrats to all.

Best Dramatic Play – Knock Me A Kiss

Lead Actor – Andre De Shields – Knock Me A Kiss

Lead Actress – tied with Kimberlee Monroe – Nobody Knew Where They Was

and Sanaa Latham – By the Way, Meet Vera Stark

Supporting Actress – Marie Thomas – Knock Me A Kiss

Supporting Actor – Andre Holland – The Whipping Man

Outstanding Performance (Male) – Tommi Thompson – The Widow and Miss Mamie

Outstanding Performance (Female) – Toni Seawright – The Widow and Miss Mamie

Outstanding Musical Director – Ron Granger – The Widow and Miss Mamie

Solo Performance – Stephanie Berry – The Shaneequa Chronicles

Playwright: Charles Smith – Knock Me A Kiss

Director (Dramatic) – Chuck Smith – Knock Me A Kiss

Director (Musical) Production: Lee Kirk – The Widow and Miss Mamie

Lighting: Shirley Prendergast – Knock Me A Kiss

Set Design – Anthony Davidson – Knock Me A Kiss

Sound Design – Bill Toles – Knock Me A Kiss

Choreography – Tracy Jack – It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues

Costumes – Ali Turns – Knock Me A Kiss

Gillian Glasco, Erin Cherry and Morocco Omari in Knock Me a Kiss. Photo by Lia Chang

Production of the Year: Tie for The Widow and Miss Mamie and Ain’t Nothing But the Blues

New Federal Theatre producer Woodie King, Jr. © Lia Chang

Recipient of the Board of Director’s Award – Rome Neal, Jackie Jeffries, Jacquetta L. McMurray

Outstanding Pioneer Awards went to Felix E. Cochren, Mary Alice Smith, James Pringle

Special Achievement Awards: Clifford B. Simmons (Blue Nile Passage), Journalist, Playwright and Director Hazel Rosetta Smith, Fortune Society and the Significant Elders group

AUDELCO’s Rising Star Award: Eden Sanaa Duncan Smith (Lion King), (Fences) is a youth radio host on the Aunt Jewel’s Bedtime Stories show on Blakeradio.com, Rainbow Soul.

Honorary chairs for the 39th Annual AUDELCO Awards were LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Hattie Winston and Harold Wheeler.

Knock Me A Kiss director Chuck Smith, playwright Charles Smith, André De Shields, and New Federal Theatre producer Woodie King on the set of Knock Me A Kiss at the Henry Street Settlement/Abrons Recital Hall on November 11, 2010. © Lia Chang

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Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography

Lia Chang is an actor, performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multimedia journalist. Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang Photos: André De Shields, Erin Cherry, Gillian Glasco, Marie Thomas, Sean Phillips, Morocco Omari, Charles Smith and Chuck Smith Among 13 Audelco Nods for Knock Me a Kiss

André De Shields as W.E.B. Du Bois with Erin Cherry, who play his daughter Yolande, in Charles Smith's Knock Me A Kiss. Photo by Lia Chang

When the 2011 Vivian Robinson/Audelco Awards are handed out at the HarlemStage/Aaron Davis Hall 133rd Street & Convent Avenue in New York on Monday, November 14,2011, I’ll be rooting for Woodie King Jr’s New Federal Theatre and Legacy Creative Arts Co. production of Knock Me A Kiss, which has been nominated for 13 Audelcos.

Morocco Omari, André De Shields, Marie Thomas, Erin Cherry, Sean Phillips, Gillian Glasco of Knock Me a Kiss have all been nominated for 2011 Audelco Awards. Photo by Lia Chang

The nominations include Charles Smith for Playwriting; André De Shields for Lead Actor; Erin Cherry for Lead Actress; Chuck Smith for Director of a Dramatic Production; Gillian Glasco for Supporting Actress; Marie Thomas for Supporting Actress; Sean Phillips for Supporting Actor; Morocco Omari for Supporting Actor; Shirley Prendergast for Lighting; Anthony Davidson for Set Design; Ali Turns for Costume Design; Bill Toles for Sound Design; and New Federal Theatre and Legacy Creative Arts Co. for Dramatic Production of the Year.

Erin Cherry as Yolande Du Bois and Sean Phillips as Countee Cullen in Charles Smith’s Knock Me a Kiss. © Lia Chang

Knock Me a Kiss is a fictional account inspired by the actual events surrounding the 1928 marriage of W.E.B. Du Bois’ daughter Yolande to one of Harlem’s great poets, Countee Cullen. The marriage marked the height of the Harlem Renaissance and was viewed as the perfect union of Negro talent and beauty. It united the daughter of America’s foremost Black intellectual, cofounder of the NAACP and publisher of Crisis Magazine, with a young poet whose work was considered to be one of the flagships for the New Negro movement. The marriage is a triumph of pomp and pageantry but fails to be a union of man and woman.

The awards promote and celebrate African-American involvement in American Theatre. Samuel L. Jackson and his wife, LaTanya Richardson Jackson are serving as Honorary Co-Chairpersons for this year’s event. NY-1 Anchor Cheryl Wills and Def Poetry Jam co-founder Danny Simmons will be the co-hosts for the ceremony.

The Awards presentation kicks off at 6:30pm, followed by a gala reception from 10pm-11pm. Tickets are on sale now ($150 orchestra, $75 mezzanine and $35 balcony). For tickets, call (212) 368-6906.

Location:
HarlemStage/Aaron Davis Hall, Inc
133RD STREET & CONVENT AVENUE,
NEW YORK

Complete List of 2011 AUDELCO Nominees
LIGHTING DESIGN
Avan (Brothers from the Bottom)
James “Prez” Carter (The Shaneequa Chronicles)
Jeff Croiter (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark)
Shirley Prendergast (Knock Me a Kiss)
Colin D. Young (Henry V)

SET DESIGN
Felix E. Cochren (The Legend of Buster Neal)
Felix E. Cochren (The Right Reverend Dupree in Exile)
Chris Cumberbatch (The Shaneequa Chronicles)
Anthony Davidson (Knock Me a Kiss)
Neil Patel (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark)

COSTUME DESIGN
Rachel Dozier-Ezell (Henry V)
ESosa (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark)
Helen L. Simmons-Collen (The Right Reverend Dupree in Exile)
Ali Turns (Knock Me a Kiss)
David Withrow (Antony & Cleopatra)

SOUND DESIGN
John Gromada (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark)
Patricia Ju (Henry V)
Sean O’Halloran (Cool Blues)
Bill Toles (Knock Me a Kiss)
David D. Wright (Antony & Cleopatra)

Chuck Smith © Lia Chang

DIRECTOR/DRAMATIC PRODUCTION
Jackie Alexander (The Legend of Buster Neal)
Jo Bonney (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark)
Thomas Kail (When I Come to Die)
Petronia Paley (Antony & Cleopatra)
Chuck Smith (Knock Me a Kiss)

DIRECTOR/MUSICAL PRODUCTION
Daniel Beaty (Tearing Down the Walls)
Lee Kirk (The Widow and Miss Mamie)
Lorna Littleway (Juneteenth Blues Cabaret)
Alfred Preisser (It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues)
Ronald Wyche (Do Wop Love)

CHOREOGRAPHER
Leslie Dockery (The Shaneequa Chronicles)
Dell Howlett (Tearing Down the Walls)
Tracy Jack (It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues)
Michelle M. Robinson (Do Wop Love)

Charles Smith, playwright of Knock Me A Kiss © Lia Chang

PLAYWRIGHT
Jackie Alexander (The Legend of Buster Neal)
Nathan Louis Jackson (When I Come to Die)
Lynn Nottage (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark)
Roger Parris (Nobody Knew Where They Was)
Charles Smith (Knock Me a Kiss)

Eric Bogosian, John Earl Jelks, Lynn Nottage and Jo Bonney at the opening night party of "By the Way, Meet Vera Stark" on May 9, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Daniel Breaker (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark)
André Holland (The Whipping Man)
Morocco Omari (Knock Me a Kiss)
Sean Phillips (Knock Me a Kiss)
Jay Ward (Cool Blues)

Gillian Glasco, Erin Cherry and Morocco Omari in Knock Me a Kiss. Photo by Lia Chang

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Gillian Glasco (Knock Me a Kiss)
Kimberly Hébert Gregory (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark)
Marie Thomas (Knock Me a Kiss)
Amanda Mason Warren (When I Come to Die)

Erin Cherry and Marie Thomas Photo by Lia Chang

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL – FEMALE
Marvel Allen (The Widow and Miss Mamie)
Dameka Hayes (It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues)
Jannie Jones (Juneteenth Blues Cabaret)
Adrienne C. Moore (Tearing Down the Walls)
Toni Seawright (The Widow and Miss Mamie)

Kimberly Hébert Gregory Photo by Lia Chang

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL – MALE
Gerald Latham (It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues)
Jevon McFerrin (Tearing Down the Walls)
Tommie Thompson (The Widow and Miss Mamie)

OUTSTANDING MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Jeffrey Bolding (It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues)
Ron Granger (The Widow and Miss Mamie)
Charles Mack (Tearing Down the Walls)
Bert Price (Do Wop Love)
Ivan Thomas (Juneteenth Blues Cabaret)

MUSICAL PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR
Do Wop Love (National Black Theatre)
It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues (New Haarlem Arts Theatre)
Juneteenth Blues Cabaret (Juneteenth LegacyTheatre)
Tearing Down the Walls (New Heritage/Riverside Theatre/WalkTall Girl)
The Widow and Miss Mamie (Lee Kirk Productions)

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
Accept “Except” (National Black Theatre)
Born Bad (Soho Rep)
Do Wop Love (National Black Theatre)
Playing with Heiner Müller (Castillo Theatre)
The Legend of Buster Neal (Billie Holiday Theatre)

SOLO PERFORMANCE
Stephanie Berry (The Shaneequa Chronicles)
Miche Braden (The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith)
Cheryl Howard (The Sensational Josephine Baker)
Nilaja Sun (No Child)

André De Shields as W.E.B. Du Bois in Charles Smith's Knock Me A Kiss © Lia Chang

LEAD ACTOR
André Braugher (The Whipping Man)
Chris Chalk (When I Come to Die)
André De Shields (Knock Me a Kiss)
Ty Jones (Henry V)
Ralph McCain (The Right Reverend Dupree in Exile)
Marcus Naylor (Cool Blues)

LEAD ACTRESS
Debra Ann Byrd (Antony & Cleopatra)
Erin Cherry (Knock Me a Kiss)
Terria Joseph (Cool Blues)
Sanaa Lathan (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark)
Kimberlee Monroe (Nobody Knew Where They Was)

DRAMATIC PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR
Antony & Cleopatra (Take Wing And Soar Productions)
By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (2nd Stage)
Knock Me a Kiss (New Federal Theatre/Legacy Creative Arts Co.)
The Legend of Buster Neal (Billie Holiday Theatre)
When I Come to Die (Lincoln Center Theatre)

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Lia Chang Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography

Lia Chang is an actor, performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multimedia journalist. Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.