When the world sounds like a prayer

Classical Theatre of Harlem, led by Producing Artistic Director Ty Jones, will gather friends Baba Don Babatunde, Jerrell Henderson, Emerge125 and Shayshahn Macpherson to welcome Little Amal on a walk honoring the Harlem Renaissance. Special thanks to the Bryant Park Corporation for providing a space for New York City to greet and embrace Little Amal.

NAACP Award Winner, Ty Jones is the OBIE Award Winning Producing Artistic Director of the Classical Theatre of Harlem. CTH creates theatre that entertains diverse audiences who desire to be highly engaged emotionally and highly satisfied intellectually by productions anchored in the context of the African Diaspora.

For almost a quarter century,  percussionist Baba Don Eaton Babatunde, has performed with many Major American Dance Companies in the world’s greatest performing-arts venues.  His recording career is as equally varied as it is vast; the jazz idiom, rhythm and blues, and most African derived percussion styles are represented in his discography.  He is a featured member of the esteemed Last Poets.  He has long been acknowledged as one of New York City’s master teachers of African Drumming and the rhythms of the Diaspora in the Americas.  Baba Don Eaton Babatunde is presently on faculty at the Harlem School Of the Arts for over 25 years, teaching all ages from 4 years of age to adults.

MacPherson has performed as a violinist and lyricist at venues across the country and around the world including shows in U.K., Germany, New Zealand, Amsterdam, Turkey, Iceland, Colombia & Jamaica.  His musical achievements span from youth, with feature performances at Carnegie Hall at the age of 12, to more recent work including appearances at AfroPunk Music Festival, the Barclay Center and collaborations/ performances with musical icons like Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Rahzel and GZA.  He also has an Emmy under his belt for his composition and string play on the collaboration entitled Vote. Receiving high praise in reviews, MacPherson’s artistry has been dubbed “‘evocative,’ ‘infectious,’ and ‘regal’.

Jerrell L. Henderson is a Theatre Director, Puppeteer, and African American Theatre Historian and Archivist. Through the mediums of theatre and/or puppetry and film, Jerrell is at home in a number of wide-ranging genres including, but not limited to, American Realism, Magical Realism, Traditional and Contemporary Musical Theatre, Poetic Black-Queer Narratives, and Live Spectacle Events.  As a theatre historian and archivist, Jerrell contributed to the recently released Fifty Key Musicals (Routledge Press). He authored the chapter on Shuffle Along (1921) and co-authored the chapter on The Wiz (1975). He also serves as the creator and curator of black_theatre_vinyl_archive on Instagram. black_theatre_vinyl_archive is an extensive collection of vinyl albums which highlight the contributions of members of the African Diaspora in Theatre/Musical Theatre History. He is represented by the Gurman Agency ([email protected])

Tiffany Rea-Fisher (Executive Artistic Director, EMERGE125) has had the pleasure of creating numerous pieces for the Classical Theatre of Harlem as well as being commissioned by Dance Theater of Harlem, Dallas Black Dance Theater, NYC Department of Transportation, Utah Repertory Theater, The National Gallery of Art in D.C., and having her work performed for the Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg. Her works have been seen on many stages including the Joyce, Joe’s Pub, Aaron Davis Hall, and New York Live Arts in New York City.