Author: OutandAboutnycmag

Out & About NYC Magazine was founded to offer the arts and lifestyle enthusiast a fresh new look at New York City. We will showcase the established and the emerging, the traditional and the trendy. And we will do it with élan, and panache with a dash of fun.
No comments

O&A Wildin Out Wednesday: Jamie Foxx as Wanda- In Living Color

  By , ,

wildin out wednesday

inlivingcolor

Eric Marlon Bishop known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an African-American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian and musician. Ugly Wanda, played by Foxx, was based on a character LaWanda Page played in a sketch on Redd Foxx (1977). The first sketch to feature Wanda, in which she gives an erotic massage to a man who hasn’t seen her face, is a remake of the original Redd Foxx sketch. The character was named after Page. Jamie took his stage name as a tribute to Redd Foxx. Continue reading

No comments

9/16/14 Reflections on Katherine Dunham and Lavinia Williams (part two)

  By

By Noel Nantambu Hall

carib15k-4-copy

On her passing Mme. Williams was recognized by the Haitian government with an official national funeral and a posthumous award, Grand Officer De L’ Ordre National Honneur et Merite. She is survived by daughters Sharon and Sara, both of whom are active in the dance field. Sharon, a master percussionist and Sara, a former leading dancer with the Harkness and Atlanta ballets, the Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Continue reading

No comments

9/16/14 O&A Inspirational Tuesday: Tony Robbins- Focus

  By ,

Inspirational-Tuesday

17655_10151297726633907_1932273569_n

Where focus goes, energy flows. And where energy flows, whatever you’re focusing on grows. In other words, your life is controlled by what you focus on. That’s why you need to focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear. When you next find yourself in a state of uncertainty, resist your fear. Shift your focus toward where you want to go and your actions will take you in that direction. Continue reading

5 Comments

9/15/14 Reflections on Katherine Dunham and Lavinia Williams (part one)

  By ,

By Noel Nantambu Hall

12023403_ori

 Katherine Dunham laid some sturdy foundations in arts and education that would not only benefit her era, but mushroom through the years and inspire new foundations and further growth. Education and the self-reaffirming power it wielded on an individual, group or society had clearly evidenced itself on her development and growing consciousness in the mid-nineteen thirties, and at the forefront were dance and anthropology. Continue reading

No comments

9/15/14 O&A Hollywood Monday: The Band Wagon: Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse

  By , ,

Hollywood Mondays

The_Band_Wagon-669013880-large

The Band Wagon is a 1953 musical comedy film that many critics rank, along with Singin’ in the Rain, as the finest of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals despite only a modest box-office success. The film tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway play will restart his career. The play’s director wants to make it a pretentious retelling of Faust, and brings in a prima ballerina who clashes with the star.

The songs were written by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz, and some were created for the original 1931 Broadway musical also called The Band Wagon. The Broadway production featured a book by George S. Kaufman and starred Fred Astaire and his sister Adele. The movie’s dances and musical numbers were staged by Michael Kidd.

Continue reading

No comments

9/14/14 O&A Gospel Sunday: Smokie Norful- I Need You Now

  By , ,

GOSPEL SUNDAY

 MI0000766921

Reverend W.R. “Smokie” Norful, Jr. is an internationally renowned musician, music composer, and recording artist. His debut compact discs entitled I Need You Now and Smokie Norful Limited Edition have garnered favorable accolades and awards across the world, including the 2005 Grammy Award for Contemporary Soul Gospel Album of the Year for his release entitled, Nothing Without You; three Stellar awards; four Dove awards; three Gospel Music Excellence Awards; an NAACP image Award nomination; a Soul Train award nomination; two nominations for the BET award for gospel music; two RIAA certified Gold selling compact discs; and countless others. Continue reading

One Comment

9/12/14 O&A Its Saturday: Morning, Noon and Night with Nigel Sylvester

  By ,

It is Saturday

Photo by: Karl Ferguson (www.rageonemedia.com)
Check out street cyclist Nigel Sylvester’s entire day in the order that it all went down, from morning to the afternoon, and finally into the night. Nigel starts his day cruising the streets, only to have a chance encounter with Teyana Taylor. His afternoon fades to night, as he rides through the streets of NYC with friends, ending up at the club.

nigel-sylvester-2014

And a O&A repost of Nigel’s 2014 ESPN Body Issue photo session video

Continue reading

No comments

9/12/14 O&A Shall We Dance Friday: Jerome Robbins- Fancy Free

  By , ,

Shall We Dance

69110-004-8FD44BA7                                          Shirley Edd, Michael Kidd, John Kriza and Jerome Robbins

Fancy Free is a ballet choreographed by Jerome for Ballet Theatre, the predecessor of American Ballet Theatre. The work is set to a score by Leonard Bernstein, with scenery by Oliver Smith, costumes by Kermit Love and lighting by Ronald Bates. The premiere took place on Tuesday, April 18th, 1944, at the original Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. The sailors were played by Jerome Robbins, Michael Kidd, and John Kriza. 

The inspiration for Fancy Free came from Paul Cadmus’ 1934 painting The Fleet’s In!, which is part of the Sailor Trilogy. The character driven dance takes place  in New York City, during the second world war. Three Sailors on liberty boisterously arrive at a bar, have a drink, and head outside looking for female companionship.  Continue reading

No comments

9/11/14 O&A DIVA ALERT!: Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston- When You Believe

  By ,

diva alert

maxresdefault

When You Believe is a song from the 1998 DreamWorks musical animated feature film The Prince of Egypt. The song was written and composed by Stephen Schwartz. A pop single version with additional music and lyrics by writer-producer Babyface was also recorded for the film. The song was performed by pop divas Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston for the film’s end credits and the soundtrack album.

Continue reading

No comments

9/11/14 O&A Throwback Thursday: Mariah Carey

  By ,

Throwback Thursday logo 2

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey was born and raised on Long Island, New York, she came to prominence after releasing her self-titled debut studio album Mariah Carey in 1990. The album went multiplatinum and spawned four consecutive number one singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Referred to as the songbird supreme by the Guinness World Records, she is famed for her five-octave vocal range, power, melismatic style and signature use of the whistle register.

Throughout her career, Carey has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In 2012, Carey was ranked second on VH1’s list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music. Aside from her commercial accomplishments, Carey has won five Grammy Awards, nineteen World Music Awards, eleven American Music Awards, and thirty-one Billboard Music Awards. Continue reading