11/25/21 O&A NYC THANKSGIVING THROWBACK: March of the Wooden Soldiers- Laurel & Hardy

Babes in Toyland is a Laurel and Hardy musical film released on March 10, 1934. The film is also known by its alternate titles Laurel and Hardy in Toyland, Revenge Is Sweet (the 1948 European reissue title), March of the Wooden Soldiers and Wooden Soldiers (in the United States). Continue reading

11/13/20 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: CARMEN and GEOFFREY

CARMEN and GEOFFREY, an intimate documentary, which was awarded Best Film at Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival 2009, follows the astonishing five-decade marriage and careers of two legends of the stage: Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder

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10/12/20 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Hello, Dolly!- Louis Armstrong & Barbra Streisand (1969)

HelloDolly!” won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1965, and Armstrong received a Grammy for Best Vocal Performance, Male. Louis Armstrong also performed the song (together with Barbra Streisand) in the popular 1969 film HelloDolly! Continue reading

10/8/20 O&A NYC WaleStylez DANCE PARTY: FlexN Manchester – (Highlights film full)

For the final film about FlexN, hear from the dancers as they discuss their involvement and what the trans-atlantic collaboration meant to them. Following a call-out in January 2015, dancers from across the city-region worked with Reggie ‘Regg Roc’ Gray and other Flexers from Brooklyn to co-create the show – visiting the New York premiere of FlexN at the Park Avenue Armory along the way and culminating in seven sell-out performances at Granada Studios.

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10/5/20 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Stompin’ at the Savoy (1992) Starring Lynn Whitfield Jasmine Guy- Debbie Allen director

As the Harlem Renaissance flourishes in jazzy New York City, Pauline (Vanessa Williams), Esther (Lynn Whitfield) and Alice (Jasmine Guy) struggle to survive. By day, they toil at dreary jobs, dreaming of stardom, riches and happiness. By night, they dance their troubles away at the famous Savoy Ballroom. But when World War II appears on the horizon, the girls find their fortunes unfolding too unevenly to reconcile, and they inevitably begin to drift apart. Continue reading

9/28/20 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: New Orleans (1947) Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Woody Herman- Musical Movie

It’s the Lowdown of Wicked Old Basin Street! And the Music That Made It Wicked! A gambling hall owner relocates from New Orleans to Chicago and entertains his patrons with hot jazz by Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Woody Herman & his Orchestra, and others. Continue reading

8/24/20 O&A NYC DANCE… AND MORE: Peace One Love- Bringing Brooklyn Together

By Walter Rutledge

Dance has always been a catalyst for change. In 1936 Martha Graham created her masterwork Chronicles as a weapon against the rising menace of fascism in Germany. In 1959 Donald McKayle’s Rainbow Round My Shoulder evoked the hopelessness and inequality of Black men on a southern prison chain gang. On Saturday August 29 Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn (also known as Creative Outlet or just C.O.) will also use the power of dance to heal a community with Peace One Love, an afternoon of the arts celebrating the spirit of the now internationally recognized Black Lives Matter movement.   Continue reading

8/24/20 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: In the Heat of the Night- Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger

Sidney Poitier, in one of his most-celebrated roles, appears as Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia homicide detective who, while visiting a small Mississippi town, will find himself falsely arrested for a murder and then, in a strained collaboration with the town’s sheriff (Rod Steiger), stays on to help solve the murder. Continue reading

8/22/20. O&A NYC ITS SATURDAY- ANYTHING GOES: The Queen (1968)

The Queen is a 1968 documentary film directed by Frank Simon and narrated by Flawless Sabrina. It depicts the experiences of transgender woman and “female illusionists” organizing and participating in the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Contest held at New York City’s Town Hall. Continue reading

8/17/20 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Good Hair (A Film By Chris Rock)

Chris Rock visits beauty salons and hairstyling battles, scientific laboratories and Indian temples to explore the way hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of the black community in this exposé of comic proportions that only he could pull off. A raucous adventure prompted by Rock’s daughter approaching him and asking, “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” Continue reading