December 13, 2025 • 23 mins
In Roxbury, the team at the National Center for Afro-American Artists has been busy, pulling together this year's rendition of "Black Nativity", the iconic Christmas performance penned by Langston Hughes. The Center is also under new leadership, with Akiba Abaka taking over to bring their creativity and work into a new era. She talks with Nichole about this year's "Black Nativity" production at the Emerson Paramount Center in Boston, the history and guardians that led NCAAA to where it is today, and her vision for NCAAA's future.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each and every week right here we come
together we talk about all the topics important to you
and the place where you live. Great to have you
back with us this week. I'm Nicole Davis. The story
of Jesus Christ's birth in Bethlehem's portrayed in so many
different ways on stage and screen, and a lot of
people are watching it this time of year. Of course,
(00:29):
here in Boston for fifty five years now, at the
National Center of Afro American Artists, they've been telling that
story in a very unique way. They're doing it by
channeling the vision of one of America's most revered Black
poets and authors, Langston Hughes. We're talking about Black Nativity.
This is an adaptation of the Nativity story told from
an African American perspective. It's set in the early twentieth century,
(00:52):
and it's infused with gospel, r and b hope, prayer, goodwill,
and so much more. Audiences have been packing theaters for years,
and that includes this year over at the Emerson Colonial
Theater in Boston. Akiba Abaka is the newly appointed executive
director of the Center. She's here with us now, Akiba.
Before we get into that discussion, I want to talk
(01:12):
about the Center because for so many decades now it's
been a mainstay in Boston for Black art. You are
taking over as a new leader there, the interim executive director.
Tell me what it means to you to take over
this new role.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Stewardship in the arts is extremely important to me because
I started out as a maker. I'm an artist myself, yep.
And while sustaining my artistic practice, I started to do
administrative work and developed a career path in producing and
(01:46):
arts administration. So the opportunity to then take this career
trajectory into leadership and to be able to steward a
fifty eight year old artistic leg is seen in the
city of Boston, seated in the neighborhood of Roxbury. It
is a tremendous opportunity and it is important that we're
(02:10):
able to preserve and advance our cultural institutions. And the
National Center of Afro American Artists is a pillar of
Black arts and culture, not only in Greater Boston and
Greater Boston, but in New England, and we also have
a global imprint.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
You have big shoes to fill From the research I've done,
I mean, I know that mister Gaither's been there a
long time. What a genuinely wonderful human being, and all
the work he's done, I mean, just incredible stuff. What's
your vision for the Center as you take over here?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Our vision for the Center is a connection of narratives.
Miss Lewis, mister Geither, Johnna and Drew Ross, our predecessors
created the Center as a place.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
For children, adults, and community to root.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
And to grow in a time when the narratives around
black people were in the United States, particularly where being
we were there were still being formed in the sense
of where who we were as a people, say per
(03:29):
se right, there were different groups of people coming from
different parts of the world and living here in Boston,
from the American South, from the Caribbean, from continental Africa.
When we talk about this notion of black and black
as a race. The arts was an opportunity for us
to explore that. The National Center was a place for
(03:53):
us to explore that, to learn principles of dance and
fine arts and theater and presentation of art, but to
explore who we were as a people through this particular discipline.
And so the National Center of Afro American Artists in
his first fifty eight years created really strong roots. Now
(04:15):
we have generations that are in this time that are
expanding at that and so I'd like to see the
Center be able to foster these different groups in different generations,
so that the who are we as a people today?
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Who are we as a people? Sixty?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
The Missus Lewis's school, the Nalen of the elm Luis
School of Fine Arts was founded in nineteen fifty. So
we're at seventy five years. Wow, what is our story today?
We're seven? We're about seven generations present. We look at
Black Nativity, we have seven generations and that fast incredible represented.
(05:03):
And so what is the connection of narrative of Black
art and culture within each generation from the infant who
plays the Baby Jesus to one of the singers who
parade in on the gotell and on the mountain fan fare?
What is their narrative? What is their narrative thread? How
do we know each other? And so that is part
(05:25):
of the artistic storytelling. Operationally, structurally it is really to
help right size the organization and to build capacity at
the organization. So that it can support the quality art
that is burgeoning from its it's it's artists, it's young people,
(05:49):
and you know the.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
When you say what is the vision that I have?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
First, it's a matter of taking it to scale and building, Okay,
to continue to ask questions about our existence, who we are,
what is our story? And also when I think about this,
this is this is a big part of what miss
Lewis did in her time and mister Gather what they
(06:19):
what they did, it was not a narrative of black
art and black life in isolation. It was within the
continuum of humanity. So we look at the specific to
understand the universal. We have to build the business different
structure and the capacity for us to be able to
ask questions and present them artistically. So a little is
(06:44):
a philosophical, a little business, little artsy, all of that.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
I mean, I think that's a really good combination for
really any venture. So it's not it's it's a it's
a really comprehensive vision and one that is really deeply
rooted in history, as is black nativity. I mean, this
is a Langston Hughes classic. It's been around now fifty
five years that you all have been putting this on
and it's really just absolutely incredible to me how this
(07:10):
just continues to become more and more popular and beloved
each year. You know, this is a production that many
people may not know about, but I find it to
be very powerful and very moving. Tell me a little
bit for people who may not be familiar with Black Nativity,
a little bit about how it's Tell me I guess
a little bit about its perspective on the story of
(07:30):
the Gospel.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Black Nativity is the story of the Gospel, taking from
the Book of Luke, and when Langston Hughes, our great
American poet, wrote the work. He the music in the
actual script are Christmas scals, but it's songs from the
(07:59):
cadence of the Black church, particularly urban storefront churches in
northern urban areas where where from from from Cleveland to Harlem.
Some would say BC is not northern, but you know
it was where mister, It was where Langston Hughes really.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Traveled and.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
When he when he was writing this play. This is
actually one thing that some people may know about Black Nativity.
It's a part of a triptych of plays, and one
of those places at least called Tambourines to Glory. So
there was Tambourines to Glory, Black Nativity, and a third
(08:48):
piece that I can't recall at the moment, and and
it was looking at the notion of city life for
the common work class black person. And one thing that
Leangston Hughs observed is that the church was always center
to the narrative, okay, and no matter what happened with
(09:12):
the character's life, there was some connection to the church.
And so when Black Native when he wrote Black Nativity,
the play was originally called Mighty Day, and so there's
actually a song in there called Wasn't It a Mighty Day?
That talks about the day that Jesus Christ was born,
and then he eventually changed the name of the play
(09:34):
to Black Nativity. What the play allows Leangston Hughes to
do is to central to take the story of the
birth of Christ, which is at the time known as
a very eular centric story, right, and to center that
into the narrative of this bursoning black culture that is
(09:58):
happening in America, you know, in the fifties, in the sixties,
and saying, when when I think of Black Nativity, it's
not just a performance it's a statement on our fullness
and our presence that we can tell the story of
the of of Christ, of Jesus Christ's birth.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
And here's how we're gonna tell it.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
And we're gonna tell it with gospel, and we're gonna
tell her with dance, and we're gonna tell her with drumming.
And the poetry is going to have this type of
sound and it's good, you know. So one of the
things I love about it. I love the music, but
I actually love the poetry. I love the way that
len Stain Hughes writes the actual the text or the
(10:39):
lines with people call it the libretto, in the in
the play, in the musical, And.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
What's special.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
About our black nativity because we are one of the first.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
So when he this play was first produced on off
broadlak In.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Around nineteen sixty two, somewhere in that area, and that
production he did not like. Really Langston Hughes was angry.
And it's saying this is well known. He had a
hard time with Broadway. He really did not. He felt
that Broadway could never tell the story of He actually,
in one of his essays, wrote that black writers should
(11:21):
stay away from Broadway that they could not tell the
African American story, and he wrote.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
It in bold. It was like Broadway should stay out
of black people's lives.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Legston Hughes was happy, and one of the times when
he was the most unhappy was the opening production of
Black Nativity off Broadway. And so the story goes, and
this is why we Boston's Black Nativity is so important.
The story goes that John Andrew Ross, who was the
(11:52):
musical director of the National Center of Afro American Artists
and the Alma Luis School, he was the son of
Langston Use, his roommate, and so Leangston Hughes when he
came to Boston.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
He stayed in Roxbury, just around the corner from the.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Museum, and so he had access to Langston Hughes and
you know, they he would talk to him, and he
John Ross learned that, you know, Langsy Hughes was not happy.
And John Ross said, you know, let me take a
shot at it. Think I know what to do with this.
I think I could do some thing with the music
(12:26):
that would represent your vision. And so he actually consulted
with Legston Hughes as he created the score. So our
composition of that music is sanctioned by mister Hughes's estate,
and it was done with consultation with Leangston Hughes. And
so when you see Black Nativity, when you listen, when
(12:49):
you encounter, when you experience it, you what you are
experiencing is the majestic statement of Black people's contribution to
earthly life, that we can exist in any narrative and
tell it on a scale that is mighty and grand.
(13:12):
That's what the play was called, Wasn't a Mighty Day?
Speaker 3 (13:16):
And it is.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
You hear the gospel sounds, you hear the spiritual sounds,
you hear the R and B and then.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
What's also special about our production.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
The percussions were created by Michael Babatunde Olotunji, who was
the first West African percussionist to win a Grammy and
to bring that type of drumming to the United States,
and the NC Triple A was one of the first
arts institutions.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
That he came through. And so that music is retained
in our work.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
The score of John Andrew Uss untouched, unchanged the score
the percussions of babatund Olo Tunji, Michael babatun De olotune
and the dance, George Howard's incredible ballet of Mary the
Virgin Mary giving birth to the Savior of the world.
(14:13):
It is an incredible piece to behold that ballet. And
so why is this important? You have to remember this
is civil rights America. We have the images of black
folks marching with that. I am a man, so where
we show up in story and then kind of twenty
(14:34):
first when you look twenty first century mismaking, right, black
nativity is a part of that cannon.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
And that's what's special about this work.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
And when you see it in Boston, you are seeing
it at a scale that it was meant to be,
always meant to be.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
It's the truest form I feel that you can see
these days of Langston Hughes's vision because, like you said,
this is sanctioned by him. This was he really had
a direct hand in this. What is it like behind
the scenes pulling something like this together?
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Oh my god, reverence, Yeah, I have never I've been
on I've been in this. I've been in the theater
since I was twelve years old, from being from being
at the Boston Children's Theater when that organization existed, where
I learned musical theater. And so I've been a kid
on the stage, I've ran the stage, I've done everything
(15:30):
you do in the theater. I have never seen this
much reverence in the theater. You feel like you are
in a holy, sacred place when you're at a Black
Nativity rehearsal.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
You have a multi generational cast.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
There are, as I said, I think the youngest person
in the cast other than the baby Jesus is probably
first grade. And then there are members of our senior community.
And I've never seen such well behaved And then you know,
(16:04):
and no one's telling them to behave They know their cues,
they are completely in sync, they know their choreography.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
I'm just like wow.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
And and you would think it, oh, their their parents
are here. No, it's a reverence and it's an an
appreciation for this presence of Black art and culture that
they hold. They all understand it. One of the things
that I love observing is my first year working inside
of the institution.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
But I've seen faces in.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
That production that were the first grade faced and now
they are the person dancing the lead. Mary.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I've seen you know.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I remember there was one young person who was the
child at the end, and I saw him in rehearsals
the other day and I.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Was like, oh that your face has checked. Oh you
are now, Oh that you see them grow up?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
And they have. There is a very clear reverence. But
what this work is artistically, what it means to community.
The other thing that I want to say about experiencing
it behind the scenes, past and crew, all that reverence,
the sound people, the lighting people, the producing company, the
(17:22):
production folks at Emerson. It is treated with high esteem,
and there is a reverence. There is a very very
clear sense of this is work we're doing for the community.
This is work we're doing for the greater good. This
is and you really get a sense of all people
(17:44):
come in together to give a gift to the city
of Boston. From the people you meet at the box
office when you come to buy your tickets to the
child who sings the final closing.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Piece at the end of the play. It's a beautiful
thing to experience.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah, I mean, that's why I It really stuck out
to me on your website that it says Black Nativity
is Boston's Black community holiday card to the world. This
is your expression of hope, this is your expression of
joy and everything that you want to wish for the
world and in the world we're living in right now
(18:19):
with so much despair and so much divisiveness. I mean,
we need a message like this more than ever.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
If you ask me, you remember that this world, in
this world, there is joy.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
In this world, peace can be something to behold. In
this world, there is harmony literally a figuratives.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
In this world, there is love. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
In this world, I am not only my brother and
sisters keeper, I am my brother and sister in this world.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Yeah, I am a part of the beloved community. Feel it.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
It is amazing the hair, you know, and the thing
I love about Black Nativity one, you'll never see the
same performance twice. We've been running consecutively for fifty five years, unbroken.
You've never canceled the show, so you'll never see the
same show twice. It's live theater.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
But I'm always amazed.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
At the fact that the hair still stands up on
the back of my arm every like, how do they
do that? I cute Goude. It's amazing, the goose bumps,
the sense of this advancement. It get you move from
the cerebral experience and there's a point where you're you're
(19:46):
in the play, you're watching it, and then you just.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Sense your humanity and you sense that we can all
be all right. We can all be all right.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
We can be all right together, and that's what we need.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
I'll tell you that, especially now.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
And we've always done it, and we've always, to quote
Kendrick Lamar, we've all we're gonna be alright. And you
want that when you watch, when you come and experience
Black Nativity.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Well, where and how then can people take this in?
Let's talk about that.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
We are at the Emerson Paramount Center inside of the
rob Orchard Stage in the Historical Theater District. We are
running from December fifth, that's this Friday to December twenty.
First performances are Friday Thursday. We have two Thursday nights,
(20:38):
but there Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Thursday nights at seven thirty,
Friday nights at eight, Saturday at two thirty and seven thirty,
and Sundays at three thirty.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Ooh tickets range. They're very affordable.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
This is the best price going in the holiday market,
from fifty five dollars to one hundred dollars. But here's
what's great about us group rates start with only four people,
because I always say, if I bring myself and my
family and my niece and nephews, we're a group.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Why shouldn't I get a discount? So group rates start
with only four people.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
We have small group rates, medium group rates, nonprofit group rates,
large groups. You come.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
You know where two or more are gathered, there's a group,
four or more are gathered.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
There is a group. So group rates start at four more.
And it's a very very affordable show and a great
great use of your time this holiday season.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Well, we have no doubt, no doubt? And where can
people find out more if they want to learn more
about the story before they go check out? You've got
a lot of great stuff on the website. Where can
they find that?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
So you'll find us at Black Nativity dot org. Or
you can find us on Facebook, Black Nativity Boston, Boston,
Black Nativity, and on Instagram and on YouTube, So look
for a Black Nativity Boston and all the socials beautiful.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
And then what about the center? Where can people find
out more about your vision and your work there?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
So you can find us at n C triplea dot org.
That is our website, in our social media handle and
C Triple A and we are housed in in our
property at three hundred Walnut Avenue in Roxbury, the Museum
of the National Center of Afro American Artists. We own
(22:26):
and operate a nineteenth century Neo Gothic mansion that we
renovated and turned into a museum, and we'll be advancing
renovations on that space throughout the next year into you know,
future years.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
So you can visit us at the museum or visit
us online.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
You can see museum ours online, ww dot and c
Triple A dot org.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Okay, you know, Akiva, I am so excited for you
for this upcoming production. There's so much love, so much
past put into it. And thank you for taking the
time to come on the show talking with me about
your vision. It's really good to have you here.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Yes, thank you so much for having us. We're very excited.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join us again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each and every week right here we come
together we talk about all the topics important to you
and the place where you live. Great to have you
back with us this week. I'm Nicole Davis. The story
of Jesus Christ's birth in Bethlehem's portrayed in so many
different ways on stage and screen, and a lot of
people are watching it this time of year. Of course,
(00:29):
here in Boston for fifty five years now, at the
National Center of Afro American Artists, they've been telling that
story in a very unique way. They're doing it by
channeling the vision of one of America's most revered Black
poets and authors, Langston Hughes. We're talking about Black Nativity.
This is an adaptation of the Nativity story told from
an African American perspective. It's set in the early twentieth century,
(00:52):
and it's infused with gospel, r and b hope, prayer, goodwill,
and so much more. Audiences have been packing theaters for years,
and that includes this year over at the Emerson Colonial
Theater in Boston. Akiba Abaka is the newly appointed executive
director of the Center. She's here with us now, Akiba.
Before we get into that discussion, I want to talk
(01:12):
about the Center because for so many decades now it's
been a mainstay in Boston for Black art. You are
taking over as a new leader there, the interim executive director.
Tell me what it means to you to take over
this new role.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Stewardship in the arts is extremely important to me because
I started out as a maker. I'm an artist myself, yep.
And while sustaining my artistic practice, I started to do
administrative work and developed a career path in producing and
(01:46):
arts administration. So the opportunity to then take this career
trajectory into leadership and to be able to steward a
fifty eight year old artistic leg is seen in the
city of Boston, seated in the neighborhood of Roxbury. It
is a tremendous opportunity and it is important that we're
(02:10):
able to preserve and advance our cultural institutions. And the
National Center of Afro American Artists is a pillar of
Black arts and culture, not only in Greater Boston and
Greater Boston, but in New England, and we also have
a global imprint.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
You have big shoes to fill From the research I've done,
I mean, I know that mister Gaither's been there a
long time. What a genuinely wonderful human being, and all
the work he's done, I mean, just incredible stuff. What's
your vision for the Center as you take over here?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Our vision for the Center is a connection of narratives.
Miss Lewis, mister Geither, Johnna and Drew Ross, our predecessors
created the Center as a place.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
For children, adults, and community to root.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
And to grow in a time when the narratives around
black people were in the United States, particularly where being
we were there were still being formed in the sense
of where who we were as a people, say per
(03:29):
se right, there were different groups of people coming from
different parts of the world and living here in Boston,
from the American South, from the Caribbean, from continental Africa.
When we talk about this notion of black and black
as a race. The arts was an opportunity for us
to explore that. The National Center was a place for
(03:53):
us to explore that, to learn principles of dance and
fine arts and theater and presentation of art, but to
explore who we were as a people through this particular discipline.
And so the National Center of Afro American Artists in
his first fifty eight years created really strong roots. Now
(04:15):
we have generations that are in this time that are
expanding at that and so I'd like to see the
Center be able to foster these different groups in different generations,
so that the who are we as a people today?
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Who are we as a people? Sixty?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
The Missus Lewis's school, the Nalen of the elm Luis
School of Fine Arts was founded in nineteen fifty. So
we're at seventy five years. Wow, what is our story today?
We're seven? We're about seven generations present. We look at
Black Nativity, we have seven generations and that fast incredible represented.
(05:03):
And so what is the connection of narrative of Black
art and culture within each generation from the infant who
plays the Baby Jesus to one of the singers who
parade in on the gotell and on the mountain fan fare?
What is their narrative? What is their narrative thread? How
do we know each other? And so that is part
(05:25):
of the artistic storytelling. Operationally, structurally it is really to
help right size the organization and to build capacity at
the organization. So that it can support the quality art
that is burgeoning from its it's it's artists, it's young people,
(05:49):
and you know the.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
When you say what is the vision that I have?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
First, it's a matter of taking it to scale and building, Okay,
to continue to ask questions about our existence, who we are,
what is our story? And also when I think about this,
this is this is a big part of what miss
Lewis did in her time and mister Gather what they
(06:19):
what they did, it was not a narrative of black
art and black life in isolation. It was within the
continuum of humanity. So we look at the specific to
understand the universal. We have to build the business different
structure and the capacity for us to be able to
ask questions and present them artistically. So a little is
(06:44):
a philosophical, a little business, little artsy, all of that.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
I mean, I think that's a really good combination for
really any venture. So it's not it's it's a it's
a really comprehensive vision and one that is really deeply
rooted in history, as is black nativity. I mean, this
is a Langston Hughes classic. It's been around now fifty
five years that you all have been putting this on
and it's really just absolutely incredible to me how this
(07:10):
just continues to become more and more popular and beloved
each year. You know, this is a production that many
people may not know about, but I find it to
be very powerful and very moving. Tell me a little
bit for people who may not be familiar with Black Nativity,
a little bit about how it's Tell me I guess
a little bit about its perspective on the story of
(07:30):
the Gospel.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Black Nativity is the story of the Gospel, taking from
the Book of Luke, and when Langston Hughes, our great
American poet, wrote the work. He the music in the
actual script are Christmas scals, but it's songs from the
(07:59):
cadence of the Black church, particularly urban storefront churches in
northern urban areas where where from from from Cleveland to Harlem.
Some would say BC is not northern, but you know
it was where mister, It was where Langston Hughes really.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Traveled and.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
When he when he was writing this play. This is
actually one thing that some people may know about Black Nativity.
It's a part of a triptych of plays, and one
of those places at least called Tambourines to Glory. So
there was Tambourines to Glory, Black Nativity, and a third
(08:48):
piece that I can't recall at the moment, and and
it was looking at the notion of city life for
the common work class black person. And one thing that
Leangston Hughs observed is that the church was always center
to the narrative, okay, and no matter what happened with
(09:12):
the character's life, there was some connection to the church.
And so when Black Native when he wrote Black Nativity,
the play was originally called Mighty Day, and so there's
actually a song in there called Wasn't It a Mighty Day?
That talks about the day that Jesus Christ was born,
and then he eventually changed the name of the play
(09:34):
to Black Nativity. What the play allows Leangston Hughes to
do is to central to take the story of the
birth of Christ, which is at the time known as
a very eular centric story, right, and to center that
into the narrative of this bursoning black culture that is
(09:58):
happening in America, you know, in the fifties, in the sixties,
and saying, when when I think of Black Nativity, it's
not just a performance it's a statement on our fullness
and our presence that we can tell the story of
the of of Christ, of Jesus Christ's birth.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
And here's how we're gonna tell it.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
And we're gonna tell it with gospel, and we're gonna
tell her with dance, and we're gonna tell her with drumming.
And the poetry is going to have this type of
sound and it's good, you know. So one of the
things I love about it. I love the music, but
I actually love the poetry. I love the way that
len Stain Hughes writes the actual the text or the
(10:39):
lines with people call it the libretto, in the in
the play, in the musical, And.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
What's special.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
About our black nativity because we are one of the first.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
So when he this play was first produced on off
broadlak In.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Around nineteen sixty two, somewhere in that area, and that
production he did not like. Really Langston Hughes was angry.
And it's saying this is well known. He had a
hard time with Broadway. He really did not. He felt
that Broadway could never tell the story of He actually,
in one of his essays, wrote that black writers should
(11:21):
stay away from Broadway that they could not tell the
African American story, and he wrote.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
It in bold. It was like Broadway should stay out
of black people's lives.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Legston Hughes was happy, and one of the times when
he was the most unhappy was the opening production of
Black Nativity off Broadway. And so the story goes, and
this is why we Boston's Black Nativity is so important.
The story goes that John Andrew Ross, who was the
(11:52):
musical director of the National Center of Afro American Artists
and the Alma Luis School, he was the son of
Langston Use, his roommate, and so Leangston Hughes when he
came to Boston.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
He stayed in Roxbury, just around the corner from the.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Museum, and so he had access to Langston Hughes and
you know, they he would talk to him, and he
John Ross learned that, you know, Langsy Hughes was not happy.
And John Ross said, you know, let me take a
shot at it. Think I know what to do with this.
I think I could do some thing with the music
(12:26):
that would represent your vision. And so he actually consulted
with Legston Hughes as he created the score. So our
composition of that music is sanctioned by mister Hughes's estate,
and it was done with consultation with Leangston Hughes. And
so when you see Black Nativity, when you listen, when
(12:49):
you encounter, when you experience it, you what you are
experiencing is the majestic statement of Black people's contribution to
earthly life, that we can exist in any narrative and
tell it on a scale that is mighty and grand.
(13:12):
That's what the play was called, Wasn't a Mighty Day?
Speaker 3 (13:16):
And it is.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
You hear the gospel sounds, you hear the spiritual sounds,
you hear the R and B and then.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
What's also special about our production.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
The percussions were created by Michael Babatunde Olotunji, who was
the first West African percussionist to win a Grammy and
to bring that type of drumming to the United States,
and the NC Triple A was one of the first
arts institutions.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
That he came through. And so that music is retained
in our work.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
The score of John Andrew Uss untouched, unchanged the score
the percussions of babatund Olo Tunji, Michael babatun De olotune
and the dance, George Howard's incredible ballet of Mary the
Virgin Mary giving birth to the Savior of the world.
(14:13):
It is an incredible piece to behold that ballet. And
so why is this important? You have to remember this
is civil rights America. We have the images of black
folks marching with that. I am a man, so where
we show up in story and then kind of twenty
(14:34):
first when you look twenty first century mismaking, right, black
nativity is a part of that cannon.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
And that's what's special about this work.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
And when you see it in Boston, you are seeing
it at a scale that it was meant to be,
always meant to be.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
It's the truest form I feel that you can see
these days of Langston Hughes's vision because, like you said,
this is sanctioned by him. This was he really had
a direct hand in this. What is it like behind
the scenes pulling something like this together?
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Oh my god, reverence, Yeah, I have never I've been
on I've been in this. I've been in the theater
since I was twelve years old, from being from being
at the Boston Children's Theater when that organization existed, where
I learned musical theater. And so I've been a kid
on the stage, I've ran the stage, I've done everything
(15:30):
you do in the theater. I have never seen this
much reverence in the theater. You feel like you are
in a holy, sacred place when you're at a Black
Nativity rehearsal.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
You have a multi generational cast.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
There are, as I said, I think the youngest person
in the cast other than the baby Jesus is probably
first grade. And then there are members of our senior community.
And I've never seen such well behaved And then you know,
(16:04):
and no one's telling them to behave They know their cues,
they are completely in sync, they know their choreography.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
I'm just like wow.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
And and you would think it, oh, their their parents
are here. No, it's a reverence and it's an an
appreciation for this presence of Black art and culture that
they hold. They all understand it. One of the things
that I love observing is my first year working inside
of the institution.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
But I've seen faces in.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
That production that were the first grade faced and now
they are the person dancing the lead. Mary.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I've seen you know.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I remember there was one young person who was the
child at the end, and I saw him in rehearsals
the other day and I.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Was like, oh that your face has checked. Oh you
are now, Oh that you see them grow up?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
And they have. There is a very clear reverence. But
what this work is artistically, what it means to community.
The other thing that I want to say about experiencing
it behind the scenes, past and crew, all that reverence,
the sound people, the lighting people, the producing company, the
(17:22):
production folks at Emerson. It is treated with high esteem,
and there is a reverence. There is a very very
clear sense of this is work we're doing for the community.
This is work we're doing for the greater good. This
is and you really get a sense of all people
(17:44):
come in together to give a gift to the city
of Boston. From the people you meet at the box
office when you come to buy your tickets to the
child who sings the final closing.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Piece at the end of the play. It's a beautiful
thing to experience.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah, I mean, that's why I It really stuck out
to me on your website that it says Black Nativity
is Boston's Black community holiday card to the world. This
is your expression of hope, this is your expression of
joy and everything that you want to wish for the
world and in the world we're living in right now
(18:19):
with so much despair and so much divisiveness. I mean,
we need a message like this more than ever.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
If you ask me, you remember that this world, in
this world, there is joy.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
In this world, peace can be something to behold. In
this world, there is harmony literally a figuratives.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
In this world, there is love. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
In this world, I am not only my brother and
sisters keeper, I am my brother and sister in this world.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Yeah, I am a part of the beloved community. Feel it.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
It is amazing the hair, you know, and the thing
I love about Black Nativity one, you'll never see the
same performance twice. We've been running consecutively for fifty five years, unbroken.
You've never canceled the show, so you'll never see the
same show twice. It's live theater.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
But I'm always amazed.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
At the fact that the hair still stands up on
the back of my arm every like, how do they
do that? I cute Goude. It's amazing, the goose bumps,
the sense of this advancement. It get you move from
the cerebral experience and there's a point where you're you're
(19:46):
in the play, you're watching it, and then you just.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Sense your humanity and you sense that we can all
be all right. We can all be all right.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
We can be all right together, and that's what we need.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
I'll tell you that, especially now.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
And we've always done it, and we've always, to quote
Kendrick Lamar, we've all we're gonna be alright. And you
want that when you watch, when you come and experience
Black Nativity.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Well, where and how then can people take this in?
Let's talk about that.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
We are at the Emerson Paramount Center inside of the
rob Orchard Stage in the Historical Theater District. We are
running from December fifth, that's this Friday to December twenty.
First performances are Friday Thursday. We have two Thursday nights,
(20:38):
but there Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Thursday nights at seven thirty,
Friday nights at eight, Saturday at two thirty and seven thirty,
and Sundays at three thirty.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Ooh tickets range. They're very affordable.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
This is the best price going in the holiday market,
from fifty five dollars to one hundred dollars. But here's
what's great about us group rates start with only four people,
because I always say, if I bring myself and my
family and my niece and nephews, we're a group.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Why shouldn't I get a discount? So group rates start
with only four people.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
We have small group rates, medium group rates, nonprofit group rates,
large groups. You come.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
You know where two or more are gathered, there's a group,
four or more are gathered.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
There is a group. So group rates start at four more.
And it's a very very affordable show and a great
great use of your time this holiday season.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Well, we have no doubt, no doubt? And where can
people find out more if they want to learn more
about the story before they go check out? You've got
a lot of great stuff on the website. Where can
they find that?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
So you'll find us at Black Nativity dot org. Or
you can find us on Facebook, Black Nativity Boston, Boston,
Black Nativity, and on Instagram and on YouTube, So look
for a Black Nativity Boston and all the socials beautiful.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
And then what about the center? Where can people find
out more about your vision and your work there?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
So you can find us at n C triplea dot org.
That is our website, in our social media handle and
C Triple A and we are housed in in our
property at three hundred Walnut Avenue in Roxbury, the Museum
of the National Center of Afro American Artists. We own
(22:26):
and operate a nineteenth century Neo Gothic mansion that we
renovated and turned into a museum, and we'll be advancing
renovations on that space throughout the next year into you know,
future years.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
So you can visit us at the museum or visit
us online.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
You can see museum ours online, ww dot and c
Triple A dot org.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Okay, you know, Akiva, I am so excited for you
for this upcoming production. There's so much love, so much
past put into it. And thank you for taking the
time to come on the show talking with me about
your vision. It's really good to have you here.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Yes, thank you so much for having us. We're very excited.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join us again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
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