NOW
A Virtual Cabaret by
The United Colours of Arizona Theatre
March 8, 2021
By Lynn Timmons Edwards
United Colours of Arizona Theatre (UCAT) was founded in 2016 as a Facebook group by Chanel Bragg (pictured), now Associate Artistic Director of The Arizona Theatre Company, and her partner Jacqueline Castillo. Their goal was to create a safe space for multi-generational BIPOC (Black and Indigenous People of Color) to network and thrive within the Arizona fine arts community.
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Arizona’s racial statistics are White (Non-Hispanic) (54.3%), White (Hispanic) (23.7%), Other (Hispanic) (5.07%), Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (4.33%), and American Indian & Alaska Native (Non-Hispanic) (3.87%). This was not reflected in the theater/film community which often used the excuse “but people of color don’t turn out to auditions.” UCAT set as its mission “to hold long standing theatre companies in Arizona, and indeed the world, to actively plan for succession and promote BIPOC artists with their theatres.”
Fast forward to March 9, 2021, otherwise known as right NOW, a friendraiser and virtual cabaret of spoken word and song featuring 23 BIPOC artists. The hour-long program mixed performance with vignettes of advocacy by prominent theater professionals including Robert Kolby Harper (Associate Artistic Director of Phoenix Theatre Company), Seth Tucker (star), and Michelle Chin, (director/choreographer of PTC’s recent production of Murder for Two). UCAT’s membership has grown to 400 people of all races and NOW was an opportunity to showcase writers and performers as well as reach out to people and resources to take the group to the next level. They would love to embrace more teaching/coaching, more technical expertise, acquire performance and storage space, get legal help or, of course, old-fashioned funding.
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My favorite piece was performed by Eddie Maldano and written by Christopher Oscar Pena, “I’m Going to Take You There.” Filmed in a tight close-up I was riveted to Maldano’s eyes as he recalled his first heartbreak reaching back to the third grade where his best friend, a boy more athletic than the speaker, denied liking him and then told him, “well you are my best friend but let’s keep it a secret.” Now in his thirties, he reflects on a lifetime of closeted affairs with married men and realizes it is not okay and that love must be open and freely given and received.Pena also wrote “to 2020 on the eve of our 30th birthday” beautifully performed by Cynnita Agent.
Alma Schofield wrote a timely piece, “Cost of
Living,” that she and DeAngelus Grisby, playing a mother and daughter, argued a
generational clash over race. “Things don’t change because we want them to.
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” While
mama is too old to lose a fight, she realizes her daughter’s bravery.
Another highlight was “T’s Song” written and performed by Racquel McKenzie, a poignant tribute to “the girl in the hoodie.”
The best quote: “Don’t confuse hope with change. Change is what you get back at the check-out.” “Hope” was written by Cris Eli Blak and performed and filmed by Mason Reeves with orchestration by Michael Schulz. It reflected his Black experience in a tapestry of poetry and rap.
I asked founder Chanel Bragg about how she sees cabaret as a vehicle for the talents of the artists UCAT serves and hopes to serve in the future.
“In 2009 I created a cabaret which showcased African-American talent locally to say definitively we are in this fine arts community and we want to work. Cabarets have been at the root of my activism and producing within the Fine Arts community for over the last 10 years. It is also what led to me producing The Alexander Project concert tribute that toured with Live Nation in the Summer of 2019. I definitely see cabarets in the future of UCAT including a new series titled Soul of Broadway in Minor in which we want to engage our BIPOC youth. We have lots of plans to uplift new works of budding BIPOC creatives as well as create some ourselves.”
The other UCAT artists featured in the opening musical number, “Test of Time” (Douglas Lyons/Ethan D. Pakchar), which sent the perfect message “there is no mountain we can’t climb” included Matravius Avent, Tyra Johnson, Damon Boling, Miguel Jackson, Annelise Koyabe, Krystal Pope, Derek Rushing, Mitchell Vantrease, Anthony Bragg, and founders Chanel Bragg and Jacqueline Castillo.
The cabaret closed with “Live for Today” book, music, and lyrics by Jesse J. Sanchez. In addition to the talents of Bragg and Castillo, it included singers Alyssa Chiarello and Rhetta Mykeal Kampel as well as dancers Jonny Martinez and Nick Flores. Credit must be given to video editor, Aleks Hollis and audio mixer and UCAT Advisory Board member, Seth Tucker.
The Arizona arts world and indeed all lovers of theater and cabaret should stay tuned to see where UCAT goes from here. The entire cabaret can be seen on You Tube at https://youtu.be/TA9NeISQDZ0.
