On Monday, the National Black Theatre Festival (NBTF) in Winston-Salem, held a ceremony to announce its celebrity co-chairs. It's a time-honored tradition at the fest which began in 1989 under the leadership of Larry Leon Hamlin.
This year, NBTF brings together fifty celebrities from the worlds of film, television and stage. In all they'll be delivering more than 100 theatre performances—comedies, dramas, solo acts, and more—to tens of thousands of audience members.
Dozens of local dignitaries gathered at the kick-off reception in downtown Winston-Salem. Mayor Allen Joines and community leader Nigel Alston reiterated the city's commitment to the festival—to the tune of $125,000. The Arts Council's Jim Sparrow said that festivals make communities unique, and claimed NBTF represents the pinnacle.
Meanwhile, all eyes were on the two empty chairs marked simply “Celebrity Co-Chair?”
Dr. Elwanda Ingram introduced this year's co-chairs: Anna Maria Horsford, and Obba Babatundé. Horsford is best known for her roles as Thelma Frye on the NBC sitcom Amen, and as Dee Baxter on the Warner Brothers sitcom The Wayans Bros. Babatundé, has appeared in multiple stage productions, feature films including Philadelphia and The Manchurian Candidate, dozens of made-for-television movies, and two prime-time series.
He was here at the festival's inception, and says he still draws inspiration from his early association with founder Larry Leon Hamlin, whom he called a leader in the mold of Martin Luther King, and Malcom X.
“Nobody sets out to be a hero,” he said. “They're just setting out to do something that they believe in—that there's a passion connected to—a desire and a need for what they feel needs to be a void that is filled. And I think that's what he [Hamlin] did. And we hold him up in iconic state because he has given, not only something to the artistic community, but also the community at large here in Winston-Salem. He was a visionary, an architect of something which now all benefit from.”
In 2015, the biennial festival generated an economic impact of nearly $8 million. National Black Theatre Festival 2017 begins July 31st and runs through August 5th at venues throughout Winston-Salem.