The free April 1 concert, which will be held from 3-11 PM in the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, will celebrate not just the undisputed icons of the 1960s and ‘70s, but also the genre’s more distant past and its recent and current innovators. The entire event will also be live streamed.
In the 9 PM segment, LaChanze will pay tribute to the work of Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, and Roberta Flack.
Curated by Monique Martin, the day-long event will also feature the all-female salsa band Lulada Club; poet Mahogany L. Browne on video; singer-songwriter Nona Hendryx with an all-women orchestra; Harlem’s GLR¥A and The Rakiem Walker Project; Grammy-winning singer-songwriter J. Hoard; Native and African-American vocalist-songwriter-educator Martha Redbone; Maria Abney's The Soapbox Presents; gospel-jazz-soul vocalist Marcelle Davies Lashley; “ghettotrance” singer Anthony Mills, accompanied by pianist and DJ ELEW; author, producer, and creative executive Thembisa Mshaka; and singer Xavier Smith.
Members of Ladies of Hip-Hop, which provides opportunities for girls and women in hip-hop culture, will perform—and lead the audience in—Black social dance. Mari Ella and DJ Miss Saigon will spin classic soul music between segments.
Cheryl Alexander, Jerry Dixon, Jonathan Dokuchitz, LaChanze, Duane Boutte, Darius deHaas, Robert Jason Jackson, and Myiia Watson-Davis in The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin
Joan Marcus
LaChanze and Michael Hayden in Dessa Rose
Joan Marcus
LaChanze in The Color Purple
LaChanze in The Color Purple.
Paul Kolnik
Zipporah G. Gatling , LaChanze, Leon G. Thomas III, and Reneé Elise Goldsberry
LaChanze and Kingsley Leggs in The Color Purple.
Paul Kolnik
LaChanze and Angela Davis in Inked Baby
LaChanze and Che Ayende in Inked Baby
LaChanze and Ashanti
Robert J. Safterstein
Ashanti and LaChanze
Robert J. Safterstein
Tamika Lawrence, Jenn Colella, LaChanze, Idina Menzel in If/Then
Joan Marcus
LaChanze and Anthony Rapp in If/Then
LaChanze
Joan Marcus
LaChanze, Ariana DeBose, and Storm Lever in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Joan Marcus
LaChanze, Anastacia McCleskey, and Eisa Davis
Ahron R. Foster
Saycon Sengbloh, Nathaniel Stampley, Eisa Davis, Anastacia McCleskey, and LaChanze in The Secret Life of Bees.
Ahron R. Foster
LaChanze and Elizabeth Teeter
Ahron R. Foster
Campbell Scott and LaChanze in A Christmas Carol
Joan Marcus
LaChanze, Chuck Cooper, and Michael Zegen in Trouble in Mind