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Boyz II Men, John Lewis musical 'Hero,' more shows for Black History Month
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Boyz II Men will be performing at the LIU Post's Tilles Center on Feb. 11. Credit: Tilles Center for the Performing Arts
"History is life's greatest teacher," said Justin Harris, director of the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center's Arts Academy. It's also the point of Black History Month.
Harris is bringing audiences a lively lesson with "Hero: The Boy from Troy" a new musical about the late congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis coming to the theater on Feb. 7. It's just one of the extraordinary performances and exhibitions happening across Long Island this February. Discover a new artist, see a play or celebrate in song the richness of Black history, experiences and inspiration at one of these events.
'THE BOY FROM TROY'
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Damon Oliver plays a younger version of John Lewis in "Hero: The Boy From Troy," a new musical at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Feb. 7. Credit: Holden & Arts Associates
Lewis made what he called "good trouble" as well as history, when he and hundreds of civil rights protesters crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. He continued the fight for the rest of his 80 years. Lewis' story comes to life through the sounds of hip-hop and rap in "Hero: The Boy from Troy."
"It's really a spectacular experience," Harris said. It's also the kind of teaching moment he's been bringing to both student and adult audiences for years.
"Seeing a theatrical production is a different experience than reading in a textbook," he said. "Textbooks feel very detached with facts and dates, but a production touches the heart. It touches the soul."
RHYTHMS, SOUL AND MORE
Broadway melodies along with the sounds of jazz, R&B, hip-hop, soul, and reggae will be filling concert venues with joyful sounds all month. First is Boyz II Men, the bestselling R&B group of all time, who’ll bring their velvety vocal harmonies to the Tilles Center in Brookville on Feb. 11 as part of a national tour.
Coming Feb. 20 to Tilles is "Broadway Perspectives: A Concert Celebrating Diversity" that was specially created for Black History Month. The show commemorates Broadway stars present and past with artists from "Aladdin," "Les Miserables," "West Side Story," "Hamilton," "The Lion King" and more performing iconic songs from those shows at the Krasnoff Theater.
As part of the Hamptons Jazzfest, The Church in Sag Harbor features multimedia artist and composer Mary Edwards for a performance on Feb. 14. Edwards' work is environmentally inspired, and she and her quartet perform ethereal love songs to nature.
Soprano Brenda Marie Turner performs arias, spirituals, jazz standards, show tunes and gospel numbers in "Sing Out: A Tour for Harmony," a free concert at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Huntington on Feb. 9.
"Rock Away Valentine's" brings Jamaican jams by three renowned headliners — Beres Hammond, Sean Paul and Shaggy — to UBS Arena on in what's being billed as the biggest Valentine's Day concert in the tristate area.
Betcha by golly, wow, The Stylistics will be performing at the " '70s Soul Jam" at Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair on Feb. 13. They'll be joined by Sonny Bivins' Manhattans, Peaches and Herb, and William Hart's Delfonics.
MAKING STATEMENTS THROUGH ART
Long Island artist Robert Graham Carter's painting "If Der Be Angels Then Some Must Look Like Me" is on view at the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington. Credit: Heckscher Museum of Art
Vibrant colors, people, places and memories paint pictures of the Black experience that are both personal and societal in Robert Graham Carter's one-man exhibition, "The Art of Reflection," at the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington. The longtime professor at Nassau Community College is nationally known and locally revered for his unique works that combine painting and sculpture.
Unexpected elements like a washboard or an amethyst-toned slice of wood bring to his portraits a surprising immediacy as well as a third dimension. To say they're high-relief paintings barely describes them. Instead, think of almost stage elements created on canvas. Guest curator Sarah Battle, of the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky (Carter's birthplace), noted that Carter once was a television set designer. Among the highlights is "Proud Queen, Tribute to My Wife" Carter's glorious, larger-than-life homage. "It's the jewel of the show," Battle said, "and the first thing you see when you walk through the door."
More art by local African American artists will be on view in Westbury Arts' "The Essence of Soul," with dozens of paintings, drawings, photographs and sculptures. And the Islip Arts Council's "African Americans and Labor" looks at everything from enslavement to entrepreneurship in Black communities around the world.
WHAT "Robert Graham Carter: The Art of Reflection"
WHEN | WHERE 12-5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 2-May 25, Heckscher Museum of Art, 2 Prime Ave., Huntington
INFO Free; 631-380-3230; heckscher.org
WHAT "The Essence of Soul"
WHEN | WHERE 12-4 p.m. Thursdays, 2-6 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, Feb. 2-March 14, Westbury Arts, 255 Schenck Ave.
INFO Free; 516-400-2787, westburyarts.org
WHAT "Hero: The Boy From Troy"
WHEN | WHERE 7 p.m. Feb. 7, Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, 76 Main St.
INFO $20; 631-288-1500; whbpac.org
WHAT "African Americans and Labor"
WHEN | WHERE 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, Feb. 8-28, Islip Arts Council Gallery, South Shore Mall, 1701 Sunrise Hwy., Bay Shore
INFO Free; 631-888-3525; isliparts.org
WHAT "Sing Out: A Tour for Harmony" starring Brenda Marie Turner
WHEN | WHERE 3 p.m. Feb. 9, St. John's Episcopal Church, 12 Prospect St., Huntington
INFO Free; stjohnshuntington.org
WHAT Boyz II Men
WHEN | WHERE 8 p.m. Feb. 11, Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, 720 Northern Blvd., Brookville
INFO $44-$284; 516-299-3100, tillescenter.org
WHAT " '70s Soul Jam"
WHEN | WHERE 8 p.m. Feb. 13, Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair, 960 Brush Hollow Rd.
INFO $66-469; 516-334-0800, westburymusicfair.org
WHAT "Beres Hammond, Sean Paul, & Shaggy — Rock Away Valentine's"
WHEN | WHERE 9 p.m. Feb. 14, UBS Arena, 2400 Hempstead Tpke., Elmont
INFO $127-332; 516-460-8950, ubsarena.com
WHAT "Broadway Perspectives: A Concert Celebrating Diversity"
WHEN | WHERE 7 p.m. Feb. 20, Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, 720 Northern Blvd., Brookville
INFO $44-$83; 516-299-3100, tillescenter.org
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