Millennial Notes L. Frank Baum Flies Over the Rainbow in S.F. Masterpiece by Nicholas Leither As a child, I watched it on broadcast television every single year. As a teenager, I watched it with Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” cued just so to the opening credits. As an adult, I use it as a metaphor…
Millennial Notes Lin-Manuel Miranda Celebrates Slice of U.S. Immigrant Life by Rosa Leither Calling Center REP’s production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical “In the Heights” merely “phenomenal” would be an understatement. I arrived with high expectations and left gushing at the star qualities of this incredible cast, set design, and choreography. Under the direction…
Millennial Notes Marc Anthony Thompson Transforms Minstrel Satire to Black Joy by Korinne Nickings The lights go down … and darkness fills the room as I listen to the sounds of screams, and sloshing of ocean waves and I am instantly transported to the transatlantic voyage of Africans in chains. Stage lights rise and…
Millennial Notes Erika Dickerson-Despenza Delivers a Force of Nature by Beau McGlasson It can be a challenge to find joy and beauty in the face of cruelty, racism, and government failings. Sometimes it can even feel impossible. Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s difficult and heart-rending “shadow/land” responds to real oppression and racism with visible Black joy. She…