This weekend’s edition of UPFRONT is all about #BlackBoyJoy. It features my conversations with Troy Powell, artistic director of Ailey II, Ronald Williams from The Collective Culture and media sensation Patrick L. Riley.
Ronald Williams is here to chat about the upcoming stage adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ best selling book Between the World and Me. The event takes place this Tuesday, October 22 at Atlanta’s Symphony Hall and features a who’s who list of talent including Lynn Whitfield, T.I., Killer Mike, Ledisi, Omar J. Dorsey, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Pauletta Washington and more. Between the World and Me is Coates’ attempt to answer life’s questions in a letter to his adolescent son. The event is being presented by The Apollo Theater, The Collective Culture + NBAF (National Black Arts Festival).
Artistic Director of Ailey II—Troy Powell—is here to chat about their upcoming Atlanta engagement at the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State. The evening will feature new works from Bradley Shelver, Andrea Miller and former Ailey dancer Kirven Douthit-Boyd. Yours truly will be hosting a conversation with Troy following the performance.
Closing out UPFRONT is my conversation with producer, media star and WCLK alumnus Patrick L. Riley. He stopped by to chat about his new book, That’s What Friends Are For: On the Women Who Inspired Me. It chronicles his relationships with some of the biggest DIVAS in music, TV, film and stage including Diana Ross, Janet Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Taraji P. Henson, Vanessa Williams and Wendy Williams.
Listen to my full unedited conversation below and CLICK HERE for the entire UPFRONT show: