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BLACK HEAVEN A Visionary Theatrical Experience
Reader’s Theatre Performances
Saturday, February 28 at 6:30 PM
Sunday, March 1 at 1:30 PM
Unity of Merced
305 W 26th St, Merced, CA
Tickets $15 at the door or online via Eventbrite
https://bit.ly/3NJvPP0
Merced playwright Dr. Kim McMillon presents Black Heaven, a magnificent, poetic, and spiritually charged theatrical work—an ensemble of intellect, artistry, and ancestral voices that transcends time. This powerful piece creates a spiritual–theatrical summit between the living and the dead, where history, memory, art, and justice converge in a luminous act of remembrance and creation.
Black Heaven will be presented as Reader’s Theatre on Saturday, February 28 at 6:30 pm, and Sunday, March 1 at 1:30 pm, at Unity of Merced, 305 W. 26th Street, Merced, CA. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased at the door or online via Eventbrite: https://bit.ly/3NJvPP0
Black Heaven: A Theatrical Conversation Across Eternity opens with God inviting audiences into a sweeping dialogue on Blackness, history, and humanity—moderated by W.E.B. Du Bois, portrayed by acclaimed Merced thespian Dennis Brown. Merced’s celebrated vocalist Cheryl Lockett embodies multiple iconic figures, including Nina Simone, the Queen of Sheba, and Zora Neale Hurston. Fresno’s current Poet Laureate, Aideed Medina, as Virginia Woolf allows us to see the quiet truths, the unspoken longings, the shadows we keep hidden—and to recognize them as part of our deepest humanity, while Heike Hambley, Founder and Artistic Director of Merced Shakespearefest, portrays both the brilliant and haunting Sylvia Plath and the revolutionary dramatist Bertolt Brecht. Vocalist and actor Michelle Allison channels the powerful voices of Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou.
Rounding out this extraordinary ensemble is film actor Carle Atwater, recipient of the L.A. Critics Award for Best Performance in a Musical for his portrayal of Bert Williams in Williams and Walker, who takes on the role of legendary playwright August Wilson.
This remarkable gathering brings together iconic figures from both the living and ancestral realms—including Paul Robeson, Tennessee Williams, Ossie Davis, Eugene O’Neill, Lorraine Hansberry, Spike Lee, Nelson Mandela, Alexandre Dumas, Malcolm X, Alexandre Dumas, Bertolt Brecht, Amiri Baraka, Anton Chekhov, Maxine Hong Kingston, and many others—each lending their voice to a timeless, transcendent conversation that invites audiences to listen deeply, remember boldly, and imagine collectively.
ABOUT BLACK HEAVEN
WHO:
Producer, Playwright, and Director Dr. Kim McMillon presents Black Heaven with a brilliant cast including Dennis Brown, Cheryl Lockett, Aideed Medina, Heike Hambley, David Hambley, Michelle Allison, Eboni Ardell Harris, Keith White, Karina Ezitis, Dob Francise, Kenneth Mackie, Kathie Mackie, Mireya Rodriguez, Ben Nix, Jordyn Allison, Carle Atwater, and Tim Hoskins.
WHAT:
Black Heaven: A Visionary Theatrical Experience — a Reader’s Theatre production exploring Blackness, history, art, forgiveness, and ancestral memory.
WHERE:
Unity of Merced, 305 W. 26th Street, Merced, CA
WHEN:
Saturday, February 28 at 6:30 PM
Sunday, March 1 at 1:30 PM
WHY:
To bring audiences into a powerful, intergenerational conversation that honors legacy, illuminates humanity, and celebrates the enduring impact of Black artistry.
TICKETS:
Tickets are $15 and may be purchased at the door or via Eve
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Event Venue
Unity of Merced, 305 W 26th St,Merced, California, United States
Tickets
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