Roots Revival is a multimedia original cabaret production chronicling the history of African Americans from West Africa to the present in song, spoken word and dance.   This play with music is an important addition to the country’s catalog of theatrical work dedicated to the preservation of African American culture and literature.  The running time for the two act play is 98 minutes with a recommended 20 minute intermission.  Roots Revival was written by the founder of Rainbow Studio Theater,  Cathryn McGill.  Rainbow Studio Theater is New Mexico’s only professional African American theater ensemble.

Roots Revival, a 60+ member multigenerational African American cast,  debuted in February 2012 to sold out audiences at the VSA N4th Arts Center.  In February 2013, the production opened at UNM’s Popejoy Hall and attracted 3,524 patrons for two performances – an Albuquerque Public Schools full length day time performance on February 7th and a performance for the general public on February 8th, 2013.  This was the first time that a local African American company had ever produced a show at Popejoy since its inception in 1963.  The performances were a part of  Arts and Culture Weekend of the 2nd Annual New Mexico Black History Month Festival, February 5 – 9, 2013.

A people who lack the knowledge about their past history, origin and culture are like a tree without roots.Marcus Garvey

Roots Revival has enjoyed critical acclaim and is now looking to capitalize on touring and sponsorship opportunities throughout the state of New Mexico and in the Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado region.

Keeping it Cultural A Review of Roots Revival By Pamela K. Johnson African American History Month has gotten rather drab: Throw in Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream,” Rosa Parks seated on a bus, and mix in a black inventor or two, and it’s a wrap. So the inventive production of Roots Revival: Our Struggle, Our Glory, Our Story at Popejoy Hall, performed for schools on Feb. 7, 2013, and the following night for adults, freshened up a flagging tradition. Singer/songwriter/actress Cathryn McGill is the creative force behind the show. She produced and co-directed it with actress/director/friend Kristen Loree, along with the contributions of many talented others. McGill also serves as one of the play’s stars. With an intriguing blend of song, dance and storytelling, ensconced in a narrative framework of children enrolled in a two-week camp at Roots Revival Cultural Academy, the program shimmies colorfully through the major milestones of African-American achievement, from black folks being snatched away from our ancestral homeland, to the first African-American president boldly stepping into the White House. The show is launched with parents dropping off children, whining about leaving cell phones and video games behind. But the bellyaching dies out quickly as they settle in at the knee of The Griot—the West African term for the storyteller—played by McGill. As the evening blazes through wide swaths of history, The Griot and her charges provide the chorus, returning again and again to an African proverb sung a cappella: If you can walk you can dance, If you can talk you can saaaaang! That’s the way we do our thang. Yeah, that’s they way we do our thang. Perhaps most moving during the evening were two of the sadder pieces: A multimedia vignette by Marie Michelle Jasmin Belisle, which recreated the musings of a slave ship’s lieutenant traveling on the steamer Mohawk; he describes bringing over human “cargo,” nude and chained together, and the training of one of the enslaved to keep the others in line. The haunting offstage

voices of the cast sing: Hold on jus’ a little while longer/Everything will be all right. In another gripping scene, one of the players, Wichasta Reese, sings the Billie Holiday classic, “Strange Fruit,” while Roots’ choreographer, Gabi Rojas, enshrouded in black shadows, moves in and out of a looped rope that hangs perilously from the rafters. These lump-in-the-throat moments are balanced with playful, high-energy skits, such as the Butterbeans and Susie routine, an homage to the 1920s’ comedy duo. In this rendition, Susie carries a big purse, while Butterbeans owns a hot dog cart. Most eager, Susie makes endless references to the roll hidden in her big purse, while pestering Butterbeans about his hot dog, and whether it’s big and juicy enough to suit her bun. Cab Calloway, from a slightly later era, is compelling captured by veteran performer, Michael Herndon, who delivers all the cleverness and dance skill of the legend, with spot-on renditions of the entertainer’s classics, “Minnie the Moocher” and “Hi De Ho.” As the play celebrates the highs and lows of the African-American experience, the singers’ continually emerging refrain is: ‘It ain’t ovah yet.’ Though Harriet Tubman escorts slaves to freedom, though Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation, and though a series of amendments to the Constitution are enacted to secure African-Americans rights, ‘It ain’t ovah yet,’ is a reminder of the work yet to be done, even today, to secure equal rights for all. Perhaps the most powerful moment in the show, which tips to more recent history, is when cast members, roughly 60 in all, hold up a picture of a relative who’s passed on and then, at once, speak the family member’s name. The gesture dovetails nicely with one of the final numbers of the show: “I’m the Living Proof,” which suggests that African American’s continued presence in this country—despite the many times it could have been snuffed out—is a testimony to our survival. Roots Revival infuses that survival with rich meaning.

Pamela K. Johnson is a veteran journalist and

filmmaker, filmmaker living in Long Beach, CA. A

graduate of Stanford University and Sarah Lawrence

College, she is formerly a senior editor at Essence

Magazine and regular feature article contributor to

numerous national weekly and monthly publications.

Bsut!'!DvmuvsfFebruary 7 ‐ 8

IF YOU GO:Roots Revival

$22.50 Reserved SeatingPurchase online at unmtickets.com or in person at  the UNM bookstore, the Pit or  any Albertsons Grocery Store. February 7, 2013 9:30am School Performance sponsored by APSFebruary 8, 2013 8:00 pm (Doors 7:30)

Popejoy Hall 203 Cornell Drive NE Albuquerque, NM 87107

About Rainbow Studio TheaterRainbow Studio was founded in 2009 to preserve African American literature and culture and to offer creative outlets for emerging and seasoned talent from within the African American community. 

Special 2013 Roots Revival Participants 

Danielle Bridges, an up & coming makeup stylist from Albuquerque will join the Roots Revival team to train the cast on proper stage

Rujeko Dumbutshena, a Zimbabwean artist living in America will join the 2013 cast of Roots Revival with four of the original ensemble dancers from the hit musical FELA!. Rujeko Dumbutshena

aspires for the highest western institutional accolades, while standing rooted in the antiquity of her people.

makeup for theatrical performances.  Danielle has been featured in the Albuquerque Journal Sage Magazine as well as the Business Outlook for her work and emerging business –Passion Beauty Eternal Cosmetics.

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Making history! This will be the first time thata local African American company has everproduced a show at Popejoy Hall. Check outthis original cabaret performance thatchronicles the journey of African Americansfrom West Africa to the present in song,spoken word and dance.

Roots Revival is produced by Rainbow Studio Theater.  The 60+ member cast is comprised of Albuquerque’s A‐list entertainers including Cathryn McGill, Hakim Bellamy, Michael Herndon, Zenobia Conkerite , Gene Corbin, world class dancer/choreographer Gabi Rojas, and singer/songwriter/choral director Stevie Springer.  Rujeko Dumbutshena and African dance masters  from the hit NYC Broadway production Fela! based on the life of African musician/activist Fela Kuti are  also featured .

Last year this show sold out quickly sopurchase your tickets now! You won’t want tomiss out on this historic event.

Gene Corbin in Roots Revival