Tag Archives: Community Works

Event

Harlem Nights, part of the Community Works public program series of events for the Opening Week of The Dwyer Cultural Center continues with a special evening that honors SANDRA REAVES-PHILLIPS, acclaimed actress and legendary blues singer. The evening includes a live performance by “Harlem’s Ladies of the Blues,” Ghanniyyah Green, Lady Cantrese and LeeOlive Tucker; a conversation with Sandra Reaves-Phillips, Professor Farah Griffin (Director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University), and blues historian/writer Gregory Thomas. 

SANDRA REAVES-PHILLIPS is an acclaimed singer and actress who has come a long way from her hometown of Mullins, South Carolina. She has been in many Broadway shows including Raisin and Stompin’ At The Savoy. She has also had memorable roles in movies including, ‘Round Midnight with Dexter Gordon, and perhaps her best known work being the role of Mrs. Powers in the film Lean On Me with Morgan Freeman. A Helen Hayes Award nominee, she also counts it an honor to have performed with Bette Davis, Michael J. Fox and Ann Margaret on Broadway and on television. Sandra created her internationally acclaimed one-woman show; The Late Great Ladies of Blues and Jazz in the early 80s while she was performing her R&B show at Harlem’s acclaimed Cotton Club. She was the featured artist in the Community Works/New Heritage Theatre Group production of Ladies Singing the Blues presented at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Symphony Space, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the Museum of the City of New York. Continue reading →