It’s Juneteenth Time Again! by Lorna Littleway

June, the month for weddings, graduations, and the  Juneteenth Jamboree! This is our sixth year of presenting the most extensive celebration of African-American culture in Kentucky. And what is even more exciting is that four of the plays,  Till, A Member of the Family, Mother’s Day, and Remembering Ossie, are receiving their first public performance at the Jamboree! 

JLT's nine-day festival in June is becoming the place to be for artists wanting to develop new works!  This summer we have more guest and visitng artists than ever before. A young group from the District of Columbia, ACT; playwrights Ifa Bayeza, J. E. Robinson, and Alan Sharpe, and Audelco and Obie Awards-winners, Grenoldo Frazier and Sue Lawless return.

This year's Jamboree is a music lover's delight with two nights of Ray Charles music, The Genius of Ray Pts. 1&2. Grenoldo Frazier and our Louisville Raylets will bump and thump, caress and embrace, growl and croon all the best of Ray’s tunes in blues, gospel, pop, country and rhythm 'n' blues. In addition, music from Purlie, Strivers Row, and traditional Negro spirituals grace our memorial tribute to an icon of the American stage, Remembering Ossie Davis.We also honor the 50th anniversary of Emmitt  Till's murder and his courageous mother's insistence on an open-coffin funeral which shamed America into denouncing lynching. Grandmothers raising grandchildren get their due in A Member of the Family, a loving tribute from former Jefferson County teacher, Patricia Ramsey.

Because Louisville is a "blue" city in a "red" state, we get to poke a little fun at a “family values” politician in Mother's Day, then turn serious about gay-bashing in BrotherHOODS.  Plus there are three weeks to check out and root for the local talent inJuneteenth@Apollo!

For artists wishing to hone their skills, we offer two workshops led by our guest artists, Grenoldo Frazier, The Making of a Musical, and Sue Lawless, Audition Tips for Actors and Singers.  For artisans and craftspersons or groups in search of members, there is opportunity to sell wares and reach out to the public at the Juneteenth Bazaar  in the VJ lobby throught the Jamboree. 

There is Something for Everyone at the Juneteenth Jamboree!  As audience, it is very important that you have a say in JLT's upcoming season; therefore please complete the survey and return to an usher, and Catch the Spirit of Juneteenth!

P.S. Kentucky joins 16 other states to  Catch the Spirit of Juneteenth! by making June 19th an official State Holiday!