By Stacy Brown Washington Informer Fats Domino, the rock pioneer who inspired Elvis Presley, the Beatles and countless other superstars, died Wednesday at his home in Harvey, Louisiana. He was 89. Mark Bone, chief investigator for the Jefferson Parish coroner’s office, told NPR that Domino died of natural causes. Born Antoine Domino, the “Architect of ...

By Dwight Brown NNPA Newswire Film Critic Considering all of his major accomplishments, why hasn’t someone made a film about Thurgood Marshall’s life that was comprehensive? He was the lawyer who won the Brown v. Board of Education United States Supreme Court case, the founder of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a United ...

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (The Wallis) has announced the second extension of the West Coast premiere of the Off-Broadway hit Turn Me Loose—a comedic drama by Gretchen Law, produced by John Legend and Mike Jackson, about the life of trailblazing comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory who passed away in August at the age of 84. The limited engagement ...

By Michelle Carrier-Davis Scorching and hot were the synonyms used to describe the temperature and the performing artists. The Fantasy Springs Casino was packed with throngs of concert attendees, all excited to see performances by two of R&B’s greatest groups, the Commodores and the Isley Brothers. Conversations were overheard; the first time they saw the ...

By Barbara Smith “Art makes life worth living.” So said Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton’s Tony-winning singer/actor, who headlined Saturday night’s Monterey Jazz Festival. The same could be said of the iconic festival itself where this year, celebrating its 60th anniversary, it held true to its cherished tradition of assembling the most masterful and brilliantly shining ...

Academy Award winner and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “Head of Passes” has opened at the Mark Taper Forum. Directed by Tina Landau, the poetic and powerful new play, which is part of Center Theatre Group’s 50th anniversary season at the Taper, continues through October 22. The cast of “Head of Passes” includes, in alphabetical order, ...