JAMES BALDWIN RETURNS HOME
20th Anniversary Commemoration of Baldwin
at Schomburg Center
James Baldwin—Down from the Mountaintop
An original solo play written and
performed by Calvin Levels
(November 12, 2007) Staged Dreams is pleased to announce that in commemoration of the 20th anniversary celebration of the life and legacy of the esteemed novelist, essayist, playwright and human rights activist James Baldwin, Tony Award nominee Calvin Levels will perform his acclaimed solo play, James Baldwin—Down From the Mountaintop, at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard (at 135th Street), Harlem, New York, on December 7th and 8th, 2007 at 8:00 PM. The final day of events on December 9th will benefit the Pacifica Radio Archives and will consist of a play performance at 3:00 PM, followed by a VIP reception at 5:00pm and a panel dialogue at 7:00pm moderated by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now. Panelists include Dr. Cornel West, Amiri Baraka, Sol Stein, Ekwueme Michael Thewell and Baldwin family members. The Schomburg Center is the same historical location where Baldwin educated himself as a youth growing up in Harlem. The performances will be filmed live before the Schomburg audience.
JAMES BALDWIN—DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP depicts the rich and impassioned life of the esteemed American writer recognized for his novels on sexual and personal identity, along with his works of nonfiction, plays and essays on human rights. Baldwin, intent on providing an insecure actor with the insight necessary to portray him convincingly, returns from the ethereal realm and embodies the actor. He recounts various topics about his life, which include his youth growing up in Harlem as a prodigious reader and child minister, his early intimate relationships, and his association with mentors and friends Beauford Delaney and Richard Wright. He reflects on leaving America and moving to Paris; publishing various works such as, Go Tell It on the Mountain and Giovanni’s Room, and on his friendships and rivalries with Marlon Brando, Lorraine Hansberry, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer and Langston Hughes; his sour relationship with the Actors Studio; his association with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and the civil rights movement up through his death at his home in St. Paul de Vence, France.
Calvin Levels has performed JAMES BALDWIN—DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP at over fifty venues across America and has garnered rave reviews from general audiences and critics alike. Princeton University professor Cornel West cites, “Calvin Levels is marvelous in his role as James Baldwin in this powerful play. Please do not miss it!” And The Los Angeles Times wrote, “Levels…has a hypnotic power that creates a revival fervor...Levels insightfully brings to light his subject’s rare and admirable qualities.” Mr. Levels has appeared in numerous film, television and theatrical productions. He is the winner of a number of nominations, including the Tony Award, New York Drama Desk Award and New York Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Play. He also received The Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent. The National James Baldwin Literary Society recently honored Mr. Levels in recognition of his contribution to the legacy of James Baldwin.
Tickets for the event can be purchased by calling Telecharge at 212-239-6200 (inside the NY metro area) or 800-432-7250 (outside the NY metro area), or via www.Telecharge.com
For additional information, please visit JamesBaldwinPlay.com or call (323) 456-7213.
For immediate release:
June 1, 2006
Subject: Baldwin play now booking 2006-2007 performances
Contact:
STAGED DREAMS
PO Box 361285
Los Angeles, CA 90036-9485
Phone: (323) 456-7213
JAMES BALDWIN
DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP
An Original Solo Play Written and Performed by Calvin Levels
Los Angeles – California (June 1, 2006) Staged Dreams is pleased to announce that Tony Award nominee Calvin Levels will continue his national tour of the critically acclaimed solo play JAMES BALDWIN–DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP for the 2006-2007 academic school year. The play depicts the rich and impassioned life of the esteemed novelist, playwright, essayist and civil rights activist James Baldwin. Calvin Levels’ spirited portrayal of Baldwin has garnered rave reviews throughout the United States, captivating and inspiring diverse audiences. Mr. Levels' play insightfully captures the spirit and essence of James Baldwin, powerfully communicating Baldwin's main messages of love, equality and social justice.
JAMES BALDWIN–DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP traces the fervent life of this American writer recognized for his novels on sexual and personal identity, along with his works of nonfiction, plays and essays on human rights. Baldwin returns from the ethereal realm intent on providing an insecure actor with the insight necessary to portray him. He recounts various topics about his life which include his early childhood growing up in Harlem as a prodigious reader; to his first sexual experiences and love affairs; to his relationships with his mentor and friend Beauford Delaney, along with his idol Richard Wright; leaving America and moving to Paris; publishing his works, including Go Tell It On The Mountain and Giovanni’s Room; friendships and rivalries with the likes of Marlon Brando, Lorraine Hansberry, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Langston Hughes; his sour relationship with the Actors Studio; his association with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and the civil rights movement; up until his death at his home in the South of France.
Calvin Levels has performed JAMES BALDWIN–DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP at a number of theatres including The Actors Studio Sunset Millennium Theatre in West Hollywood, California directed by Charles Burnett. He has also performed the play at many symposiums, conferences, colleges and universities, such as Princeton University, Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania, Syracuse University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst/Hampshire College, Kennesaw State University, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Georgia, Indiana University, the University of Michigan, the University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of Vermont. Mr. Levels has also appeared in numerous film, television and theatrical productions. He has received a number of nominations including the Tony Award, New York Drama Desk Award and New York Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Play. He also received The Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent. Mr. Levels has recently been bestowed with an honor by the National James Baldwin Literary Society in recognition of his contribution to the legacy of James Baldwin.
To receive additional information and the complete schedule, please call (323) 456-7213, e-mail info@JamesBaldwinPlay.com or visit www.JamesBaldwinPlay.com .
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Go tell it on South Mountain
Lehigh will celebrate the work of the legendary, pioneering author James Baldwin in a two-day series of events on Nov. 17 and 18.
The life and work of poet, playwright, director, filmmaker, educator and novelist James Baldwin will be examined at a two-day series of talks and events at Lehigh University on Wednesday, Nov. 17 and Thursday, Nov. 18.
The event, titled “James Baldwin, A Gathering,” is being presented by the Lehigh University Humanities Center, and will focus on the legacy of the legendary, pioneering figure in 20th century literature and culture. All events are free and open to the public.
Events will kick off with the showing of the film James Baldwin: From Another Place, at 4:10 p.m. Wednesday at the Humanities Center, followed by a talk by filmmaker Sedat Pakay.
Then on Thursday, Baldwin biographer David Leeming will discuss the living legacy of James Baldwin in a talk titled, “Prophetic Voice, Prophetic Witness” at 4:10 p.m. in Linderman 200.
And at 8 p.m. Thursday, actor and Tony Award nominee Calvin Levels will deliver a one-man performance in homage to Baldwin titled “James Baldwin, Down from the Mountaintop,” in Packer Chapel.
“We are honored to have such an impressive line-up of speakers come to Lehigh in recognition and celebration of Baldwin’s work,” says Gordon C. Bearn, professor of philosophy and director of the Humanities Center. “Collectively, his work stands as a compelling challenge to social injustice and the inspiration to draw from and towards the deep sensual and religious reality which prejudice conceals.”
Adds Don Jackson, coordinator of the Baldwin conference: “James Baldwin, for me, has been one of the stellar examples that spoke with uncompromising courage and gave witness to the problems of our humanity.”
The Baldwin symposium is the leading event in this year’s “Creativity Raw & Cooked” series, which includes a series of events celebrating the creative spirit.
Upcoming events include performances by magicians, talks on outsider art and on creative democracy, exhibits and musical performances.
From rags to writer
Born in 1924 in a Harlem hospital, Baldwin’s childhood was marred by poverty and abuse. Taunted by his peers for his diminutive status, he sought solace in the church and underwent a religious conversion at the age of 14. He preached in evangelical churches in and around Harlem while holding down odd jobs such as busboy and railroad construction worker.
It was during Baldwin’s young adulthood that he began to write, and discovered both a cathartic release from psychic pain and a way to spotlight social ills through compelling narratives and prose.
After struggling with both racism and a conflicted sexual identity, Baldwin left the U.S. to live in Paris in 1948, traveling halfway around the world with only $40 in his pocket. In that country, Baldwin developed into a professional writer and began a prolific career that resulted in 22 books over a span of 40 years. He composed formal essays, fiction, drama and poetry that often combined autobiographical elements with trenchant cultural analysis.
His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews and immediately was recognized as establishing a profound and permanent new voice in American letters. "Mountain is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else," he once remarked.
Among the best-known of Baldwin’s works are Notes of a Native Son (1955), Nobody Knows My Name (1961), and The Fire Next Time (1963), which challenged the logic and morality of institutionalized white racism and offered up a healing, redemptive path.
Critic Irving Howe said that Fire Next Time achieved "heights of passionate exhortation unmatched in modern American writing,” and Baldwin’s landmark work stands a defining rejection of American racism and resistance to progressive ideals such as fairness and justice.
Baldwin remained a prolific writer throughout his life, writing essays and cultural criticisms, as well as novels, adaptations, volumes of poetry and even a children’s book titled Little Man, Little Man: A Story of Childhood.
His last work, “The Evidence of Things Not Seen,” was published in 1985 in response to a series of child murders in Atlanta. He died at his home in Saint-Paul-de-Vence in France on December 1, 1987.
Although the Humanities Center is the primary sponsor of the two-day event, support is coming from a number of other groups that include the university’s Visiting Lectures Committee; American Studies; the departments of theatre, religion studies, and English; the Office of Multicultural Affairs; Africana Studies; the Spectrum Student Club; the Women’s Center; and the Moravian College Office on Institutional Diversity.
For more information about this series of events, please call 610-758-4649.
--Linda Harbrecht
For immediate release:
May 11, 2004
Subject: Baldwin play now booking 2004-2005 performances
Contact:
STAGED DREAMS
PO Box 361285
Los Angeles, CA 90036-9485
Phone: (323) 456-7213
JAMES BALDWIN
DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP
A New One-Man Play About James Baldwin
California (May 11, 2004) JAMES BALDWIN–DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP---a new one-man play written and performed by Tony Award nominee Calvin Levels recently finished a theatrical run in Los Angeles. Mr. Levels has performed this play at universities, colleges and other venues around the country, such as Northwestern University and the University of Michigan. The play depicts the rich and impassioned life of the esteemed novelist, playwright, essayist and civil rights activist James Baldwin. The writings and teachings of James Baldwin are extremely relevant in relation to today's issues regarding equality, justice, nonviolence, and social change. Mr. Levels is now booking performances at schools for 2004-2005.
JAMES BALDWIN–DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP traces the fervent life of this American writer recognized for his novels on sexual and personal identity, along with plays and sharp essays on civil rights. Baldwin makes his way back to earth from the ethereal realm by embodying an actor who is doing a one man play about his life. Intent on setting the record straight, Baldwin recounts various topics about his life. They include his early childhood growing up in Harlem as a prodigious reader and fiery young minister; to his first sexual experiences and love affairs; to his relationship with his idol Richard Wright; leaving America and moving to Paris; publishing his works, including Go Tell It On The Mountain and Giovanni’s Room; friendships and rivalries with the likes of Marlon Brando, Lorraine Hansberry, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Langston Hughes; his sour relationship with the Actors Studio; his association with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and the civil rights movement; up until his death at his home in the South of France.
Calvin Levels has appeared in OPEN ADMISSIONS, the one-act at The Ensemble Studio Theatre, David Mamet’s THE SHAWL at Lincoln Center Theatre and OPEN ADMISSIONS as a full length at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway, for which he received The Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent. He also received nominations for The Tony Award, New York Drama Desk Award and New York Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Play. His credits also include numerous films and television productions.
To book James Baldwin-Down From the Mountaintop, please call (323)456-7213, e-mail JamesBaldwinPlay@yahoo.com or visit www.JamesBaldwinPlay.com. The play is produced by Staged Dreams.
For immediate release:
Subject: Play about James Baldwin is Feb. 6
Evanston, IL (January, 2004):
http://www.northwestern.edu/univ-relations/media_relations/releases/2004_01/baldwin.html
http://www.usguides.net/my.info/uqs3428c4dc92ec47bd8b7df21a8917c53a/view/n=21738
For immediate release:
Subject: radio interview
Los Angeles, CA (September 6, 2003): Calvin Levels, actor-writer of the one-man play "James Baldwin - Down From the Mountaintop", and David Moses, the play's director, will be interviewed on KPFK Radio on September 9th, 2003. "Beneath the Surface" with Michael Slate, airs in Los Angeles on station 90.7, and in Santa Barbara on station 98.7. The program begins at 5:00pm, and Mr. Levels will be performing an excerpt from the play. "Down From the Mountaintop" depicts the rich and impassioned life of James Baldwin - the esteemed novelist, playwright, essayist and civil rights activist.
For immediate release:
Subject: benefit performance by Calvin Levels
December 18, 2002
PACIFICA RADIO
Pacifica Radio Archives
3729 Cahuenga Boulevard West
North Hollywood, California 91604
Ph: 818-506-1084
Honorary Host Committee:
• Ed Asner • Ben Caldwell • EsoWon Books
• Danny Glover • Dexter Scott King
• Martin Landau • CCH Pounder
• David Moses • Mark Rydell
• Susan Sarandon • Paul Allen Smith
• Tavis Smiley • Rep. Maxine Waters
• Howard Zinn • Michael Zinzun
Dear Friends:
On behalf of the Pacifica Radio Archives we invite you to attend a very special event - a benefit performance of JAMES BALDWIN - DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP, a new one-man play written and performed by Calvin Levels depicting the rich, impassioned life of the great novelist, playwright, essayist and civil rights activist.
The fundraiser will be held Sunday, January 12, 2003, with performances at 2 PM and 6 PM with a buffet reception from 4-6 M hosted by the 4305 Village Theatre at 4305 Degan Blvd. in Leimert Park (near Crenshaw and 43rd Street).
The Pacifica Radio Archives is working to save more than 47,000 historic tapes that span a half a century of radio programming. Considered by many historians and scholars to be one of the most important audio collections in the world, thousands of tapes in the Los Angeles-based Pacifica Radio Archives are in danger of permanent damage caused by aging. Internationally recognized sound preservation experts have advised Pacifica to conduct an immediate review of the endangered tapes and to transfer them to new mediums, such as digital audio.
The archives house rare recordings of internationally known writers, political activists, religious leaders and entertainers such as Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, Malcolm X, Archbishop Oscar Romero, Fannie Lou Hamer, Paul Robeson, Pablo Neruda, Langston Hughes, Allen Ginsberg, Bette Davis, Simone de Beauvoir, Jack Kerouac, Rachel Carson, the Dalai Lama, Lenny Bruce and of course James Baldwin.
"It's a priceless cultural record," said Gary Handman, director of the Media Resource Center at UC Berkeley's Moffitt Library. "(Pacifica) has chronicled most of the bellwether social and political movements around the country over the last 50 years or so." (San Francisco Chronicle - November 21, 2002).
Founded in 1949 by World War I conscientious objector Lewis Hill, Pacifica Radio was created as the first non-commercial, listener-sponsored radio station in the United State. The Pacifica Radio Archives was established in 1971 to house the audio-tape collection gathered from Pacifica Radio stations KPFA-94.1 FM in Berkeley, KPFK-90.7 FM in Los Angeles, WBAI-99.5 FM in New York, KPFT-90.1 FM in Houston, and WPFW-89.3 FM in Washington D.C.
We are thrilled that Calvin Levels has agreed to stage two special performances of JAMES BALDWIN - DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP to benefit the Save the Pacifica Radio Archives Project, KAOS Network's youth programs and Mama Di's Kitchen for the homeless and we would love to have you join us.
Happy Holidays!
Warmest Regards,
Brian DeShazor
Archive Manager
KPFA-94.1 FM/KPFB-89.3 FM, Berkeley, CA
KPFK-90.7 FM, Los Angeles, CA
KPFT-90.1 FM, Houston, TX
WBAI-99.5 FM in New York, NY
WPFW-89.3 FM in Washington D.C.
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