DALE RICARDO SHIELDS

~ WELCOME ~

ARTISTIC ACTIVIST

About imageAbout imageAbout image
Dale Ricardo Shields is a 2017 winner of The Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award®, 2017 AUDELCO/"VIV" Special Achievement Award, Inductee Phi Kappa Phi {Honor Society Fraternity}, the 2020 and 2021 ENCORE AWARD / The Actors Fund and the winner of the 2022 Ebony Bobcat Legend Award (Ohio University), Honor of Ancestral Sacrifices (Ohio University), The Certificate of Merit (The Exchange Club of Cleveland), and The George E, Mills Hall of Excellence (John F. Kennedy High School).

He is the 2021 winner of the Paul Robeson Award, presented (jointly) by the Actors Equity Association and the Actors Equity Foundation. Recently, he won the 2022 Legend Awardfrom (alma mater) Ohio University.

His extensive professional credits as a Director, Stage manager, and Actor (Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway and Regional) include various projects and assignments at Lincoln Center (State Theatre), The Henry Street Settlement House (New Federal Theatre), The Negro Ensemble Company, The Joseph Papp Public Theatre (New York Shakespeare Festival) and Karamu House. He is on the board of directors of AUDELCO.


He was the assistant director to Lloyd Richards for the New Federal Theatre premiere production of Ossie Davis' play A Last Dance With Sybil starring Ruby Dee and Earl Hyman at the New Federal Theatre. As an actor he has appeared on Saturday Night Live, Another World, Guiding Light, The Cosby Show, and the ITV television series Special Needs and commercials and film. He studied at The Negro Ensemble Company and The Henry Street Settlement House with Hal Scott and Dick Anthony Williams. He appeared as Martin in the New York City revival of Any One Can Whistle at the York Theatre Company, Lincoln Center world premiere of Lily based on Saul Bellow’s Henderson the Rain King directed by Tom O’ Horgan at Lincoln Center (State Theatre).


He taught workshops for the Youngstown Early Prevention Program for five years on the campus of the College of Wooster. For legendary producer Joseph Papp, He conducted workshops at the Public Theatre (New York Shakespeare Festival) with the Playwriting in the Schools Program (PITTS) for six seasons. During his six-year teaching tenure at the Public Theatre he represented the United States of America at the ASSITEJ Theatre Festival in London, England in 1988 with Playwright and mentor, Arthur T. Wilson.


As a University Professor, he has received two Outstanding Professor Awards and three Educational Program of the Year awards. He has taught classes and workshops at Ohio University, The College of Wooster, Denison University, Macalester College, Susquehanna University, and SUNY Potsdam.


In 2009 he created and become the creator and archivist for Black Theatre/African American Voices web site on Facebook and I For Color on the web.
He is a member of the Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the American Guild of Musical Artists performance unions and an associate member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.


He holds a BFA and MFA [Summa Cum Laude} degree from Ohio University.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Ricardo_Shields


The SHIELDS LINE image
The Shields Line

The Shields line starts as early as we can find with Soloman Shields in 1800 born in South Carolina. His son Tom (b.1822) and his wife Susan (b.1835) Shields were born in Crumptonia, Alabama on the Cochran plantation. The plantation house is still there although it is not open to the public.
Tom and Susan had four children. Adam Wilson who may have been Tom’s son by another woman was born in 1859 and married Katie Seltzer.  So, DNA test with Wilson, that is actually the Shields family. Adam and Katie had three children, Captain Wilson (1884), William Willson (1887), and Leon Sellzer (1910). Tom and Susan’s second son Barry Shields (1822) married Married Mariah Selzer (1865-1945) who would be my great-grandfather. Their daughter Patsey Shields was born in 1875 and their son Tommie Shields was born in 1877.
Cochran House at Crumptonia near Orrville, AL (built c. 1855)
Antebellum, Historic Home | Crumptonia in Dallas County

 
Antebellum, Historic Home | Crumptonia in Dallas County
“Crumptonia is an unincorporated community in Dallas County, Alabama.[2] It is named for a local plantation house of the same name, built in 1855 by Claudius M. Cochran and later owned by the Crumpton family.” [Wilipedia]


Also referred to as the Cochran-Crumpton House, Crumptonia, and the McCrary House, this 2-story Greek Revival style home was built circa 1855 for South Carolina-born, Claudius M. Cochran. It was later owned by the Crumpton family and it became part of the Crumptonia Plantation. The front of this house is almost identical to those of the McMillan-Oxford House, Tasso, and Moseley Grove which are also located in the vicinity of Orrville. The Cochran House was documented in the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in 1934. It is featured in “Silent in the Land” by Chip Cooper, Harry J. Knopke, and Robert S. Gamble.
This house is located approximately 8 miles southwest of Orrville on Dallas CR 21 (32°12’49.2″N 87°17’22.9″W – Google Maps).
This is a private residence – drive by only.
Sources: 1) wikipedia.org/Crumptonia_Alabama; 2) “Silent in the Land” by Chip Cooper, Harry J. Knopke, and Robert S. Gamble; 3) “The Alabama Catalog: A Guide to the Early Architecture of the State” by Robert S. Gamble.
B&W photographs courtesy US Library of Congress (HABS), photographer: W. N. Manning, date: March 17 & 23, 1934. The recent photographs that are provided were taken during February 2012.



Claudius McRelas CochranBirthdate: January 31, 1804
Birthplace: Marlboro County, South Carolina, United States
Death: February 22, 1884 (80)
Dallas County, Alabama, United States
Place of Burial: Martins
Immediate Family:
Son of Lt. Thomas Cochran and Elizabeth Hunter Cochran
Husband of Eleanor Bainbridge Cochran
Father of Robert M. Cochran; Eleanor Cochran; William Alexander Cochran; Elizabeth Jane Cochran; Ellen Pouncey Cochran and 1 other
Half-brother of Nancy (Ann/Anne) Cochran Hamer; Robert Cochran; Rachel Bethea; Margaret Bethea; Thomas Cochran and 2 others
Occupation: Postmaster
The Shields line starts as early as Soloman Shields in 1800 born in South Carolina. His son Tom (b.1822) and his wife Susan (b.1835) Shields were born in Crumptonia, Alabama on the Cochran plantation. The plantation house is still there although it is not open to the public. Tom and Susan had four children. Adam Wilson who may have been Tom’s son by another woman was born in 1859 and married Katie Seltzer. On the several DNA tests I have taken, There are more Wilson matches than Shields.  So if one should see a DNA test with Wilson, that is actually the Shields family. Adam and Katie had three children, Captain Wilson (1884), William Willson (1887), and Leon Sellzer (1910). Tom and Susan’s second son Barry Shields (1822) married Married Mariah Selzer (1865-1945) who would be my great-grandfather. Their daughter Patsey Shields was born in 1875 and their son Tommie Shields was born in 1877. 
 
Early Origins of the Shields familyThe surname Shields was first found in the Ulster region counties of Donegal, Derry, Antrim, and Down. This family are reputed to be descendents of the great King Niall of the Nine Hostages. The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century.
Shields Family History
Meaning ‘of Shields’, this is a locational name from the seaport and market-town in County Northumberland. This name is of Anglo-Celtic origin and is popular throughout England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
 
Prior to 1840, a White farmer from the Pee Dee region of Marlboro County in South Carolina settled in an area of Dallas County, Alabama which was then known as the Lexington Beat. His name was Claudius M. Cochran. In order to provide labor for his farm, Claudius brought along 26 slaves belonging to him. John Cochran was one of the slaves. John was about 10 years old in 1840. The slaves could have been John’s siblings, cousins, parents, etc. Slaves were only enumerated and identified as male or female between certain age brackets. In 1855 Claudius M. Cochran built a large plantation house, which took on the name, the Cochran Plantation House. My GGG Grandfather John Cochran was one of the slaves that built the Cochran Plantation house. The house still bares that name today, “Cochran Plantation House) in Alabama. The community that was then known as the Lexington Beat became known as Crumptonia after one of Claudius’s daughters married into a prominent family by the name of Crumpton.”
Claude Shields Sr.
“In Post-World War I Era Cleveland, a popular destination for African American migrants from the South, gospel music became increasingly popular. This growing popularity was due in no small measure to the business acumen of people like Claude Shields Sr., quartet singer, and owner of the Shields Brothers Cleaners on Cedar Avenue. Since the 1920s, Cleveland’s gospel quartet artists have not hesitated to support the recording of the music, public programs, and publications about gospel’s influence on other styles of American music, including Rock and Roll.” – Cleveland and the Rise of Gospel Blues
Claude Sr. had ten siblings: Isabella, Mary, Fannie, Maggie, Berry Jr., Louise, Claude, David, Willie, Coleman, and John.


(Johnnie, Claude Jr., John and Claude Shields Sr.)
Johnnie Calloway Shields is the sister of Hattie Lynn King,
the mother of fight promoter Don King and the late Joesph Lynn (actor).
Claude Shields Jr. married Fannie and had two sons, Gerald and Dale.
John Shields married Audrey and had three children, Dwayne, Jean, and Sharon.
 

“In Post-World War I Era in Cleveland, a popular destination for African American migrants from the South, gospel music became increasingly popular. This growing popularity was due in no small measure to the business acumen of people like Claude Shields Sr., quartet singer, and owner of the Shields Brothers Cleaners on Cedar Avenue. 

Since the 1920s, Cleveland’s gospel quartet artists have not hesitated to support the recording of the music, public programs, and publications about the gospel’s influence on other styles of American music, including Rock and Roll.”


The Shields Brothers

Formed in 1928, Cleveland, OH, United States
Members
Lee R. Crosby (lead vocals, tenor vocals), Arthur Beasley (lead vocals), Arthur Turner (baritone vocals), Claude Shields Sr. (bass vocals)

Claude Shields Sr. owned and operated a dry cleaning company for over forty years under the name of the Shields Brothers Cleaners.

The Shields Brothers Senior’s last performance (the 1970s). The Shields Brothers were frequent guest singers on gospel radio and traveled across the country on the Gospel Quartet circuit. They were known for their sweet harmonious voices and sang consistently for 70 years.
Pictured here in the 1940s  with a trophy won in a competition for enunciation, appearance, stage performance, and harmony, The Jubilee Four were a group of two sets of brothers and a neighbor, who began singing together in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1930s.  
The group sang together until three of the members were drafted to serve in World War II.  The members included Clifford Phelps, William Phelps, Eugene Ross, Johnny Shields, and Claude Shields Jr.  They were later renamed The Shields Brothers. 
The Turner Gospel SingersIn 1949, Claude Shields Jr married Fannie Sanders.  She along with her sister, Frettie Jackson sang with the Turner Gospel Singers under the direction of William Turner.  The union produced two sons, Gerald and Dale. Gerald was drafted into the army and entered the business world.  After completing a Master of Fine Arts in theatre, Dale entered the world of professional theatrical show business and academic theatre and went on to win the Kennedy Center Stephen Sondheim Teaching Award among many other awards.
Fannie, Dale, Claude and Gerald Shields – 1952
 

Earthborn Day

~ ARRIVAL ~ I was almost named Dwight - "Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president on November 4, 1952. A popular World War II general who ran on the slogan “I Like Ike,” Eisenhower easily defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson." I was named after Cleveland Indians left fielder Dale Mitchell he is one of the most feared hitters in baseball. My Grandmother was not working with the "Dwight" thing...? She named me, said the Dale guy was hitting homeruns. My Mother loved "I Love Lucy." {Ricky Ricardo}* (No one in my family calls me Dale)

Learn More11/04/1952

Off to College (OHIO UNIVERSITY)

ATHENS, OHIO ) - Frantic parents clogged all the streets in town trying to pick up their students. Every breeze would cause tear gas powder to rain down from the trees, causing red eyes for blocks. National guardsmen, some with bayonets affixed were spaced all over the downtown and campus area. MEMORY ~ The look on my Dad's face hearing this and knowing I was headed there... {Frozen}*

Learn More09/01/1970

* ALL ACTING ~ ALL DANCING ~ ALL SINGING * {ah} 5-6-7-8 ~

"I think I have spoken more truth on stage, than in my personel life!" - DRS THEATRE - "It allows us to get back to the basics in order to connect with the basic humanity of our lives." "A theatre is the most important sort of house in the world because that's where people are shown what they could be if they wanted and what they'd like to be if they dared to and what they really are." - Tove Jansson

Learn More07/01/1972
 

Off to New York City {THE BIG APPLE}

College to New York City * "Start spreading the news I am leaving today I want to be a part of it New York, New York."

Learn More06/08/1975

Learning to teach

"The spiritual gift of teaching is one that carries a heavy responsibility."

Learn More10/01/1986
 

Time to learn more

Graduate School (MFA) “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.” ― Albert Einstein

Learn More02/10/2016
 

College Professor

* Time to share * "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. - William Arthur Ward "Having been an educator for so many years I know that all a good teacher can do is set a context, raise questions or enter into a kind of a dialogic relationship with their students." Sondheim Spotlight: Dale Shields Shields love of teaching for the theatre and his strive for his students to cultivate their own voice created a valuable experience for one of his students, Nicole Reeves. "Dale believed that we each had something deep, rich, and valuable to bring to the life of our characters and that it was this same voice that gave certain vitality to our own lives. He believes that we each have something to contribute to the world." Read more of his story at www.kennedy-center.org/sondheimteacherawards. — with Dale Shields.

Learn More09/01/1995

“Every person, all the events of your life are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you.” ― Richard Bach

GRATITUDE for every experince and every year*

Learn More01/01/2018

~ On My Own ~

  • Manhattan, NY 10036, United States
Dale Ricardo Shields
AEA-SAG-AFTRA-AGMA-SSDC - Phi Kappa Phi. The Kennedy Center/Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award. 2015/17 Tony® award nominee for the Excellence in Theatre Education Award.

B.F.A / M.F.A. {Summa Cum Laude}
Ohio University.

Directing: A Raisin in the Sun, Ragtime, Crowns, Top Dog/Underdog, Fires in The Mirror, Laughter on the Twenty Third Floor, Driving Miss Daisy, Quatermaine's Terms, Of Mice and Men, Godspell, Same Time Next Year, The Me Nobody Knows, A Streetcar Named Desire, Golden Boy, Fame, Three Ways Home, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, For Colored Girls..., Rumors, The Brownsville Raid, Man of La Mancha, Before It Hits Home, Golden Boy, Trouble in Mind, The Amen Corner, A Soldier's Play, The Me Nobody Knows, The Colored Museum, Home, I, Too Sing America, Something Wanted, If you are Seeing This It's Too Late. How do you Slam a Revolving Door - {A Word Jam}.

Asst Director to Lloyd Richards for the New Federal Theatre production of Ossie Davis’ new play A Last Dance With Sybil (Ruby Dee)

Professional credits as a Director, Stage manager and Actor (Broadway, Off Broadway and Regional) New Federal Theatre, The Negro Ensemble Company, The Joseph Papp Public Theatre, Upward Bound, The Hilberry Repertory Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Playwrights Horizon, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Actors Studio, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, The York Players, The Cleveland School of the Arts.

Acting
(AEA-SAG-AFTRA-AGMA) studied at The Negro Ensemble Company and The Henry Street Settlement House with Hal Scott and Dick Anthony Williams. New York City revival of Any One Can Whistle, the Lincoln Center, Lily directed by Tom O’ Horgan at Lincoln Center. ITV television series Special Needs. The Bill Cosby Show, Another World, Guiding Light, Saturday Night Live, and Ann Margaret’s Salute to Radio City Music Hall with Ben Vereen. Saint Paul Civic Symphony at The Saint Paul Landmark Center in A Lincoln Portrait.

Stage Management
Black Nativity The Marriage of Figaro for Opera Ebony and Life Sea Treasures at the South Street Seaport, De Obeah Mon at The Actors Studio Martin Luther King’s Birthday Celebration - Studio 54.

Academic:
SUNY Potsdam
Susquehanna University
Denison University
Randolph-Macon College
Macalester College
The College of Wooster
Ohio University’s Theater Division
Wayne State University
Public Theatre (NYSF)
South Bronx Community Theatre
Karamu House
Cleveland School of The Arts

Courses Taught:
Acting 1
Acting 2
Scene Study
Improvisation
Directing 1
Directing 2
Intro to Theatre
Black Theatre History
Intro to Black Studies
Stage Management

Phi Kappa Phi

Unions: AEA-SAG-AFTRA-AGMA-The Society of Stage Choreographers and Directors
Phi Kappa Phi

Unions: AEA-SAG-AFTRA-AGMA-The Society of Stage Choreographers and Directors

LINKS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Ricardo_Shields

https://about.me/dale.shields

https://www.linkedin.com/in/moderndrama/

https://www.mtishows.com/news/the-kennedy-centerstephen-sondheim-inspirational-teacher-awards-0 

 LINKS:


As racial tensions continue to divide the country, prejudice has managed to permeate communities everywhere, including the Susquehanna University campus. Though efforts have been made to prevent further incidents of racial discrimination, the Center for Intercultural & Community Engagement and other Susquehanna students agree that further discussion is necessary. Initiated by Dena Salerno and Dr. Lisa Scott, CICE was finally able to welcome Dale Ricardo Shields as an artistic activist in residence, after several years of coaxing. After only two and a half weeks of sporadic rehearsals and scavenging for sets, a cast and crew of fourteen students are proud to present the second theater production of “Fires in the Mirror;” a production that broaches the sensitive yet relevant topic of racial divide and the necessity of discussion.

Written by Anna Deavere Smith, “Fires in the Mirror” first premiered in May of 1992, shortly after what is known as the Crown Heights riots: a series of violent incidents between the Black and Jewish communities of Brooklyn. The play is known as one of the principle examples of verbatim theater, where the script is based word for word on interviews conducted by the creator. After the tragic events that occurred in Crown Heights in August, 1991, Smith interviewed individuals from both racial communities involved in the conflict and formed a succession of soliloquies, originally to be performed solely by herself. With the professional guidance of Shields, fourteen students, from football players to accounting majors, have divided the monologues amongst themselves to present a needed examination of the complexity of racism.

This will be Shields second time directing “Fires in the Mirror,” and he is eager to share his passion among Susquehanna students. He says: “We are living in some pretty sad, disappointing times, as far as I’m concerned. We’re not doing well, we’re not playing well with each other, and I think that’s dangerous. I don't think it’s healthy.” Shields, 2017 winner of The Kennedy Center Inspirational Teacher Award and broadway director, says he prefers the term “Artistic Activist.” He clarifies: “Certainly a lot of issues have come up and I've found myself actually being an activist, trying to explain to students why this is important.” Shields has encouraged a great deal of communication and collaboration between his students, emphasizing the necessity of forming a
comfortable, safe environment for rehearsing a production of such politically charged content. Senior Strategic Communications: Marketing and Advertising major and a Theater minor, Matt Potter, says: “The amount Professor Shields is attempting to bond us, whether it’s having us massage each
other, has really brought us closer together… because a play with such negative energy, we need to be comfortable.”

Due to the university’s hesitancy to produce “Fires in the Mirror,” Shields had a difficult time recruiting students to audition for the play.  Tyler Ravert, a Junior Accounting Major, recounts how Shields came up to him during lunch in the cafeteria and asked if he would audition for the show. Despite the rough recruitment process, the company has been very supportive of one another and have enjoyed working with Shields.  Cj Williams a senior Public Relations Major, remarks: “He could've treated me like a football player… but he treated us like professionals” and “when someone like him, from broadway, treats you like that, it fuels you to work hard.” Sophomore Biology Major, Sarah Rinaldi, reflects how “There’s a big difference working with people who are straight out of broadway and theater teachers. New York style is more demanding and fast paced-- you have to be ready for basically anything that is thrown your way.”
Though the pace of the theatrical process was quicker than past shows, a couple of the actors attested to the amount of freedom Shields provided them with. Potter says: “This was a completely new experience for me, you don't have those walls and those boundaries that theater department people give you.”  Jeffrey Huyard, a junior marketing major, remarks: “This is our show, we shape it how it goes, and that’s very different, but basically we can push it as far as we want to push it, and if we’re going to fail at something, then better to fail at something huge and tweak it after.”

The students involved with the production share the same amount of passion as Shields for both theater and the value of conversation.  Cam Warner is especially appreciative for this chance, as he says: “It’s a great story to tell especially in a time like this right now, it’s good opportunity to show how I feel about the climate.” Sophomore Psychology Major, Donique Haynes, plays the role of assistant stage manager for the production. She reveals that she “made sure to spread the word for actors in a play that's different from our theater department… I wanted to be a part of the play, because it has an impact and people on campus need to see a play like this.” Williams also feels the significance of presenting this piece. He says “Just today we had a talk about all the hate crimes on campus, and I'm here to help fix it because I can see the tension I can feel it.” Through the ardent work of a small, talented group of individuals, comes a play that exposes the many facets of racism and encourages a much needed dialogue of such issues. As Shields remarks, “everyone here is so polite, but underneath are racial issues. They're not talking about the elephant in the room. The play does.”

“Fires in the Mirror” will be held in the back of Weber Chapel on Tuesday, April 18 at 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm with free admission for students. Audience members are encouraged to stay afterwards for desserts and a discussion with the cast.

The Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Awards
2017 Award


Inspirational Teacher Prof. Dale Ricardo Shields
A Story by Nicole Brinkmann Reeves

Dale Ricardo Shields taught me that I have a voice.

I was the shy girl who never thought enough of her own ideas to speak up in class. Then, I met Dale. He taught the History of Black Theatre in America, and as he talked about Dorothy Dandridge, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, August Wilson, Ntozake Shange, and others, he told us the stories of how they made their voices heard. A world unfolded before me that was so much bigger than the small, whiter-than-Wonderbread, Midwestern town where I grew up.

I wanted to learn everything Dale could teach me. I ran crew for productions he directed, and I watched the actors grow, develop, and take shape under his guidance. It was a beautiful process, and I couldn’t resist. I signed up for Acting 101 with Dale.

Dale taught us about finding our characters’ motivations and understanding the influences that shaped our characters, but Dale asked for more. He wanted us to find something within ourselves that connected with our characters, something that brought an authenticity to the stage. Dale believed that we each had something deep, rich, and valuable to bring to the life of our characters and that it was this same voice that gave certain vitality to our own lives. He believes that we each have something to contribute to the world.

He challenged us to look inward, confront ourselves, and find our voices. I loved learning from Dale, and I thought that was sufficient. But Dale knew there was more in me – more than I knew myself.

One day, he gave us an assignment to write a monologue: Write what is in your heart. I stared at the blank page. Dale walked past and repeated, “Write what is in your heart.” I took a deep breath and poured out my heart – all of the thoughts and emotions that I had been holding onto so tightly because I was afraid to share them with anyone. I finished, “You think it makes you strong to hold all of this in, but the truth is: you are slowly killing yourself.”
I stared at the words. I had no idea this was in me. It was cathartic to put it all on paper. And then Dale asked us to read our monologues. I began shaking, hoping class would end before Dale called on me, but he called on me, I stood up and read. Maybe if I read quickly, I could just get through it. He stopped me, and told me to slow down and start over. I gave him a withering look. He stared me down. I started over. A few lines in, I began to cry. But I survived. It did not kill me. When I finished, Dale very quietly said, “Good. You can sit down.”

Now when I hesitate to say something, I think of Dale and know that my voice matters. So, I take a deep breath and speak.
- Dr. Nicole Brinkmann Reeves

~*****~
Dale Shields
"My work as a teacher, acting coach, or workshop leader has always focused on the student as an individual. Every activity, movement, space, and word is an arena of knowledge. I did not choose teaching. Teaching chose me. "Your opinion matters here,' I tell them in whatever role I occupy. My mantra as a teacher is: 'Find your own voice.' Motivating those new voices is why I teach."

~*****~
The Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award
The Awards publicly recognize the contributions of specific teachers and reward them for their dedication and service. By spotlighting the extraordinary impact teachers have on the lives of their students, the Awards celebrate the teaching profession, the important role of teachers in society and seeks to inspire others to pursue this noble profession.


The Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Awards
"In many people's lives there is at least one teacher who inspired them, and helped them become who they are today. In our early years, when we are still being formed, they often see in us more than we see in ourselves, more than our families see and, as a result, help us to evolve into who we ultimately become. These inspirational people are not often recognized for the life changing role they have played. These are the teachers who define us, teachers who widen our horizons and encourage us to explore. These teachers are touchstones to paths of achieving more than we might have otherwise accomplished, in directions we might not have gone. To celebrate the significant role of teachers in society, The Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Awards will spotlight some of the country’s most inspirational teachers and recognize them for their contributions.
The Award Each year, The Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Awards will solicit nominations from the general public and notable public figures, providing the opportunity to submit stories about teachers and professors who made a significant difference in their lives.
On March 22, 2017, Stephen Sondheim's birthday, a select number of these teachers each received The Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award..."


~*****~
Sondheim Spotlight: Dale Shields

Shields love of teaching for the theatre and his strive for his students to cultivate their own voice created a valuable experience for one of his students, Nicole Reeves. "Dale believed that we each had something deep, rich, and valuable to bring to the life of our characters and that it was this same voice that gave certain vitality to our own lives. He believes that we each have something to contribute to the world."

Read more of his story at

The Kennedy Center
Dale Ricardo Shields (born in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.) is an African American actor, archivist, director, educator and stage manager.
AEA-SAG-AFTRA-AGMA-SSDC - Phi Kappa Phi.
The Kennedy Center/Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award©.
TONY© AWARD nomination for the "EXCELLENCE IN THEATRE EDUCATION AWARD" 2017 and 2015.
Years active (Theatre): 1974 - present

Early life
Dale Ricardo Shields received his B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees (summa cum laude) from Ohio University. He also completed additional graduate study at Wayne State University (The Hilberry Company).  Born in Cleveland, Ohio, his grandfather and father were founding members of the famed Shields Brother Gospel Quartet of Ohio, his mother was a member of the Turner Gospel Singers directed by Arthur Turner. He is the cousin of legendary fight promoter Don King. He attended John F. Kennedy High School where he received an Honor of Merit award from the Exchange Club of Cleveland for service to his community and was inducted into the George E. Mills Gallery of Excellence after graduation.  He also co-authored the John F. Kennedy High School Alma Mater. He was inducted into the academic fraternity Phi Kappa Phi upon graduation from Ohio University.

CareerDirector
As an associate member of The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, his directing credits include: A Raisin in the Sun, A Solider's Play, Ragtime, The Amen Corner, Trouble in Mind, Crowns, Jesus is Alive, Fires in The Mirror, Laughter on the Twenty Third Floor, Fame, Driving Miss Daisy Quartermaine's’ Terms, Of Mice and Men, Godspell, Same Time Next Year, A Streetcar Named Desire, Three Ways Home, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Rumors, The Brownsville Raid, Man of La Mancha, Before It Hits Home, The Shirt, Golden Boy and The Me Nobody Knows. He most recently conceived and directed a two-year series of original plays for the Center for Families and Children Rap Arts Youth Fellowship Program.  Additional recent directorial assignments include: A Day with Duke for the Tri C Jazz Festival, Crowns at the Weathervane Playhouse and Top Dog/Under Dog at the Beck Center for The Performing Arts. He has directed productions at the Karamu House Theatre, Beck Center for the Performing Arts, Weathervane Summer Playhouse, Weathervane Community Theatre, Columbus Stage Center, The Cleveland School of the Arts, The Cleveland Public Theatre and The Cleveland Playhouse. He also produced and directed Project1voice Cleveland.

Project1VOICE is a not-for-profit performing arts service organization. What began as a grassroots initiative soon developed into a national initiative.
This mission's objective is to strengthen and promote African American theater and playwrights. Each year on the third Monday in June Project1VOICE present 1VOICE/1PLAY/1DAY, a national fundraiser to foster awareness and audience recommitment to their local arts institutions across the Unitied States.
       Project1voice

He was the assistant director to Lloyd Richards and Ed Smith for the New Federal Theatre premiere production of Ossie Davis’ new play A Last Dance With Sybil staring Ruby Dee and Earl Hyman at the St. Clements Theatre.  He was also assistant director to Roger Danforth for the premiere of Jungle Rot at the Cleveland Playhouse.

His extensive professional credits as a Director, Stage manager and Actor (Broadway, Off Broadway, Off Off Broadway and Regional) include various projects and assignments at The Henry Street Settlement House (New Federal Theatre), The Negro Ensemble Company, The Joseph Papp Public Theatre (New York Shakespeare Festival), Upward Bound, The Hilberry Repertory Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Playwrights Horizon, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Actors Studio, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, The York Players, South Bronx Action Theatre, The Dobama Theatre and Columbus Stage Center.

He has taught and conducted workshops at Susquehanna University, Denison University, Randolph-Macon College, Macalester College, The College of Wooster, Ohio University and Public Theatre (New York Shakespeare Festival).
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It takes just four weeks to make a family—and a play 

I, Too, Sing America!—An Original Student Theatrical Production 
Denison University Published on Oct 13, 2011
Students and Vail guest artist Dale Shields create a family of friends and a fascinating original play in only 28 days.


It takes just four weeks to make a family—and a play




 Have you ever watched a bird gathering twigs to build a nest in the spring? Or a squirrel hoarding acorns as October’s brilliant colors fade into the gray chill of the approaching winter?Either experience is a lot like seeing Denison’s Visiting Vail Artist Professor Dale Shields assemble nearly two dozen curious students to create an original play and a family of friends over just four short weeks.Shields arrived in Granville during the second week of September, invited by Associate Provost Toni C. King and the Diversity Advisory Committee in the Provost’s Office. Actually, he’s been here before. In 2007, he directed “Fires in the Mirror” at Denison as a Vail guest resident artist and assistant professor of theatre.

This time, in conjunction with the Spectrum Series theme “Migrations,” Shields worked with a group of students, representing a wide range of identities, discover how to write and perform their own migration narratives of living in America.
In their nightly workshops, they wrote down answers for Shield’s questions like “Who are you?,” “What do you want?” and “What is your objective for being in college?” He  took their answers and turned them into lines for the production.

The students listened to one another, found things to laugh about and very quickly became a community of fast friends who were able to share many private feelings with one another.Shields titled the production “I, Too, Sing America!” from a piece written by American poet Langston Hughes.

Opening night, the cast gave two performances at the Black Box Theatre in Burke Recital Hall, with a “talkback” in between, featuring the cast members, Shields, and faculty members Ron Abrams (Art), Linda Krumholz (English), Stafford Berry (Dance), and visiting guest professor of black studies Yvonne Williams from the College of Wooster. A third performance was given the next evening, and all three drew standing ovations from packed audiences.
The stage was set with a quilt created by Cindi Turnbull (Theatre). During the first act, the audience heard the lines of Hughes’ poem , as the actors and actresses riveted the crowd with performances that were touching and inspiring. Later, they sang “Seasons of Love” from the Broadway play “Rent” and performed dance routines that rivaled “Chorus Line.” Tong Liu ’14 played “America the Beautiful” on the Erhu, his Chinese two-string fiddle, and was joined by a chorus of voices as audience members were moved to tears.

As the student cast members told their own stories of who they were, they passed along their joy in having become part of a new family and community along with their hope that the whole campus will continue the tradition. The whole process only took a month, but it was clear their migration had taken them to a new level.
It Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A PlayIt Takes Just Four Weeks to Make A Family—And A Play

Student members who made “I, Too, Sing America!” possible were: Stage Manager: Kristen Edwards ’15 (Dublin, Ohio), Assistant Director/Music Director: Jaime Weinfeld ’15 (Navarre, Ohio); Cast: Nancy Aguilar ’14 (Chicago), Sara Blike ’15 (North Canton, Ohio), Wiselene Dorceus ’15 (Lynn, Mass.); Daniel Fiorentini ’14 (Inglewood, Calif.), Brandon Hummons ’13 (Chicago, Ill.), Lennon D. Johnson ’14 (Boston, Mass.), Tong Liu ’14 (Chengdu, China), Keith Mullings, Jr., ’13 (Harlem, N.Y.), Keith Nolen ’13 (Boston, Mass.), Jasmine Passa ’15 (Arlington, Va.), Khari Riley ’15 (Chicago, Ill.), Najee Rollins ’15 (Baltimore, Md.); Autumn Stiles ’14 (Jersey City, N.J.), Quaanzale Thompson ’15 (Boston, Mass.), Myky Tran ’14 (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), Miwa Tsutsui ’14 (Tokyo, Japan); Xavier J. Vargas ’15 (Chicago, Ill.), Patrick White ’15 (Buffalo, N.Y.), Marquita K. Williams ’14 (Chicago, Ill.); Production Assistants: Baek Du Kim ’13 (Incheon City, South Korea), Assiata Berry ’15 (Boston, Mass.); Costume Deisgners: Niki Feehan ’14 (Bangor, Pa.), Tori Newman ’15 (Willard, Ohio); Program Cover Design: Gina Ezzone ’15 (Painesville, Ohio); Guest Vocal Director: Alexa Dorris ’12 (Indianapolis, Ind.)Tags: Arts, Diversity, Theatre, Vail Series
Date: October 13, 2011
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"If those who are known to us seem incongruous with themselves, it is only because of the superficiality of our own initial observation." - Dale Ricardo Shields
[caption id="attachment_30580" align="aligncenter" width="1166"]DALE RICARDO SHIELDS2022 LEGEND AWARD WINNER[/caption] [caption id="attachment_30582" align="aligncenter" width="1276"]Dale Ricardo Shields, Jeremy Wright, Connie Lawson-Davis, Jerry Jackson, Nicole Antoinette Smith. Kyle Bowser[/caption]Edan NoelleDennis Dalen
Angela Winborn, Edan Noelle,  Dale Ricardo Shields, Maha McCain
School of Theater graduate Dale Shields imparts wisdom on students during Black Alumni Reunion
Ohio University School of Theater Alumnus Dale Shields returned to campus as a part of OHIO's recent Black Alumni Reunion.
Shields, who received the 2022 Ebony Bobcat Legend Award, holds an award-winning resume as an actor, director, educator and activist.
Shields talked about his own experiences in show business with theater students and answered their questions during a lunchbag event.
“One of the best things you can learn about acting is learning how to listen," he shared with students.
Click the link to read the full story. 
https://news.ohio.edu/news/2022/09/school-theater-graduate-dale-shields-imparts-wisdom-students-during-black-alumni?fbclid=IwAR3lBaxVoGlD9nqiOoafTiUhys_4NG8oucxrw0jTQXh7dgwkP4yGCIjyiRY
 
 
 
 "The history of the Shields families of North and South Carolina, beginning with William Bryant Shields Sr. and Moses Shields respectively, offer dichotomous responses to American racial hierarchies over the decades. Generations of race mixing within the Shields family has its roots in the sons of Irish immigrants pursuing relationships with enslaved women. The one-sided nature of the power dynamic in these relationships takes on different dimensions in the lives of the mixed-race children of William Bryant Shields Sr. and the lives of Moses’ son, Henry Wells Shields, Henry’s slave Melvinia Shields, and her children. Both family lines take efforts to repress their black ancestry, one primarily through dilution through marriage and the other through a refusal of formal acknowledgement, which ironically enabled some of their children to flourish in African American society. The permeability of race can be gleaned through these two Shields family lines both in how they went about repressing their ties to enslaved black women and how these culminated in the present-day Shields descendants, Roseanne Cash and Michelle Obama."
Tags: Henry Wells Shields, Joseph C. Platt, Melvinia Shields, Methods of Historical Research, Michelle Obama, Moses Shields, Roseanne Cash, Texas A&M University, William Bryant Shields Sr. 
{"The history of the Shields families of North and South Carolina, beginning with William Bryant Shields Sr. and Moses Shields respectively, offer dichotomous responses to American racial hierarchies over the decades. Generations of race mixing within the Shields family has its roots in the sons of Irish immigrants pursuing relationships with enslaved women."}
The Shields Line
The Shields line starts as early as we can find with Soloman Shields in 1800 born in South Carolina. His son Tom (b.1822) and his wife Susan (b.1835) Shields were born in Crumptonia, Alabama on the Cochran plantation. The plantation house is still there although it is not open to the public.
Tom and Susan had four children. Adam Wilson who may have been Tom’s son by another woman was born in 1859 and married Katie Seltzer.  So, DNA test with Wilson, that is actually the Shields family. Adam and Katie had three children, Captain Wilson (1884), William Willson (1887), and Leon Sellzer (1910). Tom and Susan’s second son Barry Shields (1822) married Married Mariah Selzer (1865-1945) who would be my great-grandfather. Their daughter Patsey Shields was born in 1875 and their son Tommie Shields was born in 1877.
Cochran House at Crumptonia near Orrville, AL (built c. 1855)
Antebellum, Historic Home | Crumptonia in Dallas County

 
Antebellum, Historic Home | Crumptonia in Dallas County“Crumptonia is an unincorporated community in Dallas County, Alabama.[2] It is named for a local plantation house of the same name, built in 1855 by Claudius M. Cochran and later owned by the Crumpton family.” [Wilipedia]
Also referred to as the Cochran-Crumpton House, Crumptonia, and the McCrary House, this 2-story Greek Revival style home was built circa 1855 for South Carolina-born, Claudius M. Cochran. It was later owned by the Crumpton family and it became part of the Crumptonia Plantation. The front of this house is almost identical to those of the McMillan-Oxford House, Tasso, and Moseley Grove which are also located in the vicinity of Orrville. The Cochran House was documented in the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in 1934. It is featured in “Silent in the Land” by Chip Cooper, Harry J. Knopke, and Robert S. Gamble.This house is located approximately 8 miles southwest of Orrville on Dallas CR 21 (32°12’49.2″N 87°17’22.9″W – Google Maps).
This is a private residence – drive by only.
Sources: 1) wikipedia.org/Crumptonia_Alabama; 2) “Silent in the Land” by Chip Cooper, Harry J. Knopke, and Robert S. Gamble; 3) “The Alabama Catalog: A Guide to the Early Architecture of the State” by Robert S. Gamble.
B&W photographs courtesy US Library of Congress (HABS), photographer: W. N. Manning, date: March 17 & 23, 1934. The recent photographs that are provided were taken in February 2012.
 Claudius McRelas CochranBirthdate: January 31, 1804
Birthplace: Marlboro County, South Carolina, United States
Death: February 22, 1884 (80)
Dallas County, Alabama, United States
Place of Burial: Martins
Immediate Family:
Son of Lt. Thomas Cochran and Elizabeth Hunter Cochran
Husband of Eleanor Bainbridge Cochran
Father of Robert M. Cochran; Eleanor Cochran; William Alexander Cochran; Elizabeth Jane Cochran; Ellen Pouncey Cochran and 1 other
Half-brother of Nancy (Ann/Anne) Cochran Hamer; Robert Cochran; Rachel Bethea; Margaret Bethea; Thomas Cochran and 2 others
Occupation: Postmaster
The Shields line starts as early as Soloman Shields in 1800 born in South Carolina. His son Tom (b.1822) and his wife Susan (b.1835) Shields were born in Crumptonia, Alabama on the Cochran plantation. The plantation house is still there although it is not open to the public. Tom and Susan had four children. Adam Wilson who may have been Tom’s son by another woman was born in 1859 and married Katie Seltzer. On the several DNA tests I have taken, There are more Wilson matches than Shields.  So if one should see a DNA test with Wilson, that is actually the Shields family. Adam and Katie had three children, Captain Wilson (1884), William Willson (1887), and Leon Sellzer (1910). Tom and Susan’s second son Barry Shields (1822) married Married Mariah Selzer (1865-1945) who would be my great-grandfather. Their daughter Patsey Shields was born in 1875 and their son Tommie Shields was born in 1877. 
Early Origins of the Shields familyThe surname Shields was first found in the Ulster region counties of Donegal, Derry, Antrim, and Down. This family is reputed to be descendants of the great King Niall of the Nine Hostages. The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries but were not in general use until the 17th century.
Shields Family History
Meaning ‘of Shields’, this is a locational name from the seaport and market town in County Northumberland. This name is of Anglo-Celtic origin and is popular throughout England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
 
Prior to 1840, a White farmer from the Pee Dee region of Marlboro County in South Carolina settled in an area of Dallas County, Alabama which was then known as the Lexington Beat. His name was Claudius M. Cochran. In order to provide labor for his farm, Claudius brought along 26 slaves belonging to him. John Cochran was one of the slaves. John was about 10 years old in 1840. The slaves could have been John’s siblings, cousins, parents, etc. Slaves were only enumerated and identified as male or female between certain age brackets. In 1855 Claudius M. Cochran built a large plantation house, which took on the name, the Cochran Plantation House. My GGG Grandfather John Cochran was one of the slaves that built the Cochran Plantation house. The house still bares that name today, “Cochran Plantation House) in Alabama. The community that was then known as the Lexington Beat became known as Crumptonia after one of Claudius’s daughters married into a prominent family by the name of Crumpton.”
 
Claude Shields Sr.
“In Post-World War I Era Cleveland, a popular destination for African American migrants from the South, gospel music became increasingly popular. This growing popularity was due in no small measure to the business acumen of people like Claude Shields Sr., quartet singer, and owner of the Shields Brothers Cleaners on Cedar Avenue. Since the 1920s, Cleveland’s gospel quartet artists have not hesitated to support the recording of the music, public programs, and publications about gospel’s influence on other styles of American music, including Rock and Roll.” – Cleveland and the Rise of Gospel Blues
Claude Sr. had ten siblings: Isabella, Mary, Fannie, Maggie, Berry Jr., Louise, Claude, David, Willie, Coleman, and John.
(Johnnie, Claude Jr., John and Claude Shields Sr.)Johnnie Calloway Shields is the sister of Hattie Lynn King, 
the mother of fight promoter Don King and the late Joesph Lynn (actor).Claude Shields Jr. married Fannie and had two sons, Gerald and Dale.  
 
“There comes a time when you look into the mirror and you realize that what you see is all that you will ever be. And then you accept it. Or you kill yourself. Or you stop looking in mirrors.”
— Tennessee Williams 

LINKS: Dale Ricardo Shields
  • Filed under Activist, Actor, Dale Ricardo Shields, Director, Educator, Producer, Professor




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https://www.facebook.com/Moderndrama

http://iforcolor.org/dale-ricardo-shields/


http://pinterest.com/ricardo2541/dale-ricardo-shields/

http://duckduckgo.com/1/c/American_theatre_directors

http://lists.lucywho.com/actors-from-ohio-c14072070.html
http://broadwayworld.com/people/Dale-Ricardo-Shields/
http://follw.it/person/206713/Dale_Shields
http://www.ovrtur.com/production/2889743/credits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMsaKjefsh0
http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-37493-ovst-2012-season-featured-new-and-thought-provoking-productions.html
http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-37379-topical-musical-getting-raves-from-ovst-audiences.html
http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-37419-a-nice-stroll-around-athens-turns-ugly.html
http://woub.org/2012/07/11/ohio-valley-summer-theater-presents-ragtime
http://okayhater.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/fear-and-belief-without-context/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ohio_University_alumni
http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/con-sequences/Content?oid=1492434
http://www.newfederaltheatre.org/contentplays.cfm?frompage=1&StartRow=4&cntid=7&season=1982%2F
http://darylstribeviberadio.com/art-is-just-a-great-mirror-of-life-dale-ricardo-shields
http://www.denison.edu/theden/2011/10/it-takes-just-four-weeks-to-make-a-family-and-a-play/
http://www.denison.edu/theden/tag/theatre/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/moderndrama
http://www.coolcleveland.com/wiki/Newsletter/CoolClevelandInterviewScottSpence
http://liachang.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/project1voice%e2%80%99s-multiple-staged-readings-of-alice-childress-trouble-in-mind-features-andre-de-shields-peter-coyote-roger-robinson-leslie-uggams-lachanze-john-mahoney-bill-irwin-latany/
http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-37379-topical-musical-getting-raves-from-ovst-audiences.html
http://woub.org/2012/07/11/ohio-valley-summer-theater-presents-ragtime
http://youtu.be/wwryc5qBP4I
http://www.ovrtur.com/production/2889743/credits
http://www.rmc.edu/News/10-10-28-FYE-Giemza-Jefferson.aspx
http://books.google.com/books?id=MbIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=Theatre+world++%22Dale+Shields%22&source=bl&ots=mXzcWaxCcj&sig=bmJ_L7C91egrlLvIzxxx8UUqFG8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Vi1zUNyJF6mOygGRw4DADg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Theatre%20world%20%20%22Dale%20Shields%22&f=false
http://books.google.com/books?id=TSYrAAAAIAAJ&q=New+Federal+Theatre+%22Dale+Shields%22&dq=New+Federal+Theatre+%22Dale+Shields%22&source=bl&ots=Aj73mdg5UT&sig=PvTE8Mq_3ozdWvT4VMCp-7lKudE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BS5zUI3eHsrfyAHQ_IHgCw&sqi=2&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA

http://iforcolor.org/the-shields-brothers-gospel-quartetclaude-shields/
http://www.tv.com/people/dale-shields/biography/
http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/dale-shields/Profile?oid=2778511
http://www.dejouri.com/category/American_theatre_directors/?page=5
https://orgsync.com/41886/news_posts/23215
http://www.susqu.edu/news/activist-in-residence-to-produce-original-play-with-susquehanna-students.asp
http://www.susqu.edu/news/students-to-perform-original-play-focusing-on-diversity.asp
Legend Award
The 2022 EBN Legend Award celebrates OHIO graduate Dale Ricardo Shields, BFA ’75, MFA ’95, whose marks on the world and the lives of others place himin a league of their own.

Shields’ holds a legendary and award-winning resume as an artist and educator, historian and activist in the arts. His professional work as an actor, director and stage manager spans Broadway, off-Broadway, television and film and includes acting credits on “Anyone Can Whistle,” “The Cosby Show” and “Saturday Night Live.” As an educator, Shields has taught workshops and classes for several programs and institutions across Ohio and the United States, garnering him prestigious awards that include the 2017 Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award®, the 2017 AUDELCO/“VIV” Special Achievement Award, The Actors Fund 2020 and 2021 ENCORE AWARD, and a 2015 Tony Award® nomination for the Excellence in Theatre Education Award. Shields’ drive to preserve the history of African American and Black actors includes the creation of the Facebook website Black Theatre/African American Voices and IForColor.org.


Ohio University       Black Alumni        LEGEND AWARD 2022 image
The Actors Fund / Encore Award
Dale,
This year has been such an uncertain time in all our lives. But one thing I’m certain about right now is our appreciation for YOU!

That’s why I am delighted to present you with The Actors Fund 2020 Encore Award! This award is given to our dedicated and supportive friends—people like you!

The outpouring of love and commitment you’ve shown to struggling members of the performing arts and entertainment community is simply remarkable. Thanks to you, this year we’ve helped over 30,000 industry professionals. Many are in a financial crisis due to COVID-19. Some have also been impacted by wildfires and hurricanes. Because of you, we are able to provide financial assistance for such vital resources as medications, rent, food, utilities, and more.

Your compassion for those in need is an inspiration to everyone here at The Actors Fund. You shine a beacon of light on our currently darkened stages…and we applaud you.
You should be proud of all that you do for our Actors Fund community, and I hope that you will show your pride by sharing a photo with your 2020 Encore Award on social media. Please tag us @TheActorsFund on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn and use the hashtag Encore Award so we can celebrate with you. We look forward to seeing your photos!

Dale, it’s an honor to acknowledge your incredible commitment to The Actors Fund. Thank you!

Brian Stokes Mitchell
Chairman of the Board
🏆Your 2020 ENCORE AWARD🏆Today, you are the cause for celebration!
The HARLEM Renaissance
"The Harlem Renaissance (the New Negro Movement) refers to the flowering of African American cultural and intellectual life during the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology 'The New Negro' - "The Harlem Renaissance was an American cultural movement of the 1920s and 1930s. Named after the Harlem community of New York City, this period brought about some of the most influential African-American visual artists, musicians, writers, and dancers. In later decades, the Harlem Renaissance influenced the American Civil Rights Movement. ARTIST Aaron Douglas Archibald Motley, Jr. Jacob Lawrence Romare Bearden Augusta Savage Harlem Renaissance ideas had spread to other cities in the United States. MUSIC Sony Music Entertainment Rockin' In Rhythm It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing Take the "A" Train · Duke Ellington "Piano In The Background" ℗ Originally recorded in 1960 & released in 2004. All rights reserved by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE PHOTOS AND MUSIC PRESENTED IN THIS EDUCATIONAL SLIDE PRESENTATION EDUCATION / ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY Dale Ricardo Shields Iforcolor.org (DRS)



https://youtu.be/dH_Vtcm0GsY
MARY WILSON - A Supreme Tribute {1944 - 2021}

Mary Wilson was an American singer and concert performer best known as a founding member of the Supremes, the most successful Motown act of the 1960s and the best-charting female group in U.S. history, as well as one of the all-time best-selling girl groups in the world. (Wikipedia} Born: March 6, 1944 (age 76 years), Greenville, MS Death: February 8, 2021, Las Vegas, NV

Music group: The Supremes (1959 – 1977)

I do not own the rights to the Music and Photographs in this Slide/Video. Getty Images I Hear a Symphony (In the Style of the Supremes) (Karaoke Version) · The Karaoke Channel The Karaoke Channel - Mixed Oldies, Vol. 6 ℗ 2014 Stingray Music Group Released on: 2006-03-28 Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Someday We'll Be Together (Karaoke track Without Background Vocal) (In the style of Supremes) · Backtrack Professional Karaoke Band Karaoke - In the Style of Supremes (Karaoke Version) ℗ 2009 Backtrack Professional Released on: 2009-08-13

Dale Ricardo Shields {Iforcolor.org}

BIOGRAPHY A singer, a best-selling author, motivational speaker, businesswoman, former U.S. Cultural Ambassador, mother, and grandmother, at 76 the legendary Mary Wilson continues to make great strides on her inevitable journey through life! With no sign of slowing down, Ms. Wilson released her fourth book Supreme Glamour in 2019. This fabulous coffee-table book showcases the gowns The Supremes were known for over the decades and delves into more history of the most successful female recording group of all time. Supreme Glamour is now available wherever books are sold.

In 2019 Mary was honored at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills celebrating her work in music and her influence on young African-Americans and entertainment. Dancing With The Stars proved to be an exciting opportunity for Ms. Wilson in 2019, where she showed America that she still had Cholly Atkins’ choreography down pat! A few of her fellow castmates included Ally Brooke, Sailor Brinkley-Cooke, Karamo Brown & James Van Der Beek. In 2020, NNPA Black Press USA presented Ms. Wilson with their Trailblazer Award to honor her life and career for their Black Music Appreciation Month celebration. Ms. Wilson has worked behind the scenes for years on many legislative initiatives aimed at modernizing copyright laws to protect the artists whose rights were not being adequately protected. 2018 marked an important step forward for Mary’s fight to have the Music Modernization Act (MMA) pass.

Her vision came to fruition when the United States legislation signed the act into law on October 11, 2018. The act aims to modernize copyright-related issues for new music and audio recordings due to new forms of technology like digital streaming which did not protect music recorded before February 15, 1972. Her advocacy for this act lies with herself and other legacy artists gaining fair compensation when their songs are played on digital radio stations. https://marywilson.com




Slide/Presentation by Dale Ricardo Shields Lois Elaine Photographie -

I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE ART, PHOTOGRAPHY, and MUSIC presented in this 'Entertainment Only' presentation.

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.

Artistic: Lois Elaine Photographie is located in Wichita, Kansas lois@loiselainephoto.com www.facebook.com/LoisElainePhoto instagram.com/loisleianephoto

Music: On Silent Wings · Tina Turner / Sting Wildest Dreams ℗ 1996 Teamwork Productions Inc under exclusive license to Parlophone Records Ltd * The Orchard Enterprises On Silent Wings (In the Style of Tina Turner) (Karaoke Instrumental Version) ·
ProSound Karaoke Band Karaoke in the Style of Tina Turner ℗ 2011 Backtrack Professionals Released on: 2014-09-15

Music Publisher: Tony Joe White Music Music Publisher: EMI Blackwood Music Publisher: EMI April Music Publisher: Desongs Auto-generated by YouTube. - http://www.loiselainephoto.com/?fbcli... [ James Byron Dean River Jude Phoenix Marilyn Monroe Selena Quintanilla Pérez John Winston Ono Lennon Bruce Lee Aaliyah Dana Haughton Christopher Crosby Farley Prince Rogers Nelson Heath Andrew Ledger Tupac Amaru Shakur Kurt Donald Cobain Robin McLaurin Williams Amy Jade Winehouse Chadwick Boseman Diana Princess of Wales Whitney Huston ] DALE RICARDO SHIELDS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Ri...
Grégory Escande is a photographer based in Mozambique. Grég is a teacher who’s lived in Africa for 20 years and created a unique style of photography which he describes as a ’studio in the street’. Grég’s photography captures the strength and vibrancy of the people of Maputo, the sheer joy of childhood in his shots of kids playing as well as touching on the hard realities of life in what is widely considered one of the poorest countries in the world.


Support Gregory at the following links:
Greg’s Instagram - www.instagram.com/photo_in_moz


"PHOTOGRAPHER GRÉGORY ESCANDE | DESTINATION MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE


A FRENCH LANGUAGE TEACHER BY DAY, GRÉGORY ESCANDE HAS FOUND A STRIKING WAY TO CAPTURE THE BEAUTY OF EVERYDAY LIFE, OUTSIDE OF HIS BUSY WORKING LIFE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY. MAPUTO IS THE CAPITAL OF MOZAMBIQUE AND ONE OF THE LARGEST GROWTH CENTRES IN AFRICA, YET THESE IMAGES SHARE THE RAW HONESTY OF POVERTY AND SURVIVAL IN TRADITIONAL WAYS. TAKE A MOMENT IN MAPUTO RIGHT NOW. WE FIND EACH PHOTO INCREDIBLY HUMBLING.


"In 2017 I started to photograph everyday life portraits in Maputo, Mozambique. Themes and content inspiring me come exclusively from a relatively small perimeter around my house. In this space, I look at daily life in the streets of the city and try to isolate my subject – mother with a child, children or men selling goods – into a frame of light and color."


"Born in Spain and raised in the south of France, Escande moved to Africa 20 years ago and chooses to have a “studio on the street” to create a beautiful and authentic portrait of the capital of Mozambique through vibrant and striking photos. He captures scenes that are so common there that they would go unnoticed, such as mothers and their children, men recycling and selling products on the streets, and kids playing and sharing them with the rest of the world. He takes both genuine and unstaged portraits and recreates the scenes he sees in the streets every day by putting more thought and effort into it."
Maputo derived its former name from the Portuguese trader who first explored the region in 1544. "The town developed around a Portuguese fortress completed in 1787. Created a city-town in 1887, it superseded the town of Moçambique as the capital of Portuguese East Africa in 1907."


Maputo (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐˈputu]), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the capital of Mozambique.


"The history of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, traces its origins back over 500 years when a fishing village developed by Maputo Bay on the site where the modern city of Maputo now stands. The first Europeans to discover the bay were Portuguese navigators led by António de Campo in 1502. In 1544, the Portuguese merchant and explorer Lourenço Marques reached the bay and named it Delagoa Bay. The Portuguese established a fort on the site but were soon forced to abandon it. In 1721, the Dutch East India Company established Fort Lydsaamheid on the bay but abandoned it due to conflicts with local Africans and the unhealthy environment. In the mid-18th century, the Portuguese returned to the bay, selling ivory to British ships carrying Indian textiles. In 1773, William Bolts of the Trieste Company reached the bay and claimed it for the Holy Roman Empire. Bolts and the Austrians were forced out in 1781 by Portuguese ships sent from Goa.


That year, hoping to prevent other European powers from claiming the area in the future, the Portuguese constructed a fortress on the bay, naming it Lourenço Marques. During the late 18th and early 19th century, the fort was mainly used by French, British, and American whaling ships to stop for provisions. A town grew around the fort starting around 1850, and in 1877, it was elevated to city status. In 1898, the colony of Portuguese Mozambique relocated its capital there. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Lourenço Marques grew both in population and economic development as a port city. Upon Mozambican independence in 1975, the city became the national capital and was renamed Maputo. During the Mozambican Civil War, the city's economy was devastated. When the war ended, the FRELIMO government launched a program to revive the city's economy, and to clean up the city by forcibly removing criminals, squatters, and undocumented residents. Since then, Maputo's economy, centered around its port, has recovered, and stability has returned." - Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History... )


I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE PHOTOGRAPHS and MUSIC IN THIS EDUCATIONAL SLIDE VIDEO. - [ No Copyright Infringement Intended ] - Dale Ricardo Shields


Music: Grace Jones - Slave To The Rhythm (Extended Intro Mix 2020)
Bert Steemers (Mix) - YouTube
WRITERS: Simon Darlow, Trevor Horn, Stephen Lipson, Bruce Woolley
Island Records


https://www.shibuiandco.com/shibui-pa...

A 2020 PROTEST AGAINST RACISM Created by Dale Shields (2020)

Educational purposes only. (DRS) *** BTAAV/Iforcolor (Collective)

I do not own the rights to this music. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED Educational purposes only. (DRS)

Music in this video The Way It Is Artist Bruce Hornsby, The Range Writers Bruce Hornsby Licensed to YouTube by SME; LatinAutor, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA - UBEM, EMI Music Publishing, CMRRA, Sony ATV Publishing, LatinAutor - SonyATV, SOLAR Music Rights Management, and 3 Music Rights Societies Song Changes Artist 2pac Licensed to YouTube by UMG (on behalf of 2Pac Greatest Hits); LatinAutor - SonyATV, ARESA, ASCAP, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA - UBEM, IMPEL, UMPG Publishing, LatinAutor - PeerMusic, SOLAR Music Rights Management, UMPI, LatinAutor - UMPG, LatinAutor, BMI - Broadcast Music Inc., Sony ATV Publishing, CMRRA, and 23 Music Rights Societies _ Bruce Hornsby LIVE : https://BruceHornsby.lnk.to/listenYD Subscribe to the official Bruce Hornsby YouTube Channel: https://BruceHornsby.lnk.to/subscribeYD _
America · John Williams · Boston Pops Orchestra · Paul Simon The Green Album ℗ 1992 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT Released on: 1992-06-02 Arranger: Angela Morley Producer: Thomas Z. Shepard Auto-generated by YouTube. - Acapella - America
A Video slideshow of Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle's SHUFFLE ALONG.
Photos of the Broadway production of Eubie and "Shuffle Along" productions 1921/2019.


Photo: Julieta Cervantes
Music - Shuffle Along (Overture) Eubie Blake
- Rick Benjamin's Paragon Ragtime Orchestra


EDUCATIONAL- NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED
DALE SHIELDS
Iforcolor.org


Shuffle Along is a musical with music and lyrics by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, and a thin revue-style connecting plot about a mayoral race, written by Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles.


The piece premiered on Broadway in 1921, running for 504 performances – an unusually long run during that decade. It launched the careers of Josephine Baker, Adelaide Hall, Florence Mills, Fredi Washington, and Paul Robeson, and became such a hit that it caused "curtain time traffic jams" on West 63rd Street. It had brief revivals in 1933 and 1952.


Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed is a musical adaptation based on the original book of the 1921 musical, focusing on the challenges of mounting the original production of Shuffle Along and its effect on Broadway and race relations.


The four writers were African-American Vaudeville veterans who first met in 1920 at an NAACP benefit that was held at the newly opened Dunbar Theatre in Philadelphia. None of the four had ever written a musical or even appeared on Broadway. Promoters were skeptical that a black-written and produced show would appeal to Broadway audiences. After finding a small source of funding, Shuffle Along toured through New Jersey and Pennsylvania. However, with little funding, it was difficult to meet travel and production expenses, and the cast rarely got paid. When the show came back to New York, about a year later, during the Depression of 1920–21, the production owed $18,000 and faced strong competition on Broadway in a season that included Florenz Ziegfeld's Sally and a new edition of George White's Scandals. It was only able to book a remote theater on West 63rd Street that had no orchestra pit. In the end, however, the show earned $9 million from its original Broadway production and three touring companies, an unusual sum in its time.


The show premiered on Broadway at the Daly's 63rd Street Theatre on May 23, 1921, and closed on July 15, 1922, after 504 performances. It was directed by Walter Brooks, with Eubie Blake playing the piano. The cast included Lottie Gee as Jessie Williams, Adelaide Hall as Jazz Jasmine, Gertrude Saunders as Ruth Little, Roger Matthews as Harry Walton, and Noble Sissle as Tom Sharper. Gertrude Saunders was replaced by Florence Mills. Josephine Baker, who was deemed too young at the age of 15 to be in the show, joined the touring company in Boston and then joined the Broadway cast when she turned 16. Bessie Allison's first professional performance was in Shuffle Along. The orchestra included William Grant Still and Hall Johnson. The musical toured successfully throughout the country up to 1924.


The show was revived at the Mansfield Theatre, New York City, from December 26, 1932, to January 7, 1933, starring Sissle, Blake, Miller, Lyles, Mantan Moreland, and Bill Bailey. This production was unsuccessful and closed after 17 performances.


During World War II, Sissle and Blake adapted and performed Shuffle Along for USO shows, with an ensemble that included pianist and vibraphonist Sylvester Lewis.


A 1952 revival, starring Sissle and Blake, Avon Long, and Thelma Carpenter and choreographed by Henry LeTang, was also unsuccessful. It opened at the Broadway Theatre on May 8, 1952, and closed after four performances, but was recorded in an abridged form by RCA Victor, combined with selections from Blackbirds of 1928.


An excerpt of Shuffle Along, the musical fight between the two leading characters, was made into a short talkie film by Warner Bros in the early 1930s. It, and another similar short featuring Miller and Lyles, were found in the Warner Bros archives in 2010, where they had been misfiled. The titles are "The Mayor of Jimtown" and "Jimtown Cabaret".


A stage adaptation, titled Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, featured the original music from Shuffle Along and other songs by its creators, with a book written by George C. Wolfe based on the original by Miller and Lyles and historical events. The show focuses on the challenges of mounting the 1921 Broadway production of Shuffle Along, its success, and its aftermath, including its effect on Broadway and race relations. The production opened on Broadway in April 2016 at the Music Box Theatre, directed by Wolfe, and choreographed by Savion Glover. The cast starred Audra McDonald as Lottie Gee, Brian Stokes Mitchell as Miller, Billy Porter as Lyles, Brandon Victor Dixon as Blake, and Joshua Henry as Sissle. The adaptation received ten 2016 Tony Award nominations but won none. The production closed on July 24, 2016.


Wikipedia®

Slide/Video created by Dale Ricardo Shields
{ I do not own the rights to the music and photographs presented in this memorial/historical presentation }
"DEAR CHILDREN OF THE WORLD - It's not supposed to be like this."


MUSIC
A Call To Arms - James Horner
Glory (Soundtrack)
Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 1990
Label ‏ : ‎ Virgin


MUSIC by John Williams
"The Green Album"
Provided to YouTube by Sony Classical
2. Theme for Earth Day · John Williams · Boston Pops Orchestra · Patrick Williams
3. Simple Gifts from Appalachian Spring · John Williams · Aaron Copland · Boston Pops Orchestra
The Green Album
℗ 1992 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Released on: 1992-06-02
Producer: Thomas Z. Shepard
℗ 1992 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Released on: 1992-06-02
Producer: Thomas Z. Shepard


Cover Art by Raul Colon (Artist)


[ "They needed extensive restoration. Why? Due to the exceptionally large exit wounds of an AR-15 rifle. Most of the bodies were so mutilated that only DNA tests or 'clothes' could identify them." ]


On May 24, 2022, 18-year-old Salvador Rolando Ramos fatally shot nineteen students and two teachers, and wounded seventeen other people, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, United States. Earlier in the day, he shot his grandmother in the forehead at home, severely wounding her.
Wikipedia

Location: Uvalde, Uvalde County
Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in the May 24 massacre at Robb Elementary.
The 21 victims of the Uvalde school shooting
Makenna Lee Elrod, 10
Layla Salazar, 11
Maranda Mathis, 11
Nevaeh Bravo, 10
Jose Manuel Flores Jr., 10
Xavier Lopez, 10
Tess Marie Mata, 10
Rojelio Torres, 10
Eliahna “Ellie” Amyah Garcia, 9
Eliahna A. Torres, 10
Annabell Guadalupe Rodriguez, 10
Jackie Cazares, 9
Uziyah Garcia
Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, 10
Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, 10
Jailah Nicole Silguero, 10
Irma Garcia, 48
Eva Mireles, 44
Amerie Jo Garza, 10
Alexandria “Lexi” Aniyah Rubio, 10
Alithia Ramirez, 10


Music
Theme for Earth Day
Song 1 of 2
Simple Gifts from Appalachian Spring
Song 2 of 2
ARTIST
John Williams
LICENSES
SME (on behalf of Sony Classical); UMPG Publishing, CMRRA, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA - UBEM, BMI - Broadcast Music Inc., and 2 Music Rights Societies

Created by DALE RICARDO SHIELDS [Iforcolor.org]
Mary Alice Smith
BIRTH
December 3,1936
Indianola, Sunflower County, Mississippi, USA
DEATH
July 28,2022 (aged 85)
New York County (Manhattan), New York, USA
BURIAL
Oak Woods Cemetery
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA


The daughter of Ozelar and Sam Smith, she was born Mary Alice Smith. Her family moved from Mississippi to Chicago when she was two years of age. She had a passion for theatre and began acting on stage.

Mary Alice started as a Chicago teacher but turned to Acting in the 1960s. She got her education and training at Chicago State University. By the 1960s, she had returned to her childhood love of acting and started performing in community theatre before moving to New York City and appearing in a number of plays at La MaMa, including Adrienne Kennedy's A Rat's Mass. She received training at the Negro Ensemble Company. Most of her career took place on the professional stage.


In 1977 she appeared in "Cockfight" with Morgan Freeman directed by Woodle King Jr. In 1987 she received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her work in August Wilson's "Fences" with James Earl Jones In 1995 she received a Tony nomination for best actress for the play "Having Our Say" with Gloria Foster.


Television and Movies
She appeared in "Good Times", "Sanford and Son", "A Different World, and Law & Order. For her role in the drama, "I'll Fly Away", and won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress.
Mary Alice also had roles in a few popular movies such as "Awakenings" and "The Bonfires of the Vanities". She also appeared in "The Matrix: Revolutions" as the Oracle, replacing Gloria Foster who originated the role.


Alice appeared in over 50 television shows and feature films during her career. She made her screen debut in the 1974 film "The Education of Sonny Carson", and "Sparkle" the 1976 American musical drama film with Irene Cara, she later guest-starred in "Police Woman" and "Sanford and Son". She played Ellie Grant Hubbard on the soap opera "All My Children" in the early 1980s and "A Different World" as Leticia 'Lettie' Bostic from 1988 to 1989. Her other film credits include "Malcolm X" (1992), "The Inkwell" (1994), and "Down in the Delta" with Alfre Woodard. She was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2000. She retired from showbusiness in 2005.


Awards
1995
Nomination:
Tony Award: Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Having Our Say — Dr. Bessie Delany
1987
Winner:
Tony Award: Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Fences — Rose
Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1993 for "I'll Fly Away" (1991–1993).


Performance credits


The Amen Corner
Long Wharf Theatre
The Claire Tow Stage in the C. Newton Schenck III Mainstage Theatre
New Haven, CT
January – February 7, 1996
Sister Margaret Alexander
*
Having Our Say
Booth Theatre
New York, NY
March 16 – December 31, 1995
Dr. Bessie Delany
*
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
world premiere
McCarter Theatre Center
McCarter Theatre Center
Princeton, NJ
1995
Dr. Bessie Delany
*
The Shadow Box
Circle in the Square
Circle in the Square Theatre
New York, NY
November 4, 1994 – January 1, 1995
Maggie
*
A Sumbeam
Pittsburgh Public Theater
Hazlett Theater
Pittsburgh, PA
May 30 – July 7, 1991
*
The Tragedy of Richard III
The Public Theater
Delacorte Theatre
New York, NY
August 3 – September 2, 1990
Queen Margaret
*
Fences
46th Street Theatre
New York, NY
March 26, 1987 – June 26, 1988
Rose
*
Under Statements
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Loretto-Hilton Center Browning Mainstage
Webster Groves, MO
October 9 – November 8, 1985
Marian
*
Fences
world premiere
Yale Repertory Theatre
Yale Repertory Theatre
New Haven, CT
April 30 – May 1985
Rose
*
You're Too Tall, But Come Back In Two Weeks
Long Wharf Theatre
Long Wharf Theatre
New Haven, CT
February 28 – March 28, 1975
Dee
*
No Place to Be Somebody
Morosco Theatre
New York, NY
September 9 – October 10, 1971
Cora Beasley
*
A Rat's Mass
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
La MaMa E.T.C.
New York, NY
September 17 – October 26, 1969
Sister Rat
*
King Lear
Arena Stage
Arena Stage Fichandler Stage
Washington, DC
March – April 1969
Cordelia




* BIO by Dale Ricardo Shields
* Slide Presentation by Dale Ricardo Shields


I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE PHOTOGRAPHS AND MUSIC PRESENTED IN THIS TRIBUTE MEMORIAL SLIDE/VIDEO. - DALE RICARDO SHIELDS [ IFORCOLOR.ORG ]


Lionel Richie - Smooth Jazz All Stars
- You are
Dinner Party Smooth Jazz
℗ 2015 Cc Entertainment
Released on: 2015-07-24
- Sail on
Smooth Jazz All Stars
Cover Lionel Richie
℗ 2016 Cc Entertainment
Released on: 2016-09-23
Music
You Are
Song 1 of 3
Sail On
Song 2 of 3
Floating above Reality b
Song 3 of 3
ARTIST
Smooth Jazz All Stars


STEPHEN SONDHEIM Tribute
by Dale Ricardo Shields


I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE MUSIC, PHOTOGRAPHY, and POEM
presented in this slide/video. Educational/Entertainment only.
[ NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. ]


In 2017 I won a Kennedy Center Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teaching Award. This is my way of saying thank you to this genius artist. Rest In Peace, Stephen Sondheim.


Cover Illustration by SAM KERR®
Tribute poem by Jason Marks
Betty Buckley
Boys Choir of Harlem
Michael Lerace


MUSIC:
Anyone Can Whistle: Anyone Can Whistle (Piano Accompaniment) · Michael Lerace
AMEB Musical Theatre Grade 2 (Piano Accompaniments)
℗ Ameb
Released on: 2015-11-15
Composer: Stephen Sondheim®
*


Our Time (From "Merrily We Roll Along") / Children Will Listen (From "Into the Woods")
Artist
Boys Choir of Harlem; Betty Buckley
Licensed to YouTube by
SME (on behalf of RCA Victor); UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA - UBEM, Warner Chappell, PEDL, LatinAutorPerf, LatinAutor - Warner Chappell, and 2 Music Rights Societies
Our Time (From "Merrily We Roll Along") / Children Will Listen (From "Into the Woods")
*


A Little Night Music: Overture and Night Waltz · Benjamin Rayson · Teri Ralston · Barbara Lang · Gene Varrone · Beth Fowler · Original Broadway Cast of A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
℗ 1973 Sony Music Entertainment
Released on: 1998-11-01
Composer, Lyricist: Stephen Sondheim®
Orchestrator: Jonathan Tunick®


*
PHOTOGRAPHY [ ® ]:
GETTY IMAGES, THEATRE WORLD, THEATRE MEDIA, NEW YORK TIMES, NEW YORK POST, ASSOCIATED PRESS, LATINPRESS, PLAYBILL, NEWYORKER.COM, CNN.COM, PINTEREST, Al Hirschfeld, Guardian News & Media Limited, Rhapsody International Inc, Facebook.com, Wikipedia®, The Kennedy Center, Washington Post, LA Times, PBS.org, Yousuf Karsh, photobucket.com


**
Stephen Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), The Frogs (1974), Pacific Overtures (1976), Sweeney Todd (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), Into the Woods (1987), Assassins (1991), Passion (1994) and Road Show (2008), as well as lyrics for West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959), Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965) and additional lyrics for Candide (1973). Side by Side by Sondheim (1976), Marry Me A Little (1981), You're Gonna Love Tomorrow (1983), Putting It Together (1993/99), Moving On (2001) and Sondheim on Sondheim (2010) are anthologies of his work as composer and lyricist. For films, he composed the scores of Stavisky (1974) and co-composed Reds (1981) as well as songs for Dick Tracy (1990). He also wrote the songs for the television production Evening Primrose (1966), co-authored the film The Last of Sheila (1973) and the play Getting Away With Murder (1996), and provided incidental music for the plays The Girls of Summer (1956), Invitation to a March (1961), Twigs (1971) and The Enclave (1973). Saturday Night (1954), his first professional musical, finally had its New York premiere in 1999. Mr. Sondheim has received the Tony Award for Best Score/Music/Lyrics for Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Into the Woods, and Passion, all of which won the New York Drama Circle Award for Outstanding/Best Musical, as did Pacific Overtures and Sunday in the Park with George. In total, his works have accumulated more than sixty individual and collaborative Tony Awards. "Sooner Or Later" from the film, Dick Tracy won the 1999 Academy Award for Best Song. Mr. Sondheim received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1984 for Sunday in the Park with George. In 1983 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which awarded him the Gold Medal for Music in 2006. In 1990 he was appointed the first Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University and was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award in the 1993 Kennedy Center Honors. Mr. Sondheim is on the Council of the Dramatists Guild, the national association of playwrights, composers, and lyricists, having served as its President from 1973 to 1981. In 1981 he founded Young Playwrights Inc. to develop and promote the work of American playwrights aged 18 years and younger. September 2010.


Copyright Disclaimer: I do NOT own this music or the images featured in the video. All rights belong to the rightful owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Music
SONG
Our Time (From "Merrily We Roll Along") / Children Will Listen (From "Into the Woods")


GLYNIS JOHNS ~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY * 99 🎂
GLYNIS JOHNS
Stage and Film Actress
"Welsh-born stage and film actress, dancer, pianist, and singer whose entertainment career spanned from 1935 through 1999. She is reputed to be one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. Glynis Johns' career highlights include an Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1960 for the movie, The Sundowners. She received a Tony Award for Best Actress in the Stephen Sondheim musical, A Little Night Music (the song “Send in the Clowns” was reportedly penned specifically for her). She performed in Walt Disney’s musical motion picture, Mary Poppins, where she sang the rousing tune, “Sister Suffragette.” Ms. Johns was named a Disney Legend in 1998."


"Johns starred in the comedy Josephine and Men (1955) and supported Danny Kaye in The Court Jester (1956). Annakin used her again in Loser Takes All (1956) and she was one of the many actors who made cameos in Around the World in 80 Days (1956).


Johns returned to Broadway to play the title role in a production of Major Barbara (1956). Johns stayed in America to make the melodrama All Mine to Give (1956).


Johns returned to Britain to make Another Time, Another Place (1958) with Lana Turner and was in Shake Hands with the Devil (1959). Johns starred in The Spider's Web (1960) and had a supporting role in The Sundowners (1960), which earned her an Oscar nomination.


Johns starred in the remake of The Cabinet of Caligari (1962) and was one of several stars in The Chapman Report (1962). She supported Jackie Gleason in Papa's Delicate Condition (1963) and was in Too True to Be Good on Broadway in 1963.


Johns was cast in 1961 in the ABC/Warner Bros. crime drama The Roaring '20s. She portrayed Kitty O'Moyne, an Irish immigrant who falls overboard into the harbor as she arrives in the United States. In the 1962–63 television season, Johns guest-starred in the CBS anthology series The Lloyd Bridges Show. In the autumn of 1963, she and Keith Andes starred as a married couple in her eponymous CBS television series Glynis, in which she played a mystery writer and Andes a criminal defense attorney. The program was canceled after thirteen episodes.


Johns appeared as Winifred Banks in Mary Poppins (1964) and played James Stewart's wife in Dear Brigitte (1965). She was in The King's Mare at the Garrick Theatre in 1966.


Johns appeared in various character roles in Don't Just Stand There! (1968) and Lock Up Your Daughters (1969). She made a guest appearance as villainess Lady Penelope Peasoup in the Batman TV series in 1967. She turned increasingly to stage work, appearing in A Talent to Amuse (1969), Come as You Are (1969–70), and Marquise (1971–72).


Johns appeared in A Little Night Music (1973) on Broadway. The song "Send In the Clowns" was written with her in mind.[10] In 1973, she won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Desiree Armfeldt." [ Wikipedia ]


MUSIC


The Glamorous Life (Made Popular By "A Little Night Music") (Karaoke Version) · Party Tyme Karaoke
Party Tyme Karaoke - Show Tunes 11
℗ 2018 Sybersound Records, Inc.
Released on: 2018-09-21
Producer: Sybersound
Composer Lyricist: Stephen Sondheim


*
"Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music karaoke/instrumental (Key: E)
AngelsBdwyKaraokes
Composer Lyricist: Stephen Sondheim


IFORCOLOR.org - ENTERTAINMENT - EDUCATIONAL Purposes only.
NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED. DRS

Dale Ricardo Shields
Educational Video/Slide Presentation
Golden Boy (Broadway)


[ http://sammydavisjr.info/stage/musica... ]


I do not own the rights to the music and photos presented in this educational slide /video.


PHOTOS
LEROY NEIMAN ORIGINAL (Boxing) The Golden Boy
Copyright 2014 NeimansOnly.com


(Photo by Leonard Mccombe/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)


talcollections.nypl.org


MUSIC:
Golden Boy
℗ 1964 Capitol Records, LLC
Released on: 1964-01-01
Composer: Charles Strouse
Author: Lee Adams


Opening Date: 20 October 1964 / Closing Date: 5 March 1966
Performances: 569 performances
Venue: Majestic Theatre, New York
Producer: Hillard Elkins / Director: Arthur Penn
Cast: Sammy Davis, Jr., Paula Wayne, Billy Daniels, Ted Beniades, Kenneth Tobey, Roy Glenn, Johnny Brown, Charles Welch, Jeannette DuBois, Louis Gossett, Jaime Rogers.
Book: William Gibson and Clifford Odets
Music and Lyrics: Charles Strouse and Lee Adams
Musical Director: Elliot Lawrence
Tryouts: Shubert Theatre, Philadelphia – 25 June to 25 July 1964
Shubert Theatre, Boston – 28 July to 22 August 1964
Fisher Theater, Detroit – 25 August to 29 September 1964


Details
"A project which would play a significant role in the life of Sammy Davis, Jr. for seven years was born when producer Hillard Elkins saw Sammy performing at a ‘midnight matinee’ in London at the Prince of Wales Theatre in September 1961. In Sammy’s dressing room after the show, Elkins implored him to return to Broadway (Sammy had starred in Mr. Wonderful in 1956). Elkins suggested he had the right vehicle: Golden Boy, the tremendously successful 1937 stage play written by Clifford Odets. The play was about an Italian-American concert violinist, Joe Bonaparte, who turns to boxing. It had subsequently been made into a film starring William Holden, in his film debut. Featuring a tragic death in the ring, it was a serious work exploring the immigrant experience and the machinations of the boxing world. Sammy was interested.


Elkins began a two-year process of bringing his idea to fruition. He met with Odets and obtained not only his permission to adapt the play, but also Odet’s agreement to write the book for the musical adaption himself. Elkins and Sammy envisioned a racial equality angle to replace the immigrant/class themes in the original. Elkins secured the services of composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Lee Adams (who had impressed with their score for Bye, Bye Birdie) to write the music. Although Sammy had not officially signed on, the two writers followed Sammy around the country testing jingles, songs, and ideas, to see what would work for him.


Civil Rights Impact
Having a fully integrated company, and running at the height of the civil rights era, Golden Boy had significant cultural resonance. It was the first time in a long time that a Broadway audience had been confronted with real social and political frustration. Its big production number, “Don’t Forget 127th Street” was sarcastic, cynical, and mocked the Broadway trope of poor people being content with their lot, and loving the slum where they live.


While the critics might have been happy, not everyone was pleased to see an interracial romance on stage in New York in 1964. The Act II kiss between Lorna and Joe had scandalized audiences during tryouts, and the show received numerous bomb and death threats right from its opening days in Philadelphia until its close on Broadway in March 1966. All the principal people in the production received bodyguard protection.


Paula Wayne recalled: “I never expected such hatred. I never expected such vitriolic things would be said to me. But Sammy did. He told me the only way to deal with hatred is not to dignify it. And he always stood by me.”


In late March 1965, Sammy was given time off the show to participate in the Selma to Montgomery March, alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. The civil rights leader had already been to watch Golden Boy, and King is said to have been particularly drawn to the big gospel number “No More” (“I ain’t bowin’ down, No more!”). Sammy continued his work fundraising for civil rights causes during Golden Boy’s run, and in April, Hilly Elkins and Sammy produced and hosted a benefit show for King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference called Broadway Answers Selma.


Tony Award Nomination
In late May 1965, Tony Award Nominations were announced. Golden Boy appeared in four categories, Best Musical, Best Producer (Musical) – Hillard Elkins, Best Choreography – Donald McKayle, and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical – Sammy Davis, Jr. The Awards ceremony was held at The Astor Hotel on 13th June, but Golden Boy lost in all four categories to the respective nominations from Fiddler on the Roof."




EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY
NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED

THE Little Rock Nine - BTAAV/Iforcolor
Slide Presentation by Dale Ricardo Shields


Music by Cory Henry *(I do not own rights to this music)




The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine Black students who enrolled at formerly all-White Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957. Their attendance at the school was a test of Brown v. Board of Education, a landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. On September 4, 1957, the first day of classes at Central High, Governor Orval Faubus called in the Arkansas National Guard to block the Black students’ entry into the high school. Later that month, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the Little Rock Nine into the school. It drew national attention to the civil rights movement.


Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls had been recruited by Daisy Gaston Bates, president of the Arkansas NAACP and co-publisher of the Arkansas State Press, an influential African American newspaper.


Daisy Bates and others from the Arkansas NAACP carefully vetted the group of students and determined they all possessed the strength and determination to face the resistance they would encounter. In the weeks prior to the start of the new school year, the students participated in intensive counseling sessions guiding them on what to expect once classes began and how to respond to anticipated hostile situations.


Cory Henry "The Revival Project"
https://www.coryhenrymusic.com
NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.
Educational purposes only.
History by any means necessary ...
Music
SONG
He Has Made Me Glad (I Will Enter His Gates) (Live)
ARTIST
ALBUM
The Revival (Live)


IFORCOLOR.ORG COLLECTIVE
DALE RICARDO SHIELDS - BLACK HISTORY
I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO ANY OF THE MUSIC PRESENTED HERE.


WE'VE COME THIS FAR BY FAITH - by Albert Goodson


If It Had Not Been (Live)
Artist
Jennifer Holliday
Licensed to YouTube by
UMG (on behalf of Gaither Music Group (HSE)); BMI - Broadcast Music Inc., EMI Music Publishing, and 3 Music Rights Societies
EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY
NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED






Border Song (Holy Moses) (2018 Mono Remaster)
Artist
Aretha Franklin
Album
Border Song (Holy Moses)
Licensed to YouTube by
WMG (on behalf of Atlantic Records); BMI - Broadcast Music Inc., LatinAutor - UMPG, UMPG Publishing, LatinAutor, CMRRA, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA - UBEM, and 6 Music Rights Societies




Total Praise
Artist
Richard Smallwood with Vision
Writers
Richard Smallwood
Licensed to YouTube by
SME (on behalf of Verity Records); LatinAutor, UMPI, BMI - Broadcast Music Inc., Capitol CMG Publishing, LatinAutor - UMPG, Adorando Brazil, and 7 Music Rights Societies


BLACK THEATRE AFRICAN VOICES
Music
If It Had Not Been (Live)
Song 1 of 3
Border Song (Holy Moses) (with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
Song 2 of 3
Total Praise
Song 3 of 3
ARTIST
Gaither, Jennifer Holliday
ALBUM
LICENSES

The PAUL ROBESON AWARD  imageThe PAUL ROBESON AWARD  imageThe PAUL ROBESON AWARD  image
DALE RICARDO SHIELDS, PEARL CLEAGE AND THE BLACK REPERTORY THEATRE OF KANSAS CITY
TO RECEIVE PAUL ROBESON AWARDS 



The Paul Robeson Award, given annually since Robeson received the first Citation in 1974, honors individuals who leverage theatre to go beyond the stage to enact their commitment to the freedom of expression and conscience.

Actors' Equity Foundation Awards

“These honorees exemplify the values Robeson stood for,” said DeBorah Sharpe-Taylor, chair of Equity’s Paul Robeson Award Committee, in a statement. “They exemplify how the theatre and social justice are bound, because the pursuit of justice and live theatre are foundational pillars in the creation of a worthwhile artistic experience.”


Bebe Neuwirth Will Host the 2023 Actors' Equity Foundation Awards, Honoring Brian Stokes Mitchell, Mary K. Klinger, Dale Ricardo Shields and More  



https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Bebe-Neuwirth-Will-Host-the-2023-Actors-Equity-Foundation-Awards-Honoring-Brian-Stokes-Mitchell-Mary-K-Klinger-and-More-20230614​​​


Dale Ricardo Shields.com
https://dalericardoshields.com/

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Ricardo_Shields

Ohio University
https://www.ohio.edu/news/2022/09/ebony-bobcat-network-celebrate-remarkable-graduates-ohios-black-alumni-reunion 

Actors Equity Association
https://www.actorsequity.org/news/PR/RobesonAnnouncement2023/?mibextid=Zxz2cZ&fbclid=IwAR2ucyknoMg9AVRKJj7TxiMb064-WrtD9PVoG3o0dDx_z_VjzovcDCl2owc

AmericanTheatre Magazine
https://www.americantheatre.org/2023/04/21/dale-r-shields-pearl-cleage-black-rep-of-kansas-city-win-robeson-awards/

Broadway World 
 https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Pearl-Cleage-Dale-R-Shields-The-Black-Repertory-Theatre-of-Kansas-City-Receive-Paul-Robeson-Awards-20230421

Playbill
https://www.playbill.com/article/pearl-cleage-and-dale-r-shields-named-winners-of-paul-robeson-awards?fbclid=IwAR1DbprAYuBLarumKKKpcdNzf8Ct20WjNwldGCMrxpM11P_Ip3PrcqTdnnI

American Theatre
https://www.americantheatre.org/2023/04/21/dale-r-shields-pearl-cleage-black-rep-of-kansas-city-win-robeson-awards/#:~:text=NEW%20YORK%20CITY%3A%20Actors'%20Equity,2021%2D2023%20Paul%20Robeson%20Awards.

Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Awards
https://www.mtishows.com/news/the-kennedy-centerstephen-sondheim-inspirational-teacher-awards-0

New Federal Theatre
https://newfederaltheatre.com/nft-artist/dale-ricardo-shields/

YOUTUBE
https://www.youtube.com/@Moderndrama/videos


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