"It is the summer of 1930 in Harlem, New York. The creative euphoria of the Harlem Renaissance has given way to the harsher realities of the Great Depression. Young Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., is feeding the hungry and preaching an activist gospel at Abyssinian Baptist Church. Black Nationalist visionary Marcus Garvey has been discredited and deported. Birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger is opening a new family planning clinic on 126th Street, and the doctors at Harlem Hospital are scrambling to care for a population whose most deadly disease is poverty. The play brings together a rich cast of characters who reflect the conflicting currents of the time through their overlapping personalities and politics. Set in the Harlem apartment of Guy, a popular costume designer, and his friend, Angel, a recently fired Cotton Club back-up singer, the cast also includes Sam, a hard-working, jazz-loving doctor at Harlem Hospital; Delia, an equally dedicated member of the staff at the Sanger clinic; and Leland, a recent transplant from Tuskegee, who sees in Angel a memory of lost love and a reminder of those “Alabama skies where the stars are so thick it’s bright as day.” Invoking the image of African-American expatriate extraordinaire, Josephine Baker as both muse and myth, Cleage’s characters struggle, as Guy says, “to look beyond 125th Street” for the fulfillment of their dreams." (Drama Play Scripts)

Commissioned by and World Premiered at ALLIANCE THEATRE COMPANY, Atlanta, Georgia

Kenny Leon Edith Love, Artistic Director Managing Director

With support from the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund’s Resident Theatre Institute

BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com)”

Our mission is to create Art in Action: theatre that is engaged and inclusive, rigorous and enjoyable, thoughtful and transformative. Theatre Arts at UofL challenges students to become critical thinkers who take pleasure connecting with local, national, and global communities through live performance. Graduates explore the world with the courage, discipline, and practical skills required of theatre artists—imagination, empathy, critical analysis, craftsmanship, problem solving, social awareness and collaboration. Learn more at louisville.edu/theatrearts

JOHN HARTER FOUNDATION:

John Burton Harter (1940-2002) documented the richness of gay experience through his prolific artwork. He created over 4,000 artworks during his lifetime spent largely in New Orleans, La. Harter is most known for exquisite figure studies, especially his fine compositions of the male body. These works range from classical studio drawings to completed paintings and self-portraits. Harter's art is in The Historic New Orleans Collection, the Ogden Museum, and the Leslie Lohman Museum of Art, among other museums. Since 2002, the John Burton Harter Foundation has preserved his legacy by supporting queer art programs and artists. Learn more at https://www.jbharter.org/biography/.
 

The John Burton Harter Foundation promotes the visibility of J. B. Harter’s art and fulfills his creative vision by supporting queer art programs and artists. Since 2002, JBHF has provided grants and original Harter works for exhibitions, catalogs, publications, and public programs. Recipients include major museums, non-profit organizations, and institutions serving the queer community and the public. JBHF stewards more than 2,000 paintings, 2,100 drawings, and 200 photographs by Harter and places works in collections to expand his legacy and impact for future generations. For more information, visit www.jbharter.org.