Tony Award nominee Calvin Levels performs his solo play, “James Baldwin: Down from the Mountaintop,” Monday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. in the Nott Memorial. The play, part of the College’s Presidential Forum on Diversity, caps a daylong celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The performance, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a question- and-answer session and a reception at 8:30 p.m. in the Nott.
The two-act play traces the life of Baldwin, the esteemed playwright, novelist and civil rights activist from his early years as a fiery, young minister growing up in Harlem, to his involvement with the civil rights movement. The play opens with Baldwin descending to Earth from the “mountaintop” and culminates with his death of esophageal cancer in 1987 at his home in the South of France.
Levels’ theater highlights include nominations for the Tony Award, New York Drama Desk Award and New York Outer Critics Circle Award for “Best Actor in a Play.” In addition to capturing the Theatre World Award for “Outstanding New Talent,” Levels was honored by the National James Baldwin Literary Society for his contribution to the legacy of Baldwin. He has also appeared in numerous television network shows.
Prior to the play at 6 p.m. audio of some of King's speeches will play in the Nott. Performances by the College’s gospel choir and the Garnet Minstrels will follow. A student exhibit, “1000 Hands: Embracing all Cultures,” will be on display. The College’s Jazz Quartet will perform during intermission.
The acclaimed documentary, “Eyes on the Prize,” which depicts the American civil rights movement, will be shown in the Reamer Campus Center Auditorium from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, contact Gretchel Tyson at (518) 388-6609 or via e-mail at tysong@union.edu.