ARE KEEPING THE ARTBEAT ALIVE BECAUSE WE L❤VE THE ARTS! The Franklin-Simpson Community Arts Council also loves the great year we have planned in 2018 and you are going to L❤VE it too! We have some great Spring and Summer and events planned with lots of drama, music and comedy which your're gonna love!
The Franklin–Simpson Community Arts Council is reliving history! The history starts in February with the Dinner Theatre Production of “Having Our Say.....the Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years”. Starring, NANCY UHLS as 103-year-old Sadie Delany and MAXINE CARTER as 101-year-old Bessie Delany, the F-S Arts Council is pleased to present this play based on a true story about sisters, who take us on a remarkable journey through the last hundred years of our nation's history, recounting a fascinating series of events and anecdotes drawn from their rich family history and careers as pioneering African-American professionals. Sarah Louise (Sadie) and Dr. Annie Elizabeth (Bessie) extend an invitation for you to come and visit them in their home. They will enjoy sharing with you their experiences that have spanned over a century. They will tell it like it was; giving an historically accurate, nonfiction account of the trials and tribulations they faced during their century of life. Some are good; some are sad; some will just warm your heart, but always told with wit and wisdom. Sadie and Bessie are daughters of Henry Beard Delany and Nannie James Logan. Henry was born into slavery and was just 7 years old when the Civil War ended. He was very fortunate in the fact that he had been taught to read and write at his young age. After the war, he was able to attend school, and in 1881, Rev. Owen Thackera, funded a scholarship that allowed Henry to attend St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, North Carolina. He studied theology, music and other subjects, and eventually became the first African-American to be elected Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the US. He met, and eventually married, Miss Logan, they stayed in Raleigh, worked and taught at the College, where he became the Vice Principal. They raised ten children who all went on to achieve advance degrees and became successful professionals. Sadie followed in her parent’s footsteps and became an educator. She moved to New York City where she attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, then transferred to Columbia University where she earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1920 and a master's of education in 1925 She became the first African-American to teach domestic science on the high school level in New York City. After graduating from St Augustine’s College, Bessie followed her sister to New York. There she also attended Columbia University and earned a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree in 1923. She was the second black woman licensed to practice dentistry in New York State. The Delany sisters lived together in Harlem, New York for many years, eventually moving to the Bronx while it was still rural, and finally to Mt. Vernon, New York, where they bought a house with a garden on a quiet street. Neither ever married, and the two have lived together all of their lives. Please come and join Sadie and Bessie. They say having you will enrich their lives. And you just may find that the visit will enrich your life as well. Their story is not simply African-American history or women's history, it is our history, told through the eyes of two unforgettable women as they look not only into the past, but also ahead into the twenty-first century. The play will be directed by Barbara Shriver who directed "Raisin in the Sun", "Barefoot in the Park", and "Witness for the Prosecution”. The performances will be held at the Roxy Theatre in Franklin on February 23, 24 & 25, 2018. Tickets are $30.00 each for Dinner & Play on Friday and Saturday, 23rd & 24th starting at 6:00pm. Sunday, February 25th, will be $17.00 for Dessert only and Play starting at 2:30pm. Tickets are available at the Gallery on the Square in Franklin, 270-586-8055 (Not open on Monday) or on-line at www.franklinsimpson.org. TICKETS ARE LIMITED SO GET YOUR TICKETS SOON! Deadline to purchase will be Thursday Feb.22 at noon (for catering purposes). For any questions, please call 270-776-5783.
For any questions or further information on any of the above-mentioned events, please contact the Franklin-Simpson Arts Council Director, Brownie Bennett, at 270-586-6799 or 270-776-5783.
