The DC Black Repertory Company Alumni Association and Multi-Media Training Institute will honor actor and D.C. native Robert Hooks and four luminaries who were integral members of the company in a virtual celebration of its 49th anniversary next month.
The event, themed “Black Theatre Matters: Honoring Our Past, Defining Our Future,” will be held Sunday, Oct. 18 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. In 2018, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser designated Oct. 18 as Robert Hooks Day to honor him and the DC Black Repertory Company he founded in 1971.
The celebration will feature live musical and theatrical performances in tribute to the evening’s honorees, who include internationally acclaimed singing group Sweet Honey in the Rock and Charles Augins, nationally known director, choreographer, dancer and teacher.
Dr. Calvin Rolark, the legendary D.C. publisher and philanthropist, and Michael Hodge, a nationally known actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild Association’s (SAG) New York City chapter, will also be honored posthumously.
The event will also include a discussion on systemic racism in American theater with Hooks, producer Woodie King Jr. and other special guests. The discussion will be moderated by Katea Stitt of WPFW-FM (89.3) and the Accomplice Leadership Institute, a program of the Arts Administrators of Color.
To register for the virtual celebration, go to eventbrite.com or mmtidc.org, or call 202-656-7140.
