The series of scenes, monologues, songs, and dance performances were filmed on campus this fall and will stream at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, and Saturday, Oct. 10, on the performing arts department's Facebook and Vimeo accounts.
An idea in gestation for years but given urgency in the renewed national movement for racial justice this summer has become 鈥淭he Moment,鈥 the first all-Black cabaret from 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Department of Performing Arts.
The show鈥檚 13 pieces include singing, dancing, scenes and monologues, centering Blackness in a traditionally white realm and reclaiming some artistic forms, says Kamal Lado, a senior BFA music theatre major and the show鈥檚 artistic director.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a love letter to Blackness from Black folks,鈥 Lado said.
鈥淭he Moment鈥 emerges as a collection of filmed performances that will stream at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, and Saturday, Oct. 10, through the Department of Performing Arts鈥 Facebook and Vimeo accounts. Visit for links.
Lado, students Hannah Hubbard 鈥22, Kevin Lacey 鈥21, Zion Middleton 鈥22 and Jaelyn Alexander 鈥21, and another 25 members of the cast and crew 鈥 including students in the Master of Arts in Interactive Media program 鈥 created the show to 鈥渄econstruct, rebuild and transform performing arts.鈥 They hope it will prompt questions about the nature of artforms that have excluded or tokenized actors who are Black or of color.
鈥淚t鈥檚 centered on the idea that (Black performers) can do it all and that we contain multitudes. We are not bound by this box that the performing arts puts us in,鈥 Lado said. 鈥淲e still have so few fully developed and realized characters that encompass the holistic nature of the Black community, that allow us to sit with the truth of being Black in America. There鈥檚 grief and pain that comes with that, but there鈥檚 also so much joy and life and beauty in the Black community.鈥
Since at least Lado鈥檚 first year at 黑料不打烊, students in the performing arts department had contemplated an all-Black production. The killing of George Floyd this spring and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement led to momentum around the idea. Music Theatre Director Julio Matos Jr. encouraged the performance and blocked time in the department鈥檚 production schedule.
鈥淎s artists, we felt we had to say something about this,鈥 Lado said.
Lado and student directors spent the summer choosing pieces and forming a vision. J McMerty, 黑料不打烊 in Los Angeles director and assistant professor of cinema and television arts, served as a faculty advisor and enlisted volunteers from 黑料不打烊鈥檚 iMedia program to film and edit 鈥淭he Moment.鈥 McMerty praised Lado鈥檚 and students鈥 dedication to the project. 鈥淭heir talent is over-the-top,鈥 McMerty said. 鈥淜amal really has just directed their first feature film.鈥
鈥淭here鈥檚 the feeling that this is the right thing to be doing at the right time,鈥 McMerty said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a remarkable thing they鈥檝e done during a global pandemic, during social upheaval on our campus, in our country and in our community.鈥
Lado wants the campus community and people of color to find resonance in the performances.
鈥淭here was a moment when we finished filming and I was watching the dailies with my friend. I have always seen them authentically, but I鈥檝e also seen them as other people see them, as this idea of them. In the context of 鈥淭he Moment,鈥 this is one of the few times they and everyone else involved can fully be themselves authentically and creatively without a white gaze on them.
鈥淚 want my community to get catharsis in this.鈥
Updates, bonus features and more information are available on the production’s .