LIVESTREAM EVENTS

  “Triumphant Over Triple Negative” 

in Honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This unique story is an autobiographical fragment of the artist’s life demonstrating the healing power of music. Based on real events, this 60-minute production will tell the story of a 42-year-old African American wife, mother, teacher, and professional singer diagnosed with breast cancer.  She leans on the stories of triumph within hymns to encourage her along the journey from diagnosis to wellness. After recovering from multiple surgeries and chemotherapy, she is inspired to self-produce a hymn recording project, Rock of Ages: Hymns for the Soul, and mentor other women and families who face breast cancer. This fully staged production will include the use of music, movement, dialogue, and projected images to tell the story.

“The greater community needs to gain insight on creative and positive ways to fight this disease and provide support to others,” says Dr. Jolie Rocke, writer, producer, Texas Touring Roster artist, and owner of Rocke Vocal Studio. Her ability to translate her artistic expression into a source of healing through the sounds of gospel, classical, and jazz resulted in a recording and now, a stage production that resonates with all communities. The audience will experience one woman’s strength, courage and a positive attitude that facilitated her healing.

This production will reflect the work of Houston-based musicians, directors, actors, and stage craft artisans, and is funded by the City of Houston Office of Cultural Affairs through the Houston Arts Alliance.

According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. There are 3.8 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. The purpose of this play is to share with others how to be supportive of breast cancer survivors; to encourage self-advocacy; to maintain a positive attitude despite difficult circumstance; and to share the healing power of music and prayer.

TRIUMPHANT OVER TRIPLE NEGATIVE

STAGED PLAY

Sunday, October 3, 2021

PROGRAM

Based on real events in the journey of a woman as she faces breast cancer. She leans on her community and the stories of triumph within hymns to encourage her along the journey from diagnosis to wellness. Her story demonstrates the healing power of music and faith.

SCENES

Scene 1:  Today

Scene 2:  The Diagnosis and Acceptance

Scene 3:  Immediate Reaction

Scene 4:  Facing the Truth

Scene 5:  Seeking Advice

Scene 6:  Facebook and Phone

Scene 7:  Mommy to the Rescue

Scene 8:  Favor and Forgiveness

Scene 9:  New Life

Scene 10:  Ice Cream Healing

Scene 11:  Inside Storms

Scene 12:  Thank You for Love

Scene 13:  Today

TALK BACK WITH THE DIRECTOR AND CAST

 BIOS

Dr.  Jolie Rocke (Writer and Producer), soprano and native New Yorker is renowned for sharing the gift of song across the world. She is the writer and producer of Triumphant Over Triple Negative. She has performed as a featured soloist in opera and concert tours of the USA, Europe and Far North Queensland Australia. Hartford Courant writer and critic Owen McNally marveled, "...a gifted, versatile vocalist who's as much at home soaring on opera arias and celestial hymns as she is getting down with funky blues and earthy jazz, just might, at long last, have the whole world in her hands thanks to her soulful album, Rock of Ages: Hymns for the Soul." Her other recording projects include Jolie Rocke in Concert and E’en So Lord Jesus Quickly Come, which are all available through iTunes.comand other media outlets. Acclaimed as a singer and music educator, Rocke was selected by the Texas Commission on the Arts to join the 2020-2022 Texas Touring Roster. Rocke received a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from the University of Connecticut, a Master of Early Childhood Education from Loyola College in Baltimore, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Hartford’s Hartt School. She has taught at Texas Southern University, Prairie View A&M University (TX), Manchester Community College (CT), and the University of Connecticut. 

Rachel Hemphill Dickson (Stage Director) has functioned as a professional artist for over 20 years.  She has worked as an actor, director, playwright, dramaturg, educator, producer, technical staff and artistic consultant.  While she calls The Ensemble Theatre home where she currently serves as the Bold Associate Artistic Director, she has worked with various theatres throughout the Houston community, including: The Alley Theatre, Main Street Theatre, Stages Repertory Theatre, Landing Theatre Company, Interactive Theatre Company and Wordsmyth Theatre.  Rachel is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and currently serves as president of Scriptwriters Houston, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.  Some of her exciting works include: Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Director – Stages Repertory Theatre); Dutch Masters (Director – Northern Stage); Front Porch Society, The Waiting Room, The Ballad of Emmett Till (Actor  - The Ensemble Theatre at the National Black Theatre Festival);  I, Too Am America, Seven Guitars, An American Menu, Plenty of Time, One Short Sighted Black Woman versus Safreeta Mae and Mammie Louis, Cinderella (Actor - The Ensemble Theatre);  Erie Canal(Playwright - Fade to Black Festival 2016; Rachel Dickson holds her Bachelor of Science in Engineering, a Master of Fine Arts from University of Illinois-Urbana, and a Master of Social Work from the University of Houston Rachel is the founding Artistic Director of Driven Theater Company.

 Stephanie McNeal (Stage Manager) was born and raised in Houston, Texas. McNeal’s acting credits include: 2016 Terrell Green’s Theater Showcase and the 2017 Season of Scriptwriters 10x10 Play Festival performance, “Sweetest Taboo. She has narrated the Scriptwriters Play Reading of “Live Better,” directed “Run Tell That,” in the Esurient Arts Showcase, and produced a short play “The Tender Fish” in Mildred’s Umbrella’s 2020 FemFest. McNeal managed the 2019 Season of Scriptwriters 10x10 Play Festival. Her interests and hobbies include writing, reading fiction, painting, traveling, drawing, swimming, marine biology, photography, forensic science, trivia games, music, movies, dance, pop culture, and supporting the theater community in any way possible.

ACTORS

Earnest Neal has acted in numerous local performances including What Fools These Mortals Be, Odds, Dottie at the Soiree, Bag Ladies, Sister Rudy Poot, Seder, and Two Trains Running. Ernest attended Houston Community College where he studied as registered pharmacy technician and trained at the John Casablancas School of Acting.

Jacqueline Harrison is chosen to transform and empower. She is motivated by her passion for developing character and building self-esteem through everyday living. Her approach encourages people to pursue a life of integrity, fueled through the gift of arts. Her experience in the industry is too numerous to list, however, whether she is gracing the stage at either large or small venues across the globe, or working behind the scenes, she never fails to leave her mark. For that reason, she has fully accepted the call to empower others to fulfill their purpose.Jacqueline has performed in numerous plays that including Overdose Mother, The Other Side of Me Jackie, Endure Josey, Broken Josey, The Confession of a Preacher’s Wife, and she was the stage manager for God Doesn’t make Mistake.

Christian Simon won the 2014 Outstanding Featured Dancer Award and was nominated for Best Actress from New Venture Theatre. Her favorite memory as a performer is playing the iconic Tina Turner in the musical Beehive at Stagework’s Theatre in 2019. Simon has choreographed many shows, including Black Nativity and Shout: The Musical, both nominated for the New Venture Theatre’s Best Choreography Award. Aside from performing, Christian is an author and has published two books to including   Getting to Okay and The Healing Workbook, released in August 2021. Simon graduated with honors from Louisiana State University with a B. A in Theatre Performance and a minor in Dance.

 Vawn Gretta Stearns is a vocalist, playwright, musician, and actress whose desire is to create with divine passion. Providing encouragement and love through the arts is Stearn’s passion and she continues to do so with elegance and excellence. She began performing in high school and continued throughout college. Stearns is the ambassador of Student for Music Department – Vocal Performance at the University of Saint Thomas.  She has acted, written, produced, and directed in several plays including Opening Night, The Prodigals in He’s Got to Be Real, Ramon and Gretta: A Forever Love Story, Encourage Yourself, Peace at Home and Obedience to God for Spirit of Life Ministries. Stearns performed at the induction ceremony for the President of Prairie View A&M University, Dr. Ruth Simmons. 

AUDREY DUBOIS-HARRIS

 DuBois Harris has performed on some of the world’s greatest stages, including St. David’s Hall (Cardiff, Wales), Carnegie Halls’ Weill Recital Hall, The Apollo Theater, Merkin Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fischer Hall, to name a few. Some of these performances include singing the opera roles of Mimi in Puccini’s ‘La Bohème,” the title role in Verdi’s “Aida,” Micaëla in Bizet’s “Carmen,” Tigrana in Puccini’s “Edgar,” Desdemona in Verdi’s “Otello,” Betty Shabazz in Davis’ “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X,” Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” (The Marriage of Figaro), and Bess in Gershwin’s “Porgy & Bess.” 

COLLEEN L. COLEMAN 

 Over the years she has shared her unique creative process of self- examination and discovery in schools, communities/organizations and jails. She has been invited as an artist in residence at the Yale Art Gallery, New Haven Jail, the New Haven Police Academy, Kingswood Oxford School and Weeksville Heritage Center and has attended artist residencies at Vermont Studio Center as the recipient of the Civil Society Institute Fellowship and Oxbow Artist Residency, in Michigan.  

KIMBERLY STROUD

 Stroud has also been named Outstanding Dance Educator by Dance

Teacher Magazine. Her most recent honors were the William A. Yandow Educator Award, the State’s Arts

Hero Award and the first dance educator to receive the Excellence in Education Award from the

Connecticut State Department of Education.  Ms. Stroud was also selected to be a member of the

International Dance Council of UNESCO.

 A Recital of Art Songs and Spirituals by African American Female Composers and Works for Solo Piano

ARTISTS BIOS  

Dr. Jolie Rocke, native New Yorker and renowned soprano is sharing the gift of song across the world. She has performed as a featured soloist in opera and concert tours of the USA, Europe and Far North Queensland Australia. She was a young artist for two seasons with Houston Ebony Opera Guild. Hartford Courant writer and critic Owen McNally marveled, "…a gifted, versatile vocalist who's as much at home soaring on opera arias and celestial hymns as she is getting down with funky blues and earthy jazz, just might, at long last, have the whole world in her hands thanks to her soulful album, Rock of Ages: Hymns for the Soul." Her other recording projects include, Jolie Rocke Brown in Concert and E’en So Lord Jesus Quickly Come, which are all available through cdbaby.com, iTunes.com, amazon.com and other media outlets.   

Jolie received a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from the University of Connecticut, a Masters of Early Childhood Education from Loyola College in Baltimore, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Hartford’s Hartt School. She has taught at Texas Southern University, Prairie View A&M University (TX), Manchester Community College (CT), and the University of Connecticut. In addition actively performing, presenting master classes and lectures nationally, Dr. Rocke is an Artist in Residence at St. Peter United Church of Christ, Owner of Rocke Vocal Studio, and Co-founder of Equity Arts Enterprises, both based in Houston, TX.

CHELSEA de SOUZA 

Chelsea de Souza is a Steinway Young Artist from Mumbai, India. She has won four All-India piano competitions. Chelsea has been interviewed on NBC TV, performed live on public radio in Kansas and Florida, and appeared in concerts across the US, Belgium, Germany, France and India. A musician of varied interests, both solo and collaborative, Chelsea performed with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble on tour, and was part of Oberlin’s Performance and Improvisation Series for two years, including a Young Artist residency with the Detroit String and Wind Society in 2015. She was a regular pianist with Peabody’s contemporary ensembles ‘Now Hear This’ and the Peabody Modern Orchestra, and performed with the award-winning chamber ensemble “Alarm Will Sound” during their 2018 residency at the Peabody Institute. 

Chelsea is a committed performer of music by living composers, and has premiered numerous works for solo piano and small ensemble by composers at the Oberlin Conservatory, Peabody Institute and Shepherd School. Most recently, she was awarded a 2020 Project Grant by New Music USA for her project “Blurred Origins: Redefining Culture through Music”, supporting the commission of a new work for cello and piano that refocuses discussions of culture around the individual. As a singer, she was co-director of Oberlin’s longest-running all-female a cappella group ‘Nothing But Treble’.

Chelsea holds Bachelor’s degrees in Politics and in Piano Performance and Vocal Accompanying from Oberlin College and Conservatory, and a Master’s degree in piano performance from the Peabody Institute. She is now pursuing her doctorate at the Shepherd School of Rice University with Jon Kimura Parker, and is a Young Artist with the DACAMERA Chamber Music and Jazz Series in Houston.

Music: Its relationship to seven girls as part of a desegregation experiment in a New York City school 

Desegregation of the New York City Schools: A Story of the Silk StockingSisters explores the use of young black and brown children to eliminate segregation in an urban public school to meet the challenges of equal educational opportunity in the North during the mid-twentieth century. Author Theresa J. Canada, herself part of the experiment, tells the story of the desegregation of PS 6―an elite New York City public school―through the narratives of seven of the girls who desegregated the school. While all of the names within each narrative have been changed, the book follows the author as well as the stories of her elementary school classmates.

BIO

Dr. Theresa Canada

Dr.  Canada is a Professor in the Education and Educational Psychology Department at Western Connecticut State University. She served as chairperson of the department from July 2007 until September 2011. Research interests include cultural diversity in teacher education and counselor education programs, early childhood/adolescent development, equity, and urban education.
 

Dr. Canada has presented papers and conducted webinars and workshops at national and international conferences. Her television credits include Dateline NBC, The Discovery Channel, and local cable television stations.  She has been a board member of several national and local organizations. Certifications and licenses include N, K 1-6 Teacher (NYS - permanent), School District Administrator (NYS - permanent), National Certified Counselor, Board Certified - TeleMental Health Provider, and Licensed Professional Counselor (CT).
 

A native New Yorker, Dr. Canada travels extensively and speaks some French and Spanish. She received her B.A. and Ed.D degrees from the University of Rochester, M.A., and M.Ed. degrees from Columbia University, Teachers College.

"Expressions of Love:  An Evening of Hymns"
Equity Arts Enterprises presents its sixth concert in the Second Saturdays series. November's online concert will feature the talented baritone Miles Wilson-Toliver who will perform hymns of love. Arrangements will include songs by the great Thomas A. Dorsey, Howard E. Smith, and P. P. Bliss, to name a few.  Mr. Wilson-Toliver will be accompanied by Wayne Dixon on piano. 

Bio
Miles Wilson-Toliver, a native of Hartford, Connecticut is gaining ground nationally with “a clear bodied baritone voice that greatly improves any piece in which he sings,” as reported by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. While maintaining a presence in European festivals and concert tours, he has performed with Opera Theater of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Opera. His roles include Figaro in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Giove in Cavalli’s La Calisto, Dancairo in Bizet’s Carmen, Eugene Johnson in Richards’ Blind Injustice, and City from the new opera by Dwayne Fulton, A Gathering of Sons. He is equally at home with other genres highlighting his versatility as Bill Calhoun in Kiss Me Kate; on the oratorio and concert stage in Mozart’s Requiem; and his most recent project “How I Crossed Over,” a concert that highlights his African American heritage and explores gospel, musical theatre, and classical genres. His passion for music shines through in each performance. His Miles & Friends Mentoring Program based in Cincinnati, Ohio affords him the opportunity to strongly impact aspiring young singers and the communities he serves. Mr. Wilson-Toliver is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University nearing the completion of his Master’s degree at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.

Artist Bio:

Victor J. Gaddie was born in Little Rock Arkansas, but has been a Houston native since the age of ten. He currently resides in the Northwest area of Houston, Texas. 

Victor is a self taught artist drawing most of his inspiration from life experiences. Working with acrylics and water soluble oils, he loves to create the testimony of peoples story told through their faces. Through the mentor ship of Michael Ewing and Ron Gordon, Victor strives to prefect his artistic skills. Currently, he is perfecting the technique of hyperrealism. Victor draws his creative influences from religion and the continent of Africa. He also has been inspired by John Biggers, Charles White, Michael Angelo, and Kenda Whiley. 

Victor J Gaddie was deemed as the "Painting Prophet"  by veteran host Deborah Duncan of KHOU Channel 11’s “Great Day Houston”.  Victor has a goal and a promise that his artwork will be displayed throughout the world as a testament that dreams do come true and promises will be fulfilled. He looks forward to opportunities to showcase his work and collaborate with other artists.