TOUR
RANDOLPH EDMONDS
One of the most prolific pioneers in black playwright, was also a drama teacher, director, and organizer of drama organizations and festivals among black colleges in the South and Southeast. Known as the "The Dean of Black Academic Theater" Dr. Edmonds joined the Faculty of Dillard University where he was influential in starting up the Dillard University Theater Department. During his tenure at Dillard, his plays became a growing success within the Dillard University Players
FREDERICK D. HALL
Frederick D. Hall, a key pioneer in the black music world, was a teacher, composer, musician, and historian of music. Dr. Hall a native of Atlanta Georgia, was always immersed in music even as a child. Born in a family of musicians, he began piano study at the age of five and also sang in his community church. Learning to play several orchestral instruments he went on to pursue a B.A. in Musi from Morehouse College, from there he became faculty within the music department at Jackson College located in Jackson, Mississippi. He also served as supervisor of music for the black public schools in Jackson making sure music was available for all. In 1960 he served as chair of the Dillard University school of music, and transformed the arts within Dillard. Forming and leading the choir into national spotlight during his years as a professor at Dillard.
THEODORE GULLIAM
Another individual who devoted many years to Dillard University Theatre and Arts is Dr. Theodore Gilliam. For many years Dr. Gilliam fostered the African American Arts through his commitment to drama, none greater than his Dashiki Project Theatre. The Dashiki Project Theatre embodied the 60’s Black Arts Movement and like it, sought to recreate the image of African Americans, which for so long had been defiled by untruths. This project’s relentlessness in reestablishing the black aesthetic showed in many avenues.
TED SHINE
Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Ted Shine, a playwright, university professor and editor, grew up in Dallas. He earned a B.A. from Howard University, where he worked with Owen Dodson and Sterling Brown. He earned an M.A. from the State University of Iowa and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Shine was involved with Karamu Repertory Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio. His university teaching career included Dillard University, Howard University and Prairie View A&M University. He has written approximately thirty plays that include comedies, tragicomedies and histories. Shine possessed a microscopic insight and a finely tuned ear for dialogue and dialect, particularly one that is spoken by the rural Southerner, and very few, if any, of his peers matched his skills in this aspect of playwriting.
BRANDA MARIE OSBY
A Dillard graduate from the Class of 1978, Osbey became the first peer-selected Poet Laureate from Louisiana in 2005. She has since accomplished feats such as a fellow of the MacDowell Colony and taught at Dillard, Loyola University-New Orleans and Lousiana State University just to name a few. Her poetry has appeared in the American Poetry Review, American Voice, Callaloo, Epoch, Greenfield Review, Indiana Review, Obsidian, Southern Review, and Women's Review of Books. Her essays have been published in The American Voice, Georgia Review, BrightLeaf, Southern Literary Journal, and Creative Nonfiction. Osbey's stunning collection of poetry offers up the voices and visions of women through a series of vignettes, each framing and telling a deep story within.
ADELLA GAUTIER
An actress, storyteller, and educator, Adella Gautier regales and delights with her animated renditions of African, Caribbean and African-American folklore. Born in New Orleans, this theater veteran’s career began at Dillard University with the Dillard Players Guild and moved to the city’s legendary theater companies, Free Southern Theater. A member of Screen Actors Guild since 1976, her talents have been featured in episodes of Law & Order, Queen Sugar, and Treme. She engages audiences of all ages in highly animated performances of stories drawn from personal, African, African-American, Caribbean and European folklore and oral traditions.
THE FESTIVAL OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARTS
Organized by the Afro-American for Progress, the Festival of Afro American Arts was first held at Dillard University in 1968. It’s purpose was to explore and expose students and the wider community to the arts of African Americans and to provide a medium through which Black people can become more aware of their heritage (1968 Festival of Afro-Am Arts Program).