Black voices from across the West End, Broadway, activism, community leadership and beyond will unite at TURN UP! to raise funds and awareness for four charities – The Bail Project, The Okra Project, The Black Curriculum and UK Black Pride – in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Under the creative direction of Nicole Raquel Dennis and Ryan Carter, TURN UP! will stream during July 2020. The online concert will be recorded with a live band on stage at Cadogan Hall, with a handful of exclusive at home performances and voice overs from the USA and UK.
The event will also include readings, poetry and speeches from prominent figures in the Black community.
Led by musical direction of Sean Green and two associates – Ben Burrell and Ian Oakley – the show marks one of the first occasions since the COVID-19 pandemic hit that live performance has returned to the theatre capital. The final recording will be made available early July and streamed over 2 nights.
The Bail Project is a national nonprofit organisation that pays bail for people in need, reuniting families and restoring the presumption of innocence.
The Okra Project is a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans People wherever they can reach them.
The Black Curriculum is a social enterprise founded in 2019 by young people to address the lack of Black British history in the UK Curriculum. They believe that by delivering arts focused Black history programmes, providing teacher training and campaigning through mobilising young people, they can facilitate social change.
UK Black Pride is Europe’s largest celebration for African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American and Caribbean-Heritage LGBTQ people.
The first tranche of performers has also been announced, feautring the likes of KELLY AGBOWU, MELANIE LA BARRIE, JEANNETTE BAYARDELLE, RYAN CARTER, MARCUS COLLINS, CHLOË DAVIES, NICOLE RAQUEL DENNIS, ALEXANDRA GREY, CAMERON BERNARD JONES, CLAUDIA KARIUKI, NATALIE KASSANGA, ALEXIA KHADIME, VULA MALINGA, SANDRA MARVIN, CEDRIC NEAL, TREVOR DION NICHOLAS, JAY PERRY, SHARON ROSE, JORDAN SHAW, DANIELLE STEERS, VINEGAR STROKES, OBIOMA UGOALA, LAYTON WILLIAMS and many more to be announced soon
