Kamilah Forbes

Kamilah Forbes is an American curator, producer, and director. Forbes created and directed the Hip Hop Theater Festival from 2000-2016. She has held directing roles for television and theater productions such as Holler if Ya Hear Me, The Wiz Live!, and the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun. Forbes was named executive producer for the Apollo Theater in 2016.[1]

Kamilah Forbes
Born
Chicago, Illinois, USA
NationalityAmerican
Alma materHoward University
Occupation
  • Director
  • Producer
  • Curator
Years active2000-present
EmployerApollo Theater (2016-present)

Early life and education

Forbes was born and raised in Chicago to Jamaican immigrant parents.[2] She attended Howard University with the attention of attending medical school, but changed her major to theater to pursue acting.[2] While at Howard she met Chadwick Boseman, and they collaborated on a play about their generation.[1]

Career

In 2000, Forbes wrote and directed Rhyme Deferred, a play that used a mythic fairy tale format to explore the existential nature of hip-hop.[3] That year, she also created the Hip Hop Theater Festival in 2000 citing the need to feature work created for and by her generation.[4] Forbes oversaw the development of the nonprofit called Hi-ARTS, which produces the festival.[5] She left Hi-ARTS in 2016.[2]

Forbes has directed and produced several television productions that center the intersection of Black narratives and music. She produced the HBO television series Def Poetry Jam (2002) and Brave New Voices, PBS's The Women's List,[2] and was associate director for NBC's The Wiz Live![6]

Forbes became executive producer for Harlem's Apollo Theater in 2016.[2] She stated that her goal as director would be to preserve the heritage of the Black cultural institution,[6] and has made efforts to add a diversity of Black art to the Apollo Theater's offerings.[7] In 2016, the Theater began hosting the New York premiere of the annual Women of the World Festival.[8]

Theater work

In 2014, Forbes was associate director for the Broadway show Holler if Ya Hear Me and assistant director for the revival of A Raisin in the Sun. In 2019 she directed the revival of By The Way, Meet Vera Stark by Lynn Nottage for Signature Theatre.[4]

In 2020, it was announced that Forbes will direct the upcoming stage show based on Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me.[9] Forbes is also set to direct the Broadway musical Soul Train based on the variety television series, to be released in 2021.[10]

Forbes was one of 300 signatories of a public letter directed at addressing systemic racism in American theater, along with others such as Sandra Oh, Sterling K. Brown, and Viola Davis.[11] The letter was released in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests.[11]

Personal life

Forbes has one daughter (b. 2016).[1]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2002 Def Poetry Jam Co-producer HBO television series [2]
2009 Brave New Voices Co-executive producer Television series documentary [2]
2015 The Wiz Live! Associate director Live television special [6]
The Women's List Executive producer Episode of PBS' American Masters [2]
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References
  1. Spellings, Sarah (2020-03-10). "What the Executive Producer of the Apollo Theater Wears to Work". The Cut. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  2. Doyle, Doug. "The Apollo's 85th Anniversary and Its Passionate Executive Producer Kamilah Forbes". www.wbgo.org. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  3. Pressley, Nelson (2000-06-09). "'Rhyme Deferred': Hip-Hop Answers to a Higher Calling". The Washington Post.
  4. Rebell, Sarah (2019-02-26). "Kamilah Forbes on By The Way, Meet Vera Stark and More". The Interval. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  5. Smith, Jennifer (2016-05-10). "Apollo Theater Hires Kamilah Forbes as Its Next Executive Producer". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  6. Olivier, Alley (2016-10-26). "Influencers: Kamilah Forbes Sets a New Course for the Apollo Theater". EBONY. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  7. Easter, Makeda (2019-06-13). "For race-specific theater companies, the fight for diversity onstage is far from over". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  8. Kerpen, Carrie. "Feminism Is About More Than Just Breaking The Glass Ceiling". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  9. Porter, Rick. "Ta-Nehisi Coates' 'Between the World and Me' Heads to HBO". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  10. Evans, Greg (2019-08-19). "'Soul Train' Musical Bound For Broadway With 2021 ETA". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  11. Chow, Andrew R. "An Open Letter Slams Racism in the Theater Industry". Time. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
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