Ticket-revenue figures are still being crunched and won’t be available for several days. And it’ll be a couple of weeks before officials at Visit Winston-Salem can say how much money the 2009 National Black Theatre Festival pumped into the local economy. But Gerry Patton sounded upbeat.

Sandra Miles and Olivia Swinton are volunteers for the National Black Theatre Festival.

They were working the hospitality desk in the lobby of the Winston-Salem Marriott on Sunday when actress Barbara Montgomery arrived with one shoe wrapped in a plastic bag.

Gullah, the language and Afro-centric culture of blacks living in the Lowcountry regions of South Carolina and Georgia, is seldom heard during the National Black Theatre Festival.

For the past 18 years, John Amos has been bringing John Henry Halley to life in his one-man play, Halley’s Comet.

Maya Angelou entered the room yesterday singing, “I shall not be moved …” as cameras snapped, applause rang out and a crowd at the National Black Theatre Festival surrounded her.

Potpourri Noir, which opened Tuesday night, provided a glimpse of four productions that will be performed throughout the week in the Drama Workshop Theatre at Salem College.
The spirited collection of shows is master-minded by Rhodessa Jones and Idris Ackamoor. Both have too many talents to list, but to name a few: They write, direct, act, dance, play a mindboggling array of musical instruments, and serve as charming hosts.

Twenty years after it opened the first National Black Theatre Festival, Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope is back. It opened Monday night at the Stevens Center.

The purple carpet was laid out, purple balloons blown up and the Carver High School marching band could be heard throughout downtown Winston-Salem.

The mood today at the opening-day press conference for the National Black Theatre Festival was decidedly upbeat.

The press conference had the feeling of a comeback season getting under way.

Lafayette Baucum swung open the door to the Marriott Hotel yesterday, greeting visitors with a broad smile and a flourish that resembled a bow.

By Mary Giunca