Art

Music director Jermaine Hill shares his passion for working in the theater

ROLLINGOUT— Hill’s journey in musical theater began at 5 years old when he started playing the piano. He grew up in New York with an affinity for Broadway productions and went on to receive a Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College and a Master of Music from New England Conservatory in Boston. In addition to his work with Goodman Theatre and other regional playhouses, Hill is an assistant professor of theater and music director at Columbia College Chicago.

Published

6 years ago

July 16, 2019

Eddy Precise Lamarre

By Eddy “Precise” Lamarre

Jermaine Hill is currently serving as the music director for the production of “The Music Man” at Goodman Theatre in Chicago.

Hill’s journey in musical theater began at 5 years old when he started playing the piano. He grew up in New York with an affinity for Broadway productions and went on to receive a Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College and a Master of Music from New England Conservatory in Boston. In addition to his work with Goodman Theatre and other regional playhouses, Hill is an assistant professor of theater and music director at Columbia College Chicago.

Rolling out spoke with Hill about his passion and experience as a Black man working in this space.

When did you know that music direction was something that you could do well?

I music directed a cabaret my senior year of high school and knew that was what I wanted to do. I loved performing, but there is something about helping other actors to bring their characters to life that I’m passionate about.

Talk about your experience as a Black musical director in the theater.

I did feel a bit of a sense of “Who is this guy?” when I first started working at some of the larger houses, but I hope that the quality of my work demonstrates that I work hard to be good at what I do. I think it’s important for all of us who are working in the field to serve as examples to future generations of artists and to give back to and mentor other artists in our communities. It is critical for institutions to have serious conversations around institutional power and maintaining accountability and transparency to communities and artists who are still underrepresented.

“The Music Man” is your latest job. What can the audience expect that is unique to you?

I dive deeply into score study and text analysis to try to bring the composer and lyricist’s vision alive. I find that my attention to detail and specificity is the key to unlocking compelling performances from the actors I work with.

What are your top two favorite musicals?

I love “The Wiz.” It was the first musical I did in high school and one of the reasons I knew I wanted to do musical theater professionally. The music is iconic. The show is an extraordinary achievement in terms of how it reimagines a “traditional” story and gives voice and visibility to theater-makers and musical styles not traditionally represented.

“The Light in the Piazza” is one of the most stunning, challenging and ultimately fulfilling scores in the musical theater canon. Adam Guettel wrote an incredibly gorgeous neo-classical work, and I think every moment of the score is absolutely brilliant. Every time I hear the last song in the show, “Fable,” I burst into tears.

What is next for you?

I start rehearsals for “The Color Purple,” then I move into serving as director [for] “A Man of No Importance” at Columbia College Chicago. After that, I move into rehearsals for “Sophisticated Ladies” where I’ll be music directing and serving as a pianist [and] conductor.

“The Music Man” runs through Aug. 11, 2019, at Goodman Theatre in Chicago.

This article originally appeared in Rollingout.com.

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Activism

Griot Theater Company Presents August Wilson’s Work at Annual Oratorical Featuring Black Authors

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Published

4 weeks ago

February 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Late playwright August Wilson. Wikipedia photo.

By Godfrey Lee

Griot Theater Company will present their Fifth Annual Oratorical with August Wilson’s “Half a Century,” at the Belrose on 1415 Fifth Ave., in San Rafael near the San Rafael Public Library.

The performance explores the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson whose 10-play Century Cycle chronicles the African American experience across the 20^th century, with each play set in a different decade. “Half a Century” journeys through the final five plays of this monumental cycle, bringing Wilson’s richly woven stories to life in a way that celebrates history, resilience, and the human spirit.

Previous performance highlighting essential Black American authors included Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Lorraine Hansberry with Langston Hughes.

The play will be performed at 3:00. p.m. on Feb. 20, 21, 22, 27, and 28 at 7:00 p.m., and on Feb. 23 at 3:00 p.m.

For more information, go to griottheatercompany.squarespace.com/productions-v2

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Activism

MLK Day of Service Volunteers Make Blankets and Art for Locals in Need

“Everyone has an opportunity to participate,” said Glenda Roberts, kinship support care program manager at CCYSB. “Our nonprofit organization and participants recognize how important it is to give back to the community and this is serving. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, ‘Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve.’”

Published

2 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Photo courtesy of the nonprofit.

By Kathy Chouteau
The Richmond Standard

The Contra Costa Youth Service Bureau (CCYSB) and Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church (BMBC) are collaborating with a team of volunteers for a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, Monday, Jan. 20 that will wrap the community’s most vulnerable people in warm blankets and provide them with an uplifting gift of art.

Volunteers will kick off their activities at BMBC at 11 a.m., making blankets for the unhoused people served by the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP) and art for those in convalescence in Richmond.

Others will get to work preparing a lunch of chili, salad, a veggie tray, and water for participants, offered courtesy of CCYSB, while supplies last.

“People of all ages are welcome to participate in the MLK Day of Service,” said Roberts. Volunteers can RSVP via phone to Glenda Roberts at 510-215-4670, ext. 125.

CCYSB Boardmember Jackie Marston and her friends donated the materials and supplies to make the blankets and art projects. The nonprofit is also providing the day’s complimentary lunch, as well as employees to volunteer, under the direction of CCYSB Executive Director Marena Brown.

BMBC, led by Rev. Dr. Carole McKindley-Alvarez, is providing the facility for the event and volunteers from the church, which is located at 684 Juliga Woods St. in Richmond.

Located in Richmond, CCYSB is a nonprofit youth advocacy organization that serves eligible children, youth, and low-income families with a variety of wraparound services so they can thrive. Programs include academic achievement, youth mentorship, truancy prevention and direct response.

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Art

Vandalism at Richmond Ferry Terminal Saddens Residents

Residents have been lamenting the destruction online. Ellen Seskin posted photos of the vandalism to the Facebook group, Everybody’s Richmond, on Jan. 12, saying she encountered it while out on a walk. “It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

Published

2 months ago

January 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Graffiti mars the walkway at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Photo by Kathy Chouteau, The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

“This is why we can’t have nice things,” stated the post on NextDoor.

The post referenced images of graffiti at the Richmond Ferry Terminal. Not just on the terminal, but also on public artwork, on trail signs, on public benches and the boardwalk.

On Wednesday, the Standard stopped by to see it for ourselves. The good news was that it appears the graffiti on the terminal and on the artwork, called Changing Tide, have been cleaned for the most part. But graffiti remained abundant in the area around the relatively new ferry terminal, which opened to the public just six years ago.

Graffiti artists tagged benches and the boardwalk. Cars that had done doughnuts in the street marked the cul-de-sac just outside the historic Craneway Pavilion.

A ferry worker told us the graffiti had been there since before he started working for the ferry service about a week ago.

A member of the Army Corps of Engineers who did not want to be named in this report called the scene “sad,” as “they’d done such a nice job fixing it up.”

“It’s sad that all this money has been spent and hoodlums just don’t care and are destroying stuff,” he said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how soon the graffiti would be removed. The Standard reported the graffiti to the city’s graffiti abatement hotline. We were prompted to leave a message reporting the address and location of the graffiti.

“It was on the sidewalk, the street, the doors to the ferry, even in the art installation and the ‘stone’ benches,” she said. “I reported it but knowing how slow they are about getting things done — I just know that the longer you leave graffiti, the more likely they are to spray it again.”

In the comment section responding to Seskin’s post, local attorney Daniel Butt questioned why there aren’t cameras in the area.

On Nextdoor, one resident suggested searching to see if the tags match any accounts on Instagram, hoping to identify the perpetrator.

On its website, the City of Richmond says residents should graffiti immediately call Public Works graffiti removal and/or Code Enforcement at 510-965-4905.

Kathy Chouteau contributed to this report.