ANNAPOLIS — The milestone 30th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Awards Reception and Dinner will be held Friday, January 12, 2017 at 5 p.m. The largest celebration of Dr. King’s birthday in Anne Arundel County will be held at La Fountaine Bleue in Glen Burnie.
Serving as the keynote address will be a performance of a scene from the Broadway musical, “I Have a Dream,” written by Josh Greenfield and directed by veteran actor Herman LeVern Jones of TheatreSouth Atlanta. A full performance of the musical, performed by Broadway stars and community actors, will be held Saturday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. in the Francis Scott Key Auditorium at St. John’s College in Annapolis.
TheatreSouth Atlanta
Members of the TheatreSouth Atlanta group perform the Broadway musical, I Have A Dream, inspired by the speeches and life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A scene from the play will be performed at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Committee’s annual awards dinner on Friday, January 12, 2018 at 7 p.m. to honor civil rights and community activists in Anne Arundel County.
I Have a Dream is a gospel musical on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that chronicles the major events of the Civil Rights Movement, giving insight into Dr. King’s love of his family, his sense of humor, and the incredible sacrifices Americans made in the fight for racial equality.
Among the 10 honorees acknowledged at the event are: Capt. Robert Dews, Jr., for his mentorship to at-risk children in the Annapolis area; Andre Atkins, for his efforts in decreasing violence in Annapolis’ Harbor House area; Phil Hunter for his dedication to the Civil Rights movement during the historic march in Alabama; Earl “Tom” Schubert, for his efforts conceiving and building the Afrocentric-curriculum-based Sojourner-Douglass College in Edgewater, Md.; and J.T. “Kim” Sharps, for his dedication to the Martin Luther King, Jr., Committee.
The winner of the 2018 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dream Keeper’s Award will be announced at the dinner. Tickets for the dinner are $60-100, and may be purchased online at www.mlkcskmd.org, by phone at 410.760.4115; or by mail to MLK Jr. Committee, PO Box 371, Annapolis, Md. 21404. For more information, call 301-538-6353. Saturday-night theater tickets are $35 for general public and $20 for students and seniors. For ticket information, call 305.924.3003 or 301.904.3690.
The Broadway musical, I Have a Dream, first debuted in 1976 with Billy Dee Williams. The play portrays the speeches of Dr. King and important moments of the civil rights movement through song and dance. The production, which has toured internationally, is a compilation of 28 gospel songs from the Civil Rights Movement, including the famous songs “We Shall Overcome” and “We Shall Not Be Moved.” The late Coretta Scott King saw the production in 1984, and the courageous Rosa Parks saw the performance in 1987.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Awards Dinner in Anne Arundel County was founded in 1988 by then Alderman Carl Snowden. Designed to pay homage to the memory of Dr. King, the dinner honors those whose deeds, words, and actions have helped keep his legacy alive.