G-Magazine Now

Baking With The Most Important Ingredient: Love

When you think of cheesecake, does your mind picture sweet potato, rum raisin, banana pudding, or red velvet? Well what your mind may not be able to conceive your palette can readily experience. Annie Mae Cheesecake and Moore is a pastry lover’s dream come true.

Proprietor Chef Danielle Moore established Annie Mae Cheesecake and Moore in 2005; the business was part catharsis, part labor of love, and part preservation. Annie Mae Moore introduced her granddaughter Danielle to the art of baking, shortly after the teenager developed discipline problems at school. "If I'm going to harbor a fugitive then I might as well put her to good use" the wise matriarch announced. She understood that spending time was the best investment he could make in her granddaughter; and soon Danielle was helping her grandmother bake for family and friends, especially during the various holiday seasons.

After high school Danielle began to pursue a career as a veterinary nurse, coupled with starting a family, she became too busy for baking. It wasn’t until her beloved grandmother lost a seven-year battle with breast cancer on October 19, 2004, that Danielle rekindled her love for baking. “I felt honored to continue the legacy, which was left to me by my grandmother,” says Chef Danielle.

Annie Mea Cheesecake and Moore is a “boutique confectionary”. Cheesecakes are produced to satisfy the most discerning taste, and these culinary creations can be purchased in various sizes from eight inches cakes, to bit size treats. In addition to cheesecakes, cookies are also available. Chef Danielle also caterers events including bridal and baby showers, birthday parties and special events. “Any event large or small is a piece of cake”, confirms Danielle.

Danielle recently formed the Kiddie Cookie Academy to share her grandmother’s gift with young people citywide. “Our goal is to help cultivate your child’s artistic skills through cookie designing. We have two rules, safety and having fun”, joyously announces Chef Danielle.

Uptown Backs The Harlem Renaissance To City Center

 

We may be approaching the winter solstice, but there is definitely a breeze of springtime at the City Center Theater. It is provided by Uptown a new ballet by Matthew Rushing for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Uptown is true dance theater ensemble work, which chronicles the Harlem Renaissance.

The ballet opens with an old “Victrola” phonograph on stage in a single pool of light. The song "No More Auction Block" begins to play as a series of photographic images take us from slavery, though the northern migration, and to our final destination Harlem. This section is bravely void of dance becoming a visual overture.

We are introduced to Victor our narrator, masterfully portrayed by Amos J. Machanic, Jr., Victor takes us uptown guiding us through the streets, sights, and sounds of the Harlem of the 1920s. It was as if the images found in the sepia toned James Van Der Zee photographs that captured that era were suddenly released.

The second and third sections entitled "Welcome to Harlem" and "Rent Party" are homage to the effervescent and raucous mood of uptown street life. The period costumes, set design, music, and most importantly the movement and staging immediately transport us back to the heyday of Harlem. The audience is treated to glimpses of the swing dances era, with its buoyant and exciting lifts.

Uptown takes a decided turn from an entertaining depiction to thought provoking social commentary in "Great Minds." Mr. Rushing creates two contracting solos set to the words of W.E.B. DuBois (himself) and Zora Neale Hurston (performed by Ruby Dee). His choice here is significant, these were two individuals whose writings and philosophies were from diametrically opposing points of view. Dr. DuBois represented the established intelligencia and promoted the Negro bourgeoisie, while Ms. Hurston preserved the stories of “simply folk” that had lived in her hometown of Eatonville, FL. Performed by Vernard J. Gilmore and Briana Reed respectively, both dancers embodied the timeless eloquence of these two formidable personalities.

In subsequent sections we visit the Savoy Ballroom with its battling bands, meet Florence Mills, Josephine Baker, Ethel Waters, and lament with Langston Hughes. We “shuffle along” and delight in the backstage antics of a Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle production. Eventually our guide Victor takes us to the Cotton Club for an elegant white tie and tails finale.

Celebrating Donny: A True Celebration

By Walter Rutledge | G-Magazine Now contributing author

On October 11, veteran stage performer Ty Stephens presented Celebrating Donny, a tribute to music great Donny Hathaway. Two performances at 5:30 and 8pm were offered at the Triad Theater in New York City. The intimate cabaret setting of the Triad was the ideal setting for this informal yet very personal celebration.

The evening began with a haunting rendition of "For All We Know," a song featured on Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (1972) and later on A Donny Hathaway Collection (1990). Mr. Stephens performed "For All We Know" with an honesty and mature pathos that seemed to channel Donny among us. The enthusiastic standing room only crowd was spellbound by this poignant interpretation.

The seamless transition into his second selection, "Do You Know Donny" established Mr. Stephens as a master showman; written and performed by Ty, he immediately changed the mood to upbeat and engaging. The song serviced as both prolog and epilog of the production. Celebrating Donny then took us from Donny Hathaway’s beginnings as a three year old gospel singer living in St. Louis' Carr Square housing project, through is early success as songwriter, musician and solo performer, to his memorable partnering with Roberta Flack and his tragic and all-too-soon suicide in 1979.

Joining Ty onstage was a stellar cast of performers including Branice McKenzie, Marvel Allen, Gary Brown and Keith Fluitt. This cast of seasoned performers was impressive in solos, duets, and group harmonies. Allen and Fluitt were pure magic in "I Who Have Nothing" and "You Are My Heaven," McKenzie and Stephens displayed great chemistry in "Be Real Black For Me" and "You’ve Lost That Lovin Feeling," and Brown gave a masterful performance of "A Song For You." Narration containing biographical information performed by the entire cast was interspersed throughout the production; this enriched the musical chronology of the life of this extremely talented artist.

The aforementioned were just a few of the many standout moments in the ninety-minute production. It would be remiss of me not to mention "Givin Up," which gave the male cast a moment to shine. Triad Theater managing director Lee Summers joined the men on stage for an all male tour de force performance. Musical director and keyboardist Richard Cummings, Jr. lead, percussionist Neil Clarke, bassist Gene Torres, drummer Damon Duwehite and R.T. Taylor on guitar to musical perfection.

This production has been a labor of love for Mr. Stephens, he has been developing and refining it for over seventeen years. Ty first debuted Celebrating Donny in 1992 with performances in New York City at La Cave and B. Smith’s. Over the years Celebrating Donny has been presented at Ashford & Simpson’s Sugar Bar, and excerpts were also presented at B.B. King’s as part of the Black2Broadway event featuring Phoebe Snow, and as a fundraiser for Stanley Kinard’s run for public office in Brooklyn, NY.

We commend Ty Stephens; for as we all know history that is not recorded is history forgotten. This fitting tribute marks the 30th anniversary of Donny Hathaway’s death and his sixty-fourth birthday. By celebrating the many accomplishments of Donny Hathaway we are celebrating a golden era in American music; a time when music (not beats) and lyrics (not chants and rants) glorified the human experience.

Celebrating Donny is a true celebration.