Arts

(L-R):  Antoinette Bryant and Carla Richards strike a pose before attending the Corinne Bailey Rae show at the House of Blues. Though Rae doesn’t receive much airplay in Boston, her show attracted a very diverse crowd. (Photo: Colette Greenstein)

Love, Love and more Love…

This time of year all the summer blockbusters come out and I get so excited because I love action flicks and the whole movie experience of sitting in the theater and munching on a huge bag of popcorn.  It was a fun night out because I got a chance to hang out with my girls Lisa Simmons, co-founder of The Color of Film Collaborative, and Pebbles from JAM’N 94.5’s “Ramiro and Pebbles Morning Show” at the sneak screenings of “Robin Hood” and the romantic comedy “Just Wright.”

Most of you probably wouldn’t figure me for an action flick chick, but I love them! I sometimes think I was a martial artist in another life. “Robin Hood” was very entertaining and very exciting. Yes, the movie featured Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett along with Ridley Scott, the director of “Gladiator,” but most importantly, it told a story and it was a very good story indeed with a hero and a villain, romance and lots of action. It has all the elements I look for in a movie and it didn’t disappoint.

I was so excited to see the “Queen” perform as the leading lady in “Just Wright.” It was a good old-fashioned Cinderella story with an African American twist.  Some critics may not believe that a woman like Latifah could land a guy like Common but we know better. It was great to see a beautiful, intelligent, sexy black woman such as the “Queen” with a very soulful, sexy and athletic brother on the big screen.

Ladies, did I describe Common as sexy and soulful. Yes, I did, and by the oohs and aahs in the theater when Leslie Wright (Latifah) and Scott McKnight’s (Common) characters inched closer to one another, the women in the audience were in full agreement. My girls and I just looked at one another and we were like — we want that — the chemistry between the two and everything else in between. I think I may have shed a tear or two watching them come together.  

Dancing with the Springstep Stars

The flamenco is a very hot and sexy dance and at the (sold out) 6th Annual Radiance Gala, a benefit for Springstep, the flamenco kicked off the show with local celebrity Lisa Simmons. Both Lisa and her dance partner, Jessica Sollee, were dressed in traditional flamenco garb (a black and red frilly blouse, ruffled skirt, high heels, hair in a bun and a rose behind their ear), and kicked off the show with fierceness that the flamenco demands.  

In addition to the live dance and music there was food and cocktails along with a silent and live auction. The hosts for the evening were Steve Aveson, local TV reporter and the ubiquitous Karen Holmes-Ward, host and executive producer of CityLine, WCVB-TV’s weekly magazine.  Some of the other “celebrities” included Joyce Kulhawik, arts and entertainment critic; Darryl Settles, founder and co-owner of The Beehive Restaurant and Bar; Dr. Lisa Owens, the medical director of Brigham Primary Physicians at Faulkner Hospital and Grace Peng, an art collector, and they performed a variety of dances from swing and salsa to African American step and Afro-Brazilian dance.

During the gala, Springstep gave their first Cultural Champion Award to Ben Vereen, a Tony Award-winning dancer, singer and actor.  Terri Brown, co-chair for the 2010 Radiance Committee introduced his daughter, Malaika Vereen to accept the award on his behalf.  Based in Medford, Springstep’s mission is to celebrate dance and music traditions from cultures around the world.

‘Children of God’ screening at the Museum of Fine Arts

Kareem Mortimer’s film debut “Children of God,” was the closing movie for the 26th Annual Boston LGBT Film Festival. “Children of God” is a classic tale of young love against a backdrop of violent homophobia and social unease in the Bahamas. The theme of universal love is woven throughout the fabric of the movie and told in such a subtle way that one can’t help but to be touched and moved by such a wonderful and beautiful story.  The evening was capped by a QandA with Margaret Laureena Kemp, who starred as God-fearing character, Lena and Trevite Willis, the producer of the feature.

Coming up:
Funnyman Tracy Morgan returns to The Wilbur Theatre this Saturday, May 22.
Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings at the House of Blues on May 27.
Six-time Grammy Award® nominee Nnenna Freelon performs at Scullers Jazz Club on June 4.
And don’t miss Maxwell at the Bank of America Pavilion July 13. This is going to be a hot, hot show!
Mix and mingle every Monday night at “Martini Mondays” at XandO Ultra Lounge in Stoughton.
The fun kicks off at 6 p.m. with DJ T. Clark spinning the best in RandB/Soul, a little bit of jazz and hip-hop.

Congratulations to Audrey Evans for completing the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer!

If you would like me to cover or write about your event, e-mail me at: inthemixwithcolette@gmail.com.