Featured photo: Javon Johnson of Tyler Perry’s “The Oval”
Written by Tanya Terry
The New McCree Theatre’s annual gala, A Summer Soiree, Act II, An Evening of Elegance, will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 2, at the newly renovated Gateway Convention Center.
“We came up with the idea of making it a soiree just to capture the ambiance of what we wanted to convey to the public, which fits in with the evening of elegance,” stated Charles Winfrey, executive director of the Floyd J. McCree Theatre.
“So, it’s a ‘dress-up affair’” Winfrey added. “I won’t call it ritzy, but it’s a quality event with great food, great entertainment and a great speaker!”
This is the second year the New McCree Theatre’s annual gala has taken place.
“We initiated it last year to help us decrease some of the costs of our free out-of-school workshops for youth-serving programs,” Winfrey said. “We do Saturday day camp, in addition to afterschool programs and workshops.”
Keynote Speaker for the event is Javon Johnson, who plays the butler on Tyler Perry’s “The Oval” television series. In addition to his role on “The Oval,” Johnson has written several plays, including “Sanctified” and “Hambone, both of which were produced at McCree Theatre.
“He was chosen because we have a relationship with him. He’s been to McCree Theatre to conduct workshops for us before. In addition to being an actor and a playwright, he’s a dynamic acting coach and instructor. So, in addition to him speaking at the event, he will also interact with the cast of our upcoming production of ‘The Legend of Bass Reeves’ to motivate them and to give them whatever pointers he wants to convey to them to make our production a better production.”
For the entertainment portion of the event, The McCree Theatre House Band, under the direction of Phil Young, will feature Kim Harris singing R&B and Motown. The house band will play the pre-dinner music, dinner music and music following the main attraction.
“It’s a five-piece rhythm section with a saxophone player with the band…Kim Harris is a McCree Theatre actress. All of the band and all the entertainment will be McCree Theatre people.”
In addition, a buffet dinner will be served, consisting of two meats, salad and veggies and desserts.
Last year, donations to the gala allowed the theater to add a Community Youth Chorus and a drumming and recorder workshop to its after-school curriculum, and to make additional modifications to the performance space. Proceeds for this year’s event will be dedicated to continuing improvements to the dressing rooms, banquet center and African Artifacts exhibit space on the facility’s lower level.
“When we were fortunate enough to purchase the building, we only had funds enough to renovate the first level of the building, which left the lower level virtually undone with some just minor modifications. So, we never got the chance to fully develop the lower level. So, we’re in a continuous fundraising mode to get that done.”
The McCree Theatre’s goals are to to bring awareness to the performing arts, share untold stories, amplify community voices and expand the world of theatre across the community.
“The arts are transformational and they’re empowering…Unbeknownst to most people, they benefit tremendously by getting involved in the arts. Not only are they uplifting. They’re educational and, of course, we need education, particularly about our educational and cultural experiences to raise our consciousness, to get us more aware and more involved in what’s going on in the world and in our community-so that we can carve out a better quality of life for ourselves.”
Winfrey stressed the McCree Theatre thrives on community support.
“If we don’t get the support, it puts us on life support again. But, we just urge the community to come out and support it. It will be a great time. Everyone bar none who came to last year’s event totally enjoyed us. We’re going to even surpass that this year. We’re going to do it even better!”
Tickets to the gala can be purchased at The New McCree Theatre, 4601 Clio Rd, Flint, MI 48504.
The Gateway Convention Center is located at 5353 Gateway Center, in Flint.
