WANT TO GO?
What: "The Signature: A Poetic Medley Show: Poetic Transformation and Identity"
Where: Loft Theatre of the Metropolitan Arts Center, 126 N. Main St., Dayton
When: July 15; 9 p.m. Friday
Cost: $25
Tickets: Call Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630 or visit www.ticketcenterstage.com. Season tickets are still available.
More info: Visit www.tripplecroxxent.org
FYI: The Signature Lounge will open at 8 p.m. in the lobby. There will be cocktails and live music.
“The Signature: A Poetic Medley Show,” an entertaining and edgy outlet of expression spotlighting urban creative arts, continues Friday, July 15, at the Loft Theatre with an exploration of “Poetic Transformation and Identity.”
Two-time Grammy Award winner and singer/songwriter Timothy Bloom and spoken word artist Sha’Condria “iCon” Sibley headline the event which will feature a variety of local poets, comedians, singers, and visual artists. In addition, Dayton band Vibe5 will perform an assortment of numbers ranging from jazz and gospel to classical and hip-hop/R&B.
Recently named a VH-1 Soul “You Oughta Know Artist,” Bloom has worked with such talents as Smokey Robinson (“My World,” “Falling in Love”), Ne-Yo (“Say It” on “Because of You”) and Chris Brown (“All Back” on “F.A.M.E.”). His favorite singers include Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Frank Sinatra and Jeff Buckley. The video for Bloom’s single “Til the End of Time” particularly has more than three million views on YouTube, and his last album was in the Top 100 in the Billboard R&B charts. He specifically performs a style of music he brands as “rock and soul” derived from the various forms of music he heard growing up which included folk and gospel. He also notably works with Make Room USA, highlighting the rental crisis in America, as well as the Grammy Foundation, reminding people of the importance of music in the classrooms.
“Classify me as diverse,” Bloom says. “I have the gospel background, which is where I get a lot of my soul, the emotion in my playing. But my music is ultimately a fusion of many influences. I could never see myself doing one type of music. When anyone asks me who I’d like to work or tour with, I answer everybody.”
Sibley is a nationally acclaimed championship poet, teaching artist and activist. Her work has been featured in such outlets as Huffington Post, Marie Claire and BET. She was also a featured performer on the third season of TV One’s “Verses and Flow.” Recently, she became the first woman and non-Texan to win the Texas Grand Slam, the largest individual poetry slam in the South. She is currently the Rouge Roulette Slam Champion and is ranked the No. 2 female poet in the world. In addition to performing at this year’s Essence Festival, she is the host and organizer of the Rhythm and Rhymes Spoken Word Performing Arts Series at the Alexandria Museum of Art and also teaches poetry to inmates at a federal correctional facility.
“For people who have never taken a chance on The Signature due to parenting, work or simply not knowing, this is the perfect opportunity to come out and support us,” said Sierra Leone of Oral Funk Poetry Productions. “We want to expand urban creative arts awareness as we prepare to celebrate our decade season in 2017. We also want to do more programming in the community for young people.”
“The Signature: A Poetic Medley Show” is co-sponsored by the Human Race Theatre Company with additional sponsorships by Oral Funk Poetry Productions, Signature Education Solutions, WYSO 91.3-FM, University of Dayton’s ArtStreet, De’Lish Café, and Hope Road.
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