Realizing The Dream Series to Host Performance Artist Reanae McNeal March 2

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Martin Luther King, Jr. Realizing the Dream Series will host internationally-known performer and cultural activist Reanae McNeal for a performance of her one-woman show, The Jazz Singing Women, Friday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the Alabama Power Recital Hall at Shelton State Community College.

McNeal is an award-winning international performing artist, inspirational speaker, acclaimed vocalist, oral historian, visual artist, storyteller, performing art poet and cultural activist.

She has toured extensively throughout the United States, Hungary, Russia, Italy, Bermuda, Barbados and Canada. McNeal is the recipient of numerous national and international awards including the NAACP Image Award, the Woman of Achievement Award, the Women of A Stolen Legacy Award, the Peace Project Award and the Black Treasure Award.

McNeal developed The Jazz Singing Women in response to the 2012 theme of the Realizing the Dream Series, which was inspired by King’s foreword to the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival. This unique work will combine both lecture and performance, and audience members will learn about the lives of female African-American jazz singers, experience their music and discover the lasting effect that their work has made on the field of jazz performance.

The purpose of the MLK Realizing the Dream series — a partnership between The University of Alabama, Shelton State Community College and Stillman College — is to preserve the memory and promote the ideals of King. Each year, the series hosts a variety of events, including the Legacy Awards Banquet, the memorial concert, a performing arts event and a series of lectures.

Tickets are free, but seating is limited. To reserve tickets, call Theatre Tuscaloosa at 205/391-2277.