New York – –
The acclaimed Braata Folk Singers of New York will mark their fifth anniversary celebrations with their 2014 concert production – A Likkle Braata… Goes A Long Way.
There will be of two performances of the show – on Saturday June 21 at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center, in Queens, and on Sunday June 22 at The Kumble Theater at Long Island University, Brooklyn.
The group was founded in June of 2009 by its Artistic Director -award winning Jamaican actor, vocalist and producer Andrew Clarke- to celebrate and preserve Jamaican and Caribbean culture through the performance of the region’s folk music.
And as a celebration befitting this milestone year in the group’s journey, A Likkle Braata will showcase remounted and restaged performances of some of the group’s most popular items as well as exciting new additions to the company’s repertoire.
Returning favorites such as Ole Ma’as Charley, DisLong Time Gyal, Sammy Dead and Yellow Yam, willtake their place alongside premiere stagings ofNah Gi Up and Wheel O Matilda, among others. In keeping with the popular format of choral theater the group has made its own over the past five years, the songs will be presented against the backdrop of a story set in a rural Jamaican village, chronicling the trials and triumphs of its humble residents, who lift theirvoices in song during times good and bad.
Founder and Artistic/Musical Director Clarke, is both proud and somewhat amazed that five years have passed from the beginnings of Braata to what he now calls “the most significant and inspired Braataproduction we have done to date.”
“Like our show Boonoonoonooos in 2012, which also marked the fiftieth anniversary of Jamaica’sindependence, A Likkle Braata is yet another milestone event in our young history and for a number of reasons” he says.
“A Likkle Braata is our love letter of thanks to our incredibly supportive audience, who have been there from day one and who have grown with and supported us through thick and thin. We want to share this pivotal five year birthday celebration with them, even as we invite them to continue to stay with us for the next five, ten, fifteen years to come.”