From the moment Samuel L. Jackson made his Broadway debut as Martin Luther King Jr. in her play The Mountaintop, also starring Angela Bassett, back in 2011, Katori Hall, just 30 at the time, became a recognized player in contemporary American theater. In London, where the play was produced in 2009, the Columbia University grad…

On this season’s Being Mary Jane, the hope for a mature, adult relationship came in the form of Sheldon, a sexy and smart lawyer played by the tall and handsomely sun-kissed Gary Dourdan. Through Sheldon, professional women like Mary Jane rediscovered, albeit very briefly, the art of courtship: late-night phone conversations neither one of you…

“If there were no airplanes, I would have walked across America to be here tonight to sing the praise song to John Lewis,” began Alfre Woodard, the night’s first speaker for the “Portraits of John Lewis: Celebrating the 75th Birthday” festivities at the Tabernacle in Atlanta Saturday. “I wouldn’t have even caught a ride in…

Now that television has entered the era of Empire, claims that black-cast dramas don’t succeed no longer carry any weight. Since its Jan. 7 bow, viewers for the campy hip-hop-tinged drama have steadily increased, to nearly 15 million an episode. And black viewers reportedly account for 64 percent of Empire’s total audience. Behind the scenes,…

(The Root) — After Django Unchained ignited conversations about race, slave history and blacks in film to close out last year, 2013 may easily emerge as one of Hollywood’s most memorable for black talent in front of and behind the camera. A few films are already generating their share of buzz. After all, green is…