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Steve Connell is a powerful and inspiring artist who
comes alive on stage and captivates crowds with his performances. Both
the Hollywood and L.A. Grand Slam Champion (2002 and 2003 respectively)
and National Champion at the National Poetry Slam Competition (2003),
he is also the winner of the 2003 New Word Series National Poetry Slam.
His work has been featured on such diverse media/stage outlets as ABC
World News, MSNBC’s Hardball, Good Morning America, HBO’s
Def Poetry, Showtime’s Crossover, MTV’s World AIDS Festival,
BET’s Lyric Cafe, Artisan Films’ Belly DVD, Oprah Winfrey’s
celebration of Maya Angelou’s 75th birthday, P-Diddy’s Annual
White Party and several national radio spots and spoken word tours. He
has just completed touring with an original print of the Declaration of
Independence on the Declare Yourself voting initiative founded by TV/
Filmmaker Norman Lear. His work is published in an anthology on America
called Why Freedom Matters, amongst such icons as Maya Angelou, Pablo
Neruda and Langston Hughes. In addition, his poem 3 wishes has been published
by Sprout Cards, along with an exciting new line of greeting cards designed
around excerpts from his poetry. Steve is also an accomplished actor and
musician. His first album, The Intimate Nature Of Knife Fights, continues
to win him audience and critical praise and he is hard at work on his
second. His feature film debut, a supporting lead in The Beat, premiered
at the prestigious 2003 Sundance Film Festival and has just begun airing
on SHOWTIME and BET. Steve recently concluded the initial run of his own
hit one man show, 40 Days, which received rave reviews from the LA Weekly
(Pick of the Week) and Backstage West (Critic’s Pick) to name a
few. It was just declared Best Solo Performance of 2005 by Entertainment
Today. In addition he was listed in URB magazine’s “100 Faces
To Watch” in 2005. He recently participated in the prestigious Ojai
Playwrights Conference where he and his partner Sekou (tha misfit) unveiled
The Word Begins, directed by Robert Egan. Steve and Sekou were also invited
by HBO to perform together at the 12th Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival
in Aspen, CO this past March. www.stevenconnell.com  |
Sekou (tha misfit) is a versatile performer whose dynamic presence and energy never fails to command an audience’s attention. A two-time champion of the National Poetry Slam Competition (2002 and 2003), as well as the winner of the 2003 Word Up! National Poetry Slam, his work has been featured on such diverse media outlets as ABC World News, Good Morning America, MSNBC’s Hardball, twice on HBO’s Def Poetry, Showtime’s Crossover, MTV’s Battlegrounds, BET’s Lyric Café, Artisan Films’ Belly DVD, NIKE’s “Hooptown” and “Believe” campaigns, Oprah Winfrey’s celebration of Maya Angelou’s 75th birthday, P-Diddy’s Annual White Party, several national commercial spots and two national spoken word tours, including Declare Yourself— the voting initiative founded by legendary TV/Filmmaker Norman Lear, which traveled with an original print of the Declaration of Independence and registered over 1 million new voters. As a remarkably universal artist, Sekou’s dedicated years as an elementary school teacher make him a favorite among schools —from junior highs to universities; he performs and runs seminars at the annual Mind, Body & Soul women’s retreat in Ocho Rios, Jamaica; and he is sought as a “secret weapon” by such companies as NIKE and the ACLU for the unique electricity his poetry brings to internal meetings and marketing presentations. He and partner Steve Connell were invited to perform at the 12th Annual HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, CO, and twice at the prestigious Ojai Playwrights Conference where they unveiled their new play, The Word Begins, before its world premiere, 9-week run at the Signature Theatre. Sekou is an accomplished actor, voice-over artist, songwriter, and music producer. Each of his independent CD releases - including his latest double CD of spoken word, Afrodeezyackz/The Mumblings of a Madman - have earned him an impressive array of regional and national music awards. In addition to his Los Angeles Music Award for Outstanding Music Video and a nomination for Best Hip-Hop Artist, his collection of Just Plain Folks awards, including Best Spoken Word Album, Best Hip-Hop Album, Best Producer, and Best Holiday Album, make him the most awarded artist in the largest music organization in the nation. With an intoxicating blend of passion and presence in every word: Sekou (tha misfit) is not just an artist, but an experience. |
Robert
Egan (Director)
is a director,
producer and dramaturge. He was Producing Artistic Director of Los Angeles’
Mark Taper Forum for 19 seasons and was Founding/ Producing Artistic Director
of its internationally acclaimed New Work Festival for 15 seasons. He
has developed hundreds of new plays for the American Theatre. Directing
credits include: Mark Taper Forum: Arcadia, Aristocrats, Closer, Dealer’s
Choice, Death and the Maiden, Hedda Gabler (at the Doolittle), Made in
Bangkok; Measure for Measure, The Poison Tree, Richard II, Sansei, Skylight,
Ten Unknowns and Widows. Kirk Douglas Theatre: Flight, Distant Shores.
Taper, Too: Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Dream Coast, The Thrill and Weights.
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion: Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. Playwrights
Horizons: Chinese Friends. Seattle Repertory Theatre: Savages, Translations,
The Ballad of Soapy Smith, Buying Time, Salvation Now, The Grass Widow,
Between East and West. Actors’ Gang and Berkeley Rep: The Guys.
Actor’s Gang: Julian Fleisher and Martha Plimpton Live! U.S. Tour,
for Norman Lear: Declare Yourself Poets. HBO Aspen Comedy Festival: Norman
Lear Presents Steve Connell and Sekou (tha misfit). NYSF: The Ballad of
Soapy Smith. LA Theatre Center: The Film Society. Naked Angels L.A.: Coq
Au Vin. ACT Seattle: Night and Day. Oxford Playhouse: St. Joan and Idomineo.
Oxford University Drama Society: They Shoot Horses Don’t They? (direction
and adaptation). Theatreworks: The Merchant of Venice. For television
he directed episodes of Frasier and Stark Raving Mad. Robert is the former
Associate Artistic Director of the Seattle Repertory Theatre and presently
is the Artistic Director of the Ojai Playwrights Conference. He has his
own company called RHEgan Productions which conceives, produces, and makes
films for major benefit events with organizations like Homeboy Industries,
Global Green USA, Cure Autism Now and many others.www.signature-theatre.com www.thesekoueffect.com www.forty-days.net www.aclu.org/insecurity www.aclu.org/unabridged http://www.nike.com/nikebasketball/ www.tellusthemission.org/ www.myspace.com/sekouthamisfit www.myspace.com/steveconnell |