Ja Nelle Davenport-Pleasure

Willie “Prince Roc” Round

A J McClenon

Kao Ra Zen

On November 19, 1863, President Lincoln spoke at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery and described the United States as a nation “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

As we continue to witness disproportionate brutality against Black Americans, NON:op Open Opera Works presents a concert tour of three commissioned works by Black artists that re-interpret and re-present Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Sal Martirano’s 1967 antiwar classic, L’sGA.

Hip hop artist Kao Ra Zen, 3Arts awardee and multidisciplinary artist A.J. McClenon, and Urbana poet laureate Ja Nelle Davenport-Pleasure explore themes of liberty, oppression, patriotism, racism, and revolution. Chicago Emmy winner, actor, and playwright, Willie “Prince Roc” Round, will be featured in a new production of Martirano’s L’sGA.

The concert will be preceded by a reading of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and poet and L’sGA collaborator M.C. Holloway’s Dance Wreck.

Set 1 features Willie Round as the gas-masked politico in L’sGA followed by A J McClenon’s response. Set 2 opens with Ja Nelle Davenport-Pleasure followed by Kao Ra Zen’s FATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS.

For more information visit www.nonopera.org

$15 in advance through TicketLeap / $20 at the door

Elastic Arts is not wheelchair accessible. Please contact non@nonopera.org by March 1 for other access requests.