Interview with Ty Jones, Classical Theater of Harlem

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By Jack Quinn, Publisher

TheaterScene.net –  Renée Elise Goldsberry is known for roles that fuse musical brilliance with emotional clarity. What drew you specifically to her for this year’s Harlem Holidays, and how do you see her artistry aligning with the Classical Theatre of Harlem’s mission?

Renée is an artist whose work exemplifies excellence, integrity, and generosity of spirit — qualities that deeply align with the Classical Theatre of Harlem’s mission. We are always drawn to performers who can hold both technical mastery and emotional truth, and Renée embodies that beautifully. Her career has consistently demonstrated an ability to bring classical rigor, contemporary resonance, and a sense of shared humanity to every role she inhabits. For Harlem Holidays, we wanted someone who could elevate the evening while also honoring the joy, history, and cultural roots of our community. Renée represents the very best of what we aspire to model: artistry that uplifts, storytelling that connects, and a commitment to making world-class performance accessible to Harlem and beyond.

TS – Renée has a unique relationship with both stage and screen audiences. For this intimate Supper Club format, what kind of connection or storytelling energy were you hoping she would bring into the room?

With the Supper Club format, we wanted an artist who could collapse the distance between performer and audience. Someone who could make the room feel both electrified and deeply personal. Renée has a remarkable gift for presence. Whether she’s performing for a Broadway house or a camera lens, she creates an immediate sense of emotional connection. For this event, we hoped she would bring that intimate, conversational energy that helps people feel included in the storytelling. Her warmth, her playfulness, and her ability to move seamlessly between humor and depth make her the perfect guide for a night that celebrates tradition, community, and togetherness.

TS – When curating a program around a performer of Renée’s stature, how much of the evening’s shape comes from her artistic instinct versus CTH’s vision for the holiday event?

It was truly a collaborative process. At CTH, we always approach these events with a clear vision and one that honors our community, reflects our values, and centers Black artistry in meaningful ways. At the same time, we invite performers of Renée’s caliber because they bring their own artistry, history, and imagination to the table. The evening’s shape emerged from a conversation between our goals for Harlem Holidays and Renée’s instincts about what stories and songs she wanted to share. We created a framework that held the spirit of the event, and Renée infused that framework with her personal artistry, interpretation, and emotional intelligence. The result is a program that feels intentional, soulful, and uniquely hers while still rooted in CTH’s mission.

TS – Harlem Holidays blends concert performance, community celebration, and fundraising. What is the single most challenging part of producing an event meant to be both artistically excellent and mission-driven?

Artistic excellence and mission-driven work aren’t different things. Nurturing new audiences, creating an awareness of Harlem artists’ significance, and introducing people to what we consider “the classics” – everything from Aeschylus to Langston Hughes and new classics by living artists like Renée Elise Goldsberry are all part of what it’s our mission to do. Artistic excellence is achieved whenever a performer engages that transcendent virtuosity with their craft that lifts what they do from an entertaining way to pass the time to being meaningful and nourishing to a person’s soul. That happens every time time The Classical Theatre of Harlem exhibits its work.

TS – Ginny’s Supper Club is a legendary space with its own creative aura. How does the venue impact your artistic planning? Does the room itself shape the pacing and feel of the evening?

The space a performance takes place in is always a defining characteristic of the experience, which is why the intimacy and history of Ginny’s Supper Club is so special. When we play in Marcus Garvey Park, the stories we tell are big ones, with twenty or more actors on stage. At Ginny’s, everyone is just a few feet away from each other, and you get a powerful, personal connection with the artist and the music. The space also encourages artists to step off the stage and work the room a bit, or even encourage some audience participation.

TS – This event supports CTH’s year-round cultural programs. When you think about your impact goals, what does “success” look like for Harlem Holidays beyond ticket sales?

We want a room full of guests to have a memorable experience of cultural nightlife that gave rise to the Harlem Renaissance one hundred years ago, and to leave with the knowledge that The Classical Theatre of Harlem has work to enjoy all year round, from our monthly Literary Series at Harlem School of the Arts, to our Hold ‘Em in Harlem poker tournament May 21, to our FREE production of Othello coming up in July.

TS – Producing community-centered work in Harlem means honoring tradition while breaking new ground. How do you balance those two responsibilities in an evening like this?

While we’re paying homage to the way people enjoyed themselves during the Harlem Renaissance and traditional holiday celebrations, we encourage Harlem Holidays artists to include favorite music from their own repertoire, the work that moves them, making sure that each year’s concert is a fresh and unique experience that can only ever be experienced for one special night.

TS – CTH has been steadily expanding its definition of what “classical theatre” means in the 21st century. As you look at 2026, what new directions or innovations feel most urgent for the organization?

Earlier this very year, The Classical Theatre of Harlem launched the first iteration of a long-term project, a play called Memnon by Will Power that will be the first of a triptych of three plays we call The Aethiopes. Will has identified several characters from ancient Greek mythology with overlooked origins in Africa: Memnon, Medusa, Andromeda, and Telegonus, whose stories offer valuable new perspectives on otherwise very familiar legends. These are original plays using classical mythology, as well as the dramatic structure, and even poetic style of works by authors like Sophokles. There was a time when Memnon was as popular a character in the cultural consciousness as Achilles, with his own epic. According to the director of antiquities at The Getty Museum in Los Angeles, ours is the first artistic engagement with this character in over 2,000 years.

TS – You’re advancing a long-term vision for a dedicated performance and education space in Harlem. What progress or milestones can audiences expect to see next year on that front?

Our campaign for a permanent home is a long-term project, but we have begun securing leadership gifts towards the effort, and are in negotiations with the owners of several spaces around Harlem that would be ideal for cultural redevelopment. In the next year, we can anticipate the acquisition of additional significant grants as folks see that the project is picking up steam, as well as some more new trustees eager to make a difference in the neighborhood.

TS – CTH’s work sits at the intersection of artistic excellence and cultural stewardship. What do you most want audiences — especially new ones — to understand about how CTH imagines its next decade?

The story of The Classical Theatre of Harlem is one of thriving in tandem with our community. When we were the first live professional outdoor theatre to open following the pandemic, we saw our gathering in Marcus Garvey Park as a tool that can be leveraged for the economic advantage of the community. Today, CTH is the hub for dozens of institutional partnerships, with the Harlem Night Market and neighboring shops and restaurants bringing in additional $650,000 each July because we’re there. Just a few years ago, we played to a crowd of about 15,000, and our audiences have literally doubled to over 30,000. In addition to our uniquely Harlem approach to the classics, we’re now commissioning original work that drives the passion of our artists and captures the imaginations of our audience. With the support of our community, we can achieve a sustainable permanence for the classics in Harlem that stands to benefit students, residents, working artists, nightlife and tourism, shopkeepers and restaurateurs, and many, many more. In addition to The Aethiopes project that will continue to debut new work over the next five years, you can also expect productions of the classics that, like our A Midsummer Night’s Dream two summers ago, pay homage in one way or another to the Harlem Renaissance, now in its centennial. Visit cthnyc.org and find out more today.

Jack Quinn founded TheaterScene.net in 2001, nine days after surviving the 9/11 tragedy at Ground Zero. Seeking to focus on what’s great about New York rather than what had been lost, he built the site into one of the city’s longest-running theatre publications. Now in its 24th year, TheaterScene.net features the work of ten writers covering productions across the city, while Quinn’s own writing centers on the human stories behind the art — the quiet determination, humor, and heart that keep the New York “theater scene” alive.