Geoffrey Holder, the late great internationally known Trinidadian-American dancer/choreographer, reportedly said, “Darling, theatre artists never die. We just go on tour.”
And the indomitable Actress Vinie Burrows–she’s 95 years old–fits that description. She’s opening in January in the Off-Broadway play, “Love Stories,” a program of short plays adapted from works by Russian writers Checkov and Tolstoy.
Burrow’s lengthy and impressive resume includes Broadway productions of “Mandingo” (1961), “The Skin of Our Teeth” (1955) and “Green Pastures” (1951). She’s also been active in Off-Broadway shows such as her starring role in the 2014 production of Drama Desk Award winner playwright J.E. Franklin’s play, “To Break Every Yoke“ and the world premiere of “The Homecoming Queen”(2018).
She joined a cast which included such other stars as Cicely Tyson, Maya Angelou, and James Earl Jones in “The Blacks” which eventually became the longest-running non-musical of the 1960s. Admired by her peers, Vinie Burrow–with other recipients such as Andre De Shields and Shemekia Copeland won a 2018 Bistro Award.
As recently as the Summer of 2019, Ms. Burrows appeared as (Peaseblossom) in the production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre.
According to advance publicity the unflagging Ms. Burrows will appear from January 23-March 14, 2020 at Theatre Row on West 42nd Street, Manhattan. I, for one, intend to be in the audience to honor her countless contributions to the world of drama and the special ways she’s burnished the image of Blacks in modern American Theatre.
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The late great Dancer/Choreographer Geoffrey Holder
Living Legend Actress Vinie Burrows 95
Tony Award-winning Actor Andre De Shields poses with Ms. Burrows
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