This week's edition of UPFRONT Inside the Entertainment Industry features pop culture expert Xaviera Bryant, General Manager of ALLBLK and WEtv Brett Dismuke and jazz vocalist Tony Hightower.
Xaviera Bryant returns to UPFRONT this week to chat about the latest in Hollywood news. We'll be discussing the exciting casting news for the upcoming film adaptation of the Broadway musical, WICKED plus the reimagining of The Preacher's Wife and the new HBO docuseries Black and Missing. The four-part series airs on Tuesday, November 23 at 8 p.m. Xaviera Braynt is the CEO of the uberly popular entertainment website, Ice Cream Conversations.
The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) teamed up with ALLBLK and WEtv's Brett Dismuke as part of their recent "Shoot Your Shot Competition." Selected actors and actresses had the opportunity of a lifetime to audition for a role on the upcoming ALLBLK series West Philly Baby. The show is based on Colman Domingo's play DOT and focuses on an African American family who is coping with their elderly mother who is suffering from dementia. Dismuke talked to UPFRONT about the competition and returning to his ABFF roots.
Closing out the show is jazz vocalist Tony Hightower. He is back to chat about his new album, LEGACY. The project includes a bevy of original songs and remakes of jazz, R&B and soul music classics. The album is inspired by Tony's late mother and Atlanta Jazz icon Theresa Hightower.
UPFRONT is hosted and produced by Ray Cornelius for Jazz 91.9 WCLK and is recorded from the campus of Clark Atlanta University. The show is brought to you by the High Museum of Art.