Screening & Discussion: Until, Until, Until...

On the occasion of Edgar Arceneaux’s exhibition Library of Black Lies, the Henry Art Gallery is partnering with LANGSTON for a special screening and panel discussion at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute. As a Gurvich visiting artist, Arceneaux will present the film of his play Until, Until, Until… (2015) which investigates the infamous 1981 performance of Broadway legend Ben Vereen, televised nationally as part of Ronald Regan’s inaugural celebration. Intended as an homage to vaudevillian Bert Williams—America’s first mainstream Black entertainer—the final five minutes of the performance were censored for the television audience, causing Vereen’s biting commentary on the history of segregation and racist stereotypes in performance to be lost on viewers at home. Until, Until, Until… is based on the footage that never aired that night. Originally commissioned by Performa New York, the work is a mise-en-scene of the inaugural party, foregrounding the past and illuminating the