Black Cowboy Talks Scheduled in St. Landry, Lafayette Parishes Documentary T-Galop to Be Screened at Cite Des Arts

Black Cowboy Talks Scheduled in Acadiana
Feb. 1
5:30 p.m.
Washington Recreational Center
705 South Bridge St.
Washington, LA

Feb 2
6 p.m.
Maison Freetown
800 E. Vermilion St.
Lafayette, LA

February 4
1 pm.
St. Landry Parish Tourist Center
978 Interstate 49 South Service Rd
Exit 23
Opelousas, LA 

Lafayette, LA: Black Cowboys played a major role in the settlement of the American West and are a significant part of today’s south Louisiana culture. Theodore Foster, PhD ansd assistant professor of history and African American Studies at Benedictine University in Chicago, will give Black Cowboy Talks in the days leading up to the February 13 performance of Cross That River, a concert musical that tells the story of a runaway slave who became a Black Cowboy.

The first Black Cowboy Talk is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on February 1 at the Washington Recreational Center, located at 705 South Bridge St., in Washington, LA. The talks continue at 6 p.m. on February 2 at Maison Freetown, located at 800 E. Vermilion St. in Lafayette. At 1 p.m. on February 4, Foster will speak at the St. Landry Parish Tourist Center, located at 978 Interstate 49 South Service Rd at Exit 23, in Opelousas. These activities are free and open to the public.

At 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 9, PASA will screen T-Galop, Conni Castille’s documentary about Cajun and Creole Cowboys at Cite Des Arts, located at 109 Vine St. in downtown Lafayette. This event is also free and open to the public.

“At PASA, we are intent on giving our community insight into what we bring to our stage; to share what happens between the studio and the stage, and to pique—and respond to--the curiosity of our community,” says PASA executive director Jacqueline Lyle. “These studio-to-stage activities are free and we love it when our communities respond and turn out.”

The project also includes two daytime performances for Lafayette Parish School System students on February 14. Students and teachers receive classroom resources in advance of the performance. PASA’s daytime performances for students are supported by a generous grant from Love Our Schools.

The story of a run-away slave named Blue, who fled Louisiana for Texas, is at the heart of Cross That River, a musical play which will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, February 13 at the Heymann Performing Arts Center in Lafayette. Cross That River is part of the Performing Arts Serving of Acadiana’s (PASA’s) 2022-23 season. Tickets are available at the Heymann Performing Arts Center box office and at www.pasaonline.org.

Cross That River takes audiences on a powerful musical journey that represents a significant moment in American history when Black cowboys lived and helped settle the West. It’s a story that’s not been told before in this way.

In the concert musical, the unsettled West of the 1860s provides a new life and new dreams for Blue, a run-away slave, who escapes from slavery to Texas to become one of America’s first Black cowboys. This compelling tale of freedom integrates fiction with historical fact, and each song presents a different page in this complicated chapter of American History.

In addition to national touring, Cross That River will launch a four-week Off-Broadway run in September 2023.

Award winning jazz musician Allan Harris, who enjoys a prolific career on the stages of jazz clubs and concert halls around the world, wrote Cross that River to tell this untold story of the Black West and to empower all Americans with an inspiring tale of hope and freedom.

The cast of Cross That River includes vocalists who portray the roles of the story’s characters, a band which includes guitar, violin, keyboard, guitar, bass and drums, creating a rich tapestry onto which the impressive vocalists weave this inspiring story.

The word “river” in literature often suggests an adventure; think of Huckleberry Finn and his journey on the Mississippi. The river in Cross That River symbolizes the removal of a slave’s chains; to cross that river is to cross from bondage to freedom. Blue’s journey is not without its trials and tribulations but his story is ultimately one of hope.

PASA’s Cross That River project is sponsored by Kinchen Funeral Home and Meritus Credit Union. PASA also received additional support through grants from the Louisiana Division of the Arts and Lafayette Consolidated Government, both administered by the Acadiana Center for the Arts, as well as a grant from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation.

For more information about Cross That River and to find out how you can be a part of the PASA family, contact the PASA office at 337-769-3231 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Allan Harris—the Brooklyn-born and now Harlem-based vocalist/ guitarist/bandleader/composer--has reigned supreme as one of the most accomplished and exceptional singers of his generation. A natural entertainer, Harris’s dynamic stage presence has made him a main-stay in concert halls, theaters, jazz clubs and jazz festivals around the world. He has been called a “protean talent" by the New York Times and has established himself as one of the jazz world's most acclaimed vocalists, with a potent combination of dynamic vocal abilities, impeccable phrasing, and powerful emotional resonance. Heralded by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Glide Magazine, Jazz Times, DownBeat, and Vintage Guitar, Harris is a real story teller through authentic interpretations of the American Songbook, classic and contemporary jazz, popular standards, blues and originals. Aptly described by the Miami Herald as an artist blessed with, “the warmth of Tony Bennett, the bite and rhythmic sense of Sinatra, and the sly elegance of Nat ‘King' Cole,” the ample evidence of Allan Harris’s moving and magisterial artistry can be heard on his 14 recordings as a leader; his far-flung and critically-acclaimed concerts around the world, and his numerous awards, which include the New York Nightlife Award for “Outstanding Jazz Vocalist,” the Backstage Bistro Award for “ Ongoing Achievement in Jazz,” the DownBeat Critic’s Poll Award for “Rising Star Jazz Vocalist,” the Hot House Jazz Magazine "Jazz Vocalist of the Year Award” two years running, and the Harlem Speaks “Jazz Museum of Harlem Award,” a Back Stage Bistro award for "Ongoing Achievement in Jazz," and France's Palmares Award in 2019. Harris has received prestigious grants from Chamber Music America, Pathways to Jazz and South Arts. He is a recent winner in the Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition.

Press Release

About PASA: Performing Arts Serving Acadiana offers performing arts entertainment, focusing on dance, theater, and classical music, with occasional forays into other genres. PASA also delivers performing arts activities—master classes, workshops, lecture demonstrations and other offerings—in a variety of locations in the Acadiana area. 

For more information about PASA’s comeback or any of the performances, call PASA at (337) 781-1273 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Family and friends of Tuskegee Airmen asked to share photos and brief histories

Lafayette, LA: Performing Arts Serving Acadiana (PASA) is asking for families and friends of any military veteran who took part in the Tuskegee Airmen program or was affiliated with their service to participate in its Black Angels Over Tuskegee project by submitting any photos and brief histories about their relative or friend.

“PASA’s presentation of Layon Gray’s award winning play, Black Angels Over Tuskegee, and series of Tuskegee Airmen lectures by Dr. Theodore Foster uses the humanities as an exciting way of connecting the past to the present,” says Jacqueline Lyle, PASA’s executive director. “We will ethically center any images or histories collected as part of this project honoring and celebrating these contributions.”

PASA plans to make these photos and stories available through its social media platforms, in video streams, and in other public posts.

Submissions of scanned photos attached in jpg format and histories as email text can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If it is not possible to email photos or stories, contact PASA at 337-230- 7016 for assistance.

The acclaimed drama Black Angels Over Tuskegee, written and directed by Layon Gray, arrives in Lafayette for one performance at 7:30 p.m. on March 31, 2022 at the Heymann Performing Arts Center in Lafayette, LA, as part of Performing Arts Serving Acadiana’s (PASA’s) on-going schedule. The performance was originally scheduled in January and was rescheduled due to COVID concerns.

Originally opened in Los Angeles in 2009, Black Angels Over Tuskegee transferred to New York opening off Broadway. This award-winning, historical docudrama is the story of six men embarking upon a journey to become the first Black aviators in the United States Army Air Forces in an era of racial segregation and Jim Crow idealism.

Layon Gray, a native of Alexandria, LA, graduated from the University of Louisiana Lafayette in 1996 (then USL), is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and was active in the local theater scene in proceeding years. He moved to Los Angeles and his professional career took off.

He developed Black Angels Over Tuskegee, using his own interviews with Tuskegee Airmen and other research.

“Some plays teach, others celebrate, and a few simply entertain. Black Angels Over Tuskegee manages to do all three and one thing more: It inspires,” says Backstage Magazine about this important drama.

One of the longest-running Off-Broadway productions, Black Angels Over Tuskegee movingly illustrates how the men unite in brotherhood to achieve a communal vision.

Commonly referred to as the Tuskegee Airmen, these men came together to participate in the Army Air Corps program, which sought to train and prepare African-Americans to fly and maintain combat aircraft. The group included pilots, navigators, bombardiers, maintenance, instructors and support staff personnel who were charged with keeping the planes operable and in the air. The Tuskegee Airman conquered isolation and prejudice to become one of the most highly respected fighter groups of World War II, forming the 99th Pursuit Squadron. They proved conclusively that African-Americans could fly and maintain sophisticated combat aircraft. The achievements of the Tuskegee Airmen paved the way for full integration of the U.S. military.

The Black Angels Over Tuskegee performance and project activities are sponsored, in part, by Ochsner Lafayette General, Clarion Pointe, Kinchen Funeral Home and Oats & Marino, LLC.

“As a leader in providing quality of life in Acadiana, Ochsner Lafayette General believes that the public performance of Black Angels Over Tuskegee will allow the community to collectively gather and gain a unique perspective into the historical legacy of the Tuskegee Airman, which has and will continue to empower and educate all of us,” says Tonya Bolden-Ball, Regional Director of Diversity & Inclusion for Ochsner Lafayette General.

“This performance is an unusual opportunity to examine an era of American history, the important role that Black soldiers played in World War II, and to celebrate the talent that has blossomed from the University of Louisiana and from our local theater community,” says PASA executive director Jacqueline Lyle. “We hope that veterans, drama fans and people of all ages who are fans of live entertainment will join us on January 20 for this performance.”

In addition to the public, Theodore Foster, PhD, Associate Professor of Black Studies at the University of Louisiana Lafayette will give two public Tuskegee Airmen lectures: one at 6 p.m. on March 24 at the Washington Recreation Center, 705 South Bridge Street, in Washington, LA, and the second at 6 p.m. on April 4 in Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic Church’s Jeanmard Hall on the University of Louisiana campus.

“We hope to connect, also, with any surviving Tuskegee Airmen in our region,” says Lyle. She can be reached by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by calling (337) 781-1273.

This project is supported by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, as administered by the Acadiana Center for the Arts, and an Enterprise Fund grant from Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment of the Arts.

COVID protections may be in place at the performance and all lectures. Proof of vaccine and/or masks worn properly may be required. Failure to comply may result in no entry and not refund.

Tickets for Black Angels Over Tuskegee are available at www.pasaonline.org.  A Family & Friends 4-Pack, priced at $100, is available in every seating area, from the first row to the last. Additional ticket fees and other charges will apply and will vary, based on the method of purchase. The most economical ticket fees are available through in-person purchase at the Heymann Center Box Office. Box office hours are 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Mondays. The box office is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

Tickets are also available by phone at the Heymann Performing Arts Center box office (337) 291-5555, other TicketMaster outlets, as well as ticketmaster.com or by phone at TicketMaster’s 24-hour line (337) 262-7597.

About Layon Gray: Layon Gray is uniquely tied to Lafayette. A member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. , he graduated from the University of Louisiana Lafayette in 1996 (then USL) and was active in the local theater scene in proceeding years. He moved to Los Angeles and his professional career took off.

He developed Black Angels Over Tuskegee, using his own interviews with Tuskegee Airmen and other research.

Gray brought Black Angels Over Tuskegee to New York in where it ran for 12 seasons before it closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The production has traveled the globe and is now back on the road.

Layon Gray is a theatrical artist whose work captivates audiences. He has spent more than two decades writing, directing and developing stage plays and films that reflect a wide array of African-American cultural movements, creating new paradigms for the stage and motion picture industry.

He founded Layon Gray Enterprises, a privately-held theater company, which has become one of the entertainment industry’s leading independent companies and a veritable theatre box office force.  Gray quickly became one of Los Angeles’ premiere playwrights, earning more than 60 nomination and awards for his works. Among the honors are: the  2018  Carbonell Awards (Best Director, Best Ensemble, Best Production)  2016 Broadway League Fellowship honor, 2012 NYC Inspire Award, 2012, Al Sharpton Man of Vision Award, 2012 PCTF Award (Best Director) 2010 NY AUDELCO Award (Achievement Award for Excellence); 2009 NAACP Award (Best Ensemble Award); 2009 Hollywood ADA Award (Best Ensemble Award); 2008 MATCHLIFE Artist of the Year; 2007 NAACP Award (Best Producer, Best Play); 2007 MITF Award (Best Play, Best Writer, Best Director, Best Producer); 2006 NAACP Award (Best Play); 2005 Hollywood ADA Award (Best Play); 2004. Hollywood ADA Award (Best Play, Best Writer, Best Director); and 2003 Los Angeles MADDY Award (Best Play, Best Writer, Best Director, Best Ensemble).

About PASA: Performing Arts Serving Acadiana offers performing arts entertainment, focusing on dance, theater, and classical music, with occasional forays into other genres. PASA also delivers performing arts activities—master classes, workshops, lecture demonstrations and other offerings—in a variety of locations in the Acadiana area.

For more information about PASA’s comeback or any of the performances, call PASA at (337) 781-1273 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Opera Star André Courville and Sweet Cecilia Pair Up for Holiday Concert December 1

PASA Brings Local Favorites Together for the First Time

Lafayette, LA: It will be a unique night of music when international opera star André Courville and the high harmony family trio Sweet Cecilia come together for a one-of-a-kind holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 1 at the Heymann Performing Arts Center in Lafayette, LA. The performance is part of Performing Arts Serving Acadiana’s (PASA’s) 22-23 season. Tickets are available at www.pasaonline.org or at the Heymann Center box office. 

The idea for this pairing bubbled up during an off-topic conversation between Courville and PASA Executive Director Jackie Lyle. 

Courville and the Sweet Cecilia trio of Laura Huval, Maegan Berard and Callie Guidry were all childhood pals who are now beloved music performers. Courville suggested that the four friends had long wanted to perform together and that only the real point at which their musical genres crossed over was holiday music. 

The thought need merely to have been expressed for PASA to have jumped on it. The deal was quickly done, the date was set and the idea grew and swelled. On December 1, Courville and Sweet Cecilia will be joined on stage by an 11-piece string ensemble, with orchestrations by Danny Devillier. 

“With Andre’s musical vision and creative staging, this will be a musically exceptional and fun concert,” says Lyle. “We’ve certainly had fun putting it together, and yes, it will be a night divine!” 

“PASA’s mission includes offering paid performance opportunities for artists living in our area and this concert certainly fulfills that component!” says Lyle. “We will have a stage full of area musicians, as well as the contributions of Danny Devillier, who has been leaving his talented imprint on our community for a very long time.” 

“Our corporate sponsors for this performance—Sterling Automotive Group, Hancock Whitney, and Latter & Blum—all loved the idea of this concert,” says Lyle. 

The Grammy-nominated band Sweet Cecilia is a family trio from Cecilia, LA. Their music is deeply rooted in country, rock, folk, and Cajun influences. Their three-part harmony is rich and sultry. The three women are accomplished vocalists and musicians, as well as master songwriters. Sweet Cecilia was formally created in 2012; however, sisters Laura Huval and Maegan Berard, along with their first cousin, Callie Guidry, have been singing and making music together since childhood. Their late father and uncle Al Berard--a singer/songwriter/musician--encouraged the three young girls to pursue music. 2 

Sweet Cecilia’s music is fresh and modern, at the same time it holds on to the musical roots and traditions around which they were raised. 

Bass-baritone André Courville is a star on opera stages throughout the world. His voice has been called “jaw-dropping”, “supercharged”, “splendid”, and “lush” by Opera News, “warm” and “rich” by The Washington Post, and “imposing” by The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Courville saw his future on the opera stage when, as a teenager, he attended a PASA performance that featured the Stanislavsky Opera. 

His recent and upcoming engagements with some of the most celebrated companies in Europe, Asia, and America include debuts at Zurich Opera in Switzerland; Opéra National de Bordeaux, Opéra de Rouen Normandie, and Opéra de Limoges in France; Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Italy; Karlsruhe’s Badisches Staatstheater in Germany; the Moscow Philharmonic at Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Russia; Guangzhou Opera in China; Houston Grand Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Arizona Opera, Kentucky Opera, Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Berkshire Opera Festival, Caramoor Music Festival, and Opera Lafayette in New York City and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, among others. 

He has also appeared at Carnegie Hall numerous times since his debut there with Opera Orchestra of New York. Trained at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, the Cecilia, Louisiana native has been honored with the ABC Fund's Rising Star ICON Award. He is also the recipient of top awards in eight national and international vocal competitions, including First Prize in Los Angeles’s Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition and Top Prize in New York City’s Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition. 

“André Courville is in high demand because of his powerful stage presence and incredible talent. For those who love opera already, this is no surprise,” says Lyle. “For those who don’t follow classical music or opera, our December 1 concert is a chance to get hooked on this guy’s talent.” 

In addition to the public performance on December 1, André Courville and Sweet Cecilia will also perform for Lafayette Parish School System seventh graders on November 30 in a PASA Daytime Performance for Students. 

Tickets are available now for the December 1 performance by André Courville and Sweet Cecilia at www.pasaonline.org or at the Heymann Center box office. The box office phone number is 337-291-5555 and box office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. 

For more information, call PASA at 337-769-3231 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

About PASA: Performing Arts Serving Acadiana offers performing arts entertainment, focusing on dance, theater, and classical music, with occasional forays into other genres. PASA also delivers performing arts activities—master classes, workshops, lecture demonstrations and other offerings—in a variety of locations in the Acadiana area. 

For more information about PASA’s comeback or any of the performances, call PASA at (337) 781-1273 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Argentina’s Champion Tango Dancers and Talented Musicians

Lafayette, LA: International tango superstar German Cornejo’s dance troupe The Tango Fire Company of Buenos Aires—a true global phenomenon and the world’s leading tango company-- arrives on stage at 7:30 p.m. on February 8 at the Heymann Performing Arts Center. The performance is part of Performing Arts Serving Acadiana’s (PASA’s) 21-22 schedule.

Tango icons Cornejo and his partner Gisela Galeassi will be joined by a cast of extraordinary couples, including several World Tango Champions and the best dancers from Buenos Aires’ famous tango houses. Each couple in the company is chosen for their individual style and interpretation of tango. Tango Fire encompasses dancing which sizzles with sensuality, accompanied by the unforgettable music of the great tango masters, including Piazzolla, Pugliese and Gardel, evoking the intoxicating passion of late night Buenos Aires.

With multiple sell-out performances around the globe over the past 11 years and a YouTube audience in excess of 20 million people worldwide, German Cornejo’s extraordinary choreography and vision has captured the world’s imagination.

Joining the dancers will be an ensemble of four of Argentina’s finest young musicians. All virtuosos in their own right, the quartet powerhouse is an emotive element in an intricate and symbiotic relationship between music, sensuality of dance and the poetry of song, which is Argentine tango.

“We have all seen tango from time to time in movies and on television. Morticia and Gomez tangoed in the Addams Family. Many have seen tango in Scent of a Woman, starring Al Pacino; in the movie and Broadway show Chicago; in a Chase bank commercial, and in the “Tango Maureen” scene in Rent,” says PASA executive director Jacqueline Lyle. “Now, we can see tango in its own starring role. There is nothing quite like tango dance, unless it is tango with live music, which will all be on stage together for Tango Fire,”

Tango Fire is sponsored by Lee Michael’s.

As one of the world’s most popular dance forms, this exhilarating show combines the rawness and sophistication, with the seductive and sultry side of Tango, evoking the intoxicating passion of late-night Buenos Aires.

The outstanding cast including World Tango Champions and dancers from the greatest tango houses in Buenos Aires joins tango master, German Cornejo and his amazingly sensuous and passionate partner Gisela Galeassi. All of this coupled with German Cornejo’s sublime choreography, makes Tango Fire a show not to be missed.

The Tango Fire Company of Buenos Aires was conceived in 2005 and premiered in Singapore at The Esplanade. In that same year, the show was presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it received rave reviews, resulting in engagements in the world’s most prestigious venues and has toured the globally over the past 11 years.

Tickets for Tango Fire are available on Ticket Master. A Family & Friends 4-Pack, priced at $100, is available in every seating area, from the first row to the last. Additional ticket fees and other charges will apply and will vary, based on the method of purchase. The most economical ticket fees are available through in-person purchase at the Heymann Center Box Office. Box office hours are 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Mondays. The box office is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

Tickets are also available by phone at the Heymann Performing Arts Center box office (337) 291-5555, at other TicketMaster outlets, as well as at ticketmaster.com or by phone at TicketMaster’s 24-hour line (337) 262-7597. COVID protections will be in place at the performance of Tango Fire. Proof of vaccine and/or masks worn properly may be required. Failure to comply may result in no entry and no refund.

For more information about PASA or any of the performances, call PASA at (337) 781-1273 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

About Tango Fire

Tango master Germán Cornejo and his extraordinary partner Gisela Galeassi have been performing together since 2010. They have mastered the skills of Argentine tango whilst in the company of Argentina’s most respected teachers, extending the boundaries of tango by incorporating classical dance, contemporary dance, jazz, ballet and acrobatics. Germán and Gisela became World Tango Champions in 2005 and 2003 respectively, and have collectively won forty gold medals at national tango competitions. Their performances have received critical acclaim all over the world performing in the USA, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Since its formation in 2005, Tango Fire has become a worldwide phenomenon and the leading tango company. With sell-out performances, a YouTube audience of over 20 million and a legion of fans across the globe, Tango Fire brings this dynamic genre of dance to life. Under the choreographic brilliance of lead dancer Germán Cornejo, Tango Fire gives the audience Argentine tango at its best.

About PASA

Performing Arts Serving Acadiana offers performing arts entertainment, focusing on dance, theater, and classical music, with occasional forays into other genres. PASA also delivers performing arts activities—master classes, workshops, lecture demonstrations and other offerings—in a variety of locations in the Acadiana area.