Play Date:AphroChic Magazine Hosted A Group of Creatives at the Bedford Playhouse
Photos by Chinasa Cooper. Originally published in AphroChic magazine Issue 3, Spring 2020.
On a beautiful day, with a hint of spring in the air, a group of New York City creatives gathered at the historic Bedford Playhouse in Westchester County, NY. The goal of the gathering was simple - to celebrate artistry, the creative spirit, and community. The Bedford Playhouse was the perfect backdrop for the afternoon. Once a struggling movie theater, it was saved by a community of entertainment industry artists, many with New York City roots.
Named for Clive Davis, the musical star-maker who signed everyone from Aretha Franklin and Earth Wind and Fire to Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys - as well as helping to create LaFace Records and Bad Boy - the fully renovated not-for-profit theater is known for hosting to a variety of live events, performances, and gatherings just like this one. A full roster of new and classic films are shown daily in a place where ingenuity is celebrated.
On this day, guests gathered in the green room, a beautifully designed, emerald-walled suite, reserved for performers and ce- lebrities, and sponsored in part by Thermador. On the guest list for the afternoon: actors Curtiss Cook Jr. and Mirirai Sithole; Tiana Webb Evans of the digital journal, Yard Concept; Guka Evans of The Bruknahm Project; Kalyn Chandler of Effie’s Paper with her husband Todd, a retired corporate lawyer; and design-maven Kim Myles and her husband Scott, who works for Disney.
The playhouses’ executive chef, Keelin Maniscalco, prepared a menu of items sourced from the local area. Home to dozens of farms and farmers markets, the menu included an assortment of sustainable goodies, including a green goddess dressing that the chef had prepared that morning. An assortment of wines from the McBride Sisters were paired with the afternoon meal. Most popular, the Black Girl Magic rosé, chilled overnight in Ther- mador’s wine fridge, just one of the many items from the luxury kitchen brand that was featured in the space.
As the afternoon went on, the group gathered around the table having an in-depth conversation on what it is to be a creative person in this world and live an exceptional life. Some of the questions posed: What is exceptional to you? What is exceptional about you? What makes a moment, or a day, or a life stand out as something special? What are the simple, quiet things - past what’s on your Instagram feed - that make you like no one else on earth?
“It’s hard to say what’s exceptional about yourself,” remarked Tiana, “it just goes against all of the humility that’s been baked into your personality.” She continued, “Take out the idea that you have to buy something to live exceptionally, you have to wear something, you have to be something else.” Todd added, “I think the way to think about that is, What’s exceptional for you? So when you’re saying what’s exceptional to your own life, it’s not being negative with respect to anyone else’s way of living or thinking.”
The conversation continued into the evening. The night ending with a clinking of glasses. Not rose-colored, but beautiful- ly vibrant pieces handmade by artisans from the South Carolina brand, Estelle Colored Glass.
In a world where everyone is so busy and distracted, it’s rare to find space to come together to recognize each other, contem- plate together and have a meaningful discussion. But for one afternoon in Bedford, New York, eight creatives gathered and did just that, truly experiencing a day of living exceptionally.
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