FYI !!!
Tickets available Aug 1 but you can RSVP now which are highly suggested!
Reserved table for 4 $150 (includes food )
Reserved table for 6 $250 (food)
$25 individual gen admission ticket
Table options :Front room, middle/main rm with Dj and dance floor or patio.
Must be 30 and over !!! 
The Sundress, Seersuckers and Stilletos Affair” Is brought to you by The Theta Omega Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., This is the most anticipated event of the year!
This event will be held @The African American Heritage Center in Louisville, KY which includes both an indoor and outdoor space. The Louisville Ques have raised the bar for the summer by creating an experience you just can’t miss.
The relaxed yet chic and colorful atmosphere along with friends, great music and weather. The best part is it’s for a good cause supporting our Men Of Quality Mentoring program..
For tickets and more info on this event contact the event Chair Dee Muldrow at 502 500-1911
Featuring: LIVE music and sounds by ~ DJ Z N-Nyce ~ DJ Always _ Food Trucks ~ VIP Lounge ~ Cigar Bar and More 
“The focal point obviously is getting as many student athletes from the city of Louisville but also from the state of Kentucky to come out to this showcase to get in some early work.” A lot of kids wait until June football camps and that’s when they find out that they might need to get into the weight room or they might need to do more cone drills.” – Ryan MontgomeryMontgomery and Blackwell are aware that many college coaches travel to Ohio, Michigan, Alabama and Florida, in their quest of recruiting student-athletes. To reach most of these destinations requires traveling through the state of Kentucky – yet student-athletes from the Bluegrass State are rarely on their radar. Montgomery and Blackwell are hoping that this showcase, and future showcases, shed some light on the high school football talent in Kentucky.
“In the Midwest, Ohio runs the show because the pipeline for a lot of players runs through there. So a lot of coaches actually come through Ohio and then they might branch out. But if you look at the dynamics, from Ohio to Alabama to Florida – coaches have to pass through Kentucky. The biggest thing is that they are passing a lot of student-athletes within the state of Kentucky.” – Ryan MontgomeryDuring the showcase the student-athletes were exposed to combine style testing such as the shuttle and 40 yard dash – and were also given the opportunity to have fun competing against each other on the field.
Specialty coaches were in attendance to work with groups of student-athletes in specific areas such as Offensive Line, Defensive Line, Wide Receivers, Running Backs, Quarterbacks etc.
In addition, the showcase provided a parent recruiting seminar which informed parents about the truths of the college recruiting process.
Guest Speakers for the seminar were Curtis Blackwell, Dr. LaLisa Anthony (CEO of Building Lives Through Sports Network, former NFL consultant and current International consultant for the Bahamas and Jamaica) and Head Coach Thomas Wilcher of Detroit’s CassTech High School.
Uniquely, Anthony is also the mother of Ryan Montgomery, which allowed her to speak to parents about the recruiting aspect from an experienced mother’s standpoint.
“To be the honest with you, that’s the highlight of the whole showcase. Yes, you want the kids to get out there and let them enjoy their talents but the benefit is that a lot of parents in the state of Kentucky really don’t understand the recruiting process.” – Ryan MontgomeryAs a form of entertainment and community involvement – Louisville’s Taneka Bryant, of F3 Dance Chambers, brought out one of her dance teams to perform for the student-athletes during down time. During this showcase students were given contact information, websites and information about coaches and schools that can possibly assist them in becoming better student-athletes. The goal for everyone involved with this showcase is to use sports to build character, discipline and emphasize education within student-athletes, which will hopefully assist them in successfully attending college.
Suspense, Drama and Social Awareness took center stage at Leslie Pryor’s, latest theatrical production – entitled “Deception.” The entertaining, yet thought provoking, stage play captivated its sold out audience at Louisville’s Old Male Auditorium on Saturday February 2nd.
Stage plays by Leslie Pryor Productions typically center around social, entertainment and faith based cultures that exemplify the black experience in America today. Uniquely, the scripts are often written in a manner in which the plot addresses a serious social issue, while simultaneously leading the audience to an unexpected plot twist. Staying true to form – Deception followed that format verbatim.
For this outing, Pryor decides to tackle the conversation of HIV/AIDS awareness. The first act of Deception opens with a loving married couple who are having their faith tested.
Tyson and Victoria Jackson (played by Everett Ezell and LiAndrea Goatley) have been married for over a decade and have a teenage daughter together. Ms. Jackson was a virgin when she met her husband and has only been sexually intimate with him throughout the course of her life. However, Mr. Jackson has an extensive sexual background, prior to being married.
While participating in a HIV/AIDS awareness campaign at her church – Ms. Jackson decides to motivate others by getting tested – but never expects the results that she would soon receive.
Within a few weeks, a letter from the local Health Department arrives – informing the loving wife that her preliminary HIV/AIDS test is positive – and she needs to visit their office immediately, to undergo further testing.
Understandably, she is devastated. Believing that she has been infected by her husband – her emotions begin to roller-coaster from rage – to sadness – to disbelief. She eventually confronts her husband, who immediately denies having HIV/AIDS – but refuses to get tested. He considers her accusation and doubt of his faithfulness, to be an insult.
As their marriage is being tested – friends and relatives rally around the couple with support and advice. The next several scenes use humorous moments to address common fears and misinformation associated with HIV/AIDS.
Pryor brilliantly uses her characters, throughout the play, to educate the audience about the facts surrounding HIV/AIDS, as well as advocating the need to constantly “KNOW YOUR STATUS.
The message of “Practicing Safe Sex” and the importance of “Frequent Testing” is further conveyed through heart-warming faith-based ballads and hilarious dialogue between characters. Pryor does an excellent job at balancing education and entertainment.
As Deception begins to come to a close, Mr. Jackson finally decides to get tested. To everyone’s surprise – his test results are negative and it now appears that his wife may be hiding a few secrets. This is where the play takes one of Pryor’s classic plot twists.
After several suspenseful scenes, it is revealed that a long-time female admirer of Mr. Jackson – and member of his wife’s church – mailed a fake “positive result” letter to the couple, in hopes that it would result in their divorce. The audience gasps – as they never expected this to be the outcome.
As her “DECEPTION” is foiled – the admirer/stalker is immediately arrested and the Jackson’s begin repairing their marriage. Deception closes out its final scenes with more information about HIV/AIDS and further emphasizes the importance of practicing safe sex and frequent testing.
Two separate shows of Deception took place on Saturday Feb 2nd and Sunday Feb 3rd at the Old Male Auditorium.
Follow Leslie Pryor Productions LLC., for updates on future projects.
Photo Credits in this article: Rodney Pitts Photography and Krystal Rice.
“One time I was watching my sister’s dance coach’s husband – his name is DJ Deuce… I went to her dance competition and I was just looking at him – and was like, ‘I want to do this’… He told me everything I needed to get, so I called my daddy and told him that I want to be a Dj and he got me the stuff.” – DJ RichieIn support of his son’s dream – his father immediately went out and purchased the equipment his son requested but it would end up sitting around the house for another year because Richie didn’t know how to work the music board. Eventually he would begin to play around with the equipment and DJ’d his first gig at his godbrother’s Sweet Sixteen party. Richie admits that the event didn’t go well but it was all part of his learning process. At this time, he was only 12 years-old and still had plenty of room to grow. Since that time – he’s mastered his craft and has been booked for over 100 shows.
As he takes a look back over the past two years, Richie appreciates all the success he’s experienced but says that he will never forget the day that he got his first big break – by being asked to DJ a party by popular Louisville teen party promoter, Young Commercial a.k.a. YC.
“I DJ’d this Christmas Party for this dude named YC (Young Commercial) and after that, people have been looking at me ever since… Now every time he has big parties, he calls me but I’m also throwing parties for myself now so my followers and likes have been going up on Instagram.” – DJ RichieRichie’s mom, Tayvonda Page, has been very hands on and instrumental with his growth and transition from DJing as a hobby – to becoming a responsible entrepreneur.
After recognizing that her son’s popularity was growing in Louisville’s DJ community – it was her who suggested that he throw his own party, which resulted in the footage of the Swag Surfin’ viral video. By nature, her son is a very shy young man – so she stood in awe as she watched Richie transform into a confident “Showman”, once he hit the stage.
“At this point he had been doing a lot of other people’s parties. In one weekend, he had three gigs in a row… So he had earned a nice amount of money so I told him that it was time to throw his own party. He paid for the venue himself.. He paid for the flyer himself… He paid for security… He paid for everything… So I’m just trying to teach him how to make his money, make money for him.” – Tayvonda PageBeing that it was his first party, as an entrepreneur – Richie and his mother were hoping that 50-100 teens would be in attendance, for them to consider the event a success. Ms. Page was always confident that her son’s reputation was established enough to bring out a small crowd – but she had to consistently pep the young DJ up, because he was doubtful that anyone would even show up. After months of tedious planning – it was now “Party Day.” This success of this party, or lack of, would determine the fate of Richie’s new business venture. He was understandably nervous. This was a huge amount of pressure for a 14 year-old kid, from a college town that prides itself on throwing legendary parties. Louisville is the type of the city that doesn’t give party promoters second chances – it’s either do or die. Most promoters establish their reputations with their first event. If it’s a success – it will be the talk of the town. If it’s a failure – it will be the talk of the town. A failed party in Louisville is often accompanied by viral social media posts and pictures, ridiculing the empty venue. Richie and his mother would arrive at the venue early to set up and decorate. His father and grandmother would also come along for emotional support. The party was scheduled to start at 8pm. Ms. Page (Richie’s mom) would make a store run to grab some last-minute supplies before the party started. To her surprise, she would get a call from someone at the venue, informing her that a line of teen party-goers had formed outside. It was now just shortly past 7:00pm. At 7:45pm, there were now over 200 kids in line. When the doors opened at 8:00pm, there were 400 in attendance and by 9:13pm, the party was packed with 589 kids. Before the event would end at midnight, the occupancy had reached to over 750 teens. The party was a success!
From that moment on – DJ Richie was solidified as a professional DJ/Party Promoter. His mother now knew that she had to adjust his fees, as a hired DJ, accordingly. Since that first party, Richie has continued to elevate his craft, as well as his brand.
In the months following, things began to take off fast for the “In-demand” 14 year-old. Several veteran Louisville DJs, noticed Richie’s movement and reached out to offer him pointers and guidance.
Popular nightclub DJ, Lil Jerry passed down his moniker “The Youngest In Charge” to Richie. DJ Z- Nyce and DJ Deuce would become very instrumental in mentoring and opening doors for the up & coming youngster. As a result, DJ Richie would become a member of the prestigious Midwest DJ crew, The Elitegiance.
However, the highlight of his career thus far has been working with popular Louisville-based rapper Bblasian. Richie has been a huge Bblasian fan since he appeared on Louisville’s music scene a few years ago – and it’s been a dream of his to become his personal DJ.
On October 19, 2019, DJ Richie and Bblasian performed at the Drip Fest 2018, as an opening act for national recording artist Tekashi 6ix9ine at Louisville’s Diamonds Pub & Billiards. Making this performance even more special, was the fact that it commemorated DJ Richie’s 100th gig, as a professional DJ.
On Friday November 9, 2018, Richie and Bblasian will collaborate on stage once again, as they perform with Louisville native & national recording artist Jack Harlow, at a concert in Nashville, TN.
These days, it’s a bit of a challenge to book DJ Richie. The Central High School student, typically stays booked 2-3 months in advance – and when he’s not in school, he often has 2-3 shows booked per week. He’s living quite the life – for a 14 year-old.
DJ Richie’s next entrepreneurial event is: Rich Beatz Ent Presents: Friday Night Live: The Move Part 3 – Friday November 23rd – 8pm -12pm in Louisville. Location to be announced soon.
Follow DJ Richie on Instagram @_djrichie and Facebook @ DJ Richie 502
This is not your average youth theater company that focuses on child-themed, “cute” performances. These teens, ages 12-18, are trained to perform difficult roles typically played by adults. Bledsaw operates with a no-nonsense approach that is compassionate, yet firmly structured to encourage the teens to give their all once they get into character.
“The purpose of the Youth Repertory Group of Louisville is to expose young people to musical theater and other genres of music and to give them opportunities. For example, if they were to go to New York and audition on Broadway, there would never be a black Belle for Beauty and the Beast… There would never be a black Lumiere, so I wanted to start doing these productions that would give them opportunities to shine in roles that they would be passed over on Broadway.” – Erica BledsawFor many members of the company, performing in musicals has introduced them to different lifestyles and cultures that they otherwise would have never experienced. Although many of the musicals are fiction, they are often based on actual real-life cultural situations. Over the past few years, the Youth Repertory Group of Louisville has presented musicals such as Beauty and the Beast, Black Nativity and the Wiz. The company is currently holding its 8 week summer Performing Arts Camp at LCCC, which focuses on educating the youth on the aspects of musical theater. The camp places emphasis on acting, singing, stage managing, costume designing, set designing and light and sound engineering.
The camp will conclude with 8 performances of the musical Once On This Island which will take place at the Grand Lyric Theater, located at 1300 W. Muhammad Ali in Louisville.
“Once On This Island is kind of like a classic Romeo and Juliet story – only with black people who are dealing with colorism. It’s the fair-skinned blacks against the darker-skinned blacks and of course they are not supposed to come together and be with each other but Ti Moune falls in love with Daniel, who is of the fair-complexion, and his family, the Beauxhomme’s, don’t want that to happen.” – Erica Bledsaw15 year-old Christian Edwards has been singing since the age of two but found his passion for theater arts in middle school. Once becoming a member of the Youth Repertory Theater Troupe of Louisville he says that Ms. Bledsaw brought attributes out of him that he never knew existed. Edwards will play the role of Agwe in the upcoming performances of Once On This Island.
“I am Agwe, God of water. Agwe basically controls the water around the island and makes it rain a little bit. Being in musicals lets your imagination run wild, especially with this one being tropical island themed.” – Christian Edwards15 year-old Mariyah Martin is also ecstatic about her role as Osaka in the musical. Martin is a gifted singer who feels as though she and Osaka share some of the same personality traits.
“I play Osaka, Mother of the Earth. I’m the sassy diva of the musical. I grow the grass and the trees and I make everything flow. My favorite part is most definitely the singing. I love the singing part. I wrote my first song when I was two. It was called Elephant and a Saggy Dog.”- Mariyah MartinPerformances of Once On This Island will take place at the Grand Lyric Center, located at 1300 W. Muhammad Ali on: July 27th – 11AM & 7PM July 28th – 7PM July 29th – 2PM & 7PM August 3rd – 5th – 7PM
Purchase Tickets ($12 in advance – $15 at the door) @ LOUISVILLETICKETS.COM or
Contact Erica Bledsaw
502-583-8821
“Any event the Jamon Brown Foundation tries to put on for the kids will be free. This [Louisville] is where it started for me. The biggest thing for me is that I wanted to come back and give these kids a picture of, ‘If I work hard enough, I can do it”… Because I don’t know if the kids believe that they can come out of Louisville and they can make their dreams come true, so what I try to do is make myself visible and touchable, so they can see it – they can believe it – they can touch it – they can ask me any question… So that inspires them to chase their dreams.” – Jamon BrownThe football camp featured exercises and drills that allowed participants to experience the type of training they would likely encounter at all levels of football, if they decide to pursue the sport.
In addition, the event was sponsored by the Louisville Metro Police Foundation, who provided backpacks full of gifts for the youth, Kosair Charities and food was sponsored Chef’s Cut Pizzeria.
This was the second year that the Jamon Brown Foundation held a free football camp for the youth of Louisville. Last year’s camp took place at Fern Creek High School. Brown says that his foundation plans to bring the camp back every summer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOKMhjH1Khc 
Items such as Fruity Pebble, Captain Crunch and Oreo Frappés, break conventional coffee house norms – and instead focus on catering to those who don’t mind “drinking outside the box.” For the more traditional customer – fruit smoothies, coffee, tea, bagels, snacks and soups are available as well.
Owners Chelsea Ellis and artist “Sketch” Basel-Bibbs launched the official Grand Opening of M.A.F. on June 3, giving many members of Louisville’s art community, their first glance at a place that Ellis & Sketch hope they will utilize frequently.
“M.A.F. stands for music art and food, so we wanted a place to tie all of those three things together, where artists can come, be themselves, have a place to showcase their art (whether it’s music or visual arts)… so we just want to be the hub for that.” – Chelsea EllisThe creation of M.A.F. was a collective concept between Ellis and Sketch. Ellis is a young entrepreneur who has plans to invest a many different businesses. Sketch is a veteran artist who has decades of experience in the art world. After realizing that their strengths were beneficial to each other – the two decided to become business partners and bring a unique coffee drinking experience to the Highlands.
“I’ve been into art for 24 years and have been a tattoo artist for 10 years. We have a mixture of art in here right now. We have a few examples of Realism, we have a few examples of Extreme Abstract, we have some Wood Burnings, we have things that are glass blown, ceramics – but the art we showcase, depends on the artist. We have a fairly reasonable audit that you go through to get your art into the gallery.” – Sketch Basel-BibbsM.A.F. is located at 976 Barret Avenue and operates Mon-Fri from 8:00 am-8:00pm Mon-Sat (Closed Sunday). In addition to the coffee and art experience – the venue is also available for events and private parties.
“I’ve been doing music for about 7 or 8 years strong. I was about 19 and I did a song with D.J. Lil Carl. From there, the fans liked me so I’ve been doing it ever since. I recorded my first song (I Really Need You) in a closet with a headset microphone. I didn’t know what I was doing but that turned out to be a hit.” – Junior JAs Turning Me On began gaining traction within Louisville’s underground music scene – radio station 93.1FM added the record to its rotation. The popularity of that song eventually led to Junior J, opening for Lil Wayne, K Michelle & 2 Chainz at the 2018 Pre-Derby concert at Louisville’s Broadbent arena on May 3rd.
“This was the biggest concert I’ve ever done in my life. I’ve opened for Musiq Soulchild & Donell Jones, which were big, but this is the biggest concert I’ve ever done in my life and I’m so appreciative and humbled by it.” – Junior JAs the record steadily grows, the opportunity for more performances have presented themselves for the young singer. On Jun 15, Junior electrified the crowd at Vybe Entertainment’s Swim Wear & Lingerie Fashion Show held at Hotel Louisville. Turning Me On can be accessed on all digital streaming platforms and Junior J says that he has more music on the way for his fans in the near future. Follow Junior J @iam_juniorj on all social media sites.