February 4 2017 – Lori Elliot, Marketing and Communications Manager for Opening Nights and John Anderson, Actor and Educator

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Opening Nights Performing Arts at Florida State University has a long, celebrated history of bringing some of the finest performers in the world to Tallahassee. This year is no exception with stars like Smokey Robinson, Lang Lang, and Lily Tomlin in the line up. Opening nights spokesperson Lori Elliott who serves as their marketing and communications manager will talk with Brien about this remarkable history and how efforts are being made to attract new audiences with even more diverse talent in the months ahead. Special attention will be given to the February schedule of performances. Lori is a graduate of FSU and serves on the boards of several community organizations.

To begin our month-long recognition of Black History month, we begin with an excerpt from Brien’s conversation with John Anderson, a local actor and educator who is well-known to audiences for his portrayal of Frederick Douglas. In this unique opportunity, Mr. Anderson provides us with insightful commentary from an historic perspective regarding the contributions of African Americans and provides his view of the current state of race relations in American culture.