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A groundbreaking theater production on gentrification by maverick of the NY underground theater, Dennis Leroy Kangalee.
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"EVEN MORE POWERFUL LIVE THAN IT WAS ON THE PAGE! WELL STAGED
BY NINA FLECK, THIS IS A STRONG MIX OF WORDS & MUSIC THAT
CREATES A DIFFERENT THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE...DENNIS LEROY
KANGALEE WILL BE FOUGHT EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, BUT HE ALREADY
KNOWS THIS."
- Reg E. Gaines, Downtown Urban Theater Festival Director
Tony-Award Nominated author of Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da
Funk
“A must-see for any true New Yorker!” WBAI’s Rise Up Radio
ABOUT GENTRIFIED MINDS
An urban horror story for our times, “Gentrified Minds” is one man’s primal scream
from the “transformed” sidewalks of New York City, an ode to the days before
obnoxious hipsters, Lady Gaga’s monsters and all other pop-culture perils turned
New York and its five boroughs into the sub-Urban incarnation it is today.
This powerful production sees Kangalee, through his misanthropic alter-ego the
Nomad Junkie, deliver an electrifying theatrical protest against the
suburbanization of New York City, the displacement of people of color, and the
corporatization of an entire generation. Blending a musical mish mash of punk, hip
hop and jazz, “Gentrified Minds” features original music of NYC punk band The
Children of Warhol, for which Kangalee is frontman.
Directed by Nina Fleck, this monologue is an apocalyptic vision of New York City that
has been usurped by greed, apathy, hipsters, real estate gangers, and atrocious
consumerism.
The show made its stage debut at the 9th
Annual Downtown Urban Theater Festival
on April 22nd
in New York City, and will begin an extended national run in the Fall.
ABOUT DENNIS LEROY KANGALEE
AKA “THE NOMAD JUNKIE”
Born and raised in New York City, Dennis Leroy Kangalee is an actor, filmmaker,
artist, musician and maverick of the New York Underground. A former director of
the National Black Theater and the Renaissance Repertory Theater Company, he
has collaborated with a number of artistic luminaries ranging from The Last Poets
to Paul Mooney.
Kangalee’s 2002 film “As an Act of Protest” became a cult classic, ultimately taking
him on tour across the country and abroad to Europe, where he lived for a number
of years.
Recently, he released the chapbook Lying Meat and will be releasing an LP with The
Children of Warhol this fall.
THE BUZZ (CLICK ON AN ICON FOR LINK)
leftyortega
felicific aberrance
How to tell if you are a “gentrified mind”
If you're living in what was or is supposed to be (by "American Popular Tradition) a poor
neighborhood, and your daddy pays your rent with his credit card, or you're a college kid who
doesn't want to be in the "suburbs" where he may have grown up, but prefers to emulate his hippy-
parents by slumming and living "poor" -- then you have a gentrified mind.
If you spend hundreds of dollars on vintage clothes and think everything is Oscar Wilde-meets
John Stewart and say "like" after every other word and smirk when you say "ghetto" -- then you
are gentrified.
If you work in Real Estate and only care about rich people, credit scores, and modern stainless
steel -- then you are gentrified.
If you believe in anything and everything the United States tells you, you are gentrified.
If you hold Pop Culture dearly, you are gentrified.
If you can't get that Landlords (not Bin Laden) are a terrorizing threat to city life, then you are
gentrified.
If you shop for shoes while someone is being beaten or arrested in front of you, then you are
gentrified.
If you believe in Corporate Cafes that serve overpriced coffee, then you are gentrified.
If you don't think there is something wrong with the fact that you live in an area with a community
theater that does NOT stage plays by, for, and with the people of that community, then you are
gentrified.
If you think everything is "cool" or "awesome" -- then you are gentrified.
If you're a person of color who repeatedly makes excuses why white people should be "allowed"
to do or live wherever they want, but don't make these concessions for your "own people" -- you
are gentrified (and seriously deluded).
If you don't see how Luxury Buildings being developed and constructed in "ghettos" are not
going to help any of the natives in those neighborhoods (most of which are black, Latino, etc.) --
and are only going to incite a furious resentment that no, once again, will address (until
Hollywood makes a movie about it) then you are gentrified.
If you think people shouldn't smoke in bars -- you are gentrified.
Contact us
Interested in bringing “gentrified minds” to your city? send an email to:
To schedule an interview with dennis leroy kangalee, contact:
