Welcome to "The Sights + Sounds Show with Jeneé Darden." Where every week we tap into the Bay Area's arts scene and bring you rich conversations with artists. On today’s show, we pay homage to the late D’Wayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Tone!, then the San Francisco Ballet is getting ready for their production of “Frankenstein,” and why an Oakland author wanted to write a children's book about “Star Trek’s” Nichelle Nichols – who by the way was also a ballet dancer.
Queen Iminah
The music world and the Bay Area are still grieving the passing of D’Wayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Tone! A few weeks ago, the group posted on Facebook that Wiggins died from bladder cancer. He was 64. Tony! Toni! Tone! formed their R&B/funk trio in 1986 in Oakland. Over the years, they have given us great songs like “Anniversary,” “Whatever you Want,” “It Feels Good,” and “Slow Wine.” Wiggins was a producer, composer, entrepreneur and, he mentored people like Oakland artist Queen Iminah. She toured with Tony! Toni! Tone! here in the U.S. and in Africa. The music you hear in the interview is her song “Osun” and it features D’Wayne Wiggins. Queen Iminah performs afrobeats, among other genres of music. She’s also an educator and Goodwill Ambassador. In this interview she shares her memories of Wiggins.
Tamara Rojo
English novelist Mary Shelley was just 19 years old when she finished writing the novel “Frankenstein" more than 200 years ago. The iconic horror story has been told in many iterations –including ballet. The San Francisco Ballet's production of “Frankenstein” opens tomorrow. Tamara Rojo is the Artistic Director of the San Francisco Ballet. A few years ago, she became the first woman to lead the company. Their production of “Frankenstein” runs through March 26. If you miss those dates, they’ll return for an encore run from April 26 to May 4.
Angela Dalton
“Hailing Frequencies Open captain.”
Fans of “Star Trek: The Original Series” are familiar with this line said by Lt. Uhura. The legendary actress Nichelle Nichols portrayed the communications officer on the ‘60s show and in “Star Trek” films. That role not only changed Ms. Nichols’ life. She inspired Black people, people of color and women to go into science. Back then, she was one of the few Black women on screen not playing stereotypical roles like a maid. Still she faced many challenges due to racism and sexism, but overcame them. Angela Dalton is a children’s-book author based in Oakland. Her book is "To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights."
