ENTERTAINMENT
QUEEN OF
KINGS
Hail the queen: Legendary gospel queen Patti LaBelle opened the 2019 season of Celebrate Brooklyn in
Prospect Park. Photo by Trey Pentecost
Caribbean L BQ ife, June 7–13, 2019 57
By Colin Mixson
She was LaBelle of the ball!
Brooklyn music fans endured
long waits to join legendary gospel
crooner Patti LaBelle as she reigned
in the Bric Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival
at the Prospect Park Bandshell
Tuesday night.
The line to get into the free
summer-concert opener started
at the meadow’s music hall near
Ninth Street, and stretched for six
blocks through Brooklyn’s Backyard
past the Bartell-Pritchard Square
Entrance and right onto the sidewalk!
But it’s not every day you get to
see an American icon in action,
according to one Ditmas Park man,
who said the chance to see LaBelle
was worth any wait.
“You don’t want a situation
where you miss a chance to see
Patti LaBelle,” said Tunga Takavarasha,
who brought wife Abie,
and 4-month-old son Tadi. “I mean,
she’s a legend.”
The concert opened with a fairly
drab succession of speeches from
speakers, including Bric President
Kristina Newman-Scottand, First
Lady Chirlane McCray, Park Slope
Councilman Brad Lander, and
Council Majority Leader Laurie
Cumbo, which tested the crowd’s
patience, and at one point audience
members erupted in chants of
“Patti, Patti, Patti,” as the big shots
dragged on.
Finally, the gospel queen emerged
on stage at around 8:30 pm, intro-
Continued on Page 58
Ernie Smith.
By Aubrey Campbell
Braata Productions will open its
anniversary celebration year with the
Bankra Caribbean Folk Festival, on Saturday
June 8, at the St. Albans Park,
169 Street & Merrick Blvd., in Queens.
Billed as the biggest Caribbean Folk
Culture festival in New York, the family
friendly event will be headlined by one
of Jamaica’s extraordinary balladeers,
Ernie Smith and the Braata Folk Singers.
Continued on Page 58
One of the most legendary groups
in pop / R&B history will return to the
stage this Spring — with an explosive
new twist: New Edition’s Ronnie DeVoe,
Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell, and Michael
Bivins are joining forces once again
as RBRM. The iconic, multi-platinum
performers are bringing the RBRM- 4
The Love Of It Tour to Brooklyn’s Kings
Theatre on Saturday, June 8.
Showcasing the pop/ R&B trailblazers
as never before, RBRM-4 The
Love Of It brings the artists’ legendary
41-year careers to life in a whole new
way. The record-shattering catalogue of
hits audiences know and love from New
Edition, BBD, and their individual solo
acts are remixed, reimagined, and reinvigorated
on stage, giving fans a fresh
take on their timeless favorites.
Continued on Page 58
FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT, GO TO CARIBBEANLIFENEWS.COM/ENTERTAINMENT
Bankra Folk
Festival
RBRM at
Kings Theatre
een:ark. Patti LaBelle reigned in Bric Festival
/ENTERTAINMENT
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