This Hammer Can’t Kill Me: Paul Robeson, His Music and His Story

Hosted by HB Studio, artistic home to Uta Hagen, who played Desdemona to Paul Robeson’s Othello on Broadway, this public conversation with baritone James C Martin will explore Robeson’s lasting impact as artist and activist. It will examine Robeson’s political and artistic journey, and the sold-out 1958 Carnegie Hall concert that marked his comeback from 11 years on the political blacklist. Martin, and pianist-collaborator Lynn Raley, will share selections from Robeson’s repertoire, and from their critically acclaimed album, Wide As Heaven: A Century of Song By Black American Composers. Paul Robeson was trained as a lawyer; spoke Russian, German, a little Afrikaans and Chinese. He was a prominent civil rights leader in America, but also an active supporter of labor movements overseas. He appeared as an actor on international stages and on film, and he produced the longest-running Shakespeare production ever on Broadway, Othello, in which he starred. Note: On Sunday, September 27, the day before the conversation, Martin and Raley will give a concert tribute to Robeson at St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery. [image: Paul Robeson at Othello | James C Martin]