BOSTON (November 16, 2020) — Stories from the Stage, GBH WORLD Channel’s award-winning original series featuring ordinary people telling extraordinary stories, will air a national, 24-hour marathon of unforgettable multicultural stories from around the world on Thanksgiving weekend. The marathon includes the premiere of two new episodes - Growing Up Black and Pride as well as the Can’t-Miss Stories from the Stage Pledge Special. The Stories from the Stage marathon begins on WORLD Channel on Saturday, November 28 at 8 pm ET and runs through Sunday, November 29 at 8 pm ET.
Viewers can also watch a 24-hour live stream on the WORLD Channel and Stories from the Stage YouTube pages. Series hosts, humorists, and storytellers Theresa Okokon and Wes Hazard will join the live stream to comment and engage with viewers during the primetime episodes.
The Stories from the Stage marathon will give viewers a chance to take a deep dive into a series dedicated to bringing human stories and diverse perspectives to American homes. Each 30-minute episode features three storytellers sharing their stories - some humorous, some poignant - related to the episode's unifying theme.
“What better way to understand someone else’s perspective than hearing a true story from the heart?” said Patricia Alvarado Núñez, co-executive producer for Stories from the Stage at GBH in Boston. “This Thanksgiving weekend families and friends can gather virtually to discover and discuss moments of joy and inspiration from people they might not have a chance to meet otherwise. We’re especially proud to premiere Growing Up Black and Pride, which were taped in the homes of courageous tellers willing to share their stories when social distancing measures were mandated.”
Premiering Episodes
As studio production shut down due to COVID-19, Stories from the Stage switched to at-home recordings with storytellers from across the country. The resulting episodes, Growing Up Black and Pride, will premiere during the marathon on Saturday, November 28 at 9 pm and 9:30 pm ET respectively.
In Growing Up Black, storytellers share personal memories of childhood in a nation too often divided by race. Trapped in an overturned shopping cart and bullied by a group of white children, Ben Cunningham finds out he is not alone; as a white mother, Sue Schmidt shares the realities of raising two Black babies from boyhood to manhood; and Angie Chatman tells us about a frightening childhood encounter with a policeman. The episode is hosted by Wes Hazard.
In Pride, Palestinian Muslim comic Eman El-Husseini comes out to her parents and discovers that humor helps; April Hartford shares the relief and redemption of living an authentic life, and Jay Vilar comes out to his family and gets a surprising reaction from his grandmother. The episode is hosted by Theresa Okokon.
Stories from the Stage is a collaboration of WORLD Channel, GBH Events, and Tell&Act. Showcasing the communal art form of storytelling, the series reflects WORLD Channel’s commitment to bringing fresh, important voices and relevant stories to public media audiences on all platforms while reflecting the diversity and humanity of modern America and the global community.
Stories from the Stage also will be expanding into podcasting beginning December 1, 2020 with a ten-episode series. The Stories from the Stage podcast, hosted by series executive producers and co-creators Patricia Alvarado Núñez and Liz Cheng, will feature some of the program’s most memorable stories, as well as some “next chapter” moments which explore what happened after tellers left the stage.
Stories from the Stage episodes, original digital content and more can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and on the WORLD Channel website. Follow the hashtag #StoriesfromtheStage to hear every word.
About WORLD
WORLD shares the best of public media in news, documentaries, and programming. WORLD’s original series examines the issues and amplify the voices of those often ignored by mainstream media. The multicast 24/7 channel helps audiences understand conflicts, movements, and cultures from around the globe. Its original work has won a Peabody Award, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, a National News and Documentary Emmy Award, and many others honoring diversity of content and makers. WORLD is carried by 177 member stations in markets representing more than 73% of US TV households. Funding for WORLD Channel is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts and Artworks. WORLD is produced by GBH in partnership with WNET and is distributed by American Public Television (APT). Find out more at WORLDChannel.org.
About GBH
GBH is the leading multiplatform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. Headquartered in Boston, GBH has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital, and journalism awards. Find more information atwgbh.org.
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