Northeastern University

Judith Black

Judith Black is a professional storyteller with a national following. Last year she was inducted into the National Storytelling Network's (largest storytelling membership organization in the world) Circle of Excellence "For exceptional commitment and exemplary contribution to the art of storytelling." She also opened a new one-woman show "Retiring the Champ" which explores issues of aging and dying in America. In the past few years she was:

Judith Black has been featured at (Abridged List):

Awards and Citations:

Publications:

Ms. Blacks' articles have appeared in:

Ms. Black's stories appear in:

Keynote Addresses:

Judith is a featured speaker around the nation. These are a sampling of her topics:

Workshops and Courses:

Twenty years on the faculty of Lesley University's Art Institute, Ms Black has taught the art of storytelling at institutions throughout the United States including:

Ms Black has trained national park interpreters in communication skills and storytelling:

Background:

Judith Black brings to her storytelling a varied background in education, theater, and creative writing. Having studied early childhood education at Wheelock College, Ms Black taught for three years before moving to London where she studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Later she toured as an actress for two years with Little Flags Theater Company.
Judith was a founder and ten year board member of The Three Apples Storytelling Festival. She helped to initiate and produce "Storytellers in Concert", the first longest running storytelling series for adults in the nation. Her award winning original stories have been commissioned by the U.S. Department of the Interior, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Old South Church, The Artist's foundation, The U.S.S. Constitution Museum,The U.S. Department of Forestry, the North Shore Symphony and others. She has created three television series's for Massachusetts Cable Educational Television, worked with organizations who objectives are to prevent domestic violence, and is presently working on a new piece about that path we will all tread; Making Peace With The Pitt Bull: Discovering New Possibilities Within Lifes' Last Journey.

What the Critics Say:

The Boston Globe:
"For a wicked good time, see Judith Black's Banned in the Western Suburbs......Black's lively presentation is more of a one woman show than a session of storytelling."
The BostonPhoenix:
"Her sympathetic persona is a cross between Lily Tomlin and Woody Allen, the hard edge of feminist certitude cushioned by self-deprecating humor that never slides into self hatred." (Banned in the Western Suburbs)
The BostonPhoenix:
"Storyteller, Judith Black's latest solo performance may be called Teetering on the Edge, but this actress/storyteller is one awesomely confident babe.... she'll have you giggling in the aisles."
NorthShore Sunday:
"Judith Black's audience hangs on every word."
Chicago Tribune:
"She received a standing ovation after her engrossing, often hilarious, and in the end poignant portrait of a contemporary urban romance."
The Montreal Gazette:
"By the time Black is through with her show, she's fashioned a world of giants, castles and disco pool parties with nothing more than her imagination. The adults are smiling as broadly as the children."
Christian Science Monitor:
"There were tales and tellers that had moments of nobility and beauty. Judith Black's strongly felt parable about a grove of rootless trees symbolizing the Jewish people evoked feelings of shared humanity."

The Boston Globe:
"Black has culled the minefields of childhood and elevated them through her storytelling to a level of universal experience that is not only painful and poignant, but gut-wrenchingly hilarious." (Adult Children of ...Parents)
The Jewish Advocate:
"Judith Black should be sought after by one and all for her wisdom, for her wit, for the risks she takes on stage and for her genuine warmth which she abundantly shares with one and all." (Adult Children of ...Parents)
University of San Diego/Storytelling Series:
"The silence and deafening cheers of the audience gave tribute to the incredible genius of Judith Black."
The Boston Globe
"Spellbinding, heartwarming, and yet oh so familiar, a wonderful evocation of the struggle to keep one's children rooted in Judaism. Judith's story reaches the depths where we all are one."
(Looking For G-d's Doorbell)

Mobsy Strange Kennedy The Improper Bostonian
"Judith Black is like a repertory company of one....She wittily conveys the trials and tribulations of one of life's trickiest passages, negotiating our parents' sometimes long and winding ending."

The Boston Globe
"Like most of Black's stories, it's funny and touching, filled with colorful characters, accents and songs. And it's thought provoking."
(Retiring the Champ)
Mark R. Arnold-Editor The Jewish Journal
"A superb one-woman show by the multi-talented Ms. Black. She can swagger like a sailor or act meek as a mouse. Her emotional range seems boundless. "
(Retiring the Champ)
The NorthShore Sunday
"Black's one woman show, Retiring the Champ, is about redemption...also like all of Black's tales, filled with laughter."
(Retiring the Champ)
Her Mother
"If only she'd keep her hair out of her eyes, she'd be brilliant."

www.storiesalive.com