Manchester Gospel Chorus To Hold 51st MLK Celebration

MANCHESTER, NJ — The Manchester Township Schools' combined high school and middle school Gospel Chorus will pay tribute on Friday to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in honor of the civil rights leader's birthday.

The celebration, which marks its 51st annual event, is an evening of song to honor the memory of Dr. King and what he stood for.

Its keynote speaker is Darrell Lawrence Willis Sr., a Long Branch native and New Jersey theatrical producer, director and actor. He graduated from Long Branch High School and has a bachelor's in communications and theater arts from Susquehanna University and master's in theater studies from Montclair State. He studied extensively at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts. He is retired after working as a theatre professor at Brookdale Community College and is the artistic director of the Dunbar Repertory Company.

He also has performed with the Monmouth Civic Chorus, portraying Dr. King in its I Have a Dream concert in 2013, marking the 50th anniversary of his famous speech.

The Manchester Combined Gospel Chorus event begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Manchester Township High School auditorium. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for students and children ages 6 and older. Children age 5 and younger are free.

Tickets will be sold at the door. Vendors and displays will begin in the lobby at 6:15 p.m.

The event is sponsored, in part, by a generous donation from the Manchester Township PTA.

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