The Story of Charles Daniels

Charles Daniels was a Black Man, who in 1914 was refused access to his ticketed seat on the floor of the Sherman Grand Theatre (now, The GRAND) when he arrived to watch a performance of King Lear. Mr. Daniels experienced racial discrimination when Theatre management offered him a seat in the “coloured section”. In response to this injustice, Mr. Daniels hired a lawyer and filed a discrimination lawsuit against the theatre ownership and management, making it one of the first civil rights cases in Alberta. The outcome of the lawsuit was not documented so it’s unclear if Mr. Daniels was awarded any compensation. Mr. Daniels was an activist and champion for the rights of Black people, and his story is significant in Calgary’s history.

Today,  The  GRAND  is  committed  to sharing the story of Charles Daniels as part of our own story.

Charles Daniels documentary “Kicking Up a Fuss”

Director: Cheryl Foggo, Producer: Holly Dupej, Associate Producer: Bashir Mohamed, Funded by: TELUS STORYHIVE

The Charles Daniels Committee

The GRAND has established the Charles Daniels Committee which will be led by creative visionaries, Wakefield Brewster, Cheryl Foggo and Lisa LaTouche. They will guide this important work, advise GRAND staff and board, and help inform decision making by offering insight into the best way to honour Charles Daniels and build meaningful and long lasting relationships with Black artists and audiences.

Wakefield Brewster

  • First stepping on stage as a poet and spoken word artist in 1999, Wakefield Brewster has become one of Canada’s most powerful and prolific spoken word artists.

    Raised in Toronto by parents from Barbados, he has resided in Calgary since 2016, and has since been able to flourish as a poet. He has had several anthologies of his work published in addition to his two professional spoken word recordings.

    In the Canadian arts community, Wakefield fills many roles; a few highlights include:

    2019 - Appointed as the very First Resident Poet & Spoken Word Artist of The GRAND in Calgary, Alberta.

    2021 - Joins The League Of Canadian Poets in order to become a more integral part of Canada’s Literary scene, while representing the standards of Diversity and Representation.

    2021 - Joining the Board of Directors of the E.A.R. Society – Elephant Artist Relief Society, providing emergency relief funding and affordable Health Care for Artists.

Lisa LaTouche

  • As a proud Canadian and New Yorker, Lisa’s credits are world renowned. She was an original cast member in Broadway’s Shuffle Along, choreographed by Savion Glover and Directed by George C. Wolfe, where she received both the Fred Astaire Award and the Actor’s Equity Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus.

    Her TV credits include the 70th Annual Tony Awards and Amazon’s Original “Z, The beginning of everything”. Previous highlights have also included touring with the Savion Glover production, Stepz, and also performing with both New York's Off-Broadway and the North American touring casts of STOMP.

    Since 2010 she has run her own performance company Tap Phonics and has been commissioned to present for such organizations such as The Brooklyn Museum, 92Y, Gibney Dance and Fall For Dance North. As an educator and Professor she has taught for PACE University, NYU, The School of Jacob’s Pillow, University of Calgary, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Rosie’s Theater Kids and member of the creative council for the American Tap Dance Foundation. Her most recent endeavour has been writing and directing her debut film TRAX encompassing her journey back to Alberta while discovering important local black history.

    Above all, her proudest achievement greatest inspiration, is the gift of being a mom.

Cheryl Foggo

  • Cheryl Foggo is a multiple award winning playwright, author and filmmaker, whose work over the last 30 years has focused on the lives of Western Canadians of African descent.

    Recent works include the release of her NFB feature documentary John Ware Reclaimed, available on nfb.ca, as well as the 30th anniversary edition of her book Pourin’ Down Rain: A Black Woman Claims Her Place in the Canadian West.

    Recent journalism can be found in the Interrupt/Reframe issue of The Fold, on CBC Black on the Prairies and in Westword Magazine. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, her plays Heaven and John Ware Reimagined have received multiple productions, including at The Citadel in Edmonton, Lunchbox Theatre in Calgary, at the Blyth Theatre Festival and in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre. She recently wrapped shooting of a short film about northern Saskatchewan’s Black History, scheduled to premiere in 2023.

    Cheryl was the recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Outstanding Artist Award, The Doug and Lois Mitchell Outstanding Calgary Artist Award and the Arts, Media and Entertainment Award from the Calgary Black Chambers, all in 2021. In 2022 she received the Women Making History in Alberta Award from Heritage Park and was inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence. She is also a recipient of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal.