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Executive Director Vy Higginsen rehearses with members of the adult choir. Photographer: G. N. Miller

CEO & Executive Director Vy Higginsen is a noted author, playwright, radio and TV personality who has gained a reputation and won many awards for providing excellent products and services to African-American audiences. After a decade behind the microphone at major New York radio stations (WBLS-FM, WWRL-AM, WRKS-FM). Vy published and edited Unique NY, a lifestyles magazine designed for African-Americans and others who want to know where to go and what to do in and around the New York City Metropolitan area.

In 1983, Vy co-wrote, produced and directed the classic black Gospel musical, Mama, I Want To Sing. This show ran for eight years and 2,200 performances at the Off-Broadway Heckscher Theater in East Harlem. In March 1986, Mama began a national tour of the USA, playing two consecutive years in major cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Washington. International tours have included Austria, Japan, Germany, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia. Also, Mama played for six months on the West End of London.

In March 1988, Vy co-produced Joe Turner’s Come and Gone by August Wilson on Broadway. In 2002, Vy was ordained as an Interfaith minister.

Director of Programs/Productions Ken Wydro is a published author, producer, playwright and seasoned professional speaker whose projects range from corporate workshops and seminars to conference keynote speeches. Ken has an undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Rochester (1964) and a Master’s Degree in theater from University of California, Berkeley (1967).

His published works include Think on Your Feet and Flying Solo: The Art of Living Single. Wydro also co-wrote, produced and directed the long-running gospel theatrical, Mama, I Want to Sing which turned out to be the longest-running off-Broadway, Black musical in the history of American Theater, playing eight years at the Heckscher theater in East Harlem (1983 – 91).

Ken is an ordained Interfaith minister and leads writing groups at the Mama Foundation for the Arts.

Mama, I Want to Sing is loosely based on the career of Vy Higginsen’s sister, Doris Troy, who as a child, sang in her father's church in Harlem. As she grew older, Doris became powerfully attracted to the secular sounds of artists such as Dinah Washington, Pearl Bailey, and Lena Home. To be close to her idols she took a job at the Apollo Theater even though her mother forbade it. "I loved the job," Doris said, "Especially when I had to deliver flowers and telegrams to the artists backstage.”

From that debut, Doris moved on to a successful career whose highlights included the writing and recording of the 1962 monster hit “Just One Look” which is a soul classic that has been used by dozens of groups and individuals around the world. She also worked in London with the Beatles. At the time of her death in 2004, Doris was living in Las Vegas where she worked as a singer.

Photo credits: top banner and Ken Wydro, G.N. Miller; Vy Higginsen and Doris Troy, photographer unknown; Mrs. Geraldine Higginson, family collection.