Our theatrical journey
RESISTANCE featuring Rochelle Jackson-Days
Staging premieres: A legacy of innovation
At Powerful Long Ladder, we are proud of our tradition of bringing new and exciting works to the stage. Our commitment to staging premieres, social justice works and plays-in-development has allowed us to contribute significantly to the theatrical landscape, offering audiences fresh perspectives and unforgettable experiences.
The Ultimate Reach
The Ultimate Reach is the arts outreach program educational anchor for Powerful Long Ladder. The program conducted by Terrence Spivey and Executive Assistant, Sharron Foxx, has provided theatre games, creative writing and mime workshops from youth to adults, throughout Warrensville Heights Library, Milkovich Middle School, Grafton Correctional Institution and other parts of Northeast Ohio.
RESISTANCE rehearsal workshop with Golden Globe winner, Regina Taylor, actress Rochelle Jackson-Days and cast.
Stay Ready
From our humble beginnings to our most recent triumphs, showcases the breadth and depth of Powerful Long Ladder's theatrical journey. Explore the evolution of our productions such as Golden Globe winner, Regina Taylor's Ohio premiere of Resistance that have graced our stage. Ms. Taylor reached out to founder, Terrence Spivey, about her play. That collaboration is a testament to our dedication to the performing arts and most importantly, the playwright's voices.
Ultimate reach
TERRENCE SPIVEY, Founding Artistic Director
Terrence Spivey is an award-winning theatre director and playwright. He was born in Kountze, Texas, and raised in Houston. He received a B.A. in Theatre from Prairie View A&M University, where he was a member of the famed college troupe, the Charles Gilpin Players. As a student, he appeared in numerous productions, including Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope by Micki Grant—the first Black musical invited by the American College Theatre Festival to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
In New York, Spivey appeared in productions at the National Black Theatre and trained in the methods of Sanford Meisner and Michael Chekhov. His on-screen work includes appearances on the soap opera One Life to Live, as well as in music videos such as No One in the World by Anita Baker, directed by Spike Lee. His film credits include Slime City, Messenger, and West New York with Frank Vincent.
During his twelve-year tenure as Artistic Director of Karamu House in Cleveland, Ohio, Spivey directed numerous productions, including The Wiz, bee-luther-hatchee, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Blacks, Cut Flowers, and The Color Purple. Under his leadership, the theatre received several honors, including the 2005 National Black Theatre Longevity Award, the 2006 Black Theatre Network Pathfinder Award, and the 2013 AUDELCO Award for Repertory Company of the Year in New York City.
Additional directing credits include Radio Golf (Ensemble Theatre), Bootycandy (convergence-continuum), Master Harold and the Boys (Cleveland State University), The Amen Corner (Weathervane Playhouse), Bourbon at the Border (Allegheny College), and Seven Guitars (The Ohio State University), Fences at August Wilson House (Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company)
Spivey was commissioned by the Clotilda Descendants Association to write An Ocean in My Bones, a play about the Clotilda, the last American slave ship. The play premiered in Mobile. In 2023, he received the Preserving Truth in Education Award from Color of Change. In 2024, he was selected as a Roe Green Visiting Voice Ambassador by the Dramatists Guild Foundation. In 2025, he was invited by the Zora Neale Hurston Summit to stage an excerpt of his play Roche’s Racist Hand at Barnard College.
Spivey has collaborated with notable figures such as Ruby Dee, Bill Cobbs, Dianne McIntyre, Ntozake Shange, Leslie Uggams, and Durand Bernarr, among others.
He is the founder of Cleveland’s Powerful Long Ladder, which produced Golden Globe winner Regina Taylor’s Resistance at the BorderLight Theatre Festival, as well as Objectively/Reasonable in collaboration with the Tamir Rice Foundation.
Soivey's work has been featured in publications including The New York Times, American Theatre, Ebony, and Black Theatre, and he was highlighted in the PBS documentary Karamu: 100 Years in the House.
SHARRON.MCPHERSON FOXX, Executive Assistant
Sharron is a multi‑faceted artist and arts educator whose work spans performance, direction, and community-centered creation. As a director, this native Clevelander, has led several productions such as “The Lynching of Effie Childs “by Gwen Wright and August Wilson’s "Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” She is a Karamu Theater Award winner for her ensemble work in Tazwell Thomas’ “Constant Star” Directed by Margaret Ford Taylor. She was also in "Love and Ecstasy" by Gail Nyoka and "Objectively Reasonable- A Community Response to the Shooting of Tamir Rice" Featuring Actress and Activist, Phyliss Yvonne Stickney. Both plays were directed by Terrence Spivey.
Her first play, “Remember December” was featured in Cleveland’s BorderLight Theatre Festival in 2025.
As a co-founder of “Maiden Voyage Theatre Ensemble”, a collective dedicated to uplifting the voices and stories of women of color, she continues to champion representation in the arts.
A passionate collaborator, Sharron finds delight in creating alongside other artists. She is also a session vocalist and the lead singer of her band, “Foxx & Company” bringing her musicality to stages and studios alike. Currently serving as an Executive and Production Assistant, with Powerful Long Ladder since its inception, she remains deeply rooted in the creative process. She is a major contributor to the theatre’s youth program, “The Ultimate Reach”
Her creative mission is simple and profound — to celebrate life and illuminate its joys and pains through performance.
