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Page 4, P ortland Observer, A ugu st 25. 19R8
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T I T T I in
ENTERTAINMENT
» n im
TTTTT u m m i m x x x n
R F P O R 1 T
BRO AD W AY
BOUND
by G arland Lee T hom pson
u
pon receiving a call in New
_ York from Portldhd State
•U niversity to speak to N ina Lowry,
d ir e c to r o f E ducation A c tiv itie s ,
*Who asked w hat p roject w o u ld I
Tike to do, I replied, its “ S im p le !” I
am referring, o f course, to the
L a ngsto n H ughes/D a vid M artin
m u sic a l “ S im ply Heavenly,' pre
m ie rin g at Portland State U niver
s ity ’s Lin co ln Theater on A ugust
25, and running S eptem ber 11,
1988.
SECOND REVIVAL FOR “ SIMPLY
HEAVENLY” COULD BE A
PRELUDE TO BROADWAY RUN
In an interview last w eek by
Phil H unt, theater arts review er
fo r the O regonian, I was asked if
“ S im ply H eavenly" does w ell in
Portland, w ould I like to take it
back to Broadw ay?” I responded,
“ Yes, I have know n fo r a long tim e
that P ortland is p o te n tia lly a great
‘tryo u t to w n ’ fo r Broadway, as
they say in the Big A p p le ’. I do,
however, w ant to cla rify som e
th in g s in the A ugust 12, Phil
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H u n t article.
F ir s t, I d ir e c te d “ S im p ly
H e a v e n ly ” in its 30 a n n ive rsa ry
p ro d u c tio n early last year in
P h ila d e lp h ia
a t th e
New
F reedom T heatre. P h ila d e lp h ia
In q u ire r re vie w e r D o u g la s J.
K e a tin g c a lle d it a “ fe tc h in g p ro
d u c tio n ,” and “ a c h a rm in g ,
a m ia b le m u s ic a l w h ic h aim e d to
a ttra c t w h ite (and b la ck) au
d ie n c e s in th e ’50s (in w h ic h )
Hughes
in je c ts
a s o c ia l
m e s s a g e .” K e a tin g sa id th e
s o c ia lly p e rtin e n t s c e n e s are
W i l l f u l l y h andle d, and he added
'Jjhat the be st reason fo r s e eing
:jthe play is th a t “ it is s im p ly a
¿ sp irite d , e n te rta in in g , e n jo y a b le
:$ how .” I to ld Phil th a t a fte r
•Receiving su ch great review s
¿from th e P h ila d e lp h ia T rib u n e ,
jth e le a d in g b la c k new spap er, I
¡began to th in k in te rm s o f m o v
in g th e s h o w to a b ig g e r hou se
;Jci th e c e n tra l c ity o f P h illy in
¡p rd e r to a ttra c t a la rg e r a u d ie n c e
•Snd in v e s to rs to p ro d u c e the
/s h o w to take L a n g s to n and
'•'‘ S im p le ’’ back to N ew York.
THE SHOW WAS LOST
FOR THIRTY YEARS
For som e 30 years, the play has
¡^een “ buried,” and before we did
last year, it had never even
¿ layed Philly, ju s t a 120 m iles
Tfom N ew York. So the show and
the m u sic w as like “ pure silver
new m in t” to the eager new au
dience as w ell as “ m u sic to the
ears” o f all Langston H ughes
scholars and fans. I have alw ays
w anted to d ire c t the show proper
ly and bring it and m yself hom e to
8
m
4 W ZXXXXXXXXX
SI
P ortland fo r ‘a ru n ’ before taking it
on to New York.
The Portland cast, as I to ld the
O regonian, does run the gam ut,
fro m seasoned pro fe ssio n a ls to
som e w ho are m aking th e ir per
fo rm in g debut, ju s t as I d id 30
years ago th is year. Brenda
P h illip s, w ell know in Portland for
perform ances in " A in ’t M isbehav
in g ’ ” , “ A R aisin in the S un,” " L it
tle Shop of H orrors,” and recent
ly, “ A ... My N am e Is A lic e ,” is ap
pearing as M am ie, a role that
m ade C laudia M cN eil, a star.
Neal Thom as appears in the t i
tle role o f "S im p ly ,” w h ile the
ro m a n tic w om en leads are taken
by Denise W illia m s (“ Jo yce ") and
Jeanette R ussell Brown (“ Z arita” ).
O ther players include M ichael
H o lid a y (“ W a te rm e lo n J o e ),”
Ruby Reuben (“ A rc ie ” ), and Steve
Lee in as “ A nanias B oyd," the
L a n g s to n H u g h e s c h a ra c te r.
Ja nice S croggins, is serving as
m u sica l director, a w ell-know n
jazz p ia n ist w ho appeared recent
ly in the Portland C ivic Theatre
p ro d u c tio n of “ A in 't M isbehavin’
H o lly w o o d W a lk o f Fam e, T h u rs
day, S ept. 1. The ce re m o n y w ill
p re ce d e th e M a h a lia Ja c k s o n
G o sp e l M u s ic F e s tiv a l w h ic h is
set fo r th e Labor Day W eekend
in L.A., and w ill s ta r so m e o f the
g re a te s t nam es in g o s p e l, in
c lu d in g th e H a w k in s F a m ily, th e
C lark S is te rs , and P ops S taples.
Spike Lee plays a pizza delivery
man in h is la te s t film , now being
s h o t on lo c a tio n in B ro o klyn .
The film title d "D o T he R ig h t
T h in g ,” c o -s ta rs D anny A ie llo
(C her’s lo ve r in “ M o o n s tru c k ” ),
and c e n te rs in on a day in the life
of a b lo c k in B ro o k ly n 's m o st
re n o w n p ro je c ts , B e d fo rd Stuy-
vesant. In other film news, Jam es
Earl Jones has ju s t fin ish e d w ork
in a film called “ F u g itiv e s ," star
ring N ick N olte, C leavon L ittle is
film in g "F le tc h II,” w h ich stars
Chevy Chase, and F la shdance’s
J e n n ife r Beals is in Rome m aking
her th ird film , “ La P artita.”
by Lisa C o llin s
ahalia Jackson gets a star:
It w ill be a sta r-stu d d e d
a ffa ir as N a ta lie C ole, D inah
Shore, C o re tta S c o tt K ing, Pearl
B ailey, Pat B oone, Steve A lle n ,
and a h o s t o f o th e rs tu rn o u t fo r
th e d e d ic a t io n
o f M a h a lia
J a c k s o n ’s S tar on the legend ary
VTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTVTTTTTT^^
M
w h ile , a n a tio n a l ta le n t search tc
replace th e d y n a m ic lead vocal
ist is b e in g planne d.
W hatever happened to Mavis
Staples ... W ell, she ju s t recently
was signed by none o th e r than
P rince to record on h is P aisley
Park re co rd label. In th e m ean
tim e , s h e ’ s p ro v id in g s o m e
backup s u p p o rt on h is European
tour. In o th e r to u rin g new s, th is
w eek in B a ltim o re . Rick James
kicks off his firs t tour in fiv e years
... Al B. Sure, is a ll b u t firm e d to
to u r w ith N ew E d itio n th is fall.
T h is ta le n te d guy w a n ts it a ll —
film , TV and re c o rd in g . H is firs t
a lbum has go n e p la tin u m , and
w h ile he is se lf-a ssu re d and c o n
fident, sure is in awe of the
fem ale a tte n tio n he's g e ttin g .
T ig h t- lip s
at
“ D iffe r e n t
W orld” — R e ce n tly it w as an
no u n ce d th a t th e re w ere som e
a d d itio n s to th e c a s t o f “ A D if
fe re n t W o rld ” th is season. The
new c a s t m e m b e rs w ere re p o rt
edly C ree S u m m e r F ra n k s and
S h a r n e ll B r o w n . H o w e v e r ,
sp o ke sm a n D avid B rokaw w o u ld
not c o n firm th e in fo rm a tio n , a d
din g th a t th e y w ere n o t prepared
to m ake any s ta te m e n ts a b o u t
the sh o w or any c a s t a d d itio n s .
A tla n tic Starr on hold — S ince
a n n o u n cin g the d e p arture of
fe m a le le a d s in g e r B a rb a ra
W eathers, A tla n tic Starr has put
everything on hold. The sp lit
seem s to be a m ic a b le e n o u g h t
as W e a th e rs c o n tin u e s to date
W ayne L e w is and, in fa ct, the
Le w is B ro th e rs are set to p ro
d u ce her fir s t s o lo e ffo rt. Mean-
P o rtla n d S ta te University Presents
A M u s ic a l b y L a n g s to n H ug h e s
P erform ances are scheduled
Thursday, Friday and Saturday at
8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.
T ic k e ts are $12 general adm ission
and $5 s tu d e n ts /s e n io r citizens,
available at the PSU box office,
S m ith M em orial Center, or call
Howard Rollins gets reprieve:
R o llin s , w h o w as to be a rraigned
in L o u is ia n a tw o w e e ks ago on
ch a rg e s o f d ru n k d riv in g and
p o s s e s s io n o f c o c a in e , w as
g ia n te d a c o n tin u a n c e u n til
A u g u s t 24. And if you thought
yo u 'd seen enough of M ike Ty
son? S uper-age nt N o rm a n B ro
kaw, co -c h a irm a n o f th e board of
the p re s tig io u s W illia m M o rris
A gency, d o e s n ’t agree, and w ill
p e rs o n a lly re p re se n t th e w o rld
h e a vyw e ig h t c h a m p io n in the
realm o f te le v is io n , m o tio n p ic
tu re s, c o m m e rc ia ls , p e rso n a l
a p p e a ra n c e s ,
and
even
l i t e r a r y . W h ile th e y o u n g
singer, Siedah Garret, w o n ’t get
also big plans at W illiam Morris
Agency for the 25-year-old vocal
ist w ho sang “ I J u s t Can t Stop
Loving Y ou” w ith M ichael Jack-
son and co-penned “ Man In The
M irro r.” G arrett ju s t inked a deal
w ith the agency fo r exclusive
representation.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
"The Eyes and Ears of the Community'
2 8 8 -0 0 3 3
464-4440.
, Harlem Legend Lives
Again On Broadway
STBTE FBIR,
1 • 9 • 8 ■ 8
The New York Tim es review
th is past w eek by Frank Rich,
says “ A in ’t M isbehavin’ ” is so
torrid that it may be the o n ly place
in tow n (New York) w here you feel
happy to be hot. In th e ir scru p u
lous re-creation o f the Fats W aller
show that firs t e le ctrifie d Broad
way a decade ago, the original
cast and creators have conjured
th e s a m e b e tw e e n -th e -w a rs
dream w orld as before. The stage
of the A m bassador Theatre turns
in to a m yth ic saloon w here black
jazz bounces against Tin Pan
A lley pop, w here 125th S treet in
te rs e c ts 52nd Street, w here men
c o il around w om en in a plum e of
re e fe r sm oke. It’ s a lw a ys 3
o ’c lo c k in the m orning. The J o in t
is alw ays ju m p in g . And if there’s a
sm ell of sum m er sweat, it ’s o f the
sw eetest old-tim e N ew York vin
tage; one part gin, tw o parts jitte r
buggin g fle s h .”
The show is “ a slice o f the life "
o f the larger-than-life W a lle r -
strid e pianist, com poser, com e
dian and H arlem legend before
and a fte r his death in 1943.
(ftt-o u n d the. C\h/otcid in 11 day!>
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26
- OPENING DAY -
ENTERTAINMENT & ACTIVITIES
D ire c te d b y G a rla n d Lee T h o m p s o n
A u g u st 25 th ro u g h S e p te m b e r 11
Thursday - Friday - S a tu rd a y - 8 p m
Sunday - 3 p m
Uncoln Hall Auditorium • S.W. Broadway at Market Street
All Seats Reserved • Admission SI2: General - S5: Seniors-Students
Special rates for groups available: 464-4440 • PSU Box Office
THE COMMODORES
Presented by The Summer Program of Educational Activities
5 p.m. & 8 p.m L. B. Day Am phitheatre
O n the M iller Genuine D raft Stage
FREE with paid admission. No reserved seating.
An explosive
motion picture
that will shock you
and disturb you.
HIGHLIGHTS
Seagram’ s C oolers “ Send The Fam ilies
O lym pic Display - Friendship Square
H unter Type Horses Jum ping Fences
Horse Show Stadium - 10 a m.
Fuddrucker's Bun Run Relay
Picnic G rove Gazebo - 1 p.m
Foreign C ookie Contest
“An absolute don’t miss
on your list
o f must see film s’’
Jackm an-Long D em onstration Stage
1 p.m.
F uddrucker’s Pte Eating Contest
Picnic G rove Gazebo - 1:30 p.m.
C om puter Keyboard Organ C oncert
Floral Stage - 3 p.m
i OPENING CEREMONIES
MAR1I.VS BECK,
Syndicated Columnist
Picnic Grove Gazebo - 3 :30 p.m.
DEBRA WINGER
i Potatoes w ith a Foreign Flair
T()M BERENGER
Jackm an-Long D em onstration Stage
4 p.m.
T h e M u g g s - Showcase Stage - 4 p m and 7 p m
BETRAYED
C le o ’s C afe
' r.
3041 N. Williams
284-7150
\(,()SlA-(».\\ RAS him
I M i l l ) AR IISIS""'“ IRWIN WINKl 1R k l-Mopl • IH>\
D IB R A W IM .IR IOM BEREM.ER
( OSIA-GAYRAS
BETRAYED
|()HN HEARD |OHN MAHONEA
|OE ESZ11RI1AS HAI. W. I’OI.AIRF
'" « B ill C O M I
. I’A IR I/IA YON BRANDI NSI EIN
|<)E ES/IERHAS
IRWIN \ \ l \ k l I R
( < IS I \-(. \\ RAN
•> -•
K -zT
Ethnic Cuisine
Southern Style
HOUSE SPECIALTIES
;
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:
« *V-
tv 2 &
5& ?.
iÌT ’>
•lv*...
B f
V <3
S'«*
y«?
H O R SE RACING DAILY
C h itte rlin g s • M eatloaf
M ix G reens • Beef Stew
C a tfis h • And Many
O ther Southern D ishes
S.'mkrj.k Mt.,,,, „.„Uhl, .«
Including:
C le o ’s
Zesty R ibs In Sauce
-
.„si < • .„(s* <
Rv.nl Ifx Sitfim
P.tfx rh.n k
HOME-COOKED DESERTS
.
Come See 'Luberta'
F or Down Home Cookin ’!
MEMBERS « GUESTS
STARTS AUGUST 26th AT
A THEATRE NEAR YOU
-A «
«VAX
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C.
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# * A t * Kt “ * • $
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POST TIMES
Weekdays - 7 p.m
W eekends & Labor Day - 1 p m .
$2.00 m inim um wager
□ □ □ []□ □ □ □ □
Radio
T oday is 62 KG W R a d io /
T hriftw a y Dayl A dult
adm ission is o n ly $4 0 0
with coupon available at
T hriftw a y stores FREE
carnival rides (or everyone
from 1 0 :00 a m - 12 noon
H alt-price rides 12 n oon to
6 :0 0 ,,.m w ith coupon
.THE BIG ORE.
Bugust 26 September 5
Salem.Oregon