Page 6, Portland Observer, September 15, 1988
BCHJND
REPOCT
by Garland Lee Thompson
“ THE COLORED MUSEUM”
CASTING AT IFCC
The Interstate Firehouse Cul
tural Center on Interstate near N.
Killingsworth in Portland, this
week has started casting audi
tions for George C. Wolfe’s highly
successful theater piece, “The
Colored Museum.” This new
work, like the choreo-poem play,
“ for colored girls,” by Ntozake
Shange, is not the usual-type play
in construction, content or style,
to say the least.
I saw the New York production
last year and, since it’s coming to
town, now seems to be a good
tim e to re-print a part of my review
of the original production, written
for a newsletter I was developing
at the Frank Silvera Writers’
Workshop in New York:
“ The American Black Theater
Movement has come a far piece,”
someone said coming out of “ The
Colored Museum,” the night I
viewed “ The Exhibits” in this
unusual theater piece that was, at
the time, appearing at New York
C ity’s Public Theatre on Lafayette
Street and Astor Place. It was
ideal for the New York East
Village scene.
We, the audience, were taken
on a trip to "LaLa Land’ ” by LaLa
(played by Saundra McClain, the
night I saw the play), and friends
at the New York Shakespeare
Festival’s rendition of the Cross
roads Theatre Company’s produc
tion of George C. Wolfe’s new
comedy “ Exhibits" in “ the Col
ored Museum.” It was originally
directed by L. Kenneth Richard
son in his New Brunswick, New
Jersey, Black Theatre space be
fore producer, Joseph Papp, mov
ed "The Colored Museum" into
New York. I suppose they said
“ why not give it ‘the Papp test?’ ”
First of all, when you get on
board, in the opening “ Exhibit,”
with “ Miss Pat, the airline stew
ardess," played by Danitra Vance,
you feel like fastening your seat
belts on board "The Celebrity
S laveship” flig h t when she
demonstrates “ the real deal,”
which are shackles for the wrists.
Also, we checked out "the human
baggage” rolling in on the moving
stage. I knew that there was no
getting off this flight and missing
t h is
s la v e -p a s s a g e -to -th e -
Americas trip. And the next “ Ex
hibit,” “ Cooking With Aunt Ethel"
(Aunt Jamima), was stirred up by
Vickilyn Reynolds, or "The Photo
S e ssion ,” m odelled “ to the
mack” by Saundra McClain and
Reggie Montgomery. They gave
us “ Ebony Fashion Fair” extraor
dinaire plus, with Tommy Hollis,
as “ The Soldier With A Secret,”
rolling in on the revolving stage. I
just can't resist moving scenery,
but one might not be ready for
“ The Gospel According to Miss
Roj," with Reggie Montgomery in
drag and Tommy Hollis as “ The
Waiter."
Mr. Wolfe has taken us from
Loraine Hansberry to Ntozake
Shange, in "The Last Mama-On-
The-Couch Play" scene, with
everyone getting into the act in
the last spoof on all those black
plays of the last 40 years of
theater. This black playwright
trashes the neo-Blackman’s old
M uumi
tunes, hits, idols, and hair oil
relaxers in one trash bin scene
called, “ Symbiosis,” and Danitra
Vance, as “ Norma Jean,” lays a
big surprising egg in another
strange little -m isu n d e rsto o d -
young-Black-girl vignette. “ And it
ain’t nothing but a party, girl,”
shouts Vickilyn Reynolds, in “ The
Party” scene. And that it was, in
deed.
I felt like I had “ No Place To Be
Somebody” (a play by Charles
Gordons) standing perhaps at
“ the Negro Ensemble Company,”
after "The Black Picture Show” (a
play by Bill Gunn, produced a few
years ago also by Joseph Papp),
as we come out of “ The Colored
Museum,” where “ colored girls
who have considered suicide,
when a rainbow is enuf” (also pro
duced by Joseph Papp), and with
us trying to find our way up "The
River Niger” (a play by Joseph
Walker that I stage-managed on
Broadway in 1973), on the Harlem
River Drive. It was a “ trip!"
A few years ago, we would have
called this “ wacky theater.” I said
to George C. Wolfe later, at the
Frank Silvera Writers’ Workshop
in New York (He conducted play
wright seminars there last sea
son, man; it was a Thriller, but
maybe he should not have stayed
out on "the Coast” so long, like “ a
California Raisin in the Sun,”
waiting for “ The First Breeze Of
Summer” (a black play, by Leslie
Lee) to come along and give us
“ The Colored Museum.” I told
him that “ I heard it through the
grape vine,” that he may have
missed “ The Blacks” in New York
in the '60s (a play by Jean Genet),
but he did experience “ The Holly
wood Shuffle” (the film by Robert
Townsend), "live and in living col
ored,” right? “Write on, George!”
Hovesomever, lets wait and see
what IFCC and director Al
Jamison does with this wild piece
of theater in the new 1988-89
season, opening after the first of
the year, okay theater fans?
NEW-WORKS FESTIVAL PLANNED
IN PORTLAND
Storefront Theatre and the
Northwest Playwrights Guild are
jo in in g fo rc e s to p re s e n t
Playwrights Festival '88, a new-
works festival the groups hope
will become an annual event.
The festival is the works in pro
gress and new, unproduced
plays. Mixed-media shows and
musicals are eligible, as well as
dramas and comedies. Script sub
missions are invited Sept. 6 -1 5 .
First-run performances of se
lected scripts will be Nov. 9 -Dec.
4, and a best-of-festival of new
plays that Gary O’Brien produced
as artistic director of the IFCC
Theatre in 1985 and 1986. Write
On, Gary!)
For details and further informa
tion, playwrights should call the
Storefront Theatre at 224-9598.
SCENES
by Lisa Collins
W
ill Dick Griffey Be Evicted
or Does His Mexican
Standoff with Warner Bros. Music
go on? In 1986, Griffey filed a $386
million lawsuit against the Elektra
division of Warner Records for
wrongful actions (like that of try
ing to steal some of Griffey’s top
acts including Howard Hewitt,
and the Deele). Griffey, in turn,
owes about $6 million to Warner
Bros, but only repaid $1.6 million
before putting a stop to payments
in '86. So, in a recent move,
Elektra foreclosed on his office
building, valued at more than $5
million, and is trying to sell it.
However, Griffey filed a separate
lawsuit, thus far blocking the
eviction. Neither party appears to
be either in the mood to settle or
talk publicly about the matter.
Ironically, with the sale of
Motown to MCA, Griffey’s Solar
Records becomes the nation’s
largest Black-owned record label.
Gates & Son — Expanding A
Family Tradition: Gates & Son,
leading chain of renown Kansas
City Barbecue, has just launched
a billboard campaign to prepare
consumers for the appearance of
their famed sauce in grocery re
tailers. Along with their classic
sauces, now served in restau
rants, they will market Polyne
sian, Extra-hot, Mild, and No-Salt-
No-Sugar-Added varieties. At this
point, all of the sauces, with the
exception of the “ No-Salt” flavor,
are available for purchase only in
the barbecue outlets.
• t
Administration cuts off Black
venture capita lists: The ad
ministration has eliminated for its
next fiscal year the $36 m illion it
is lending to minority venture
capitalists in 1988. However, the
industry has received such fund
ing for the past 16 years, and the
cut-off proposal is not likely to
pass.
the first of the year. BET is also
expanding its program lineup to
include a game show, “ Tell Me
Something Good."
New, upscale cosmetics line
targeting non-white women is
launched: Patricia French heads
up a new cosmetics an skin-care
firm, claiming to be the first to ad
dress the specific needs of dark-
skinned women. The products,
now sold internationally, can be
found in upscale U.S. specialty
shops. French says her average
customer, a professional woman
making $40,000 a year, can afford
her products, which range in price
from $15.50 to $42.50. The Paris-
based firm projects revenues of
$3 million this year. And while
French is a legal resident of
Detroit, she resides in Paris.
^ ^ k a r ^ a s t e r s . a Public Television Special, profiled Ms. Aretha Franklin
on Oregon Public Broadcasting (Ch. 10), Sept. 5, 1988. The show pointed
out that, when it comes to African-American music, Aretha is truly an
American Master. American Masters, a weekly anthology series, celebrates
America's native and adopted masters in the creative arts.
Sammy Davis Jr. Takes The Spotlight
On Ebony/JET Showcase!
Executive turntable: Former
Essence VP and Director of Com
munications, Terrie Williams, has
just announced the formation of
The Terrie Williams Agency. The
agency, to specialize in the areas
of public relations and special
events, already boasts a client
roster that includes Eddie Murphy
and Miles Davis. And while
Essence shut down their TV show,
they’re expanding their mail order
catalog, which has shown a mark
ed increase in sales. Its licensing
division has kicked off Essence
EyeGlass Wear and recently cut a
deal with Butterick patterns,
which will prominently feature
two Essence designs in its com
ing lineup.
A Black Woman of Enterprise:
Mary Winston, born the daughter
of an Alabama sharecropper, was
one of just six women honored by
Avon Products and the Small
Business Association at their
second annual Women of Enter
prise Awards in New York. To win,
each woman had to overcome an
obstacle to become successful in
business. Winston quit school at
11 to help raise 25 children after
her mother died. Today, her In
dianapolis firm has more than 264
employees.
Big Expansion Going On at BET:
Black Entertainment Television
has announced it will open a new
office in Los Angeles in Septem
ber. It’s new $10 million facility is
slated to be operational around
MRS C ’S WIGS
Legendary entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., and his wife, Altovise (both seated)
get a visit from host Darryl Dennard.
Entertainment legend Sammy Davis Jr., “ Amen” star Anna Maria
Horsford and singing group New Edition bring all-star talent to Ebony/
JET Showcase the weekend of September 16-18 (consult your local
listing for date and time).
Multi-talented performer Sammy Davis Jr. is keeping in step with
the entertainment world with his latest film, “ Tap,” which also stars
actor/singer Gregory Hines. Davis says Hines impressed him with his
tap dancing abilities and talks of his respect for today’s “ hoofers.” The
long-time performer comments on his life since overcoming drug and
alcohol abuse and recovering from hip replacement surgery, and he
salutes his wife, Altovise, for helping him tackle those obstacles. Davis
also reflects on his days with the famous “ Rat Pack” and tells what role
performer Frank Sinatra played in his film career.
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