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O c to b e r 6, 1988, Po rtland O bserver, P a g e 5
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BICCAIDW a ^
BIEIPCBT
Donnie Ray Albert
dominates Tosca
in Opera opening
(A review)
IB C H J M C
by G arland Lee Thom pson
<3) ù
A t last, at the P ortland M asonic
Tem ple, we saw the core p o te n
tia l o f an em erging B lack c o m
m u n ity audience that cam e out,
fa sh io n a b ly dress, to see w h a t the
producers, M AC EBA AFFAIR S,
INC., said is “ not ju s t a play, it ’s
an e xperience .” “ The D iary o f
B lack Men ... H ow Do You Love A
B la c k W o m a n ? ," w r itte n by
T hom as M eloncon, is d ire c te d by
C larence W hitm ore, w h o also
plays the roles o f “ the M ilita n t/A
H usband and vocalist. Yes, he
w as busy in th is pro d u ctio n .
It w as a “ one n ig h t s ta n d ” per
form ance in w hat has to be one of
the w o rs t p e rform ing h alls fo r
theatre in tow n, “ the p its ,” in the
old d o w n to w n M asonic Tem ple. It
w as d iffic u lt to hear, see and no
a ir-c o n d itio n in g at $18.50 a tic k e t!
around the co u n try (in N ew York,
he P ortland Opera opened its
derstand w hy the o th e r c ritic was
L A ., etc.) a fte r S hange’s poem
so ca llo u s and obdurate. There is
24th season in the C ivic
play “ h it the scene,” on Broad
A u d ito riu m last Saturday w ith a line from anothe r opera that
way, na tio n a lly and m ade such
P u c c in i’s venerable “ T osca.” It
m ight explain his predictam ent,
“ heavy s ta te m e n ts " on the never-
w as a gala that co u ld have taken
“ is it w eakness o f in te lle c t... o r a
ending stru g g le o f the m ale/
place w hereever good opera is
tough little w orm in his little
fem ale relationship .
presented. A ll o f the leading
inside?”
One o f the few places that ap
characters w ere in e x c e lle n t voice
One also su sp e cts the dear
proaches a real “ d ra m a tic m o
w ith special p la u d its to H eather
man to have had a second agenda
m e n t” in the show , “ an agit-prop-
T hom son w ho assum es the title
w h ich made it necessary to pan
type theatre piece (agitation pro
role and to D onnie Ray A lb e rt w ho
both m ale leads in order to make
paganda Theatre), co m e s in. the
p o r tr a y e d th e r o le o f th e
his point. I w o u ld like to venture
firs t scene o f the second act. The
v illa in o u s Baron S carpia, the
to say that m u sic is universal in it
scene, e n title d , “ You Deserve
Rom e C hief of Police.
character. Piano player’s are not
W hat You G o t,” p its a "P re a ch e r"
necessarily good c ritic s . C ritic is
(Alex M orris) a gainst “ a H usb a n d ”
should leave th e ir p etty biases
(C larence W hitm ore), w h o is irate
and p re judices at the door.
(and sh o w in g us he can act) at th e
D onnie Ray A lb e rt is a Black
serm on given in the presents o f
man. M iss T hom son is a w hite
"H is ife " (C onstance Jones), w ho
w om an. It m ig h t have grieved cer
appears to have been “ s to le n ” by
tain w h ite m ale egos to have to
the bold black preacher’s charm , •
w itn e ss the abuse she was made
w h o m akes “ no bones a b out it”
to endure at the behest o f a Black
and does not intend “ to give her
man. “ O thello, the M oor” could
b a c k !” The tw o b ristle and som e
be portrayed only by w h ite men
“ sparks began to fly ” here and
and u n til recently, th a t w as the
th a t was “ real th e a tre !”
o n ly role B lack men co u ld hope to
The c o m ic “ burlesque set-up”
play in grand opera. It is very en
o f the tw o fo rm e r old frie n d s in
couraging to observe that the m u
A c t II, scene 3, e n title d ju st,
sical d ire c to r of the Portland
“ q u e stio n m a rks” (????), g o t a big
Opera is enlig h te n e d enough to
laugh from the audien ce (largely
go beyond race w hen se lecting
w om en w h o seem to m ake up the
w ho shall play w hat role in the
m a jo rity o f the black theatre
operas he in clu d e s in the co m
go in g a u dien ce in th is city) w hen
Donnie Ray Albert
pany’s repertoire.
the used-to-be, “ last of the great
P laudits also go o u t to the
Mr. A lb e rt is no stranger to
hot stud lovers,” turned o u t now
fu
n
c tio n a l s c e n e ry th a t w as
Portland. He to o k the m ale title
to be hom osexual, played “ e ffe c
created
fo r th is current produc
role w hen “ Porgy and B ess” per
tively by A le x M orris (w ho g o t not
tion. C o n g ra tu la tio n s also are in
form
ed
in
Portland
last
season
c re d it fo r th a t one!), w ith M elton
order fo r the orchestra w h ich was
w ith the fam ed H ouston Opera
“ G uy” M artin as his surprised,
co n d u cte d under the baton of
com pany. O pera is not a new
“ o ld fo rm e r b uddy.” There was
M aestro Bruno Aprea. Mr. Aprea
career fo r Mr. A lbert. He m ade his
one o th e r "p u t-d o w n ” reference
m ade his debut w ith th is perfor
d e b u t in that endeavor 13 years
mance. The orchestra alw ays was
ago, but baritone is a change of
m
e lo d ic and vibrant but never in
voice fo r him .
trusive.
P reviously he w as a basso.
Opera b u ffs are going to love
Having heard him sing both
th is production . It is tru ly grand
voices, th is w rite r fe e ls that the
opera.
new voice in je c ts an added d i
A fte r the Opera, all of the a t
m ension to a trem endou s set of
tendees w ere treated to a sum p
vocal ch o rd s w ith a three octave
tu o u s repass in the lobby o f KOIN
range. Mr. A lb e rt tru ly dom inated
T
ow er w here they had a chance to
the stage w ith his elegance, his
lin
g e r and to speak w ith m em bers
arrogance and the u tte r usurpa
o
f
the com pany and the guest
tio n of a hapless Tosca. The sec
artists.
ond act is dom inated w ith such
Cast M e m b e rs: D a iry o f Black M e n ...
The show , a "bare-bone bus
and tru c k ” operation, s ta rtin g
a lm o s t an h o u r late (8:55 p.m.),
gave us p ra c tic a lly " z ip ” sets,
w ith o n ly chairs, tables, a sm all
bar, p la tfo rm s , or a p u lp it fo r the
ch u rch scene. The lig h ts were
ju s t, “ up and d o w n ,” w ith a
fo llo w -s p o t on actors, w h o open
ed th e show (finally), in tro d u c in g
the six "a rc h e ty p e s ,” “ the Player
(Lee Stansberry), “ the W orker,” in
hardhat (Byron Jacquet), “ the
M ilita n t” (C larence W h itm ore),
“ th e In te lle c tu a l” (F ra n klin J.
Anderson), “ the M u s lim ” (Alex
M orris) and “ S lic k " (M elton “ G uy”
M artin), w h o was indeed “ s lic k ”
and “ w rite o n e !”
The one and o n ly “ A c tre s s /
D ancer,” w h o had no lines (poor
baby), w as played by lovely, C on
stance Jones. H er role w as “ the
every black w om an,” a g a in st all
th e se “ every black m en ty p e s ," as
she appeared m ainly as "a p rop,”
w hen the p la yw rig h t needed a
fem ale as “ a fo il," to appear as "a
s in g le black w om an, girl frie n d or
w ife .” W as she a hold hum an be
ing o r w hat, w h o know s?
IS THIS “ COLORED BOYS, WHO
HAVE NOT CONSIDERED SUICIDE,
WHEN THE RAINBOW ROOM
(THE BAR) IS ENUF?”
T his piece is o bviously a veiled
r e fe re n c e to p o e t, N to z a k e
S hange’s o rig in a l h it piece, " fo r
co lo re d g irls .” And the play
w rig h t, M eloncon, in the program ,
even refers to his piece, like Ms.
Shange, as “ a C horeopoem (m is
spelled in the program as “ chor-
co p e o m ” ). The “ Diary of Black
M en,” in ce le b ra tin g its fifth year
running, s in c e s ta rtin g as a
w o rksh o p in H ouston, Texas,
does appear to be h is “ C olored
b o ys," answ er to "C o lo re d G irls ,"
w h ic h “ d e v a s ta te d " H o u s to n
theatre c irc le s (like everyw here
else), w hen It played there s u c
ce ssfu lly, a few years ago. Several
s u c h w o rk s have a p p e a re d
to lesbians in the show , w h ich
sum s up the p la y w rig h t’s p o sitio n
on that them e in black m ale/
fem ale affairs.
There w ere som e very funny
lines th ro u g h o u t the show that
the cast, generally play w ell to the
audience, w h o cam e “ dressed to
the nines,” ready to laugh, enjoy
them selves, have a good tim e,
e a tin g p o p c o rn and d rin k in g
sodas, ju s t like at the m ovies (at
$18.50, a pop!)
A barroom drunk scene w ith
the hold ensem ble, in the firs t act
th a t had som e funny lines, but
there is a danger in “ playing
d ru n k fo r la ughs.” It generally
w orks b e tte r w hen a cto rs are
d ire c te d to play it "dead se rio u s,”
w h ic h m o st d runks are, e specially
w hen they are lam enting about
th e ir w ife leaving them (played by
B y ro n J a c q u e t). T h e s c e n e
evolves in to a sim ulated barroom
“ gang-bang” o f the young lady,
p la y e d a g a in by C o n s ta n c e
Jones, th a t becam e a very serious
s tatem ent in the end.
There w as m usical se le ctio n s
by D. Louis M organ, played by
K eyboardist, Roger W eaver and
B assist, Darryl Taylorand a dance
num ber perform ed by C onstance
Jones, w ith o u t a choreogra pher’s
c re d it, so perhaps, she created it
herself, bless her be a u tifu l black
self, surrounde d by all these
“ d u d e s.”
Frankly speaking, ju s t looking
at her, to ld th is w rite r "H o w to '
Love a B lack w om en; " g e n tle ly ,.
courageously, tru th ly and eternal
ly, as the s c rip t in s tru c ts !" But,
w ith o u t “ the p itc h ,” slogans and
all the preaching ! “ W rite on black
w o m a n !”
“ W rite on, y ’a ll!” And stay tuned
fo r the theatre p oll and Broadway
Bound Reports:
T
in tense e m o tio n s w hen Tosca
pleads fo r the life and freedom of
her beloved, M ario and Scarpia
e m p lo ys every s u b te rfu g e to
s a tis fy h is lu s t fo r su ch a
be a u tifu l creature.
It is q u ite d iffic u lt to under
stand w hy the c ritic fro m the local
d a ily was not im pressed w ith that
p a rticu la r scene. I have seen
Renata T ibaldi and Leonard W ar
ren do that scene and have lis te n
ed to recordings o f it fo r m ore
than 40 years. I d o n ’t th in k it is
hum anly p o ssib le to e xtra ct m ore
tragedy and pathos from that act
than em oted from the stage o f the
P ortland Opera. One ca n n o t un
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