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February 9,1989 • Portland Observer • Page 7
Behind-The-Scenes
by Lisa Collins
LaToya’s Thrilling Them Now:
33-year old LaToya Jackson is nab­
bing entertainment industry headlines
this week as she bares it all in a 12-
page Playboy magazine spread that
was slated to hit the newsstands some­
tim e this week. Apparently, LaToya
feels women shouldn't be ashamed
of their bodies. However, LaToya’s
recent behaviour, as well as her move
to New York, has the whole Jackson
clan worried. According to sources
close to the family, repeated attempts
by family members have been made
to talk sense into LaToya, about both
the move to New York, and her cur­
rent manager, who has a somewhat
checkered past. However, it appears
LaToya is enjoying all too well, her
newfound fre e d o m ... Meanwhile, the
release date on sister J a n e t’s u p ­
c o m in g LP has been pushed back
from March to May.
NAACP C hapter President Slaps
A rs e n io H all W ith $10 M illio n Law ­
s u it: Willis Edwards, president of the
Beverly Hills-Hollywood chapter of
the NAACP alleges that Hall defamed
him earlier this month when Hall
accused him of extortion during a
radio show. All this, of course, stems
from last month’s charges on the part
of Edwards that Hall practiced racism
with his failure to hire blacks in key
positions on his nationally syndicated
talk show. An angry Hall maintained
that he has hired key blacks, stating
in one interview that he was a “ 29-
year-old guy who all my life watched
these boy’s clubs on TV. Why no
women? Why no blacks? I’m trying to
change th a t... My director was white,
but so was the director for the NAACP
Image Aw ards.” For the record, Hall
has also instituted both an intern pro­
gram, as well as a job placement
program for minorities ...
M eanw hile th e N AAC P w as
tu rn e d d o w n on a m e e tin g w ith
C BS to d is c u s s “ F ra n k ’s P lace,”
after launching a letter campaign that
resulted in more than 30,000 letters
to the network requesting that "Frank’s
Place” be put back on TV. CBS-TV
President Laurence Tisch stated that
the meeting wouldn’t do any good.
However, the NAACP says they will
Wild Women Don't Have The Blues uses a rich blend of songs, archival
photos, contemporary performances, and interviews to tell the story
of America's earliest generation of great women blues singers, (above)
The "M other of the Blues" Ma Rainey with her Georgia Jazz Band. To
air on OPB-TV at 10:00 p.m., ET, on February 24,1989.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
American Playhouse premieres its eighth season with Lorraiane
Hansberry's classic play, "A Raisin In The Sun." (above I. to r.) Kim
Yancy, Starletta DuPois, Esther Rolle, and Danny Glover portray
members of a Black American family at a crucial turning point in their
lives.
2 8 8 -0 0 3 3
b y G a r la n d L e e T h o m p s o n
Theatre run. She have been working
steadily since opening the season in
“ Simply Heavenly,” at Portland State
University and Storefront s, “ Zooman
and the Sign.” She, along with Neal
Thomas, Denise W illiam s and G re­
gory Donovan have been “on a roll” in
what has already been called “the
nineth w ave” for Black Theatre per­
formers in this city. The producers
"dropped the ball" on the one, while
the actors are getting raves reviews,
she noted.
The IFCC, however, is reporting a
near sell-out second week for “ The
Colored M useum ,” and is going into
the W inningstad Theatre (Feb. 23rd,
24th, and 25th) for the final week with
a hit. W rite on, IFCC.
AFRICAN-AM ERICAN
PLAYW RIGHTS, THEIR
CRAFT AND LEGACY
The Black Studies Dept. of Port­
land State University has set a new
10-week special course on “ African-
American Playwrights, Their Craft and
Legacy.” From the Harlem Renais­
sance, the Federal Theatre days, the
Sixities, to the Eighties, the American
Black Theatre Movement has pre­
sented many new artists on “the World
Stage,” from Langston Hughes, Lot-
ten Mitchell, Ted Ward, Lorraine
Hansberry, Ntozake Shange, Char­
les Fuller, August Wilson, to George
C. W olfe (“ The Colored M useum ” ),
And what's the score: Tonys, three
Pulitzer Prizes, New York Drama Desk
Awards, many Audelco Black The­
atre Awards, New York Obies and
perhaps make a contribution to Wohle
Soyinka’s Nobel Prize.
G alileo," according to reports.
The PSU course is scheduled for
BLACK ACTORS TO FEEL
this
Spring term, starting W ednesday
THE EFFECTS OF
evening,
March 15th, 1989,6:20 p.m.
NEW ROSE DEFICIT
to9
:4
0
p
.m
. Dr. Darrell Millner, Chair­
The Black actors who have been
man
of
the
Black Studies Dept. has
active in Portland area theatre, will
ask
me
to
conduct
to the exciting new
feel the effects of the postponement.
course
and
bring
in several known
Brenda Phillips, currently starring in
produced
and
published
Black play­
“ The Colored M useum,” theatre, was
wrights
to
appear
during
the course
scheduled to perform a role in Soy­
inka’s “ Horsem an,” after her IFCC series.
not let the matter rest and is actively
pressing for another meeting date.
G u illiam e--M an In W aitin g :
Robert Guilliame, who is capping off
two more episodes of his "R obert
Guilliame Show,” is also crossing his
fingers for an air date. Guilliam e is
high on this project in which he” ll play
a divorced marriage counselor, who
is romantically involved with his at­
tractive, white secretary. However,
thus far, the series has not been
targeted with an air date. Guilliam e is
quoted as saying: ‘‘we'll wait like
buzzards in the sky to see if we can go
on the air as a spring re p la ce m e n t...
S p eaking o f TV, th e G o rd y C o m ­
p a n y w ill m ake it ’s TV d e b u t next
week with their upcoming m ini-se­
ries, “The Lonesome Dove," W hich
stars Robert Ulrich, Ricky Schroder,
Angelica Houston, Tommy Lee Jones,
and Danny Glover. Suzanne de Passe
serves as executive producer of the
show, which is being shown February
5-8.
S h o rt T akes: The Beastie Boys
want out of their contract with Def Jam
Records. DefJam says no way, but
according to industry insiders, The
Beastie Boys are shopping a deal
with Capitol Records. However, it will
be some time before this legal squabble
is all squared away ... The release
date for “ Lean On M e,” the movie
depicting the real-life story of Princi­
pal Joe Clark has been moved up to
March 3... Howard Hewett seen around
town with his steady, Motown record­
ing artist Nia Peeples, who is soon to
be seen in film, “ Deep Star Six.”
In te re ste d in a re c o rd in g c o n ­
tra ct? MCA Records has agreed to
sponsor this year’s Showcase '89 on
Radioscope, which while billing itself
as “the entertainment magazine of
the air” is syndicated nationally in
over 90 US markets. According to
vice-president, Diane Blackmon-
Bailey, grand prize winners will re- ;
ceive an MCA recording contract. A.D.
Washington, M CA’s VP of prom o­
tion, is spear-heading the national
effort, however all inquiries for S how ­
case “ 89 should be made directly to
Diane Blackm on-Bailey at (213) 969-
0011.
The Portland Music Association is
accepting applications to perform at
this year’s M ayor's Ball to be held at
the Memorial Coliseum on April 22,
1989. W hile the emphasis is on origi­
nal contem porary styles of music, the
PM A is recruiting all styles of musical
acts including: gospel, dixieland, swing,
classical, folk, ethnic musical styles,
bluegrass, country, dance groups, and
theatrical performers.
Applications are available at local
night clubs, record stores, and music
stores. The applications must be
received by the Portland Music Asso­
ciation no later than Friday, Feb. 17 to
be considered.
The Ball is a charitable com m unity
service project, withy this year’s pro­
ceeds going to benefit the Oregon
Fund for the Homeless and Hungry,
Outside In, Burnside Projects’ Youth
Shelter House, and St. Francis Din­
ing Hall.
You may receive an application by
mail by sending a self-addressed,
stamped, legal size envelope to Peter
Mott, Project Coordinator, 1338 SE
Miller Street, Portland, Oregon 97202.
For further inform ation you may call
the Project Coordinator at 231 -4843.
Availability Of Oregon
Teacher Corps Loan
Applications For
1989-90
Applications for the Oregon Teacher
Corps program for the 1989-90 aca­
demic year are now available. This
program is a loan forgiveness pro­
gram aimed at attracting qualified
individuals into the teaching profes­
sion. Of interest to you is the fact that
special consideration is given in the
selection process of minority student
applicants. Those students who qual­
ify for this program can have their
Oregon Teacher Corps loans forgtiven
if they teach full-tim e for three years
in a public elem entary or secondary
school in Oregon.
Invites you HIo (The
COOL’R
Autograph Signing
DATE: Tuesday, February 14th
TIME: 4:00-6:00 P.M.
LOCATION: 32nd & East Burnside
RECORDS
RECORDS
RECEIVE FREE GIFT WRAPPING AND A CARNA TION FOR YOUR
SW EETHEART WITH THE PURCHASE OF THE DEBUT A&M
RECORDS RELEASE FROM CO O L’R DURING SIGNING.
Music
M illennium
\VV PORTLAND
EAST PORTLAND
23rd & N.W. Johnson
248-0163
32nd & Burnside
231-8926
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Music Millennium
Fifth Annual Mayor’s
Ball Recruiting
Performers
B roadway B ound
W OHLE SOYINKA PLAY
POSTPONED AT NEW
ROSE THEATRE
The latest work of W ohle Soyinka,
the first African Nobel Prize w inner for
literature (1987), “ Death and the King’s
Horsem an,” has been postponed by
the the New Rose Theatre and re­
scheduled for February, 1990. Artis­
tic Director, Michail Griggs, whose
Portland company, along with the
Storefront Theatre, went into the
W inningstad Theatre in the new Per­
forming Arts Center last season.
THE W HOLE SCENE'S
CHANGED
Griggs is quoted: “(Portland) Center
Stage opening was like plopping a
huge bass in a goldfish pond. Sud­
denly the whole scene's changed."
The new company from the Oregon
Shakespeare Festival has a $1.6
million inaugural season and it is
reported that attendance has been a
healthy 15 percent above the pro­
jected break-even point, while New
Rose has been forced into severe
cutbacks in its direct competition with
Center Stage, for money and audi­
ences. New rose subscriptions fell 25
percent this season to about 1,000.
Single-ticket sales for the season’s
first two shows also dropped badly.
“ Two years ago we were a major
theatre in Portland. Now w e’re sort of
the smallest of the den size com pa­
nies. It changes the way you look at
things,” said Griggs. New Rose did
not do well at the box office with
several of its Winningstad shows,
including “the Woods," “ Misalliance,”
"A Touch of the Poet" and “ Life of
“ The Eyes and Ears of the Community”
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