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P a g e 5 P o r tla n d O b s e r v e r A n ril 2 7 ,1 9 8 9
ENTERTAINMENT
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IBOHJMD
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IEIEIPCICT
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b v Lisa Collins
“YANKEE DAWG YOU
DIE,” AT IPCC
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ON THE MONEY
by G a rla n d Lee T hom pson
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B lack S c u lp to r’s B attle IN S u p rem e C o u rt C ould M ean M illions F o r
F reelan ce A rtists: Nationally renown hom eless activist M itch Snyder has
charged that Jam es Ear, Reid, a black Baltim ore sculptor has been blinded
by dollars., Reid, on the other hand, has said “ the real greed” is on Snyder’s
side. W hat th ey ’re battling over is rights to reproduce a life-sized sculptor
o f a hom eless family (dubbed “ Third W orld A m erica” ), that Reid created
for Snyder’s Com m unity For Non-Violence in W ashington, D.C. Reid, who
donated his services, is fighting for the right to profit from reproductions of
the work, com m issioned by a corporate sponsor on behalf o f Snyder’s
center. Corporations m aintain they should control w orks they com m ission.
Freelance artists insists that millions are at risk., A decision is expected in
June.
M av erick B lack D esigner P a tric k Kelly T o L a u n c h A M ore A ffordable
L ine: Large m ulticolored buttons, buttons m ade o f real dice, and stuffed
teddy bears affixed to lycra body dresses are the mark o f designer Patrick
K elly, a V icksburg, M ississippi native w hose rise in today’s fashion
industry has been meteoric. His collection averages in the $500-600 price
range, and som e o f his favorite clients include Princess Diana., Next year,
he is said to be offering a secondary collection called “ :Patrick Kelly Loves
Y o u ” , and at half the price o f his prim ary collection. Fact is, Kelly has
proven him self to be quite the businessm an. He is the first American to be
accepted into the Cham bre Syndicate, a federation o f top Paris designers.
This year, estim ates are his wholesale volum e will top $7 million. So
incredible is K elly’s own rags-to-riches story, that on his most recent visit
to Los A ngeles, he took a meeting with a film producer to discuss a project
based on his ow n life story.
D ressing T h e S ta rs A t T o p D ollar? As a top H ollyw ood stylist, Cecile
Parker specializes in creating a total celebrity look for clients such as Janet
Jackson, N atalie Cote, Karyn W hite, M iki H ow ard, Jeffrey O sbourne, and
has on occasion Sylvester Stallone and Neil D iam ond,-m ostly for public
appearances from live TV to prom otions, even inter-views. Said Parker,
“ it’s not so m uch that they d on’t dress well, but they have other things to
worry about.” And for a fee o f about $100 per hour (with three-hour
minim um , Parker reorganizes closets in ordered to assess needs, ventures
out on shopping expeditions(searching out the latest from designers like
Patrick K elly, Ralph Lauren, V alentino, and D onna Karan), and even
suggests hairstlye and m akeup for a total look, m atching personality and
lifestyle. A s far as cost, Parker says” m ost celebrities d o n ’t look at cost.
W hatever they want, they’ll pay for it.” Parker got into this line of work
quite by fluke. W hite w orking as a fashion coordinator and assistant
m anager at a Y ves St. Laurent boutique, she put together outfits for other
stylists, before realizing she w as doing their w ork, and could make a pretty
penny doing it for herself. T op stylists earn up to $100,000 per year.
C o u rt O u tlaw s F C C D istress Sales T o M in o rities: A federal appeals court
has deem ed that federal rules giving m inorities preference in the purchase
o f “ distressed” radio and TV stations. A panel o f the U.S .Court o f Appeals
said the Federal Com m unications C om m ission’s “ distress sates” rules,
which allow quick sales at reduced rates o f defunct or disenfran-chised
stations to m inorities, violate the equal protection provisions o f the Fifth
A m endm ent to the Constitution, Stating that there was no indication the
FCC “ sought to em ploy race-neutral program s to aid m inorities before
resorting to a racial set-aside.” N ext w eek: w e ’ll find o u t w h at some black
ra d io o w n ers have to say a b o u t this.
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Saluting: Rose Festival Princesses And *
Court. Marshall And St. Marys
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African
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England, first had her work read at the
Frank Silvera W riters’ W orkshop in
New York City, where I produced
readings of several o f her plays, in the
mid-seventies, and she taught writing
at the Fredrick Douglas Creative Arts
Center, also in New York. She has won
playwright grants and her powerful play,
“ Long Time Since Y esterday," was
originally produced bv mv good friend
and associate, W oodie King Jr. at his
New Federal Theatre in New York City
in 1985. It won the New York AUDELCO
AW ARD for Best Black Drama for that
year. This will be the Oregon premiere
on this work. W rite on, P.J. Gibson!
T H E “ D REA M S O F C H IL D R E N ”
R E V E A L E D AT A M E R IC A N
D A N CE T H E A T R E
W hat did you dream as a child? This
was the primary theme of a dynamic
Spring dancer concert program that I
cau g h t at the A m erican D ance
Theatre(S W Park & Alder in downtown
Portland) Saturday evening, April 15th
(It ran April 6, 7, 14, and 15, 1989).
Chisao Hata Elizabeth Abts, took the
audience “ boldly where no else has
been’ ’ (or dare to go), on a “ astral trip”
into the minds o f their young and very
exciting com pany of dancers (ages 9 to
109!) of both girls and boys too (Whoray!)
Ms. H ata’s little ones (in size onlv).
those “ dippled darlings” (bless their
little hearts), “ held court,” with an
“ iron grip in a cuter little pony-tail,”
for the first half and her “ partner-in-
crim e-of-the-arts,” “ Betsy, the floor
burner,” Abts, brought the point “ home”
to us during the second act with her
piece, “ W ork” and the news and sign
o f “ The tim es.”
From “ W ar dream s,” that “ first
d ate” in first grade, to “ Car dream s”
(shades of the broadway show “ Grease”
& burger TV ads) and weird things that
run through their TV cluttered “ little”
m inds, we experienced the inner
workings o f (ah...) sweet youth. The
key to this unique dance company is
energy, a sense of humor nd unity
(everybody works hard, “ ’’busting their
chops,” on and off stage; striking the
set and props)! They should “ get their
act together and take it on the road!”
The next time the American Dance
Theatre is performing in town, check
them out! They are not ju st cute, all
colors, teenager-bubbly and pimply, they
are damn talented, bordering on power-
mad for the performing arts! Since I
have a daughter, who is also a dancer, I
know how all those ADT parents must
feel seeing their super-kids flying around
the very functional stage o f the large
studio of the A merican Dance Theatre,
a block off Broadway. It’s a great space
that would cost millions in New York
(D on’t tell the landlord, please)!
And I believe the very next performing
event for this strong new company of
“ monster dream -kids,” is their Spring
Concert with Michael H arrison’s band.
May 4 th, 5 th, 8:00 pm, and 6th, 2;00 pm
M AT., & 8:00 pm at the W inningstasd
Theatre o f the Portland Center for the
Performing Arts. Dance on, ADT
company! For more information, call
(503) 227-0911 (Better yet,book ’em)
PLAYWRIGHTS:
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Left To R oght Sarah H iem an, Michele M cK ee, C hristina Galrn iehe, Deanna
Connell, Debbie Spitznagel and Amy Rogers
M
Lora Durst, Marshall
Left To Right M elanie Rouse, Pauline Pangaviban, Erica Larson, N icolettc
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: JoH cx ★ ★
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•IIL L IS RICHARDSON
¡ARLAND ANDERSON
AKNA BONTEMPS
W ILLIAM BRANCH
A LIC E CHILDRESS
LANGSTON HUGHES
LORRAINE IIANSBERRY
O SSIE DAVIS
I1UHY DEE
LEHO1 JONES( BARAKA J
IAMES BALDWIN
JOHN O. KILLENS
GERTRUDE JEANETTE
ED BULL1NS
RICHARD WESLEY
CHARLES FULLER
DOUGLAS TU IIN E R 'V a RD
LONNL ELDER I I I
CHARLES GORDONS
ELAINE JACKSON
KATHLEEN COLLINS
P . J . GIDSON
HTO7.AKE SIIANGE
ANDtllEHNE KENNEDY
HON MIENEII
TED SHINE
OWEN DODSON
REN CALDWELL
A. MARCUS HEMPHILL
J . E . FRANKLIN
H IL L Y GRAHAM
GARLAND LEE TIIOMI’SO
ARCHIE SIIEPP
MAXWELL GLANVILLE
CLIFFORD MASON
OLIVER PITCHER
I’ ll IL L IP HAYES DEAN
JOSEPH A. WALKER
AUGUST WILSON
GEORGE
WOLFE
C
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B r illia n t n e w d a n c e s
tw o d if f e r e n t p r o g r a m s
tic k e ts : 8 5 , 8 8 , 811
a v a ila b le a t
PCPA B ox O ffice,
T lc k e tM a s te r
O u tle ts
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THE
JEFFERSON
DANCERS
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5 - 6 7 - 8
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p m I n te rm e d ia te T h e a tre
P o r tla n d C e n te r fo r P e r f o r m in g A rts
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IT’S TOUGH TO BE A BLACK HERO.
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HIRO «IBIS '"5 » WAV PROOUCIIW
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i E.U. WINS SOUL
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THE IH CRAFT A. LEGACY
GARLAND LEE THOMPSON
PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY
PLAYW RIGHT-FACILITATOR S .W . DROADWAY AT MARKET STREET
Deanna Connell, St Marys
Hortsch, Lora Durst and Tracy Guy
The Interstate Firehouse Cultural
C enter opens its latest production,
“ Yankee Dawg You D ie,” a new
dram atic com edy by Asian American
playwright, Kan Gotanda. This Oregon
prem iere is billed as a “ provocative
social com m entary,” on the plight and
problem s o f Asian A merican actors
searching to build professional acting
careers in the “ h o n o r halls o f
H ollyw ood” and the A merican film
industry. The character o f “ Vincent
C hang,” played by Harold Shirakawa
is the proud older Asian American,
V eteran o f stage and screen, who has
com e up the hard way, taking the only
rotes available to him in Hollywood, at
that time; “ bits, day players and walk
on heavies.,”
The racist clim ate o f Holly wood and
the United States in the W orld W ar II
era made it very difficult and next to
impossible for actors of Japanese descent
to be cast in film rotes during that time,
so he was forced to change his name to
“ C hang” and take w hat rotes he cold
get, “ passing” for Chinese.
The role o f “ Bradley Y am ashita,”
played by a new-com er, Eddie Mui, is
the brash young “ new w ave” o f Asian
American theatre and actors, who is
fired by his new ethnic pride. He insists
that his acting career be on his own
term s, and is determ ined never to take
“ a stereotypical oriental” rote, such as
a part with dem eaning lines like,
“ Yankee Dawg You D ie,” etc.(Can
you blame him?)
Directed by Bea Kiyohara, who is
Artistic Director of the Northwest Asian
A merican Theatre o f Seattle, Yankee
Dawg You D ie,” opened Friday, April
21th, and runs through May 21th, 1989,
playing Fridays, Saturdays at 8:0C pm
and Sundays 2:00 pm. The IFCC Theatre
is located at 5340 N.Interstate Avenue
in Portland’s N ortheast community.
The IFCC Theatre production staff,
under Executive Director, Sue Busby,
includes set design by Charles Tyndall,
costum es by W anda W alden, lighting
by David Harrington and sound design
by Ralph Coulson. The ticket prices are
$10 on Fridays and Saturdays, and $9
on Sunday matinees. For reservations
or more inform ation, call Tery Nelson
at IFCC, 243-7930.
C A ST IN G C A L L S FO R N EW
B L A C K W O M A N ’S PLAY
The PassinArt: A Theatre Company,
is casting for a new play, Black woman
playw right, P.J. G ibson’s tragic drama,
“ Long Tim e Since Y esterday.” It
includes six Black professional, middle-
class women, who have gone through
the turbulence o f the sixities and have
com e into various levels o f success and
failures in the eighties. The “juice News”
o f the project is that Passin Art company
manager, Connie Carley is scheduled
to direct this new production. W rite on,
Connie!
The playw right, P.J. Gibson, who
came out of Brown University, in New
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B E H IN D T H E {
SCEN ES
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Virgin recording artists E.U. have
taken go-go music to new heights by
winning the prestigious Soul Train
Award. E.U. won the award for “ Best
R& B/Urban Contem porary Single by a
Band or G roup’ ’ for their recording of
“ Da B utt.”
The title to watch for next year’s
round o f awards is the latest offering
from E U . “ Buck W ild,” the first single
release from their debut album ‘ ‘L ivin’
L arge.”
“ Buck Wild” is #21 * on the Billboard
black singles chart and is breaking out
on airw aves across the country.
Band leader and founder of E.U.,
TRAIN HONORS
Gregory ‘ ‘Sugar Bear’ ’ Elliott said, ‘‘It
is a thrill to finally reap the fruits of
over a decade o f hard work and
maintaining our go-go roots.”
They will be touring the Southeast
with headliners, Salt & Pepa and Guy.
The schedule includes dates in their
hom etow n o f W ashington D .C .,
M ichigan, Kansas, and North Carolina.
E.U. can be seen on Soul Train on May
6th, Ebony/Jet Showcase later that same
month and in the pages of Essence,
Right On!and more The band is singing
and appearing in Spike’s new feature
film, “ do The Right T hing,“ due this
Summer.
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AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM AT NE
YWCA
The Northeast YW CA has begun an After School Program for the last
few w eeks o f school.
The elem entary After School Program is for children in the 1st through
5th grades. The program will offer cultural enrichment, recreational activities
and personal growth and development. Tutorial and home work assistance
will be provided to those who request it. The program will be developed into
a six-week sum m er program this year.
The program will run M onday-Thursday from 3:00pm - 5:00 pm at the
NE Center, located at 5630 NE Union Avenue. There is no fee to participate.
Parents can drop by to fill out a registration form.
For more inform ation, contact the NE YW CA at 282-0003.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
"T h e E y e s a n d E ars of th e C o m m u n ity ”
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K