Page 7 Portland Observer May 18,1989
EN I fcK I HINM ENT
B G C A IW
BEHIND THE
BCUND
SCENES
REPORT
★★★★★★★ ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
JLÄ
xnew that the original company had
quietly left town to rest and lake a
Christmas break. The new San Fran­
cisco company continued to run for
Lisa Collins
Actress Sues Eddie M urphy For $75 M illio n : 22 year old Michael
M ichele has filed a $75 m illio n law suit against Eddie M urphy, charging that
she was fired from the lead role o f his current film , “ Harlem N ights” ,
because she rebuffed his sexual advances. The law suit states that * ‘ M urphy
made consistent, personal overtures...including attempts to fondle and
otherwise caress her. However, M urph y’ s publicist Terrie W illiam s, re­
counts a different story. “ She was terminated in a personality clash... He
doesn’ t have to give jobs to female actors to get a date. She was paid in fu ll
fo r her services and that’s it . ” But Bob Berman, M ich e le ’s attorney claims
that w hile the actress was to have been paid $27,500 fo r her role in the film ,
it was o nly i f she promised not to sue. Response from M urphy came in a
statement which read in part, “ my professionalism and integrity are being
attacked. I have worked incredibly hard to get where I am... it sim ply makes
no sense that 1 w ould do anything to jeopardize that.” M eanw hile M ichele,
w ho claim s M urphy slandered her reputation and hurt her earning potential
said:’ ’ this film could have opened up H ollyw oo d fo r me.”
Former Lead Singer For K lym axx Makes Solo Debut: For most, the name
Joyce Irby w on’ t ring a bell, but her voice is one many w ill fin d to be quite
fa m iliar. Irby, dubbed “ Fenderclla” made a name for herself in the a ll-g irl
band K lym axx playing bass and p roviding lead vocals on such hits as “ The
Men A ll Pause: and the group’ s smash, “ I M iss Y o u.” Irby says she never
intended to leave the band, but they voted her out. Said Irby: “ at firs t, I
thought it was a joke , but they were very serious. It was a complete shock,
especially after all those years and a ll I put into it, but we must go on, and
I am m oving on.” Today, the 32-year old singer accepts that the move could
have been a blessing in disguise, and is happy to be at M otow n, especially
in lig h t o f the recent release o f her debut LP, M axim um Thrust. But M otow n
execs are expecting far more from Irby than ju st another h it LP. In fact, her
production co m p a n y-D e va -1 Productions, has five acts signed to m ajor
labels,and under the tutelage o f Jheryl Busby, she hopes to develop a
M otow n label by the end o f the year.
P T A Honors “ A m en’s C lifto n Davis: T V -actor C lifto n Davis was
recently appointed National Honorary Membership Chairman fo r the PTA.
Said Davis: “ i t ’s a privilege. 1 th ink perhaps the greatest problem that our
children have today is a sense o f low self-esteem. I f we can somehow raise
their level o f self esteem, I think we can do alot to curb the gang violence,
increase their possibilities for education and help to make a better future.”
Davis knows first-hand the dangers o f drugs, having overcome a drug
problem some ten years ago.
Lover;s Lane: One H ollyw oo d couple yo u ’ re not lik e ly to read about in
today’ s supermarket tabloids is super-singer Deneice W illia m s and pro­
ducer-husband Brad Westering. The tw o met through Earth, W in d & Fire
lead vocalist p h illip Bailey. Said already tw ice married Deneice: “ By the
tim e he came along, I ’d kissed so many toads, I was shell-shocked, and not
ready to kiss another. I said, Lord, i f this is the guy, make it plain, because
I ’ m not m oving. I ’ ve ju st made too many mistakes.” Today, nearing their
third anniversary, W illiams couldn’t be happier with the choice she madc.(Note:
“ lo v e r’s Lane” is the inspiration o f Ronncsha Busby. “ Thanks, Ronne-1
love yo u ” ). Short Takes: The C oalition to Free James Brown is seeking
250.000 signatures in a petition it w ill present to South Carolina Governor
C arroll A. Cam pbell, Jr. in the hopes o f having R & B pioneer James Brown
released from the current prison term he is serving for assault and fa ilin g to
stop for police...Shari Belafonte w ill star as activist Sue Brown in “ Under
F ire ,” an upcoming A B C -T V m in i-m ovie , which is a recreation o f the
famed c iv il rights murder case, that served as the basis o f last year’ s
controversial “ M ississippi B u rning .” “ Under F ire ” is set to air on May
21...Next week: Richard Pryor beefs up his image.
To qualify for the Pultizer Prize in
1970, Charles Gordones ’ s p lay, “ No
Place To Be Somebody,” was booked
for tw o weeks into the A N T A The­
atre by producer, Joseph Papp, who
turned toother things, after it did w in
the Prize. The playw right, his former
w ife, Jeanne Warner and friend,
Ashton Springer, decided to tour the
play, so they had to buy back the
rights to chuck Gordone’ s “ hot”
piece, paying Joseph Papp $30,000
fo r “ his troubles” and efforts. Open­
ing next in H ollyw ood, on Vine at
the Huntington Hartford Theatre, they
start the first National Tour. I met
It has been nineteen years ago Gordone at the A ctors’ Studio West
that Charles Gordone won the 1970 (L .A .), where a play o f mine, “ Sisy­
Pulitzer Prize and became the first phus & Blue-Eyed C yclops,” star­
Black p la yw rig ht to do so. The play­ ring Paul W in fie ld and D ’ U rv ille
w right is now playw right-resident at M artin was playing in a series o f new
Texas A & M U niversity, where he plays that were perform ing in the
has ju s t tried out a new p lay, “ Roan garage o f the old W illia m Hart house
Browne & C herry,” (opening A p ril in H ollyw ood. Actor, Ray Walston,
26,1989). The p la yw rig ht called me hosted Friday-at-five- cocktail sets
a few weeks ago, from the Speech in the liv in g room o f the Hart House
Communication and Theatre Arts De­ for us new talent and players.
The tour o f “ No Place,” contin­
partment’ s 400 seat, Forum Theatre.
He told me via telephone, about this ued on to San Francisco w ith me
new drama that deals w ith the life on jo in in g the National Touring C om ­
a big western ranch, its’ White owner, pany (August, 1970) at the On-Broad­
a m ix-blood B lack wranger, his half- way Theatre, where we left a second
indian daughter, “ incest and race” company o f young actors, starring
in a two-act play (Deep!). The con­ Ben Verecn and Phillip Michael Tho­
flic t centers around the continued mas (now on M ia m i V ice T V ). They
power o f the big ranch, over those were s till fa irly unkown (especially
w hoareeconom icallyandphysically P h illip, who is a form er child peacher
from Riverside, C alifornia). Ben has
dependent on it.
The new play, “ Roan Browne attended Performing Arts High School
& C herry,” is being considered fo r a in New Y ork, the school o f “ Fame”
further tryout by the M atrix Theatre T V fame, and he had closed in a
o f Los Angeles, w hich recently pre­ production o f “ Hair: in San Fran­
sented its production o f Gordone’ s cisco. Gordone instructed me, now
Pulitzer Prize play, “ No Place To Be the company’s production stage man­
Somebody” , directed by B ill Dukes ager, to hire them and start rehearsal
(he also recently directed a new tele­ w ith them and a cast o f San Fran­
v isio n p ro du ction o f Lorra ine cisco actors, during the day at the
Hansbcrry’ s Classic, “ A Raisin in On-Broadway Theatre until they were
ready to open.
the Sun,” fo r PBS-TV.
The N ational Company closed on
“ TH EG R EATCH ARLES GOR­
DO N E T R A V E L IN G C IR C US OF a Sunday and the new Bay Area
C LO W N S, FR EAKS A N D N IG R A - contract company opened on the fo l­
low ing Tuesday. The public never
T YP ES”
by Garland Lee Thompson
(FIRST YEAR
ANNIVERSARY
ISSUE)
PULITZER
PRIZE PLAY­
WRIGHT TRYS
OUT NEW PLAY
months after we took the National
company to Chicago’ s Studebaker
Theatre (January, 1971), when it was
fin a lly available. The producers,
Springer and Warner, moved the
second company, starring, Thomas,
to detroit’s Vestpocked Theatre (now
gone) and send us, the National
company on to Boston’s W ilb ur
Theatre (8 weeks), the Shubert The­
atre in Philadelphia (where it broke
records; 11 consecutive weeks) and
back to New Y o rk ’ s Morosco The­
atre on Broadway (it’s also gone now).
There the show received good re­
views, but closed in 10 weeks.
As a bonus fo r running the Na­
tional T o u r’ s “ return leg” back to
Broadway, I was given the first na­
tional bus and truck company to start
immediate after the show opened again
on Broadway.
This was the first time in known
theater history that a play opening on
Broadway and five days later, it plays
uptown at the Riverside Church
Theatre (fo r two performances as a
part o f the deal to rehearse there)
before we took this new company o f
“ No Place” out on the road again for
it second national tour, playing co l­
leges and one-nighters in a bus and
truck tour. M eanwhile, the D etroit
company moved to Baltimore’s M or­
ris Mechanic Theatre.
D uring this tim e, I had been in ­
structed by Gordone and the produc­
ers to rehearse P h illip M ichael T ho­
mas, into the National-back-to Broad­
way company. When we counted the
companies that were out and another
production at the Hartford Theatre
(in Conn.), the total was four at one
time during those runs. That may
have been “ a firs t” fo r a Black play,
produced, in by Black and W hite
producers.
It was history in the making and
my debut on Broadway in 1971. I
always fin d it hard to believe the fact
that, I d id n ’ t origin ally go to New
Y o rk to seek employment in the
theatre, but instead “ to hire actors,”
which I did fo r the Chicago and De­
tro it companies, to stage manager
and direct “ No Place,” under the
tutorship o f the playwright-director.
DOUBLE TEE PRESENTS
“ Forget The M ule, Just G ive Us $40 B illio n ” : 60 year old Detroiter
Raymond Jenkins, a real estate agency owner, has been pressing for years
to see blacks compensated for their forced labor in this nation at the hands
o f w hite slave owners, and fo r years, people laughed at him . But not
anymore. Just last month, D e tro it’ s C ity C ouncil passed a resolution urging
Congress to establish a $40 b illio n education fund for black Am erican. This
week. Rep. John Conyers w ill introduce a reparations b ill on the behalf o f
black Americans. B y all accounts, a groundswell movement is in fact
developing across the nation in m ajor US cities like New Y o rk, Los Angeles,
B altim ore and W ashington.
Gordy Keeps Pace: Last year’ s sale o f M otow n came amidst charges that
trend-setting record pioneer Berry G ordy, Jr. was selling out a black
Am erican institution to corporate w hite Am erica. But today, it appears the
move has paid o ff fo r Gordy who heads the list o f the highest grossing black-
owned firm s in C alifo rn ia and the G ordy Company makes its debut as the
nation’ s fifth-largest black-owned firm . (Iro n ica lly enough, M otow n held
the number five slot just last year, posting sales o f $100 m illio n ). C redit the
b ulk o f its 1988 revenues to the sale o f M otow n (fo r $61 m illio n ) and the
success o f its T V m ini- series” Lonesome D ove.” ...M eanwhile, Black
Enterprise Magazine’ s latest (annual) ranking o f the nation’ s largest black-
owned firm s reveals that the m ajority o f the country’ s most successful black
entrepreneurs make C alifo rn ia and New Y o rk their home.
Surveying The N ation’ s Richest Cities: The posh Connecticut suburbs o f
Bridgeport, Stamford, N orw alk and Danbury made up the nation’ s number
one metropolitan area fo r 1987 per capita personal income boasting an
average income o f $26,316, according to the US Commerce Department.
Rounding out the list o f the nation’ s top ten cities per capita personal income
are San Francisco—$24,593; Bergen-Passaic, N.J.--$23,040; M iddlesex,
N .J .- $22,783; Nassau-Suffolk, New Y ork~$22,001; Washington D.C.,
M a ry la n d -$ 2 1,539; San Jose, C a lif.—$21,510; Anahcim/Santa Ana, C a lif.-
$21,444; Lake County, La.-$$21,432; and West Palm Beach, Fla.-$21,246.
Am ong the nation’ s poorest cities (w ith the lowest per capital personal
income) was El Paso, Texas at $9,484.
Rounding out the nation’ s top-rated black-owned restaurants on the west
coast arc Harold & B e ll’ s and A u nt K iz z y ’ s, both located in Los Angeles.
A u nt K iz z y ’ s , which is owned and operated by husband and w ife team,
Adoph and M ary Dulan, docs big business in L A ’s exclusive M arina Del
Rcy. The pair who parlayed their success from a hamburger stand they
opened in South-Central Los Angeles, say that the tw o things that k ill black
restaurants arc a lack o f capital and ‘ ‘bad service. Said Dulan. they really
d on ’t know how to have frien dly, e fficie n t service, and no bad attitudes.
Y o u ’ ve got to have service that is equivalent to the finest restaurants open,
and that is m y com petition.” In fact, he says he is not in com petition w ith
other black eateries, “ There arc eight m illio n black people in Los Angeles
county. Harold & B e lt’ s can’ t feed them all and neither can I . ”
Executive Turntable: Ron Townsend, president and general manager o f
W U S A -T V in W ashington, D.C., has been appointed president o f Gannett
Television. Gannett, which publishes U S A Today, owns 10 T V stations.
Townsend is a30-ycar broadcast veteran. In Short: Los Angeles M ayor Tom
Bradley admitted to “ an error in judgm ent” in the wake o f four independent
investigations into his financial dealings. The probe centers on his accep­
tance o f funds to serve on the advisory board o f tw o banking institutions, that
held c ity accounts...Ncxt week: A look at the nation’ s fastest-rising black
entrepreneurs.
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’
EARL KLUGH
AND PAQUITO
D’RIVERA
ADDED
TO MT. HOOD
FESTIVAL OF
JAZZ LINEUP
G R ES H AM , Ore. - G uitarist Earl
Klugh and Saxophonist Paquito
D ’Rivera have been signed to the
Eight Annual M t. Hood Festival o f
Jazz, according to Paul Kreider, Fes­
tival o f Jazz Foundation President
Klugh and D ’ Rivera are the 11th
and 12th jazz names booked into the
Popular Aug 5-6 Festival held every
summer on the M t. Hood Com m u­
nity College campus.
Already signed are Diane Schuur,
the Count Basic Orchestra, the Yel-
lowjackets, saxophonist Branford
Marsalis, quitarist Kevin Eubanks,
singer Lou Rawls, M onty Alexan­
der’s T rip le Treat featuring bassist
Ray Brown and guitarist Herb Ellis,
harmonica/guitarist Toots Thiele-
mans, trumpeter Red Rodney and
saxophonist Frank Morgan.
K lu g h ’ s guitar w ork has been a
highlight in jazz recordings and
concerts but he has also forged a
reputation fo r melodic playing in a
popular mood. He has released a
number o f LPs over the past 10-12
years, including a recent one com ­
bining him w ith the tasteful work o f
fe llo w guitarist George Benson.
D ’Rivera first came to the U.S. in
the ’ 70s w ith the Cuban band Irak-
erc. Alto saxophonist D ’Rivera stayed
in this country and since has become
a highly respected jazz player. His
Cuban roots are reflected in the rhyth­
m ic energy o f his group. He com ­
bines the elements o f strong modem
jazz w ith Latin music.
Sponsors o f the Festival o f Jazz
are the Gresham Area Chamber o f
Commerce and M t. Hood Com m u­
nity College Foundation. Corporate
sponsors are Maletis Bcveragc/Miche
lob, Portland B ottling/7 Up, K IN K -
F M 102, K G W -T V 8, G .I. Joe’ s and
Portland Area V o lvo Dealers.
Additional information may be ob­
tained from the M t. Hood Festival o f
Jazz office by phoning 503-666-3810.
KMHD’s Annual
ON THE MONEY
byline Serra Syndication
*
* «
CELEBRATE THE RETURN OF
JOHNNY
MATHIS
Fundraiser
begins May 14, 1989 - -
10 am
All donations are tax-deduct­
ible
Listener supported non­
commercial public radio
MT HOOD
JAZZ
89.1 FM
KMHD
Full Spectrum Jazz
Oregons’s Only All Ste­
reo Jazz
6 am - 2 am
with Orchestra
June 11
CIVIC AUDITORIUM
KMHD 89.1 FM Jazz Events
Studio
26(X)() SE Stark
Line
(503)661-8900 Gresham,OR
97030
667-7689
Poets Wanted for
Peninsula park
Festival
Phone orders
248-4496
$27.00, $23.00, & $20.00
T ickets: E V E R Y B O D Y ’ S, M U ­
SIC M IL L E N U IU M . B U D G E T
TAPES (DW NTN), FOR W H A T IT ’S
W O R TH , STA R STR U C K, R O C K ­
PORT, P A R A M O U N T RECORDS
(S A L E M /B E N D ) EUGENE H U L T
CTR, & all PCI’ A Box Offices. Subject
to service charge and/or user fee.
The Cascade Poets and Oregon
State Poetry association arc inviting
local poets to read from their work at
the fifth annual Peninsula Park Spring
Festival June 3.
Poets interested in taking part arc
asked to call W ilm a E rw in at the
Cascade Campus o f Portland Com-
m unity college, 244-6111,ext.5222,
or at 283-3682.
The festival w ill honor the Rose
Festival ju n io r court w ith a knighting
ceremony at noon in the gazebo o f
the park, located at 6400 N. Albina
Ave.
Festivities w ill continue until 5
pm and w ill include the PCC Jazz
Band, a small show band, at 1:30pm;
a fashion show coordinated by Cora
Smith, 2:30 pm; and magician Bob
Eaton, 3 pm follow ed by storyteller
Sarah K irchfeld o f North Portland
Branch L ibrary; Ed and M ich cll
M itch e ll, “ The M od clicrs,” leading
a sing-along, and the poetry reading.
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