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19, 1993
BS
tS I llS A I S n lM
S te r lin g
A Star-Studded
Variety Special To
Air On CBS May 29
M acer
C o -S ta rs
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DRAGO«: THE BRUCE LEE STORY
Sterling M acer’s hilarious w ise­
cracks are scene stealers n “ Dragon:
The Bruce Lee Story," He poiU ays
Jerom e Sprout, L ee’s first pupil and
subsequent friend. By teaching Jerom e
and other non-C hinese students the
techniques o f kung fu, w hich the C h i­
nese ciders forbid outside their co m ­
munity, Lee pays dearly.
“Jerom e is based on a real person
in Bruce L ee’s life. I understand he
now lives in the Seattle area,” M acer
says. “ I was thrilled to get the role. 1
am not a real m artial arts expert, but
I know enough to get me in trouble.”
M acer’s successful acting career
bridges the gap betw een theartre, film
and television. Television fans rem em ­
ber him, m ost recently, as Robert Davis
in the critically-acclaim ed A BC tele­
vision dram s “ H om efront,” M acer
portrayed a young W orld W ar II vet­
eran w ho brings his French war bride
back to his hom etow n, where they
experience prejudice as a result o f
their racially-m ixed m arriage.
M acer w ill soon be seen in a new
CBS pilot “ H earts o f the W est," star­
ring with L loyd Bridges and his son,
Beau. M acer describes the show as
“present day dude ranch.” He plays an
Patti LaBelle and Danny Glover to host 1993 Essence Awards
ex-attorney w ho lost his jo b for insider
The 1993 Essence Awards, a rial inaugural C oncert for HBO,
.trading
and goes to the ranch to find
prestigious tribute to the outstand­ M T V ’s Inaugural G ala Ball an d Up
inner
peace.
M acer also had a guest
Close
with
Paul
M
cCartney
for
ABC
ing achievem ents o f eight prom i­
starring
role
in “S tar T rek ” this sea­
Gowers
also
serves
as
Executive
Pro-
nent A frican-A m erican women, will
son.
Bom
in
east M oline, Illinois,
duver
w
ith
his
partner
in
T
ogether
be broadcast on the CBS Television
M
acer
grew
up
p n m arily in M issouri.
A
g
a
in
P
ro
d
u
c
tio
n
s
,
C
a
ro
l
N etw ork on Saturday, May 29, 9 to
His
family
is
close-knit,
with his par­
Rosenstein
Rosenstein
aw
ard-w
in­
11pm ET/PT. T his variety special
ents
encouraging
him
to
pursue his
ning
credits
as
an
executive
pro­
features music, dance and comedy
dream s, telling him that w ith hard
perform ances and special presenta­ ducer, producer and w riter include
w ork he could be anything he wanted.
tions by some o fto d ay 's hottest stars live aw ard shows, ch ild ren ’s pro­
M acer was previously enrolled in the
and entertainers. And, President Bill gram s and music and comedy spe­
University o f San D iego’s M asters IN
C linton pays a very special tribute cials. Also serv ing as Executive P ro­
ducer
is
D
an
Gasby
o
f
Gasby,
Inc.
Fine
Arts graduate program in asso ­
from the Oval Office to the Essence
whose
production
credits
include
26
ciation
with the “O ld G lobe Theater,
A w ard recipients. T h is will m ark
one
hour
episodes
o
f
Big
Break,
a
w
here
he
appeared in num erous p ro ­
the first tim e since the inaugural
d
u
ctio
n
s,
in clu d in g “Joe T u rn e r’s
m
usical
variety
program
hosted
by
celebration that the President will
m
ulti-G
ram
m
y
A
w
ard
w
inner
and
C
om
e
and
G
one,” “ Slow D ancing on
appear in an entertainm ent special
the K illing G ro u n d ” and “T he Piano
T he gala ceremony, hosted by Patti A rtist o f the Y ear for 1991, N atalie
L esson,” am ong others. Shortly b e­
LaBelle and D anny G lover was v id ­ Cole. V alerie N orm an is producer
fore graduation, M acer left the pro­
eotaped before a black-tic audience and Rita C ash and K hephra B um s
gram to play R om eo in the Dallas
at T he Param ount T heater at M adi­ are the writers.
T heater production of “R om eo and
T he 1993 Essence A w ard re
son Square G arden in New York
Juliet” and received his M asters d e­
cipients
are:
Senator
Carol
Mosely-
City on April 30.
Braun,
the
first
A
frican-A
m
erican
gree early.
Eddie M urphy will pay a very
M o v in g to L o s A n g e le s, he
w
om
an
elected
to
the
U.S.
Senate;
special tribute to civil-rights activist
quickly
was cast in the T V series
G
ail
D
ever,
U
.S.
O
lym
pic
G
old
an d M other o f th e C ivil-R ights
M
edalist,
Aretha
Franklin,
the
Queen
"T
our
of
Duty,” followed by a co-
M ovem ent, Rosa Parks. Bill Cosby
stanng
role
in the daytim e scries “G en­
of
Soul
and
multiple
Grammy
Award-
w ill also be on hand to pay tribute to
eratio
n
s.”
H is leading role in the
w
in
n
in
g
sin
g
e
r
an
d
so
n
g
w
riter;
T in a T urner and E dw ard Jam es
O lm os will praise the w o rk o f ’Swcct “ Sweet A lice’ H arris, com munity
A lice” H arris O n the music front, activist and founder o f Parents of
9»
Jam es Ingram will perform “ Sing W atts (PO W ).L ena H om e, legend­
for the C hildren” for the very first ary actress, singer and dancer, Rosa
tim e and A nita Baker, Shanice, P arks, c iv il-rig h ts activ ist; T in a
K a th le e n B a ttle, K ary n W hite, T urner, m ultiple G ram m y A w ard­
and Sounds o f Blackness will be w inning singer and actress; an d Dr.
am ong m any other perform ers add­ Corla W ilson-Hawkins, educator and
ing to the stellar lineup. Phyllis com m unity activist.
Susan L. Taylor, Editor-in-C hief
Y vonne Stickney and M ark Curry
o
f
Essence
m agazine say, “For the
w ill be am ong the com edians on the
second
year
we
are proud to bri ng the
show. T he show will be choreo­
graphed by the electrify ing M ichael Essence aw ards to a national audi­
Peters, w hose extensive list o f cred­ ence The strength and depth o f these
its have ea rn ed him n u m e ro u s eight great w omen show us a world
aw ards including a Tony and an in w hich all things are possible. T his
Em m y. T he show w ill be directed by y ea r's aw ard recipients are role m od­
Bruce Gowers, w hose most recent els for the n atio n ’s people, especially
'
Try.
(Bill Cosby, Anita Baker, Eddie Murphy, Halle Berry, James
Ingram, Kathleen Battle among special guests & a very special
tribute from President Bill Clinton)
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(Top) Jason Scott
Lee (left) stars as
Bruce Lee, an
extraordinary man
who became a
legend for all time in
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the world of movies
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and martial arts,
;
•
and Sterling Macer
as Jerome, Bruce
Lee 's pupil and
friend. (Bottom) (I.,
to R.) Jason Scott
- ■ : .
Lee as Bruce Lee,
■ ■
Lauren Holly as
Linda and Sterling
-
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Macer as Jerome.
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LaJolla Playhouse production O f “ My
C hi.dren, My A frica” w as so well
received that it m oved to the Henry
Fonda Theater in L os A ngeles, where
Macer was cast in two television p i­
lots, “ My O ld School” and “ 1945,”
w hich was later retitled “ H om efront."
M acer both directed and produced
their first production, “The S lave,”
w hich ran at the G ardener State in Los
A n g e le s . T h e ir s e c o n d p la y ,
“M acbeth,” also directed by Macer,
will be staged at The B re wery in do wn-
low n Los Angeles this fall. M acer
notes, “ I feel our production com pany
should reflect the needs o f a com m u­
nity and here in Los A ngeles the com ­
m unity is m ulti-cultural, w hich is
som ething sc all need to understand,
especially in these troubled tim es in
our city." M acer is also one o f the
founders o f the m ulti-ethnic, m ulti­
cultural Inkululeko T heater Com pany
in Los Angeles.
M acer’s other love is music and
he has form ed a sm all production
com pany, Pipeline Records, to en­
courage talented young musicians. The
first group M acer is w orking with is
M ojo, a hip/hop rap group from his
- .t-
behind the scenes.
U n iv e rsa l P ic tu re s p r e s e n ts
“ Dragon: T he Bruce Lee Story,” a
Raffaella De Laurentiis Production
and a Rob Cohen Film. Jason Scott
Lee stars a Bruce Lee (no relation).
Lauren Holly, Michael Learned, Nancy
Kwan, Kay Tong Lim, Robert W agner
and Sterling M acer co-star.
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our children.”
OREGON PREMIERE
Don 7 Miss This Award-Winning Play
Pulitzer Prize Winner
Drama Desk Award Best Play
NY Drama Critics Circle Award
CHARGE BY PHONE 224-4991
PORTLAND. REPERTORY THEATER
IN THE W O R LD TRADE CENTER
Jack an d Jill have contracted nam ic perform ance about im portant
the AIDS virus Santa Claus is puzzled issues such as decision m aking, rac­
by a little boy’s request for a Barbie ism. sexuality, depression, drug and
doll D orothy and Toto learn the alcohol abuse, and MORE
T h is “one night only” perfor­
im portance of birth control A nd the
Brady Bunch deals with hom osexual­ m ance will be held May 27, 7:00
ity. These issues along w ith many pm at the M etropolitan L earn in g
others will be presented at the 1992- Center (2033 NW G lisan). A recep­
93 season finale o f T een s& Com pany, tion will follow the perform ance The
Planned P arenthood’s aw ard w inning perform ance is FREE but donations
arc encouraged Seating is limited,
theatre troupe
TEEN S A: CO M PA N Y com bines reservations arc required Call 775-
education and entertainm ent in a dy­ 3918 to reserve scats
T E E N S & C O M P A N Y is a
theatre group which com bines educa­
tion and entertainm ent in a dynam ic
perform ance about the issues facing
teenagers The perform ance stim u­
lates discussion about issues confront­
ing today's teens including decision
making, eating disorders, sexuality,
drug and alcohol abuse, racism and
more.
,
W hat makes this show unique is
the perform ance material w hich was
developed by the 14 member cast It
blends hum or, role play, m ovem ent
music and dram a to provide timely
inform ation to the audience
T he May 27 perform ance will
be a cu lm in atio n o f the 1992-93
T E E N S A CO M PA NY season in
w hich they perform ed over 40 shows
Their audiences included middle and
high school students, church and com­
munity groups, other youth-service
organizations and professional con­
feren ces th ro u g h o u t O reg o n an d
W ashington
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hom etow n in M issouri. His ultim ate
goal is to align his acts w ith larger
labels. C onstantly growing, always
working, Sterling Macer, Jr. is a young
man with an enorm ous future ahead of
him both in front of the cam era and
Fictional Characters Face Real Life Issues In The
Season Finale Performance Of Teens & Company
credits include the Lincoln M emo-
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