While Chicago may not have the lights and paparazzi of New York City, we do have some of the best Black theater ensembles around. And as artistic directors burn the midnight oil in anticipation of the 2002-2003 season, there are a few plays you don't want to miss.
Black Ensemble Theater, 4520 N. Beacon, led by Jackie Taylor, is a senior among Chicago's Black theater companies. Now in its 26th year, the award-winning, nationally acclaimed ensemble continues to maintain its tradition of presenting excellent theater that is both entertaining and educational.
Taylor formulates a winning combination of historical biography with foot-stomping, finger-popping music that makes her productions so memorable. This season, as in seasons past, Taylor is the writer of several of the plays that will be produced. In fact, she may be seen delivering a few lines in one of her plays, as well as directing and producing them. When she founded the company, she says she wanted to take control of some of the images that African-American people were being offered.
"I wanted to correct the images and help people understand who we are," she said. "We aren't all dope addicts and prostitutes. We have done a lot for this country and our stories should be heard."
Opening last weekend was the first of five shows scheduled this season...Doo Wop Shoo Bop...one of the most popular of the Black Ensemble productions. Featuring the music of the Flamingo's, The Platters and The Shirelles, this musical journey down 1950s memory lane will take viewers back to "the good old days." There will also be special appearances by musical legends like Dinah Washington, Ruth Brown and Jackie Wilson.
As the season continues, the stories of Howlin Wolf ( granddaddy of the blues ) in Nothin But the Blues, a tribute to the Black pioneers in rock & roll in The House That Rocked, and a look back at the girl groups of the '50s and '60s in Whatever Happened To ..., round out a most entertaining schedule.
But for our money, the story we want to see is The W.V.O.N. Story, which will recognize the 40th anniversary of WVON Radio and its legendary leader, Pervis Spann. The musical documentary tells the story of how a small, Black-owned-and-operated Chicago radio station grew into a power house, inspiring and enlightening the entire Black community during the turbulent 1960s.
And, if you are traveling the country and hear that Black Ensemble Theater is in your town, don't do a double take...just run quickly for your tickets. The company has taken The Jackie Wilson Story: My Heart is Crying, Crying on a national tour after a 19-month local run. But for Taylor...it's all in a day's work.
Eta Creative Arts Foundation Inc., 7558 So. South Chicago Ave., opens it 32nd season on Thursday, Sept. 19 with Rob Penny's Murderer on the Hill District, a murder mystery from an Afrocentric perspective. Set in Pittsburgh in the Black church, the play introduces members of the Maroon culture, a crime of passion and new approaches to the "whodunit mystery," and promises to take fans of Walter Mosley, Perry Mason and Matlock to new heights.
"I wanted to purse the idea of Africans who were mentally and spiritually freed from Euro-American influences who would see Black reality through a different lens and arrive at solutions that grow out of their world view," Penny said.
Two other plays that offer great promise for theatergoers are Homebound, a gritty tale of life in a detention home for young men, written by Javon Johnson, and When the Ancestors Call, writer Elizabeth Brown-Guillory's reflective tale of what happens when ancestral spirits arrive to begin the healing process of two estranged sisters. Also opening in the eta Gallery opening night is Letterforms, Words, Meaning...original paintings by Rhonda Wheatley, a self-taught artist who finds inspiration in alphabets, scripts and written symbols. A public reception will be held from 6-8 p.m.
Congo Square Theater, 1201 W. Randolph, opens its season with the always-popular A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller. The award-winning work will be directed by Chuck Smith ( Resident Director of The Goodman Theatre ) and will star Congo Square ensemble members Aaron Todd Douglas, Derrick Sanders [ artistic director ] and Will Simms II. Black theater aficionados may recall that A Soldier's Play was first produced at The Negro Ensemble Company in 1981 and received a Pulitzer Prize. Performances at The Theatre Building, 1225 W. Belmont.
The season will be rounded out by two other plays, Daughters of the Mock, a mysteriously haunting tale about a grandmother's curse that protects the her womb...keeping the hearts of future generations free from the clutches of men; and Wedding Band...a collaboration with Congo Square and Steppenwolf ensembles.
And while Sanders is excited about bringing A Soldier's Play to the stage, he says the collaborative piece with Steppenwolf will most certainly be a tour-de-force.
"We anticipate A Soldier's Play having the biggest draw of the season, because it's such a well-known and popular play. But there will be something very special and unique about our collaborative production, Wedding Band," Sanders said. "It's very exciting for our ensemble members because Steppenwolf has a larger venue and has an outstanding reputation among Chicago theaters. We were first approached after their artistic director saw our production, The Piano Lesson, and they said we should do something together. The play is a classic and the women we have selected have some great roles. This is going to be one of the best productions in our history...and it's all about the work and an exciting show."
Wedding Band, set in 1918 during World War I, is the story of Julia Augustine, an industrious African-American woman who moves to a quite South Carolina seaside town, hoping to live a quiet and anonymous life. But when her secret is discovered...a 10-year relationship with a white man, tensions explode. The audience will be challenged as it confronts the ugliness of racism and the attitudes of both Blacks and Whites, who believe the races should remain separated.
The season is a dedication to The Negro Ensemble Theatre...both A Soldier's Play and Daughter's of the Mock, were originally produced there.
A Real Read.
A Real Read is an outspoken African-American lesbigaytrans/intersex performance ensemble that seeks to represent a community living under a dual minority status. A Real Read is a company in residence at the Bailiwick Arts Center and in the past has produced original works and the works of Larry Duckette, Steve Langley, Dr. Shirlene Holmes and other poets and playwrights of African descent.
The ensemble is scheduled to appear at the upcoming Fire & Ink GLBT Writer's Festival, scheduled for Sept. 19-22 here in Chicago. But unlike other ensembles, A Real Read does not post a season of plays for viewers. Instead, it moves around the city and the country, presenting poetry, prose and plays, while addressing concerns relevant to its community HIV and AIDS prevention, homophobia, religion, women and transgender issues. And what may be most important, A Real Read gives a voice to a community often silenced while offering performances that reflect the universal.
Co-founders Byron S. Stewart and Sanford E. Gaylord, both accomplished actors in their own right, have moved the ensemble forward since its formation in 1996, with Dramatic Diversity...an off-shoot of the ensemble's productions that take performances into the offices of Fortune 500 companies.
"Originally our mission was to speak to the African-American LGBT experience," Stewart said. "But with Dramatic Diversity, we have really revised our mission. Using theater to talk about diversity in the workplace allows us to reach a very different kind of audience. And it's important to us because we are performing before parents who may very well need to talk to their own children about gay issues, homophobia and other concerns."
Stewart first began thinking about forming A Real Read back in 1986, after graduating from Howard University and returning home to Chicago. He said that after seeing a production by a San Francisco-based company on being Black and gay, he knew that somehow he had to do something like that here in Chicago.
At the Fire & Ink GLBT Writer's Conference, Stewart and Gaylord will perform an excerpt from We Heard the Night Outside, a tribute to Essex Hemphill, that shares insights into his on- and off-stage relationship with Duckette.
"They were pioneers in the Black GLBT art scene," Gaylord said. "And I had the honor of meeting Duckette years ago...now I have the opportunity to play him on-stage."
Many of the members of A Real Read, most notably the always-sexy Gaylord, had roles in Kevin's Room, which continues to amaze viewers with its candid portrayal of gay life and the vicissitudes of daily life in this era of HIV/AIDS.
Quotable quotes and notes
Look for The Chicago Theatre Company's first show, opening Sept. 13, Cut Flowers...a comedy focusing on seven flawed-but-well-intentioned African-American men who work in a flower shop. Douglas Alan-Mann is the artistic director who, since 1984, has answered an immediate need for "the appropriate and professional presentation of African-American issues and images."
Also, put Thursday, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. on your calendar and make sure you're at Victory Gardens Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., when Artistic Director Dennis Zacek will offer a sneak preview aimed at Black audiences. And while the company is not Black-owned, it does have an interracial group of well-trained thespians and several outstanding writers. Black viewers in particular should check out the Gardens' Chicago premier of Pearl Cleage's Bourbon at the Border, opening in January. The play tells the story of a Black couple who goes south to register voters during the Freedom Summer, only to find that, even decades later, the price of freedom is never paid in full.
And if singing is your thing, look for Karla Beard, an extremely talented African-American woman, in God & Country, based on the story of Antigone. The twist...three women will play the roles of the eight characters originally performed by men. And folks...Karla can "sang."
Finally, inquiring minds want to know when The Second City will bring its unique comedy to Bronzeville. According to Executive Producer Andrew Alexander, the hold-up has to do with finalizing a deal on the real estate. But the goal remains to develop a more consistent talent resource in Chicago for African-American writers, directors and actors. Look for more announcements in early 2003.
