The National Black Theatre Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary in the City of the Arts
For “Mississippi” Charles Bevel, the road to the National Black Theatre Festival proved to be long, winding and serendipitous. Bevel, one of the cast members of Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues, said he had been waiting 10 years to come to the festival, which is being held this week in Winston-Salem. Held on a biennial basis, the National Black Theatre Festival is celebrating its 20 th anniversary as one of the premier events in American theatre. In the vernacular of event organizers, Winston-Salem will be transformed into “Black Theatre Holy Ground” this week. Each one of the black performers at the 2009 festival has a story to tell. The case could be made that Bevel’s is one of the more fascinating stories at this year’s event. In his mid-forties, Bevel received a guitar as a present after a trip overseas. Without any formal training, Bevel began composing blues songs almost immediately.
“I found the music just came out of me,” Bevel said. Remarkably, two years later, Bevel signed a contract with A&M Records and cut an album. But LA life wasn’t for him, so he moved back to the Midwest.
Then Bevel was invited to come to the Denver Center Theatre Company by legendary blues singer Ron Taylor and musical anthropologist Dan Wheetman. Taylor and Wheetman had composed a 45-minute piece on the blues, and the center asked Bevel to develop it into a two-hour musical revue. Director Randy Myler came on board and put together a cast, and after a brief run in Denver, Crossroads Theatre in New Jersey contacted the producers. Crossroads decided to send Ain’t Nothin’ to the New Victory Theater in New York. Once again, a combination of good fortune and hard work elevated the show to new heights. After witnessing a performance of Ain’t Nothin, a representative of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts asked if the show could take the stage at the prestigious arts venue.
“That’s how we got to Broadway,” Bevel said. The magical run of Ain’t Nothin’ lasted nine months and ended with four Tony nominations.
“It was an exciting thing to be in the mix that quickly,” Bevel said. During the national telecast of the Tony Awards, the show suffered its first setback.
“During the Tony nomination process, as a musical if you’re nominated, you get to perform one of your numbers for a national TV audience,” Bevel explained. “We had the choice spot — the last musical number for the night — but they cut our number and we didn’t get to perform.”
But the setback transformed into a blessing. Because of the Tony Awards snub, late night talk shows like “The Late Show with David Letterman” asked the cast of Ain’t Nothin’ to perform on their telecasts. The resulting publicity has helped keep the show alive on a touring basis.
“The thing just refuses to die,” Bevel said. “We’re doing a history of black music in America, from Africa to the mid-1960s. From that perspective, it’s a phenomenal show.” Bevel said the most difficult challenge in the creative process was knowing what to leave in the show and what to leave out. “It’s a compelling piece in that sense,” he said. “It brings up historical stuff; it’s just a piece that resonates with every kind of audience.”
Bevel is sure to find a receptive audience at the National Black Theatre Festival this week. “It’s a different piece in the sense that it’s not just people standing up and doing songs,” Bevel said. “The intent was to do a musical narrative history of black music in America, and to show its connection to pop music and even country music. There are people who don’t know the connection between black street musicians and popular music today.”
Bevel pointed out that the bluegrass banjo has an African history and the bending of the strings in the blues to recreate the human voice is evident in traditional African music.
“It’s not just music, it’s history,” he said. Bevel said the historical element of the show is “profoundly important,” and certainly relevant to the premier black arts event in the nation, which, according to event organizers, will be attended by more than 60,000 people with a resulting economic impact of $8 million on Winston-Salem’s economy.
Zora takes the stage
Jerome Preston Bates said he’s seen a lot of growth at the National Black Theatre Festival over the past two decades. Bates, the artistic director of Zora, which chronicles the life of influential African-American author Zora Neale Hurston, said he recalls attending his first festival in 1991. He remembers how the presence of major celebrities like Maya Angelou, Denzel Washington and Oprah Winfrey helped elevate the festival’s profile. Although screen actors are not as prevalent at this year’s festival, Bates commended the work of festival founder Leon Larry Hamlin to unite the theater, television and motion picture actors’ communities.
“I’ve seen this festival from three different perspectives: as an actor, a writer and a director,” Bates said. “This is the place people long to be. It has grown to that and that says a lot about the dream of Larry Leon Hamlin. He planted the seed of the tree and the tree now branches out
and continues to grow. That’s the beauty of the festival.” Zora presents
the life of titan of black literature who blazed a trail for future
female African-American writers, Bates said. “What we get to see is who
was Zora and how she addressed the triumphs and the tragedy of her
life,” he said. “She died penniless and shamed and even her books
declined in sales. What we’re looking to tell the audience, we want to
present the history of her life because most people know her books but
they don’t know her.” Television actor Kim Brockington plays Zora.
Brockington has attended the festival since 1991, when she did a
one-woman show titled Letters for the New England Negro.
“It
was amazing — a spiritual experience,” Brockington said. There’s
something about performing a play for a mostly African-American
audience, Brockington said. It’s an opportunity she relishes.
“I’ve
performed for white audiences primarily, but performing it for my
people is an honor,” Brockington said. “There are some things in the
play only black people will get. The spirit of theater and black folks,
it’s just wonderful.”
The spirit of the Harlem Renaissance
flows through the performance, Bates said. “We get a chance to hear,
and feel and see her thoughts of the Harlem Renaissance,” Bates said.
“We get to witness history and how Zora triumphed over all the
obstacles in her life, even how she dealt with the decline in her
life.” Brockington said her responsibility in her performance is
weighty, but one she’s proud to have. “I try to be a vessel for Zora,”
Brockington said. “That’s a huge responsibility because I want to be as
true to the character as I possibly can. I want the audience to know
her better when they leave. People love her dearly, and they come to
see her. For those who don’t know her, I want them to get to know her
and find a deep respect for her.” Other actor have portrayed Hurston,
but Bates said Brockington brings added spiritual depth to the
character.
“Kim brings passion, power, authority and emotion,”
Bates said. “Kim literally lives and breathes this character. Kim has
captured the spirit of this woman. This is not an actress acting. This
is someone speaking about their life.” Brockington, who portrays
Felicia Boudreau on “Guiding Light,” said she is thrilled to be
performing for the first time at the festival.
ABOVE: The Amun RA Theatre from Nashville, Tenn., will perform Before the People Came at the MC Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem on Wednesday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. in conjunction with the National Black Theatre Festival.
“It
keeps getting better and better and better,” Brockington said. “One of
the main aspects I like is the poetry midnight jam. You can’t pull me
out of there because I love poetry and I love all the new voices and
everybody can perform something. That’s the spirit of the festival.
It’s such a wonderful thing.”
Malcolm Jamal Warner of “The
Cosby Show” fame, hosts the poetry jam. Other components of the
festival include workshops, a reader’s theater of new works, a film
festival, a youth celebrity project, a vendor’s market, TeenTastic and
the International Colloquium. Celebrities in attendance will include
Kim Wayans, Ella Joyce, Lamman Rucker, John Amos, Kim Brockington,
Melba Moore, Janet Hubert and Margaret Avery, to name a few. “Sylvia
[Hamlin] should be commended for keeping this going and keeping it
going at top speed,” Brockington said. “It’s just as great if not
greater than my first festival. It’s become a highlight for so many
people across the entire country.”
Wistera, Hope and The Story of this Place
Although it’s called the Black Theatre Festival,
this biennial gathering of African-American artists draws creative
people from all over the nation working in a variety of mediums. Kwame
Dawes, the poet in residence at the University of South Carolina, will
present his multimedia productions titled Wisteria and Hope during the festival. [For complete performance listings, see page 20.] Wisteria and Hope are
two separate pieces performed back to back. Their only connection is
that Dawes wrote and performs spoken word readings for both and
composer Kevin Simmonds wrote all the music, said Dawes.
Wisteria is
based on interviews Dawes conducted with African-American women in
Sumter, SC in 1995. Ten years later, the poems were published in a book
called Wisteria. Shortly before the book’s publication, Dawes met Simmonds, a PhD candidate at the university.
Simmonds
had the idea of putting music to Dawes’ words. He then brought together
an ensemble of African-American musicians and singers, many of them
graduate students from the university. The first performance of Wisteria was
held in 2005 at the Columbia Museum of Art and later toured Europe,
where it received rave reviews. The BBC even did a one-hour documentary
on the project.
Dawes has served as one of the organizers of
the festival’s International Colloquium since the mid-1990s. He said
he’s looking forward to performing at the festival for the very first
time. Dawes has served as one of the organizers of the festival’s
International Colloquium since the mid-1990’s. He said he’s looking
forward to performing at the festival for the very first time. The Hope project began when Dawes was approached by the Pulitzer Center to write a journalism piece on HIV AIDS in Jamaica.
“The initial plan was not for me to be writing poetry, but as I always do, I write poetry about my experience,” Dawes said.
Zora, a one-woman play about the legendary black author Zora Neale Hurston, dramatizes the triumphs and tragedy of a Harlem Renaissance writer who achieved notoriety but died penniless and shamed. (courtesy image)
Zora, a one-woman play about the legendary black author Zora Neale Hurston, dramatizes the triumphs and tragedy of a Harlem Renaissance writer who achieved great notoriety but died penniless and shamed.
Later, Simmonds came on
board to compose the music and photographer Josh Cogan traveled to
Jamaica and followed the path of the story. The Pulitzer Center hired
top-notch web designers to put together a multimedia website.
“The
mission of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is to bring
international news stories to an American audience,” Dawes said. “They
do that through innovation — one of the great innovations of this
project was poetry. It’s off the beaten path for journalism, but this
is probably why we were nominated for an Emmy.” Dawes praised the
genius of Simmonds for his ability to arrange singers and musicians “to
create a wonderful tableau of stories that have emerged from the work
I’ve done.” “The African-American audience looking to connect with
their legacy will enjoy Wisteria,” Dawes said. “And those who
want to understand the human face of an international tragedy will be
able to come to that in the beauty of Hope.” Artist Kianga Ford’s exhibit The Story of this Place 34X52X40 is
the result of a collaboration between the festival and the Southeastern
Center for Contemporary Art. “It’s a way of bringing visual arts
together,” Ford said. “The work is specifically tied to a place. We
create dramas where the audience gets to walk through the landscape,
walk in and around the characters and have a conversation.”
Ford
spent the past several months having impromptu conversations with
people on the street, doing archival research on the history of the
city and physically studying various locations in Winston- Salem. Ford
then narrowed her focus to a specific area and created fictional
characters based on conversations and research that she performed.
“This
is site-specific audio narrative,” she said. “I compare it to
environmental listening.” The National Black Theatre Festival will
showcase 25 to 30 black national and international theater companies
with over 100 performances throughout the festival, which closes on
Saturday.
ABOVE: Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar & Grill, a production of Tennessee State University’s theater company will perform at Hanes Auditorium on the campus of Salem College at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday.
ScheduleWednesday, Aug. 5
Before the People Came
M.C. Benton Convention
Center, Lower Level
1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
The Heiress
NBTF Fringe
3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Black Angels Over Tuskegee
Salem College, Hanes
Auditorium
3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t
Cope
UNCSA Stevens Center
8 p.m.
Reunion in Bartersville
K.R. Williams Auditorium
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
The Obituary
WSSU, Anderson Center
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Aunt Rudele’s Family Reunion
WSSU, Anderson Center
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Single Black Female
Wake Forest, The
MainStage Theatre
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Nora Cole’s Voices of the
Spirits In My Soul
Wake Forest, The Ring
Theatre
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Dar He: The Lynching of
Emmett Till
Wake Forest, The Ring
Theatre
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Revenge of a King
UNCSA, The Thrust
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Sweet Mama Stringbean
UNCSA, The Catawba
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Through the Night
Salem College, Shirley
Recital Hall
3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
The Return
Arts Council Theatre
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Jim Beckwourth: The Black
Mountain Man
Reynolda House Museum
of American Art
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
A Rose Among Thorns: A
Tribute To Rosa Parks
Reynolda House Museum
of American Art
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Extremities
Summit School, Loma
Hopkins Theatre
3 p.m. & 4 p.m.
The Unsung Diva
Salem College, The Drama
Workshop Theatre
8 p.m.
Music For One Hand
Clapping
Salem College, The Drama
Workshop Theatre
8 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 6
Storytelling Festival
M.C. Benton Convention
Center, Lower Level
10 a.m. & 3 p.m.
National Youth Talent
Showcase
M.C. Benton Convention
Center, Lower Level
12 p.m.
Mad At Miles: A Black
Woman’s Guide to Truth
NBTF Fringe
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t
Cope
UNCSA Stevens Center
8 p.m.
The Return
Arts Council Theatre
8 p.m.
Single Black Female
Wake Forest, The
MainStage Theatre
8 p.m.
I Am Who I Am
K.R. Williams Auditorium
8 p.m.
Womyn With Wings
WSSU, Anderson Center
8 p.m.
Black Man Rising
WSSU, Anderson Center
8 p.m.
Bananas
Wake Forest, The Ring
Theatre
8 p.m.
Speak Of Me As I Am
Wake Forest, The Ring
Theatre
8 p.m.
In the Continuum
UNCSA, The Thrust
8 p.m.
Ascension
UNCSA, The Catawba
8 p.m.
Nappy Journeys
salem College, shirley
Recital Hall
8 p.m.
It Ain’t Nothin’ but the Blues
Reynolds Memorial
Auditorium
8 p.m.
Who Will Sing For Lena
Reynolda House Museum of
American Art
8 p.m.
Zora
Reynolda House Museum of
American Art
8 p.m.
A Handsome Woman
Retreats
summit school, loma
Hopkins Theatre
8 p.m.
Wisteria & HOPE: The Poetry
of Experience
salem College, Hanes
Auditorium
8 p.m.
The Unsung Diva
salem College, The Drama
Workshop Theatre
8 p.m.
Music For One Hand
Clapping
salem College, The Drama
Workshop Theatre
8 p.m.
Friday, august 7
National Youth Talent
Showcase
M.C. Benton Convention
Center, lower level
11 a.m.
Who Will Sing For Lena
Reynolda House Museum of
American Art
3 p.m.
Zora
Reynolda House Museum of
American Art
3 p.m.
Ain’t Nothin’ but the Blues
Reynolds Memorial
Auditorium
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
A Handsome Woman
Retreats
summit school, loma
Hopkins Theatre
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
The High Priestess of Dark
Alley
Wake Forest, The Mainstage
Theatre
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
The Sty of the Blind Pig
Arts Council Theatre
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Black Voices: The Hidden
Bruises
M.C. Benton Convention
Center, North Hall
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Halley’s Comet
UNCsA stevens Center
8 p.m.
I Am Who I Am
k.R. Williams Auditorium
8 p.m.
Womyn With Wings
WssU, Anderson Center
8 p.m.
Black Man Rising
WssU, Anderson Center
8 p.m.
Bananas
Wake Forest, The Ring
Theatre
8 p.m.
Speak Of Me As I Am
Wake Forest, The Ring
Theatre
8 p.m.
In the Continuum
UNCsA, The Thrust
8 p.m.
Ascension
UNCsA, The Catawba
8 p.m.
Nappy Journeys
salem College, shirley
Recital Hall
8 p.m.
The Resurrection of Alice
RJR Black Box
8 p.m.
The Shaneequa Chronicles:
The Making of a Black
Woman
RJR Black Box
8 p.m.
Wisteria & HOPE: The Poetry
of Experience
salem College, Hanes
Auditorium
8 p.m.
The Breach
salem College, The Drama
Workshop Theatre
8 p.m.
Celebrity Reception
Marriott Hotel
10:30 p.m.
saturday, aug. 8
I Am Who I Am
k.R. Williams Auditorium
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Ain’t Nothin’ but the Blues
Reynolds Memorial
Auditorium
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Womyn With Wings
WssU, Anderson Center
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Black Man Rising
WssU, Anderson Center
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Bananas
Wake Forest, The Ring
Theatre
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Speak Of Me As I Am
Wake Forest, The Ring
Theatre
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
In the Continuum
UNCsA, The Thrust
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Ascension
UNCsA, The Catawba
$37
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
A story of Ruth and Jacob
and how their relationship is
tarnished with rape, secrets,
birth and death.
Nappy Journeys
salem College, shirley
Recital Hall
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Who Will Sing For Lena
Reynolda House Museum of
American Art
$40
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Zora
Reynolda House Museum of
American Art
3 p.m & 8 p.m.
The life story of Harlem
Renaissance legend Zora
Neale Hurston.
Halley’s Comet
UNCsA stevens Center
3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
An 87-year-old man recounts
his life of world wars, youth,
nuclear bombs and fast food
through Halley’s comet.
