The Jefferson Performing Arts Society Presents A Study Companion 1118 Clearview Pkwy, Metairie, LA 70001 Ph 504.885.2000 Fx 504.885.3437 [email protected] www.jpas.org 1 | P a g e TABLE OF CONTENTS TEACHERS’ NOTES……………………………………………………….3 LOUISIANA CONTENT STANDARDS………………………………….5 BACKGROUND…………………………………………………………….6 The New Georgia Encyclopedia Driving Miss Daisy ……………………………………………………..7 Gefilte Fish in the Land of the Kingfish: Jewish Life in Louisiana………………………………….10 Oy! Such a home, Multicultural Identity…………………… ……………………………………………….17 The Jews of New Orleans………………………………………………………………………………….………..22 The Krews and the Jews………………………………………………………………………………….………….25 THE GOLDRING WOLDENBERG INSTITUTE OF SOUTHERN JEWISH LIFE ……………………….31 Jewish Virtual Life………………………………………………………………………………….………….……….38 The Code Noir………………………………………………………………………………….. ……………………….41 19th-century American Women, Voodoo & Tignon Laws in Louisiana………………..54 Arts Integration Background………………………………………………………………………………………62 DRIVING MISS DAISY Monologues……………………………………………………………………………..65 LESSONS…………………………………………………………………………67 Exploring Monologues, Karel Sloane-Boekbinder…………...………68 Power, Privilege and Responsibility…………………………………..72 Developing Monologues, Karel Sloane-Boekbinder…………………91 RESOURCE LIST…………………………………………………………………….60 2 | P a g e TEACHERS’ NOTES The Jefferson Performing Arts Society is delighted to present DRIVING MISS DAISY, by Alfred Uhry; STARRING JANET SHEA, DONAL LEWIS and CHRIS SHAW. Winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off- Broadway Play and later, an Academy Award-winning film, DRIVING MISS DAISY is a warm-hearted, humorous and affecting study of the unlikely relationship between an aging, crotchety white Southern lady: and a proud, soft-spoken black man. The place is the Deep South, the time 1948 - just prior to the civil rights movement. Having recently demolished another car, Daisy Werthan, a rich, sharp-tongued Jewish widow of seventy-two, is informed by her son, Boolie, that henceforth she must rely on the services of a chauffeur. The person he hires for the job is a thoughtful, unemployed black man, Hoke, whom Miss Daisy immediately regards with disdain. Hoke is not impressed with his employer's patronizing tone and, he believes, her latent prejudice. In a series of scenes spanning twenty-five years, the two, despite their mutual differences, grow ever closer to, and more dependent on each other. It becomes movingly clear that they have more in common than they ever believed possible. "The play is sweet without being mawkish, ameliorative, without being sanctimonious." —NY Times. "…a perfectly poised and shaped miniature on the odd-couple theme." — NY Post. "Playwrights Horizons has a winner in this one…gives off a warm glow of humane affirmation." —Variety. "DRIVING MISS DAISY is a total delight." —NY Daily News. The idea of ordinary people in the civil rights movement is something that was recently capitalized upon in the Broadway production of DRIVING MISS DAISY. James Earl Jones, who played the role of Hoke in the Broadway production, stated in an interview on the Today Show, that the reason playwrite Alfred Uhry wanted to bring “Driving Miss Daisy” to Broadway was because “the young people knew about Martin Luther King but didn’t know about the ordinary people that were surviving during those days.” And then there’s its depiction of the changing face of American race relations, rendered in microcosm in the dynamic between a lady and her driver. When the play begins, in 1948, Daisy explains to her son why she’s been able to get along with her longtime black housekeeper: “We know how to stay out of each other’s way,” she says. By the time the story ends, in 1973, Daisy and Hoke have learned a harder, more valuable lesson: how not to. The characters, inspired by Uhry's grandmother Lena Fox and her chauffeur, Will Coleman, are universal figures that appeal to a wide audience. Miss Daisy and Hoke struggle to determine their personal and social roles as the world they have always known changes before their eyes. 3 | P a g e When Alfred Uhry DRIVING MISS DAISY, he was in part reminiscing about his headstrong grandmother. He was also chronicling a crucial period of social history in a slice of the South and concocting a canny entertainment, laced generously with schmaltz and sly humor. The linear narrative touches on such temporal issues as black-white relations, anti-Semitism, mother-son ties, aging and loneliness. This Study Companion provides background information on both the theatrical production and the film DRIVING MISS DAISY, as well as historical information relevant to Louisiana. Lesson plans explore the social conditions that underlie the story. One focus of the lesson plans is biography, how people and events can shape the direction of a life. Enjoy! 4 | P a g e L O U I S I A N A CONTENT STANDARDS AND BENCHMARKS Content Standards, Benchmarks and Grade Level Expectations will follow the lesson section of this companion. In the interest of brevity, Content Standards, Benchmarks and Grade Level Expectations generally are listed for grades K-4 only. Most Content Standards and Benchmark coding for each subject is similar, and can be adapted for every grade level. As an example, English Language Arts Content Standard Three, “Students communicate using standard English grammar, usage, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and handwriting, has corresponding Benchmarks across grade levels. The code is written ELA (English Language Arts,) 3 (Content Standard 3,) and E1 (grades 1-4.) The same Benchmark applies to all grade levels. Coding can be converted as follows: ELA-3-E1 Writing legibly, allowing margins and correct spacing between letters in a word and words in a sentence Grades 1-4 ELA-3-M1 Writing fluidly and legibly in cursive or printed form Grades 5-8 ELA-3-H1 Writing fluidly and legibly in cursive or printed form Grades 9-12 COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS Academic standards define the knowledge and skills that students are expected to learn in a subject in each grade. Louisiana defines academic standards for core subjects, including English language arts (reading and writing), math, science, social studies, foreign languages, physical education and health. In 2010, Louisiana adopted Common Core State Standards in English language arts and math. The Common Core State Standards define what students need to learn in reading, writing and math in each grade to stay on track for college and careers.Louisiana is aligning state assessments and end-of-course tests to the new academic standards, phasing in additional common core test items each year until completely measuring students’ achievement of the Common Core State Standards in English language arts and math in 2014-2015. Please visit this site for more information: http://www.louisianabelieves.com/academics/common-core-state-standards All Louisiana Grade Level Expectations and Content Standards and Benchmarks were retrieved from: http://www.louisianabelieves.com/academics/common- core-state-standards 5 | P a g e BACKGROUND 6 | P a g e Driving Miss Daisy The play Driving Miss Daisy had its New York premiere on April 15, 1987, off Broadway at the Studio Theater at Playwrights Horizons. Written by Alfred Uhry and directed by Ron Lagomarsino, the original theatrical production featured a cast including Atlanta native Dana Ivey as Miss Daisy, Morgan Freeman as Hoke, and Ray Gill as Boolie. The play received a Pulitzer Prize in 1988, and in 1989 it was adapted into a film directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. The film received nine Academy Award nominations and won for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Makeup, and Best Screenplay. The play also ran for two seasons (1988-90) at the Alliance Theatre in Tandy and Freeman Atlanta. Characters, Setting, and Plot Driving Miss Daisy is set in Atlanta, Uhry's hometown. Spanning a quarter of a century, from 1948 to 1973, the action takes place before, during, and after the civil rights movement. The plot centers on two characters, an elderly Jewish widow named Miss Daisy Werthan and her African American driver, Hoke Colburn. Although the story was inspired by Uhry's grandmother Lena Fox and her chauffeur, Will Coleman, the characters are universal figures that appeal to a wide audience. At the beginning of the play, Hoke is hired by Miss Daisy's son, Boolie, who has Driving Miss Daisy become concerned about his aging mother's driving abilities. The proud Miss Daisy resents Hoke's presence, as she believes that he will do nothing but sit around, take up space, eat her food, and run up her phone bill. Concerned about appearances, Miss Daisy is also terrified that her neighbors will consider her a snob because she has a chauffeur to drive her around town. Hoke persists, however, and soon Miss Daisy is not only tolerating the kindly man but also accepting him as a friend. By the end, the proud, elderly, and frail woman, confined to a nursing home, tells Hoke that he is her best friend, and she allows him to spoon-feed her when she is unable to eat on her own. Both the theatrical and film versions of Driving Miss Daisy were written by Uhry and are similar, but some differences are evident. The play includes only three characters, Miss Daisy, Hoke, and Boolie, and the set is very simple, utilizing two Miss Daisy and Hoke stools to represent the car in which much of the dramatic action takes place. The 7 | P a g e play consists of a series of vignettes, with the passage of time revealed in the actors' mannerisms and by topical references, as well as by set and costume changes. The movie, by contrast, was filmed in and around Atlanta and features such locations as Druid Hills, Lullwater Road, Agnes Scott College, and The Temple. Characters who are only mentioned in the play, including Boolie's wife and Miss Daisy's cook, were given roles in the film, and all of the characters were enhanced and expanded to allow for more insight into their lives and environment.