sign in sign up
<<
Home , 41st Tony Awards, 50th Tony Awards, Heathcliff (musical), Jez Butterworth, John Cameron Mitchell, Stephen Sondheim Theatre

Nxxx,2015-01-20,C,004,Bs-BW,E1

C4 N , TUESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2015 Before Scandals, Cosby’s Wife Faulted Media Treatment of Blacks

media, said Mrs. Cosby was “ad- make her available for this arti- From First Arts Page amant and passionate” about try- cle. But she was interviewed by dia’s treatment of blacks. ing to get network executives Oprah Winfrey in early 2000 and In her doctoral dissertation at and others to be more responsi- said she had known about her the University of Massachusetts, ble in their depictions of African- husband’s affair with Ms. Berkes in a book she later published, in a Americans. since the 1970s. Mrs. Cosby de- series of newspaper opinion arti- “She wanted to shake things scribed a period in their marriage cles and in a range of other activi- up,” Ms. Dates said. “We were when they both had to learn to be ties that stretch back two dec- saying those images are demean- unselfish and said she did not be- ades, Mrs. Cosby has argued that ing caricatures. That’s a thread lieve in “unconditional love” and the media, particularly television, that is still being woven today.” wanted to be surrounded by has so distorted the image of Af- Her quest to create more posi- “people with integrity.” rican-Americans that it can taint tive images for blacks began dec- Around that time, a young ac- the way young black people come ades ago and included efforts to tress who had worked on “Cos- to view themselves. convince her husband that by,” the CBS show in which Mr. “I don’t want others outside Heathcliff Huxtable, the charac- Cosby starred from 1996 to 2000, our community to define us, be- ter who would evolve into Ameri- told police officers cause they are doing a horrible ca’s Dad during eight seasons of that Mr. Cosby had attempted to job of it,” Mrs. Cosby said in a “The Cosby Show,” starting in force her hand down his sweat- 1994 interview. “And they are ly- 1984, should be a well-to-do doc- pants. But no charges were ing.” tor with a solid family, not a lim- brought in that case, and Mr. Cos- To some, Mrs. Cosby’s ability ousine driver, as Mr. Cosby had by, 77, who has denied all the alle- to dismiss the accounts of more proposed. gations of sexual abuse, has nev- than two dozen women who have In other settings, independent er been criminally charged. now publicly accused her hus- of her husband, Mrs. Cosby It is unclear when Mrs. Cosby band of some form of sexual worked to preserve black history learned of that actress’s account abuse, reads like denial, regard- because she said it was being ig- or to what extent she understood less of what the media may have nored. In 1995, she co-produced a Mr. Cosby’s reputation as a wom- anizer during a period when he bungled in the past. But Mrs. play, “Having Our Say,” about LEIGH VOGEL/GETTY IMAGES Cosby has characterized the alle- two pioneering centenarian sis- was a fixture at the Playboy gations as a media feeding fren- ters raised in the Jim Crow South Camille O. Cosby, who has called the accusations against her husband a media feeding frenzy. Mansion and later when he often zy, and not unlike those she has who became successful after traveled alone on comedy tours. seen before. moving to New York. Nominated views with accomplished Afri- But Mrs. Cosby’s concerns wrote an opinion article in USA Certainly Mrs. Cosby knew her Jannette L. Dates, who with for three , it ran for can-Americans. Charles J. Hamil- about the media run far deeper Today with a headline that read husband had settled a 2005 civil Mrs. Cosby wrote a 1992 newspa- almost nine months on Broad- ton Jr., a former board member, than simple neglect. Friends say “Don’t Believe the Tabs.” suit filed in Philadelphia by a per op-ed article critical of the way. said Mrs. Cosby had been drawn she became particularly incensed The following year, when the woman who said she had been More recently, in 2001, she to the project because “major in- by coverage of the murder of her shooter was convicted, Mrs. Cos- drugged and sexually abused. Susan Beachy. Elisa Cho and helped found an organization, the stitutions have relegated African- son, Ennis, in 1997. He was shot to by wrote another essay in USA The terms of the settlement were Alain Delaquérière contributed National Visionary Leadership American history to the lower death on the side of a Los Ange- Today suggesting that the mur- never disclosed, but the woman’s research. Project, that videotapes inter- rung of the ladder.” les highway while changing a tire derer, an immigrant from lawyer said they had sworn state- by a man who tried to rob him Ukraine, was a racist who had ments from 13 other women who and later referred to him by a ra- killed her son because he had said they, too, had been molested cial slur. On the same day as the been taught to hate blacks by, in some way. More than a dozen shooting, a young woman, Au- among other things, the Ameri- other women have surfaced in tumn Jackson, claiming to be Mr. can media. the past few months with similar Cosby’s daughter from an extra- In a 1998 letter to The New stories, a number that prompted marital affair, demanded money York Times, she complained that several institutions that had been from him to buy her silence. She the newspaper’s account of the Mr. Cosby’s longtime allies, in- was later convicted of trying to crime had depicted it as an at- cluding Spelman College, to drop extort millions of dollars from tempted robbery and omitted a their ties. Mr. Cosby. racial slur the killer had used, One friend, who asked not to be Mr. Cosby ultimately admitted which minimized race as a moti- identified for fear of upsetting the to an affair with Ms. Jackson’s vation. (The letter was never Cosbys, said that beyond her love mother, Shawn Berkes, but he de- published.) for her husband, Mrs. Cosby sim- nied his paternity, and Mrs. Cos- “I think the death of her son ply had not seen the evidence to by became frustrated that the hardened her,” said Sylvia Fad- suggest she should put any faith media focused so much of its cov- dis, a friend at the time. “And I in the accounts of women she erage on her husband’s infidelity, think she became hard in the didn’t know as relayed by media not, she believed, on finding her years she had to fight for the pri- outlets she had long distrusted. son’s killer. vacy of their lives. I think it is “She does not believe these “All old personal negative is- hard for her to trust anyone.” women because they have no sues between Bill and me were Mark Whitaker, an author who proof, only their stories,” the resolved years ago,” Mrs. Cosby wrote a largely favorable biogra- friend said. said in a statement she released phy of her husband last year, Mrs. Cosby’s faith in her hus- in 1997. “We are a united couple. “Cosby: His Life and Times,” band is not so different from that What occurred 23 years ago is said Mrs. Cosby was hardly the of the many ticket holders who not important to me except for first spouse to see protection of still flock to Mr. Cosby’s shows, the current issue of extortion. the family as the primary priority give him standing ovations and What is very important to me is when confronted by a situation say they are skeptical of accounts the apprehension of the person or like this. of abuse that took as much as 30 persons who killed our son. I ap- “You see this with political years to surface. peal to all of you to help us find spouses,” he said. “They come to Such proof is also essential to the murderer.” see things as a battle and a siege Mrs. Cosby, who last year wrote When The National Enquirer and who is on our side and who is an op-ed article in which she re- published an article saying the not.” lated the trusted advice that her death had pushed her to the edge An intensely private woman, father, a research chemist, had of a nervous breakdown and that Mrs. Cosby declined to be in- drummed into her. she was sedated, the Cosbys terviewed by Mr. Whitaker, and “The evidence,” she remem- threatened to sue. Mrs. Cosby Mr. Cosby’s publicist did not bers him saying, “is the truth.”

In the Midst of Uncertainty, Seizing the Moment in Song HONEYMOON The elegant jazz pianist Barba- ra Carroll opened her show at Barbara Carroll "IRRESISTIBLE" - The New York Times "PURE JOY!" - HOLLYWOOD REPORTER "Broadway's Biggest Blockbuster" Birdland on Saturday evening TONIGHT AT 7, TOMORROW AT2&8 Tonight at 7, Tomorrow at2&8 — The New York Times Birdland ROB McCLURE BRYNN O'MALLEY New York, New York...It's a Helluva Town! Tonight and Tomorrow at 7 with a lightly swinging perform- GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TONY DANZA ON THE TOWN WICKED ance of ’s “Let’s WINNER! BEST MUSICAL HONEYMOON IN VEGAS Music by Tu&We7;Th&Fr8;Sa2&8;Su2&7 Face the Music and Time I Saw Paris,” “If You Leave 2014 TONY AWARD The Musical Book & Lyrics by Ticketmaster.com or 877-250-2929 Dance,” a song that Paris” and a swinging rendition Tonight at 7, Tomorrow at2&8 Tue, Thu 7; Wed, Sat2&8;Fri8;Sun3 Betty Comden & Adolph Green Groups: 646-289-6885/877-321-0020 STEPHEN HoneymoonBroadway.com Based on an Idea by Jerome Robbins WickedtheMusical.com never loses its rele- of “April in Paris” that echoed A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE Ticketmaster.com or 877-250-2929 Choreographed by Joshua Bergasse (+) 222 West 51st St. HOLDEN vance as it seesaws the famous Count Basie record- (+) 208 W. 41st St. Directed by John Rando TO LOVE & MURDER Tue&Thu7;Fri8;Wed&Sat2&8;Sun3 between dread and ing. MUSIC A NEW MUSICAL COMEDY OnTheTownBroadway.com 877.250.2929 exuberance. From its Ms. Carroll, who is soon to cel- Telecharge.com or 212-239-6200 Lyric Theatre (+), 213 W 42nd St REVIEW AGentlemansGuideBroadway.com opening phrase, ebrate her 90th birthday with un- Groups 10+: 866-302-0995 FINAL PERFORMANCE FEBRUARY 22 “There may be trouble ahead,” it diminished vitality, has an essen- (+), 219 W. 48th St. FINAL WEEKS THRU MARCH 22 ONLY "The funniest show in town!" - NPR Tonight at 7 addresses the age-old question: tially sunny musical sensibility. But during “The Last Time I Saw The Performance of a Lifetime. How is it possible to live happily "THE BEST MUSICAL OF THE YEAR." ANNA CHLUMSKY in a world that often seems on Paris,” the harmonies briefly be- and ELIZABETH ASHLEY - New York Magazine TIME Magazine's "#1 Show of the year!" the verge of collapse? The an- came dissonant, and her musical TONIGHT at 7, TOMORROW at2&8 YOU CAN'T TAKE Tonight at 7 swer is the same today as it was partner, the great bassist Jay "FABULOUS! EXTRAVAGANT! THE CURIOUS INCIDENT IT DEFIES EXPECTATIONS." - NY Times IF / THEN IT WITH YOU 1936: Whenever possible, live in Leonhart, bowing his instru- DISNEY presents A New Musical OF THE DOG by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman ment, inserted an ominous thren- Tu7;We2&7;Th&Fr8;Sa2&8;Su3 Directed by Scott Ellis the moment. Ticketmaster.com / 877-250-2929 IN THE NIGHT-TIME Tu7;We2&8;Th7;Fr8;Sa2&8;Su3 ody that seemed to acknowledge For Best Availability, Try Weeknights Telecharge.com or 212-239-6200 It led off a show in which Ms. IfThenTheMusical.com A New Play by SIMON STEPHENS the threat of jihadism. Tonight at 7 Theatre (+), 226 W 46th YouCantTakeItWithYouBroadway.com Carroll delicately addressed the Tu 7; We 2&8; Th 7; Fr 8; Sa 2&8; Su 3 Based on the Novel by MARK HADDON (+) 220 W. 48th Street Musicians with an unerring Special Added Holiday Perf Feb 16 at 7pm AladdinTheMusical.com recent shootings in Paris with a taste in great songs, Ms. Carroll 866-870-2717/Groups 20+: 800-439-9000 Telecharge.com or 212-239-6200 suite of songs about the City of New Amsterdam Thea (+) B'way & 42 St. CuriousOnBroadway.com and Mr. Leonhart performed a Barrymore Theatre (+), 243 W. 47 St. OFF−BROADWAY Light that included “The Last set that maintained the same bal- Tony Award Winner! BEST MUSICAL Tonight at 7 ance of light and shadow as Ber- "THE CROWD GOES WILD!" - NYT Barbara Carroll sings Saturday lin’s “Let’s Face the Music and JERSEY BOYS evenings in an open-ended run at Dance.” An instrumental version REMARKABLE! -Village Voice Tu 7; We 2 & 7;Th 7; Fr 8; Sa2&8;Su3 Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, "INSTANTLY JOINS THE RANKS OF Tonight at 7:30 of “Gee, Officer Krupke” carried THE IRRESISTIBLE!" - Huffington Post Telecharge.com or 212-239-6200 Clinton; 212-581-3080, Group Discounts (10+): 877-536-3437 "EXTRAORDINARY!" - USA Today playfulness to the brink of com- JerseyBoysBroadway.com Tomorrow at 2 and 8 EVERY BRILLIANT THING birdlandjazz.com. Tonight at 7 Written by Duncan Macmillan edy. A lush film-noir mood Thea(+) 245 W. 52nd St. Added Performance 1/25 at 7:30 PM Final 5 Weeks - Thru Sat, Feb 21 Only! with Jonny Donahoe washed through a coupling of BEAUTIFUL Directed by George Perrin David Raksin’s “Laura” and his THE MUSICAL BRADLEY PATRICIA ALESSANDRO SmartTix.com or 212-868-4444 COOPER CLARKSON NIVOLA EveryBrilliantThing.com theme from “The Bad and the Tu7;We2&7;Th7;Fr8;Sa2&8;Su3 Barrow Street Theatre, 27 Barrow St. Telecharge.com / 212-239-6200 Beautiful.” Groups of 10+ 1-800-BROADWAY ext. 2 "Cyndi Lauper delivers the best Broadway THE ELEPHANT MAN Ms. Carroll brought her mis- www.BeautifulOnBroadway.com score in years!" By BERNARD POMERANCE Stephen 124 W 43rd St -ABC News Directed by SCOTT ELLIS chievous parlando vocal style, Tonight at 7, Tomorrow at2&8 Telecharge.com / 212-239-6200 descended from Mabel Mercer, KINKY BOOTS ElephantManBroadway.com The International Hit is now in NYC! (+) 222 West 45th Street to Cole Porter’s “Looking at You” Telecharge.com or 212-239-6200 TOMORROW at 8PM Tu, Th 7; Wed, Sat2&8;Fri8;Sun3 and the Cy Coleman-Carolyn KinkyBootsTheMusical.com NEVERMORE Leigh standard “You Fascinate Theatre (+), 302 W. 45th St. THE IMAGINARY LIFE & MYSTERIOUS TONIGHT at 8! DEATH OF EDGAR ALLAN POE Me So,” whose narrator admires Telecharge.com or (212) 239-6200 CHICAGO Mon 7, Wed-Sat 8, Sat 2:30 “the sweet geography descend- The Musical New World Stages, 340 W. 50th St. ing from your eyebrow to your The #1 Longest-Running American Tomorrow at 7 NEVERMORESHOW.COM Musical in Broadway History! DISNEY presents toe.” Telecharge.com/chicago or 212-239-6200 Today at 7 Both vocally and in her semi- ChicagoTheMusical.com ASTONISHINGLY POWERFUL! Mon,Tue,Thur-Sat 8,Sat & Sun 2:30,Sun 7 - Times The Award-Winning Best Musical classical arrangements of Ste- Ambassador Theatre (+) 219 W. 49th St. LES MISERABLES Tickets & info: LionKing.com phen Sondheim songs, Ms. Car- or call 866-870-2717 HEARTFELT & ENGAGING! Captures Tu 7; Wed 2 & 8;Th 7; Fr 8; Sa2&8;Su3 Groups (20+): 800-439-9000 roll is one of his most insightful Telecharge.com or 212-239-6200 the flair of Simon Wiesenthal. -Time Out This Wk: W 7; Th-F8;Sa2&8; Su 1&6:30 Tonight at 7pm interpreters. Her quiet, contem- Groups of 12+ (800)-447-7400 Next Wk: T-W 7; Th-F 8; S 2&8; Su 1&6:30 Visit us at LesMiz.com/Broadway (+), B'way & 45th Street plative rendition of “With So Lit- HEDWIG (+), 249 W. 45th St. WIESENTHAL Tu7,We2&8,Th7,Fr8,Sa2&8,Su3 tle to Be Sure Of,” from “Anyone WINNER! 4 TONY AWARDS including Telecharge.com or 212-239-6200 Can Whistle,” expressed an even BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL Groups (10+): 212-265-8500 Acorn Theatre, 410 West 42nd St. deeper, more personal response "Superb! Furiously Entertaining!" WiesenthalThePlay.com to life’s uncertainty than the Ber- -New York Magazine TIME MAGAZINE S lin classic and is rooted in a stur- Tomorrow at 8 #1 SHOW OF THE YEAR Tonight at 7, Tomorrow at2&7 dy romantic partnership: “I’m Tonight at 7 Final 32 Performances- Thru Feb 8 Only! JOHN Roald Dahl s " IS TERRIFIC!" - EW sure of here and now and us to- HEDWIG MATILDA HUGH JACKMAN gether.” THE MUSICAL THE RIVER AND THE ANGRY INCH MatildaTheMusical.com A New Play by JEZ BUTTERWORTH We8;Th8;Fr7&10;Sa7&10 Telecharge.com or 212-239-6200 Directed by IAN RICKSON Telecharge.com / 212-239-6200 Groups of 10+ Call 877-536-3437 Telecharge.com / 212-239-6200 HedwigBroadway.com Tu,Th 7; Fr 8; Wed, Sat2&8,Sun3 TheRiverOnBroadway.com Do not forget the Neediest! (+) 111 W. 44th St. Shubert Theatre (+), 225 West 44th St. Circle in the Square Theatre, W. 50th St.