August 21, 1992 THE AUSTIN WEEKLY NEWS
------. r - - "Zke ale\ ·" "~~" : 'rr.M . 1R':r:•£•J WOMANBINGO ts a dizzying, In the bayou I See incredible race-reversing smorgasbord of x dlvaR on collision course! WOM rated burlesque, a serious politi ANUlNGO is sure to make Wil cal commentary and a gender liam Faulkner roll over in his bent forbidden lust opening Sun grave. day, September 27 - 7 p.m. at City "It's kind of Jike Pee Wee Lit Theater Company, Victory Herman meets Jean Genet on the Gardens Studio Theater, 2257 way to Tara," explained Hous North Lincoln Avenue. For tick ton, an African-American play ets calJ 871-3000. Ticket prices wright and performer who began range from $10 to $15. Preview his career in New York as a tickets are only $10. Group dis founding member of the Play counts are available. Parking is house of the Ridiculous with available at the Children's Me Charles Ludlam and Ron Tavel. morial Hospital pay lot. "The piny combines trngNiy nnd WOMAN I> I NOO 111 R highly Ir fnrrn, nnrl contain,. PnnuMh R('X reverent role-reversal tragi and violence to saUsfy even the . comedy, deconstructing. "t.he most jaded.", ..- •'pride and passion on the ole plantation" t>plcR popularl7.ed by WOMANDINGO Is underscored film and pulp fiction. Men play with live, pulsating African women; women play men; drums and tacky, slow-speed blacks play the masters and banjo picking! The Victory Gar whites play the slaves In this dens Studio has been trans surreal satire with occasional formed into a hilarously horrific out-of-context appearances on cartoon bayou complete with Lily White Oaks Plantation by Spanish moss and lush foliage Miss Scarlett O'Hara herself! casc~ding across the stage hy set Watch the masters scramble to designers Maripat Donovan and maintain their crumbling man the a wand-winning David sions while slave rebellion brews Csicsko. Friday 2 Section 7 Chicago Tribune, Friday, October 30, 1992 CN A production that's really out of this world
he blood ·~ rcnl , I tell you. \\'hen it drops Jown to the floor and coagulates, you know it's no thcatric:Jl trick. TBesides , there's Tom Dan id, surly and sinister, putting a Band-.\id on his finger and tell ing us he's not exactly pleased "e're here. Those of us who s h o \\ e d u p f o r T r a n s i en t Theatre's exorcism last weekend h:~d been warned. Uill Mann, the group's artistic director, let on !hat there was a bit of feud be t\\een him and Daniel. "You sec, Tom takes this stuiT real seriouslv," Mann told us as we gathcrc·d in the theater's lobbv. "But, well, when he said 'let's· do an exorcism,' I thought, hev it's Halloween, we can m~1k~ some money!" So Mann decided to invite the public and charge a few bucks a head. 13v all · accounts, Dan1cl \\JS furious. According to Mann, Daniel had taken on the exor cism because the Transient has been experiencing otherworldly c; ents since the group first took O\ er their Wilson :\venue digs in the summer of 1989. During one rehearsal , lights exploded incxpli C:lblv. During another, an actor's arm· kept shooting out as if pos sessed, dropping a candle. Mann swore that you could feel unearthly presences in a · for mer dressing room. It was so bad that Transient had a profes sional witch check the place out ·a few vcars ago. "She didn't ex on:ise ·the place, though," Mann said. ''She merely scaled it so that no other spirits could get in.'' He said this with a lopsided ..... ,.. smile, glancing over at Daniel. Photo for the Tribune by Mike F1sher now picking people one by one Tom Daniel sets up a sear.ce at ttie Transient Theatre. from the lobbv and taking them inside the thc:itcr. "You sec, he's ply of stereotypes .. anLI ~ome kind of eccentric," :Vlann con trul v disturbing observations. tided about Daniel. "He likes After hours After each show, .-\prill and the hunting little furry animal~. Dur By Achy Obejas cast stick around and discuss th~: ing one of hi~ · hunting tnps, he work. That mav seem like fairly met a guy who's a profe~sion_al taking a few weeks to shoo them standard fare, but for this ShO\\ exorcist and he really got mto Jt. out. The last two cleansings will (\\hich has been getting smeareLI There really aren't supposed t.o take phtce this weekend . .Rc- b\ critics who apparently do~ 't bc other people present for this · member: Once you sign the g~t . il) the discussion's a crucial ceremony, but 1 didn't know. form, you .· ~our ailirmation. The night I attend l\ot that Tom's an expert Onu1 awav. - ed. nearly everybody in the ra this stuff now, but he know hen!\ some serious costume ciallv mixed audience had some what's he's doing." Tfun happening at Victory thi-ng to say about how · In case he doesn't, though, th ·, Gardens Studio Theater, · "Womandingo'' affected them. Transient's lawyers had deman - where City Lit's production · It may not be typical Hallow )ed .that Mann require his exo of Sterling llouston and Ar- een fare, but the show clos~s ·~ism guests (that's us) to sign no!u Aprill's "Womandin~-:o" is i'\vv. 7, so give it a look thts ir::Icase forin absol~ · i~~ ~he Tran . r!t~cously. holding court. The po weekend if you can. It's got ,sient of all n~sponsibilJt). · htical sat1re about race and gen enough costumes_, scares, dead • "Uut ~ · hat could happen?"' I . der power dynamics features buLlies, black magic and JOke~ ~o asked. · s o m e c r a z v v i s u a I s , a · keep you in the h~liday spmt. ~ ·w~. just do~'t brooooaa,1,1d style, a wild pano- But it 'll make you thmk, too. tlunQ. ·_Mann .satd. . .. THE KITCHEN
presents CHANGING IDENTITIES by Blondell Cummings in celebration of the 16th Anniversary of Cycle Arts Foundation Thursdax, May 12, 1994 through Sunday, May 15 at 8pm
THE KITCHEN
51 2 West 19th Street {between 1Oth and 11th Avenues) "'r~ew v.orK, I N ew vrorK I 1""''uu 1 1 $15; $12 Members
For information/ reservations call: (212) 255 5793 or Ticketmaster (212) 307-7171
Featured Performers: Blondell Cummings, John Funk, Robert Kemp, Laura Marchese, David Maurice Sharp,
This project is sponsored by: District Curators, National Endow ment for the Arts, New York State Council fo r the Arts, The Ford Foundation Alternate Arts Organization Commissioning Program, Meet the Composer/ Rockefeller Foundation, ATI Jazz Program, The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest National Jazz Network, a program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, Spoleto Fe stival, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Walker Arts Center, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust Foundation, The Flynn Theatre ...... '-'''CI'VV HIIIH JHIIIICI;' rfUIIIUII"'ItiiJ;U pr~~t=fl[ diverse play combo for summer audience: by Greg Cr.nvford love, the he:lCt-smiaen twosome be the plancation master and his evil s Al the Phoeni."t, Womandtngo sav gins with innocence and ends with are white gencry. Womandtngo t ' age!y exposes and chen mercilessly sorrow. The t!."tCremes of emotion and black characters. Where the filin r shreds one racially based mythology rapid tum-
Jump-Start Performance Co. will present WOMANDINGO, a collaboration between award-winning Chicago director Arnold Aprill and San Antonio playwright Sterling Houston. Aprill is artistic director of City Lit of Chicago, a theater production company which specializes in adapting literature into stage works. He first came to San Antonio in the summer of '91 to work as part of the San Antonio Festival team which produced The Magic Flute, working as assistant to the director, as well as creating the super-titles for that project.
"I went to Jump-Start to see a show" ; he says, "and met Steve (Bailey) and Sterling (Houston). Through a conversation with Sterling, the possibilities of collaborating on a deconstructionist send-up of Mandingo, the lust-in-the-dust saga of the ante-bellum South, began to excite us both. The twist in our version would be a complete reversal of all roles, both gender and racial ones." "The project and I were made for each other"; Houston says; "Something about re-generating those cherished and scary old sterotypes worked well with my sense of the ridiculous." Houston went to Chicago in early September to collaborate with Aprill on the final draft. "We had a reading of it there with a hand picked cast of some of that city's finest actors. It was quite an experience. There was laughter throughout and cheers at the end. It was very gratifying."
The Jump-Start production will be directed by Arnold Aprill, and feature Chicago actor Michael Shepard, and a cast of San Antonio's best, including Roger Alvarez, Deborah Basham, Wayne Byall and Gertrude Baker.
WOMANDINGO will open February 29 and run Fri., Sat., and Sun. thru March 15, at the Jump Start Theater, 1035 S. Alamo.
Jump-Start Performance Co. is partially funded by Department of Arts and Cultural, City of San Antonio, Texas Commission on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts and The Funding Exchange/National Community Funds.
For more information, please call 227-JUMP. Guest-starring in WOMANDINGO is Chicago/New York actor Michael Shepperd as Annabellee Kincaid, the six-foot-five southern belle from hell. Shepperd has done work in New York at Cafe La Mama, and P.S. 122, and was recently seen there in David Sadares' JAMBOREE at the Theater for the New City. He is a company member of City Lit of Chicago and is a regular on the Emmy-Award winning CBS children's show, "The Magic Door". Also featured are Gertrude Baker, Kim Corbin, Kitty Williams, Roger Alvarez, Deborah Basham, Paul Salinas, Tommy Bums, Robert Rehm, and Sterling Houston as Scarlett O'Hara.
WOMANDINGO contains language and situations that may be offensive to some, and is recommended for persons over 18.
Jump-Start Performance Co. is funded, in part, by The Department of Arts and Cultural Affairs, City of San Antonio; The Texas Commission on the Arts; and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information please call 227-JUMP .
• DRIVING WHEEL program bios
Sterling Houston-author/director
Sterling Houston returned to his native San Antonio after many years in New York and San Francisco, where he worked with some of the most creative forces in American Theater, including Charles Ludlam and Sam Shepard. He appeared as an actor in more than fifty Off-Broadway and regional theater productions. Mr. Houston is San Antonio's most prolific and innovative playwright, having authored and produced nine original scripts, since 1988's A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICAN SONG (24th Street Experiment and Jump-Start Performance Co.). Favorite shows include the award winning LATE LATE SHOW AT THE GILDED CAGE, (Jump-Start 1889) A'LELIA (a musical in collaboration with Larry Neal, Carver Center, 1990), and KOOL JAMS (Jump-Start, 1990). His most recent work, WOMANDINGO (Jump-Start, 1992) is slated for production at the Phoenix Theater in Indianapolis in July. DRIVING WHEEL has been a labor of love, begun after a conversation with Maya Angelou in which the value of "family stories" was discussed. This led to a first draft that eventually became tonight's play which is Mr. Houston's most personal. The author dedicates DRIVING WHEEL to the memory of his father, Sterling Houston, Sr. 1901- 1982. ' /
. I. ~
~ "age :<0 · ·Section 1:;- - ChiCago TiibU ne~ Su-naay:- 5epft'in5!i ~3. 1 992 ------·------~ ------... ---
Playhouse and the Forum "Control Freaks" Sept. 20, the Earth" a few seasons back, Griffin Theatre Company, Theater Theatre in Summit see no thanks mostly to Center artis takes over Bailiwick's old after struggling in a loft, reason not to run the bits tic director Dan LaMorte's home in the Jane Addams mo'V-es to the Calo Theatre in CoEneci from page 8 .. Phantom" and ""Oat of collegiate friendship with the Hull House on Broadwav with Andersonville with "Genera ~ of War" Oct. 21. Order" through December. "Crimes of the Heart" drama- its just-opened "The Conquest tions" SepL 26. I.n the suburban musical Highland Park's 1\ppk: . Tree tist. ~- of~ South Pole," about four In what sounds like the wil ~ Marriott's Lincolnshire Theatreplans "Aia "t ~lis Also, the ever-innovative, unemployed workers who pass. dest show of the lot, City lit T hea tre continues wi th behavin'" Oct. 2 and. in a sur Lookingglass Theatre Compa the time by re-creating in fan brings us playwright Sterling '"Gomd Hotel- through :-..-ov. prise move, Olicago comic ac nv unveils "The Arabian tasy play Amundsen's expedi Houston's "Womandingo. ·1 ;:nO then -The Sound of tress Peggy Roeder going after Nights" SepL 26. . tion to the South Pole. Directed by Arnold- Aprill, :\IR:Sic- beginning Nov. 11 ; Lily Tomlin's impen.onarions Bailiv•id: continues Christo Pegasus Players plans a new black men pla y wh it e On:::;. Lane Oakbrook Terrace in Jane Wagner's "The Search pher Cartmill's "light" trilogy Step hen Sondheim revue women-Scarlett O'Hara, in cou:Inues "Meet Me in St. for Signs of lntelligem Life in ~ith "light in the Heart of ("You're Gonna LoTe Tomor other words, as a burly, sta Loms- through Oct. 4 and the Universe" Dec. 1 L the Dragon" Wednesday in row") Oct. 25. tuesque black man-and vice .. ~ King and I" starting The struggling, smaller the Theatre Building (where Touchstone Theatre opens versa, in an Old South take-off Oct. 14· Drur\' Lane Dinner · theaters, as ~ . are going for the VJCtorian musical thriller its new digs in the old Step that has won wide-eyed ap 'l1lam: 'in Evei-green Perl has the pluckier risks, and at th~ "Trask & Fenn" premiered penwolf Theatre "'i th Peter ·planse in San Antonio and In Wf ttillg Steps•• through Oct. top is Center Theater's re- from New T UDCIS last week). HaD and Inga Stina's admired dianapolis. The show begins 25 and .. A.nnie"-opening Nov. ,. - markable coup in C3tCbjng a - Famous Door Theatre, who new translation of Ibsen's · here Sept. 26 at Victory Gar 4; &n
August 21, 1992 THE AUSTIN WEEKLY NEWS
I .. \ . '~ ~ ~ ' , "' ~ \ . WOMANDINGO is a dizzying, in the bayou! See incredible race-reyersing smorgasbord of x divas on colli~ion ~coursel WOM rated burlesquo, a serlouiJ politl· ANDINOO la lUre tQ mokf! Wll· cal commentary · and a gender . Ham raulkner roll over. in his bent forbidden Ius~ opening Sun grave. · ; ,!·.,, '· · day, September 27 -'7 p.m. at City "It's kind of .like Pee Wee Lit , Theater Company, Victory Herman meets Jean Genet on the Gardens Studio Theater, 2257 way to Tara,' ~ explained Hous North Lincoln A venue .. For tick ton, an African~American play ets call 871-3000. Ticket prices wright and performer who began ra.nge ~ from $10 to .. $15 .. Preview his , career.,.in New York as a tickets are only $10.~. Group ' dis founding member of the Play counts are available. Parking is house of the Ridiculous with available at the Children's Me Charles Ludlam. and Ron Tavel. morial Hospital pay lot. "The play combines tragedy and WOMANDINGO is a highly ir farce, and contains enough sex reverent - role-reversal tragi and violence . to ~atisfy even the comedy, deconstructing-r,i.the most jaded." . ~ •..) . .. ,. , . .. . ''pride and passion on : the ole . . plantation" epics popularized by WOMANDINGO is unqerscored film and, pulp fiction. Men play with live, : pulsating African women; . women .. play men; drums ·and tacky, slow-speed blacks play the masters and banjo picking I T~o · VIctory Gnr whites play the slaves in this dens Studio has been trans surreal •Satire with· occasional formed into a hilarously' horrific out-of~ontext appearances . on cartoon bayou, complete . with Lily White Oaks Plantation by Spanish .: moss ' and lush foliage Miss Scarlett O'Hara herself! cascading acr.oss the stage by set · Watch the masters scramble to designers Maripat Donovan and maintain · their crumbling man the a w a r d -winning D a vi d sions while slave rebeJlion brews Csicsko. · sept. 2. 1992 Nlghtllnes Gossip 9 Puddfn 'N Pete (April 2). Call 443-3800. ProfDa Performance Ensemble presents Joe, Orton's The Ruffian on the Stair as part of their "Dark Night Series" at Red Bones Theatre thru , Sept. 26. Ruffian, written in 1963, was Orton's first . ' play. The story is about a \}' working-class couple visited · by a stranger asking for a . ,, room. It becomes. apparent he may be seeking retrlbu· Two of the Chi· Town Squaraa Sh•Devlla atlaat year' a lion for the death of his ,, Northalsted Mtrketdsya with Judith Johna (who now brother (also his lover), · . worklln the city' a Health Department). Don't mill the killed In a hit-and-run accl· Chi· Town square dancing wHkend. Photo: Russ Glidden dent. Ruffian examines so- dia) over the years, and its ·l990s photo is of cial mores, sexuality, religion, and much two white gay men caring for two HIV-infect more. Call404-8341. Profiles acclaimed ed babies they have .t
IN ADYANCI • S15 DOOI antebellum South adnimonlndudes the fallssue Ill TIINGI
I j i11•1!\'~1 j ~ i f1'J I :14 :ffj City Ut ThHter Co111panr ., llW Vlctorr Gardens Studio 2257 N. Uncoln n- 312 929 Jill CHICAGO to reserve your tickers! ,,• t - ~ Vlinc}j City Times I Septemter 17, 1992 - 43
.. if they put little pieces of masking tape over their nipples it would be okay. Women interested in starting a Chicago action should notify Mother. STAR LIT: Looks like City Lit.Theater Company has another hit on their hands with Arnold April's production of Sterling Houston'sWomandingo. Providing a great look at gender and race sto"eetypes and relations, City Lit's production has a stellar cast. which includes Maripat Donovan, Michael A. ShepperdandJoanJett Blakk:. Shepperd, one ofMillie's Orchid Show's Coal Diggers, will play SOUlhem belle Annabelle Lee. Donovan recently won a Jeffersat Citation for Live Bait's Portrait of a ShiA:sa, and is sure to hold her own on stage. Although Terence Smith has perfonned with the Blue Rider Theatre company, this production marks the debut of Smith's drag persona.JoanJettBiakk:, as Scarlett 0 'Hara. As ifthe script and cast weren't enough to insure IaVe reviews, Mother hears Blakk: and Shepperd will soon be Lee Kay Bubbleheads. Opening night is Sept 26, at the Victory Gardens Studio Theatef.. Call 871-3000 for ticket information. EEKLYNEWS August 28, 1!)!12
. JOAN JETT llLAK-Kj~in~the value! But no jailbait pi ease .. . cast of WOMANDINGO as Miss persons under 13 years of age will arlett O'Hara at City Lit Thea only be admitted with a note from ~ter Company, Victory Gardens their family doctors! Admission is Studio Theater, 2257 North Lin-· free for sit-com single mother coin Avenue. · newscasters! City Lit Theater Company has WOMANDINGO is a gender II ~ own fmnlly vuhws 1111cl ~II<'MH who's joining the WOMANDINGO bending, rolc-r·evor·sul tm~l family? Straight from the run comedy, deconstructing the ways of Paris and Milan ... direct "pride and passion on the ole from the campaign trail . . . 1992 fam!ly plantation" epics pop Presidential Candidate JOAN ulanzed by film and pulp fiction in JE!T BLAKK is flying back to which men play women; women play men; blacks play the mas Chtc~go next month to appear in Sterhng Houston's race-reversing ters and whites play the valunble family saga as MISS SCARLETT slaves. Watch the masters O'HARA! Conceived and directed scramble to maintain their valu by Arnold Aprill, WOMANDINGO able crumbling mansions while opens Saturday, September 26 at 7 slave family rebellion brews in p.m. and runs Thursdays and the bayou! See incredible family Fridays at 8:30 p.m. and Satur divas on collision course! See days at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. through Blakk as Miss Scarlett stripped November 8 at Victory Gardens naked from the waist up ... bona Studio Theater, 2257 North Lin~ fide period flesh value! One of the coin Avenue. Previews are free if few "supermodels" in the world, Blakk can be seen performing at ~ou wear a hoopskirt and 1; 2 price tf you wear a sunbonnet 1 A $:J fnmily venues with his/her band DISCO~NT is available during the CAN'T KEEP A SECRE'l~ the entire run of the show if you SERVICE, and at scores of events are UNDER 21 or if you show up at alternative family galleries all with your ALTERNATIVE FAM over this great nation. ILY MEMBERS - what a family Call871-3000 for tickets. Windy City Times I August 27, 1992
WOMANDINGO City Lit llteater Company presents a highly irreverent rolc-reversaltr.tgicomedy, c.lcconstructing the "pride nml pm;sion on the ole plantation" epics popularized by film and pulp fiction. Men play women, women play men, blacks play the masters and whites play the slaves in this surreal satire with oCCIL'iimntl out -of-context ap JICIIIIIIICt'l8Cllll .lly Whllt~ ( )nks Plnnlnlion hy Miss Scarlett O'Ham hcrscln Written by Sterling Houston. Directed by Arnold Aprill. At Victory Gardens Studio Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., 871-3
Ricky Van Shelton PICKS OF THE WEEK Sept. 20-26, 1992
cans, the Original Diamonds Reunitect, the Shirelles, the OPENINGS Vogues and the Skyliners/SaturdayfStar Plaza Tlleatre Ramsey Lewis Quintet/today /Fourth Presbyterian Church "Arabian Nights"fSaturdayfLookingglass Theatre Company Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis/ " Awake and Singl"ftodayfSteppenwolf Theatre Company Friday/Orchestra Hall "Control Freaks" /today/Center Theater Glenn Miller Orchestra/FridayfMoulin Rouge Showroom, Fair Dorothy Donegan TriofTuesdayfJazz Showcase mont Hotel "Generations"/SaturdayfGriffin Theatre Company 1l1e Peking Circus/today/Star Plaza Theatre "Homeward Bound"/Fridayflllinois Theatre Center Shinobu Sato and Trio Classico/Saturday/Hogeye Folk Arts, "Jar the Roor''fWednesday/Northlight Theatre Evanston "Malcolm X: Reminiscences of a Revolutionary"fFriday/Free Sounds of Blackness/friday/Medinah Temple Street Theater Special Beat/Friday/Vic Theater "Othello"/Wednesday/Court Theatre Ricky Van Shelton/Friday/Star Plaza Theatre "Picture of Dorian Gray"fWednesdayfWisdom Bridge Theatre Dionne Warwick/Saturday/Paramount Arts Centre "S2''/Saturday/Organic Theater Greenhouse "The Waste Land"fThursdayfChapel Perilous Theatre Ensem ble "Where's Your God Now, Charlie Brown?"fThursdayfSecond RAVES City E.T.C. "The Conquest of the South Pole"fThursdays-Sundays/ "Tlle Wild Duck"fThursdayfTouchstone Theatre Famous Door Theatre Company " Womandingo"/SaturdayfCity Lit Theater Company "Grand Hotei-Tlle Musical"/Wednesdays-Su ndays/Marriott's I ·- ~~~---- SHORT RUNS " Lend Me a Tenor''fTuesdays-SundaysfApollo Theater "Mandy Patinkin in Concert Dress Casual"ftoday, Tuesday Alvin "Twine Tme" Cash Revue featuring Ruby Andrews/Sa Saturday/Shubert Theatre turday/Maywood Horsemen Lounge ''Phantom" /Wednesdays-Sundays/Candlelight Dinner Chicago Sinfonietta on today at Rosary College in River For Playhouse est, and Monday at Orchestra Hall "Under Milk Wood"fThursdays-SundaysfBarto Productions Cover Girls/Saturday/China Club IN del AmitrifThursdayfVte Theatre CINEPLEX ODEON En Vogue and Arrested DevelopmentfFriday/Arie Crown The CLOSINGS CHESTNUT STATION THEATRE atre 820 NORTH CLARK ST., CHICAGO 312/649-5790 Leo Kottke/Friday, SaturdayfWoodstock Opera House "A Preliminary Inquiry in the Methods Used to Create and FRI. MON .-THU ~ -1:00P. 3:311', 5;001', li!D', 6:311'. 7:00P, 7:301', 8:311'. 9:10'. !1-.311'. 10:1XJ' Lake Forest Symphony Orchestra/Friday, Saturday/Rhoades Maintain a Segregated Society"/todayfBailiwick Repertory SAT. & SUN~ 1:00P. 1:30P, 2:00P. 2:30P, 3:30'. 4:00P. 4::11'. 5ml', 6:00P, 6::11'. 7:00P. Auditorium, Chicago Medical School and the Chicago Theatre Company 7:30P, 8:30P. 9:00P, !1-.311'. 10:001': FRI. & SAT. ONLY -LATE SHOWS: ll:OOP, 11:311'. 12 MIONlGHT Landmark Jazz Series with VICtor Parra & the Mamba Ex "Six Degrees of Separation"/next Sunday/Briar Street The SPfCIAl ENGAGEMENT . NO PASSES 00 DISCOUNT TICKETS ACCEPTED_ Preoented In co Dolb!; SR pressfWednesdayfThree Arts Club of Chicago atre "Let the Good Tmes Roll" featuring Jay Black & the Arneri- For complete details on the prece RECOMMENDATIONS: The symbol • indicates a master Arts Line at 312-902-1SOO. day, noon-S p.m. Sunday: $4, $2.50 seniors, $1 high recommendation by our critics. ENTERTAINMENT HOTLINE: For updated informa students. 31 ~-664-3939 . tion on entertainment and cuftural events, dial F- UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: Oriental Institute, 11SS CHEAP TICKETS: The Hot Tix Booths-on the 1-N-E-A-R-T. E. 58th St.: "Vanished Kingdoms of the Nile: The State Street Mall between Madison and Monroe GEmNG INTO THE ARTS CALENDAR: Listings Rediscovery of Ancient Nubia," "Sifting the Streets; in the Oak Park Visitors Center, 1S8 are free, but inclusion is not guaranteed. Send Sands of Time: The Oriental Institute and the Forest Ave., Oak Park; and on 1616 N. Sherman name of event, location, date, time, ~ngth of run, Ancient Near East," through Dec. 31 . Free. 31 2- A\tenue, Evanston-offer full-price tickets and prices and phone number- three weeks before 702-9853. Smart Museum. S550 S. Greenwood discount tickets good that day for theater, music date of publication-to The Chicago Tribune Arts Ave.: "The German Print Portfolio 1890-1930: and dance performances throughout the area. Calendar, Room 400, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Ch~ Serials for a Private Sphere," through Nov. 16; For advanced full-priced tickets, call Ticket- cago, ttl. 60611 . "The Gray City UnbuiH: Architectural Proposals for the University of Chicago 1892-1992": through Dec. 6. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, noon-6 p.m. Saturday, Sunday. Free. 312-702- Tuesday: 10 a.m.-S p.m. Saturday; discretionary 0200. admission ($6.00 adults; $3.00 senior citizens, students) daily except Tuesdays, when free. 312- Art 443-3600. MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, 237 E. On FOR GALLERY LISTINGS, SEE THE FRIDAY LIST tario St.: Art at tt.e Armory: Occupied Terrrtory, Comedy INGS IN THE FRIDAY SECTION. 234 E. Chicago Ave., through Jan. 23: Concep ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, Michigan Avenue at tualism-Postconceptualism: the 1960s to the Adams Street: American Prints: 1900-1960, Gal 1990s: through Nov. 8: Modeling the Future: The SECONO CITY NATIONAL TOURING COMPANY: 8 leries of prints and drawings, through Monday; New Museum and Key Works from the Perma p.m. Saturday; Freedom Hall"s Nathan Manilow NOW SHOWING Architecture in Miniature: Furniture by Josef nent Collection, through Nov. 8. 10 a.m.-S p.m. Theatre, 410 Lakewood Blvd., Park Forest. $10. Hoffmann, Gallery 142, through next Sunday; Tuesday-Saturday, noon-S p .m. Sunday, 708-747-0580. MC CLURG COURT FORD CITY NORRIO&E GROVE STRA TFORII SQUARE ·Reftectk>ns of Weimar Germany: Portfolios by holidays; $4, $2 seniors, students, children (ex ALL JOKES ASIDE: Terry Hodges and T.J. Jack Near North South Norridge Downers Grove Bloom ingdale Beckmann and Corinth," Gallery 119. through cept on Tuesday when all are free). 312·280- son, 7:30 p.m. today: Amateur Nita, 7:30 p.m. 312-642·0723 312-582-1838 708-452-9000 708-852-4440 708-351·9610 Oct. 1: Joel Stemfield photographs, Photography S161 . Wednesday; Andre Covington and Jammer WEBSTER PLACE DEERBROOK Galleries, through Oct. 11 ; Flo Garduno photo SPERTUS MUSEUM OF JUDAICA, 618 S. Michigan Sicks. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, next Sunday, 8:30, WOODARD UNCOLN MALL RICE LAKE SQUARE Ave.: "In the Tradition of the Sephardim": through Near North Deerfield Schaumburg Matteson Wheat on graphs, Photography Galleries, through Oct. 18; 10:4S p.m. Friday, Saturday: 1000 S. Wabash Summer 1993; Jerzy Kosinski photographs, 312-327·3100 708-272-0212 708-6 19-1620 708-481-4770 7~4567 "A Year for Giving, Part 1: American Prints 1900- Ave. $10 cover Sundays, Thursday-Saturday; $7 60," Prints and Drawings Galleries, through Oc through Oct. 25. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday-Thurs Wednesday. 312-427-1S14. UNCO! LAGE &OLFMIU RIDGE ORLAND SQUARE NO. RIVERSIDE PLAZA tober; Henri Rousseau's "The Dream , ~ Gallery day, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday. $3.50, $2 students, CHICAGO IMPROV: Bob Nickman & Stanley North Niles Arlington Hgts. Orland Park North Ri verside 240, through Jan. 30, 1993; renovated and rein children, sentors (except Fridays when all are Ullman, and Brian Noonan, 8 p.m. today; Jeff .312-60' 708-296-4500 708-394-1434 708-34!Hi00l 701>447- 1178 stalled Galleries of Chinese, Japanese and free). 312-922-9012, ext. 222. Joseph and Mark Jaffe, 8 p.m. Tuesday-Thurs· BURN<. • LAZA OAKBROOK COMMONS SOUTHLAKE Korean Art: Kraft General Foods Education Cen TERRA MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, 666 N. day, next Sunday, 7, 9:30 p.m., midnight Friday, RIVER OAKS Michigan Ave.: "Santos de Palo: The Houshold Near Sout•• Oakbrook Chicago Ridge Calum et City Merrillville. IN ter, Allerton Building, tower level. noon-S p.m. Saturday: 504 N. Wells St. Covers vary; two Saints of Puerto Rico": through Oct. 18. noon-8 drink minimum. 312-S-T-A-N-0-U-P. J 12·922-1090 708-573-11 60 708-423-3301 708-86S-3400 219-738-2652 Sundays and holidays; 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p .m. p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m.-S p.m. Wednesday-Satur- DOUBLE EXPOSURE COMEDY, MAGIC & MUSIC For showttmes call theatres or check tndtvidual theatre ads. NO PASSES ACCEPTED FOR THIS ENGAGEMENT. Monday, Wednesday-Friday: 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. A-8 THE ! Np!ANAPOLIS NEWS Saturday, July 18, 1992 On the town Phoenix double bill vtews• being black • America The Phoenix Theatre's double bian: and Winston. the second. Ibrahim Al-Jahiz puts anoth· And now it's midnight. and I bill of "Womandingo·· and "Ob is a black who has made it. A · er star in his crown as V.C. must walk home. Though I'll try jects in the Mirro-r Are Closer corporate vice-president whose Here's an actor as adept in light not to show it. I'll be scared if ·Than They Appear" invites pa second wife is white. Winston moments as he Is in the heavi black men pass me: and I wish trons to laugh at or think about believes in the system. est. Morris Seawright stumbles to God it weren't so. the same problem. A veritable exercise in versa on his lines. but he's a good And that problem is what it's tility. the productions feature the sport In black silk as Aunt Patty. like to be black in white Ameri· same black actors - save two Lebron Benton is pure delight as ca. - in roles so different that pa the female slave. Saffronia. The one-act plays. the first by trons may find themselves refer Further lights in ··woman Sterling Houston and Arnold \ ring to their programs to make dingo" Include Diana Dupuis in April!. the second by Mark M. sure they are the same people. the title role. Gayle Steigerwald Cryer and Lester Purry. opened SHOWnME Chief among these is Chicago as Rufus and Adam 0 . Crowe as the theater's eighth annual Fes newcomer Michael A. Shepperd. Mammy Ruth. Marlena Singh tival of Emerging American The Charles Staff an astonishingly gifted performer and Michelle Clarice Morand. atre Friday night. who has as much depth and while not altogether with it in The productions staged by play men - lots of fun for gays .style as he has height. And he's that play. bloom in "Objects." April! and Phoenix artistic direc but hard work for straights. A 6 feet' 5 . In "Womandingo" he David Csicsko's set designs tor Bryan Fonseca. respectively. mixture of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" gracefully. if ridiculously. sweeps range from fantasy in the first continue weekends through Aug. with a dash of "Gone With the through the role of Annabellee. play to realism in the second - 2. The third winner in the na Wind." the satire is sophomoric In "Objects" he's Winston. a big all largely accomplished by turn tional competition. "hip my but funny and admittedly embar man with a big smile and a big ing one unit around. Stephen heart." runs Aug. 7 through 29. rassing for a white person. way. Hollenbeck's elaborate costumes Both "Womandingo ... a one ''Objects" is set in a barber Langston Martin Smith. who underli ne the crazy humor of joke. role-reversal affair. and shop in Indianapolis. The play used to be Stan Smith. dashes 'In "Womandtngo." "Objects." a play of ideas. could wrights have constructed the and out of "Womandlngo" as My preference lies with "Ob use some editing. work so that the locale can be Scarlet O'Hara. though Scarlet jects. .. because I prefer debate With a title that takes off on changed - unless there's a city doesn't belong in the story. (And and discussion if a problem is the macho mechanics of "Man in which blacks aren't discrimi the other characters point this serious - and this one is. dingo ... " Womandingo" could nated aga inst. The five charac out to " her.") After intermission. surely do Its thing with a few ters - the shop ov.'ner. two cus· he's Kamante. an intense young less people. It's not economically tamers and two workers. one of man at odds with himself. with 1 sound to call for a cast of 12 in a them the owner·s nephew - of his uncle and with the system. piece that doesn't fill an evening. fer differen t viewpoints and The exchanges between Ka And Cryer and Purry have these differences burst into mante and Winston give the tried to hit on everything rather flame at least once. non-black a look at differences than select those topics and inci for instance. \ ' .P .. the owner. within black society that have dents which best expose the situ represents the older generation the ring of truth. But. just in ation and exploit the characters that remembers 1:-.·nchings while 1 case Cryer and Purry think only in the strongest fashion. the nephew. E.amante. and the blacks at the top look down at In " Womandingo" blacks employee. Ma ry . pro\·ide the blacks at the bottom. I should play whites. whites play blacks. newer politica l thi nking. Shane• point out that It ·s universal men play women and women qua. the first customer. is a les· unless Eskimos aren't Into it. - PlayWrighting duo works to tum stereotypes inside out applications and pleasing a certain seg Collaborators on ment of the community - tossing them Womandingo use their a biscuit, so to speak." A tremendous number of theaters are farce to shatter racial and examining their policies and expanding sexual myths without their horizons In regard to multicultura lism, says Appel. climbing atop a soapbox. "IRT Is run by three white female heteorosexuals, so we don't quite fit the By BETSY HARRIS profile of most theaters. Our season STAR STAFF WRITER opener, Yerma, will have non-traditional omandingo co-authors Ster casting, and we are examining multicul ling Houston and Arnold tural literature rather than doing one Aprill air dirty linen In such token play a season." W a delightful way. Regarding For Colored Girls, now Their collaboration concerns pride playing the IRT Upperstage, it is being and passion on the old plantation - a produced by Actors Ink, a black organi laundry plantation. zation which Is being given the space by The farce is playing the Phoenix The IRT. atre through Aug. 2 as a winner In Its Multiculturalism Involves giving a national playwriting contest. The one voice to minorities not heard from before act production features role and gender - a long-held interest of Aprill's, and reversal. one through which he met Houston. · Men play women, and women, men; whites are cast as slaves, and blacks, as Met in San Antonio the masters In Houston and Aprill's de Artistic director of City Lit Theater of construction of the Old South. Chicago, the 40-year-old Aprill went to San Antonio In May 1991 for first-hand Tokenism charged experience with people from Hispanic Broad comedy Is a way of comment and 'black backgrounds. He asked about ing on a painful subject without preach a theater doing multicultural work and ing, says April!. In the instance of Wo was directed to the Jump-Start Perfor mandingo. the embarrassment Is mance Co., where Houston, 46, is resi stereotypes. dent playwright. He doesn't make light, however, The rapport was Instant, says Hous when airing some dirty linen on another ton, a former off-Broadway actor. Not sensitive Issue - multiculturalism - only had they worked with some of the "the big buzz word In the theater," says same theater artists, they shared the Aprill. same sensibilities, he says. "Ostensibly the white, heterosexual Aprill had the idea for a collaboration male-run theater presents one show, that undermined film and pulp fiction's such as For·Colored Girls Who Have often-stereotypical portrayal of gender Considered Suicide When the Rainbow and race roles. Is En.uj, and calls itself multicultural." Both men decided on the play's set Aprill says many theater companies ting and use of reversals. That Included · take this route to meet the criteria for their aeCTsioi1 to play off the Mandingo obtaining much-needed grants. title of Kyle Onstott's 1957 book about a Aprill's comments are somewhat Southern plantation family and its over-exaggerated, but not without a cer slaves. tain amount of truth, says Libby Appel. STAR STAFF PHOTO I GUY REYNOLDS Houston then took over. Once the artistic director of Indiana Repertory characters were clear In his mind, Arnold Aprill (left) and Sterling HQI,Iston at home on the Womandingo set Theatre. "There has be'f n a good deal of tokenism, and most hac- to do with grant See Pt.AY Page 4 \