PRESS RELEASE for IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, February 17, 2010 CONTACT: Patrick Finlon, Marketing Director 315-443-2636 Or [email protected]
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PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, February 17, 2010 CONTACT: Patrick Finlon, Marketing Director 315-443-2636 or [email protected] Radio Golf A Powerful and Timely Drama Featuring Law & Order’s Richard Brooks Directed by Timothy Bond ARCHBOLD THEATRE at SYRACUSE STAGE Running Dates: February 23 – March 13 Press Opening: Friday, February 25 at 8:00 p.m. (Syracuse, NY)—How do we move forward without leaving behind difficult but defining aspects of our past? A powerful and timely drama from the most celebrated American playwright of this generation, Radio Golf tells the story of Harmond Wilks, a real estate developer striving to revitalize a neighborhood and become the first African American mayor of Pittsburgh. Moving, funny, lyrical and rousing, Radio Golf is the inspiring final play of August Wilson’s monumental, ten-play 20th Century Cycle and career. Directed by Syracuse Stage’s Producing Artistic Director Timothy Bond, and featuring Law & Order’s Richard Brooks in the role of Harmond Wilks, Radio Golf will run February 23-March 13 at Syracuse Stage. Tickets range $25-$48, available at 315-443-3275 or www.SyracuseStage.org. The presenting sponsor for Radio Golf is The Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation. Radio Golf is sponsored by Lockheed Martin, with additional support from The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. Media Sponsors are Urban CNY and WAER 88.3. Syracuse Stage Season Sponsors are The Post-Standard and Time Warner Cable. Radio Golf is a co-production with Geva Theatre Center of Rochester, NY. 1 The five-member cast includes nationally-recognized actors familiar to Syracuse audiences. TV’s Richard Brooks, best known for his starring role as Paul Robinette on NBC’s Law & Order, will perform the role of Harmond Wilks. Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Tony-nominated for his Broadway performance as Toledo in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (a role he reprised at Syracuse Stage in 2008), will perform the role of Elder Joseph Barlow. Crystal Fox, last seen at Stage in Crowns (2009), plays the role of Mame. LeLand Gantt, last seen at Stage in Death and the King’s Horseman (1999), will portray the role of Sterling, and veteran Oregon Shakespeare Festival actor G. Valmont Thomas performs as Roosevelt Hicks. The central conflict in Radio Golf revolves around plans to demolish Old Joe’s house. Tearing it down would signal the demise of the blighted Hill District of Pittsburgh, allowing the rise of the Bedford Hills Redevelopment Project, Harmond’s vision of a new, economically vibrant community. On the one hand, investing in the project makes the neighborhood a more attractive and stable place to live; on the other, revitalization threatens the history of the neighborhood, and rising property values may drive away longtime residents who can’t afford the increase in taxes and living expenses. ―Set in 1997, Radio Golf very much concerns the black middle-class, mostly unexplored in Wilson’s plays,‖ notes Timothy Bond. ―It concerns complex questions of how African Americans can strive for financial and political success at the end of the 20th century without leaving behind their past and community.‖ Theatregoers familiar with Wilson’s work will recognize references to his other plays. Most notably, the house in question is the same house featured in Gem of the Ocean, set in 1904 and performed at Syracuse Stage in 2007. The house, 1839 Wylie Avenue, holds significance because it was once the home of Aunt Ester, a ―washer of souls‖ and ex-slave rumored to live 322 years. The Bedford Hills Redevelopment Project in Radio Golf draws parallels with Syracuse in the early 1960s, when Urban Renewal programs called for demolition of the city’s primary African-American neighborhood, the 15th Ward, where Syracuse Stage currently sits. The promise of better housing and city-wide integration began to fade as relocation efforts led blacks into other run-down, older neighborhoods. The once vibrant and primarily residential 15th Ward was forever changed. Two exhibits at Syracuse Stage will depict the history of Syracuse’s 15th Ward: Reflections of Radio Golf in the History of Syracuse Produced by Onondaga Historical Association (OHA) Housed in Stage’s Coyne Lobby during Radio Golf Supported by National Grid As part of its ongoing partnership with Syracuse Stage, OHA has produced a seven panel exhibit that includes historic images of the 15th Ward, discusses its significance for local blacks, and introduces some of the leadership that arose from the African-American community to challenge the status quo and seek change. It also showcases how preservation of historic sites related to African-American history has been slow in coming, but is now focused locally on rescuing the historic AME Zion Church building on East Fayette Street. 2 A Tender Record A Collection of Photographs by Marjory Wilkins Curated by Nancy Keefe Rhodes Housed in Stage’s Sutton Pavilion during Radio Golf This acclaimed photography exhibit, originally restored and mounted through a Light Work grant at Syracuse University in 2008, depicts life in the 15th Ward in the 1940s through the 1980s. This 38-image exhibit will include the 20 prints first shown at Light Work Gallery, plus new prints made in 2010. The complete set of the Light Work Group were exhibited together in 2010 at ArtRage Gallery. Marjory W. Wilkins is a native Syracusan who has been taking photographs since she was a small child, documenting African American life for over seven decades. THE HILL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH Adapted from materials developed Theatreworks The Hill District is a predominantly African-American neighborhood within walking distance of downtown Pittsburgh. It is August Wilson’s birthplace and the setting for the majority of his plays, including Radio Golf. Generations of Irish and Jewish immigrants called this area home in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Starting from approximately 1880-1900, African Americans began migrating from the South and many settled in ―The Hill.‖ The area quickly established itself as one of the most important African American communities in the nation, with a strong emphasis on art, literature, and music. Business districts along Wylie and Bedford Avenues and Logan Street thrived, and it was a hotbed of jazz at places like the Crawford Grill. The Hill was also home to the Pittsburgh Crawfords, a Negro League baseball team featuring Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige. Over time the population grew and the neighborhood deteriorated. In1955 the Lower Hill Redevelopment Program was approved, which included construction of a new Civic Arena. The project cleared ninety-five acres and displaced 1,239 African American families and 312 white. Following the redevelopment project, the downward spiral continued. Residents became embroiled in violence following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the area was hit hard in the 1980s by illegal drug use. These events caused the population to plummet from over 50,000 in 1950 to about 15,000 in 1990, with a large percentage living in public housing. The Hill District continues to struggle to this day. SIGNIFICANCE OF GOLF Golf has traditionally been viewed as a game for rich white men. The golf course has even been called ―the white man’s outdoor office‖ because so many business deals are made there. In Radio Golf, Harmond and Roosevelt’s enthusiasm for golf symbolizes that they’ve ―made it,‖ despite the racial and economic barriers they face as African Americans. AUGUST WILSON’S 10-PLAY 20TH CENTURY CYCLE Radio Golf is the final installment in August Wilson’s 10-play 20th Century Cycle, chronicling the African American experience during each decade of the 20th Century. Radio Golf received 3 four 2007 Tony nominations, including Best Play, and won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play. With Radio Golf, Stage’s Producing Artistic Director Timothy Bond continues his commitment to produce Wilson’s 10-play cycle. Past Wilson productions at Syracuse Stage include Fences (2010), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2008), Gem of the Ocean (2007), Jitney (2002), The Piano Lesson (1996), and Fences (1991). Wilson's cycle (in order of decade which the drama is set) includes Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II and Radio Golf. Although the plays are not strictly connected to the degree of a serial story, some characters appear (at various ages) in more than one of the cycle’s plays. Children of characters in earlier plays may appear in later plays. The character most frequently mentioned in the cycle is Aunt Ester, a ―washer of souls.‖ She is reported to be 285 years old in Gem of the Ocean, which takes place in her home at 1839 Wylie Avenue. She dies in 1983, during the events of King Hedley II. Much of the action of Radio Golf revolves around the plan to demolish and redevelop that house, some years after her death. SPECIAL EVENTS Prologue: One hour before every performance (except the Wednesday matinee) a cast member will offer an insightful and entertaining talk about the play. Supported by the Grandma Brown Foundation. M&T Bank Pay-What-You-Can Series: Tuesday, February 22 at 7:30 p.m. to watch the final dress rehearsal. $9 suggested donation, tickets available at the door 2 hours prior to curtain. LGBT Pride Series: Thursday, February 24, one hour before the 7:30 p.m. show. Food, music & friends. LIVE in the Sutton Series: Friday, February 25, live music following the 8:00 p.m. curtain. Wednesday @ 1 Lecture Series: Wednesday, March 2 at 1 p.m.