Black people revive the Great White Way. Plus a hue and cry from Mel Brooks.

by Michael Musto

Terrence Howard

A whole lot of black people are making Broadway alive again! First off, Passing Strange is "the moving and hilarious tale of a young black bohemian on a journey of escape and exploration." (That's from the press release written by white people.)

When the show played the Public last year, the audience apparently wasn't on a journey of escape and exploration; the show got great reviews, so now it's coming to Broadway to compete with jukebox musicals and Disney extravaganzas featuring shredded shower curtains and skatefish—I mean skating fish.

At a recent meet and greet, Strange's star, Stew (not to be confused with Stewie from Family Guy), didn't pant and sweat the way I like to see new Broadway stars do. "We're a rock band," he told me, calmly. "For me, Broadway is another gig. 

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By Channing Gray

Anwar Robinson’s singing career started with a dare. It was August 2004 when the New Jersey music teacher offered to drive some friends to the American Idol auditions in Washington D.C. That would be fine, they said, as long as Robinson agreed to audition with them.

Anwar Robinson

As it turned out, Robinson not only survived the audition, but managed to make it to the finals three years ago in season four. And he did so without earning the wrath of the show’s chief curmudgeon, Simon Cowell.

“He was very respectful,” said Robinson, who appears in Rent this weekend at the Providence Performing Arts Center. “He wasn’t tough on me at all.”

Joining the cast of Rent back in October was a big step for Robinson, who earned national attention for his vocalizing on American Idol. He let the world know he could sing. But acting was a different story.

“I thought acting would be impossible,” said the 28-year-old singer, “because I’d just focused on music. But I got a call to come in and audition, and I got the part.”

Making it to the finals in Idol was no fluke, though. Robinson has been singing since he was a youngster in his Newark, N.J., church. He went on to study voice at the Westminster Choir College in Princeton. There he sang his share of classical music, but his teacher also let him explore his interest in gospel and jazz.

“I’m definitely grateful to him,” he said.

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She was an R&B legend with a drug habit as big as her hair, but now the queen of 70s funk has a new album out and a starring role on Broadway - and this time, Chaka Khan tells Gary Younge, she's doing it straight

In the mid-80s, Steven Spielberg approached Chaka Khan and begged her to play Shug Avery in the film version of Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple. In many ways it was an inspired choice. Back then, Khan had a reputation as a sensuous, no-nonsense party girl. The fictional Shug was a siren-singer, known as the Queen Honeybee - a hard-drinking, sexually assertive reveller touring the rural southern juke joints and driving the locals to distraction. "First time I got the full sight of Shug Avery long black body with it black plum nipples," recalls the book's main narrator, Celie, "I thought I had turned into a man."

The role was a great opportunity for Khan. With Gremlins, ET and Back To The Future under his belt, Spielberg was on fire. And at that time The Color Purple provided a rare chance for a black woman to play an engaging role in a major movie. But she was not interested.

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CAPE TOWN (AFP) — His chosen vocation ridiculed by peers and elders alike, South African teenager Andile Ndlovu remains unwavering in his ambition to become a world-class ballet dancer.

One of a small pool of black, male practitioners of an art considered by many to be the domain of whites and the rich, Ndlovu is doing what he can to popularise ballet in his community.

"Some of my friends have started coming round and support me as a friend. But most still don't believe it is an art form," says the young man who hails from Soweto, South Africa's largest black township on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

In Cape Town to compete in an international ballet competition, the biggest ever hosted on the continent, Ndlovu's face was a study of concentration as he leapt and twirled fluently across the stage honing his routine ahead of the knockout stages.

"Dance has changed my life," he told AFP after practice. "If I didn't start dancing, I would probably have become some delinquent or something."

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By Christina Kennedy

Elton Landrew as the estranged musician husband Luke in The Amen Corner

Play explores what it takes to really be good Faith — be it of a religious, spiritual or personal nature — can be a complex animal.

The Amen Corner, a ’50s play by influential American writer James Baldwin, examines the nature of faith as it reflects on the human condition, using the congregants of an evangelical church to illustrate its point.

Under the considered direction of James Ngcobo, it doesn’t stoop to blasphemy or disrespect (although there is one instance that is appropriate to the context, to which some may object), but rather insightfully scrutinises why we fallible beings do the things we do.

Nadya Cohen’s set design is inspired: the stage is divided in two, with rows of church chairs on the left and the pastor’s kitchen on the right. This indicates the inextricable link between church and household that characterises the lives of so many believers whose day-to-day doings are informed by their religion. The two are knit into a single fabric.

Ngcobo has adapted the play to modern-day Durban, but the transplant is a successful one, as the African-American community of the original text bears several similarities to South Africa. Social ills such as poverty, alcoholism and hopelessness frequently fuel the fervour of adherents who find comfort in faith.

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A play about religion could so easily go one of two ways: descend into parody or be preachy and moralistic. Luckily, The Amen Corner does neither, but instead unassumingly paints a picture of a community ostensibly united by faith, but divided by hypocrisy and prejudice.

Acclaimed novelist and playwright James Baldwin knew a thing or two about being judged – not only was he black, he was gay as well. That combination certainly didn’t go down too well in 1950s and 1960s America. So he was well poised to write about his observations of an African-American community that was looked down on for being poor and, ironically, in turn looked down on those in their ranks who did not conform to their notion of piety.

It’s a potent and powerful slice of theatre, although a tad long at over 90 minutes without a break. Nonetheless, the performers keep us engrossed, aided by the expert direction of James Ngcobo, who has adapted the play into a South African setting.

Ilse Klink plays Pastor Margaret, a strict and unbending holy woman who heads up a congregation whose lives revolve around their faith as a refuge from the social problems that beset them. But when her prodigal husband (Elton Landrew) pitches up, at death’s door, and her skeletons come tumbling out of the cupboard, her flock starts turning on her.

The play suggests that holiness does not necessarily equate to goodness; that one can be devout but when mixed with self-loathing, that faith is empty and meaningless. The charismatic church serves as a microcosm of society, where people have hidden agendas and present very different private and public faces.

Thoughtful, intelligent, subtle and at times startling, The Amen Corner is a must-see for those who enjoy a substantial drama.

LAAGER AT THE MARKET THEATRE, UNTIL FEBRUARY 17

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By Mark Lowry

Actress Irma P. Hall

After 28 years, Fort Worth's Jubilee Theatre is North Texas' longest-running African-American theater company. During that time, a number of black theaters have come and gone in the Dallas area.

A new one has arrived: The African-American Repertory Theater in DeSoto, co-founded by film actress and sometime Dallas resident Irma P. Hall, who will also serve as artistic director. The theater's opening was announced Tuesday.

Hall is known for such movies as Soul Food, The Ladykillers and Patch Adams. Over the years, she took breaks from Hollywood to perform in A Raisin in the Sun at the Dallas Theater Center in 1999 and in DeSoto in 2007.

It was last year's staging that planted the seed for the African-American Repertory Theater (ART), said Vince McGill, who also acted in the 2007 edition of Raisin and will be the new company's education director. "The city of DeSoto approached us about starting the theater and gave us some grant money," he said.

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SYDNEY (AFP) — Australian church leaders have condemned a play shortly to open in Sydney depicting Jesus as a gay man who is seduced by Judas, a report said Sunday.

The play, named Corpus Christi, is due to open next month as part of the city's annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Sydney's Sun-Herald newspaper reported.

A senior Sydney churchman called the play "historical nonsense".

"It is deliberately, not innocently, offensive and they're obviously having a laugh about it," Robert Forsyth, Anglican bishop of South Sydney, was quoted saying.

Apart from the relations between Jesus and Judas, the play also features Jesus conducting a gay marriage between two apostles.

The play's director Leigh Rowney, who claims to be a Christian, accepted the play would offend some Christians but said he was keen to provoke debate about Christianity.

"I wanted this play in the hands of a Christian person like myself to give it dignity but still open it up to answering questions about Christianity as a faith system," Rowney was quoted saying.

Playwright Terrence McNally, who is gay, received death threats when the work was performed in the United States, the newspaper said

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HOLLYWOOD, CA -- Mr. Gay Argentina, Carlos Fabian Melia, took home the title of International Mr. Gay 2008 at an event in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Sunday, which drew contestants from 21 countries.

Melia, who is a 33 year old travel agent from Buenos Aires, was a last minute stand-in for the actual winner of the Mr. Gay Argentina pageant, Jorge Schmeda, who was disqualified when it was learned he had worked in the adult film industry.

Melia came in ahead of Mr. Gay Venezuela, 33 year old Juan Bracho, and Mr. Gay UK, 25 year old Mark Edward Carter, who is a police officer. Mr. Gay Brazil, Luciano Lupo, won the title of Mr. Popular by getting the most votes online.

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By Biénne Huisman

Talented Sfiso is back in SA, all sass and style.

Sfiso was a starry- eyed Zulu boy from a humble township home when he left for London seven years ago.

This week he returned to South Africa as a glamorous drag queen — adorned in lipstick and long lashes.

The youngster has been recording tracks with British producers including Kwame Kwaten, who has worked with international stars like Jay Z and Mick Jagger.

Sfiso, whose name means “wish” in Zulu, has come a long way since being raised in a traditional family in the sugar-producing town of Mtubatuba, in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The once bashful lad has met Madonna, now addresses people as “honey” and prefers to be referred to as a “she”.

Sfiso performed in front of thousands of revellers at British gay and lesbian events in London and Manchester earlier this year.

JANET Jackson is set to give legendary London club night G.A.Y a sendoff by playing the final live event at its traditional home.

The knees-up is not only popular with the pink pound, it regularly attracts star performers.

Kylie, 39, Girls Aloud and Sugababes have all put on raunchy shows at The Astoria on London’s Charing Cross Road, which is being demolished and replaced by flats.

Saucy Janet, 41, releases her highly anticipated first album for new label Def Jam/Island on February 26.

A source told me: “Janet is really excited about her new music and can’t wait to get out and start performing again for her fans. She’s very eager to get to the UK, so when she was approached about playing G.A.Y she thought it sounded a wonderful way to mark her comeback.

“The capacity will mean it’s an intimate show and one of her smallest in years. It will be truly spectacular.”

Despite periodic suppression by the government in Cairo and religious officials, male performers are wiggling into popularity at cafes, clubs and celebrations

By DANIEL WILLIAMS

Farid Mesbaah, male belly dancer, hopped on a car in Cairo's Shobra district and strutted his stuff.

He clanged metal castanets, magically converted his hips into pistons and twirled his head around like a centrifuge. The crowd at tables lining a dirt alley clapped rhythmically. Young men in jeans jumped up to wiggle along.

Mesbaah was performing at the opening of the Old-Time Moon Cafe, a gig that — along with weddings, birthdays, night clubs and circumcisions — is typical for belly dancers. Untypical, at least in recent years, are performances by men.

Male belly dancing, a centuries-old Egyptian tradition, is making a comeback — against the odds, considering its periodic suppression by government and religious officials. The problem for Mesbaah is that his craft has long been associated with homosexuality — a taboo here.

"I just like to dance," says Mesbaah, who has seven children. "It's very sensual. I've been doing it since I was little."

Mesbaah is shimmying in a society that has long struggled with ever-changing limits of social tolerance. A carved relief at a pharaonic-era tomb near Cairo shows today's dance prohibitions were yesterday's norm. It depicts a chorus line of men at a religious festival; each wears a sash knotted on his left hip, a fashion for dancing men and women that lingers today.

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By Misha Berson

Broadcaster and comedian Brian Copeland created "Not a Genuine Black Man" after a radio listener wrote him a distressing letter.

While hosting a Bay Area radio talk show, veteran broadcaster and comedian Brian Copeland received a disturbing letter.

"As an African American, I am disgusted every time I hear your voice because you are not a genuine black man," wrote an anonymous listener.

For Copeland, it was a wrongheaded and ironic critique. He grew up in the 1970s in a black family that was the first to integrate a white neighborhood in suburban San Leandro, Calif. And the letter helped inspire him to tackle the charge through a one-man show that has resonated nationally: "Not a Genuine Black Man," a serio-comic solo work, directed by David Ford. The show comes to Tacoma's Theatre on the Square next week for three performances.

In the multicharacter memoir, Copeland shares anecdotes about his striving family and his first taste of racism in suburbia (he was arrested as a youth for walking to a park carrying a baseball bat), and he endeavors to puncture long-held stereotypes with wit. At one point, the married father of three wryly tells the audience in a mock-apology, "I'm sorry I don't deal drugs. I'm sorry that all of my kids were born into wedlock and I support them."

Copeland's humorous and sobering ruminations on the thorny subject of racial identity have clearly struck a nerve. When the piece premiered in 2004 at the Marsh Theater (a popular Bay Area showcase for solo performance), San Francisco Chronicle drama critic Robert Hurwitt hailed it as "a tale of grit, determination and sharply etched incidents of racism and kindness."

By Steven Daly

He's made his own sitcoms, starred in Hollywood movies and done stand-up in front of arena-sized crowds. But how will Chris Rock's brand of racy - and racial - humour go down in Britain? 'These are gonna be weird shows,' he tells Steven Daly.

Chris Rock sits behind his desk at Chris Rock Enterprises, a small, tidy office 23 storeys above Manhattan's Lincoln Centre, and browses through the concert advertisements in a local paper. 'Five area shows,' he marvels. 'Wow! That is amazing.' The American actor/comedian is seriously impressed that the Spice Girls managed to book so many dates in 2007. 'I mean, how many hits did they have? Two?

Chris Rock: ‘The only terms I think about when it comes to the material is whether it's funny’ 'Hold on, was there some ballad…'

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, someone is probably browsing through the concert listings, wondering how this black comedian managed to sell out so many major venues on his debut British tour, which begins this month. The 42-year-old Brooklynite has managed to put together an itinerary that will see him playing 13 sold-out shows at theatres in the 3,000- to 4,000-seater range. Six London dates at the end of the tour, which kicks off in Manchester tomorrow, had to be hastily added because of public demand.

By Carrie Stetler And Cynthia Parker

NEWARK, N.J. — When the House of Jourdan's gala fundraiser showed up on the 6 o'clock news seven years ago, anchormen smirked at footage of strutting drag queens and gay men "voguing," a dance popularized by Madonna.

 

There were voter-registration tables and an array of HIV-prevention information at the ball. But the cameras ignored those things.

"They just showed us as wild freaks dancing," recalls Bernard McAllister, CEO of the house.

These days, the House of Jourdan and seven other gay "houses" in Newark are finally getting respect.

The city's gay ball subculture — in which people compete in rituals of posing and runway-walking, sometimes as the opposite gender — is earning a place for itself in civic life, with outreach efforts and charity drives.

And nowhere is that more surprising than in Newark, a city with no openly gay nightlife.

The houses, which have a combined membership of more than 100, are now touted by politicians as a significant force in the fight against AIDS and discrimination.

By Jonas Schwartz

You don't always have to like your family, but you will always love your family. Such is the message of Paul Oakley Stovall's earnest and involving new dramedy As Much As You Can, now at the Celebration Theater in West Hollywood. The show benefits from a talented cast, including author Stovall, and particularly Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins, who gives a masterful performance. Youngest child Tony (Andrew Kelsey) is getting married and the family has returned to their childhood home for the wedding. The eldest daughter of this African-American clan, Evy (Pinkins), lords over the house as a replacement matriarch, judging the brood with a Bible as her guide. The second in line, Jessie (Stovall), causes Evy much distress, as he left home at a young age and now lives a prurient "gay" lifestyle that breaks her heart.

Jessie further exarcebates the issue by bringing home his Causasian male lover, Christian (Wes Ramsey). While Tony and half sister Ronnie (Yassmin Alers) are accepting of the couple, Evy simply does not approve. However, as the audience witnesses, Evy rips apart all her siblings, finding faults in her Ronnie's every move, and treating Tony like a baby. Yet what makes Evy such a compelling character is that love clearly motivates her. She devotes herself to her brothers, and begrudgingly, her sister, and fears for their souls. In her mind, Jessie will suffer in hell for beign gay, and only she can prevent this atrocity.

South Africa’s top ballet and contemporary dancers are flexing their muscles, fluffing out their tutus and polishing their tiaras as their fellow competitors jet in from around the world to prepare for the inaugural South African International Ballet Competition (SAIBC) that begins on 15th January at the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town.

In addition to outstanding entrants from all the provinces, the prestigious event has attracted dancers from the USA, Cuba, China, Latvia, Korea, Argentina, Taiwan and Japan, all of whom will compete for more than ZAR400,000 during a week of intense elimination rounds culminating in the Finals and Gala performances. The First Lady, Mrs. Zanele Mbeki has shown her support for the SAIBC by hosting a gala dinner for the judges and VIP guests at her Genadendal Residence in Cape Town on the eve of the competition.

Casting their critical eyes over the competitors is an illustrious panel of high profile judges from all over the world and South Africa, namely Cape Town- based Denise Schultze, former Assistant Artistic Director of Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Co -Director of PACT Ballet, and a guest teacher and producer of Classical Ballets with ballet companies and schools in RSA and around the world, and Phyllis Spira, former Prima Ballerina Assoluta with CAPAB Ballet and now the Assistant Artistic Director of the Dance for All Youth Company based in Athlone. Two of the panel are South Africans living abroad: Laveen Naidu, formerly a dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) and now the Executive Director of that company, and former dancer Charla Genn, previously the Artistic Director of Manhattan Ballet in New York, and an international guest teacher with companies such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Les Ballets de Trockaderos. The international contingent of judges further comprises of Virginia Johnson, a former ballerina with the Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Editor of Pointe Magazine; Septime Webre, the Artistic Director of Washington Ballet; Simon Dow, formerly the Artistic Director of the Milwaukee Ballet and the West Australian Ballet, now a choreographer, master teacher and coach; Hae Shik Kim, the President of the World Dance Alliance in Korea and Artistic Director of the Seoul International Dance Competition and Mario Galizzi, a former principal dancer and choreographer from Argentina who has also directed several dance companies and who is currently a guest teacher in his home country.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentine ballet great Julio Bocca, the Baryshnikov of Latin America, is dancing his last dance.

With impassioned leaps and pyrotechnical pirouettes, Bocca enjoyed a 20-year run at the American Ballet Theater. His bold Ballet Argentino troupe has thrilled audiences worldwide.

But no one is immortal in ballet. Nagged by foot and knee injuries, Bocca realized he could not keep up with the physical demands of his art. "You reach a certain age when it becomes a lot harder," he explains.

And so Bocca will end his dance career where it began - in Buenos Aires - closing down the widest avenue in Argentina on Saturday for an open-air performance before thousands.

"It's going to be an amazing performance," Bocca, 40, said in an interview.

The classically trained Bocca has far outlasted most male dancers, who retire in their late 20s or 30s. He prolonged his dance career by embracing other forms, captivating audiences with tango, contemporary dance and experimental interpretations.

Saturday's performance will show off that trademark versatility, combining tango, folk, classic, jazz and pop. A huge crowd is expected to gather around the stage below the Obelisk, a famed stone spire that is Argentina's traditional rallying point for soccer victories.

It's a fitting send-off for a star who came from a working class neighbourhood and brought ballet to the masses. Bocca started ballet lessons at four under the encouraging gaze of his mother, a dance instructor. By seven he advanced to the National School of Dance, then quickly joined the elite ballet program at Argentina's famed Teatro Colon opera house.

At the time, democracy had just returned to Argentina and people were searching for new role models.

"When Julio began as a dancer, it was right after the dictatorship and people needed idols," says his biographer, Angeline Montoya. "He's also very loved by people because he's the boy next door who reached the top."

This is a category whose cup truly runneth over. There are far too many great theatre events to list for 2007. However, one has to note the number of gay theatre and dance impresarios past and present who made a mark on the year. Not to be remiss, as publisher I must single out our own GBMNews journalist Kevin Hansen who had an outstanding year as a stage director and as an author. Please see below a few articles which represent the year.

	African Footprint starts North American tour
	Homage to a master - the great legacy of Alvin Ailey and his American Dance Theater
	Tributes to the renowned African-American playwright August Wilson
	Black Brokeback Mountain by Kevin Hansen
	The House of the Holy Afro by director Brett Bailey and DJ Dino Moran

The cultural significance of Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” reflects on the works of the literary foremother of African-American feminist writers, Zora Neale Hurston, as much of Walker’s riveting book explores the drastic situation black women faced – and often continue to face – in this unprogressive country. Whereas Hurston's short story, "Sweat," examines a slightly more fatal outcome in an African-American woman's punishing her abusive husband, "The Color Purple," in its original literary form, confronts such abuse in vivid detail, though ultimately lends itself to a more cheerful ending, as its protagonist, Celie, comes to peaceful terms with her supposedly reformed husband, Mister. Cheery or not, Walker and Hurston penned exemplary literary works of abused women taking their lives back from an oppressive society.

Transforming such a momentous story into a staged musical, as bookwriter Marsha Norman has done with The Color Purple, could not have been an easy task. The novel spans nearly a lifetime, following Celie from her childhood despair in the hands of a sexually abusive stepfather to her equally depressing time married to Mister, a cheating and cruel husband. What has ended up on stage, both on Broadway and on a National Tour currently playing at Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre, more closely resembles a Disney spin on history, rather than a gritty realization of historical abuse.