The all African-American production of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize winning play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof directed by multiple Emmy winner and two-time Tony nominee Debbie Allen (TV's "Fame," Broadway Sweet Charity, West Side Story) will begin performances on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 and will open on March 6, 2008. Tickets are on sale through April 13, 2008 at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre. This production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is being presented by Front Row Productions and produced by Stephen C. Byrd.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof has been revived on Broadway four times before, this production marks the first African – American production approved by Williams' estate for the Broadway stage. This revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is not only making Broadway history, it is making American theater and black theater history too!

It will star an award-winning cast including the Broadway debut of Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow, Crash), Tony and Drama Desk Award winner Phylicia Rashad (Gem of the Ocean, Raisin in the Sun, TV's "Cosby Show"), Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose (Film: Dreamgirls, Broadway's Caroline or Change), and winner of two Tony Awards, four Emmys, a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award and the National Medal of Arts, James Earl Jones (Fences, The Great White Hope).

LaDainian Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979) is an American football player who currently plays running back for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League. Tomlinson, frequently called "LT", set several records during the 2006 NFL season by scoring a league-leading 186 points. He received additional honors by winning the NFL’s Most Valuable Player Award and the Associated Press’ Offensive Player of the Year Award.

Tomlinson was recruited by many schools, but was not considered one of the nation's top high school backs coming out of high school. Thus, Tomlinson signed with Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, a small school then in the Western Athletic Conference.

In his senior season in 2000, Tomlinson led the NCAA for the second time with 2,158 yards and 22 touchdowns while piling on 354 yards receiving. He won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back, and was a finalist for the Heisman, but came in fourth. He completed his college career with 5,263 rushing yards, ranking sixth in NCAA Division I history.

The school retired his jersey number (5) during halftime of a November 2005 game against UNLV. In December of that year, Tomlinson fulfilled a promise to his mother by earning his degree in communications from TCU.

The San Diego Chargers selected Tomlinson in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft, as the fifth overall pick.

Tomlinson immediately became the starting running back with the Chargers and has started all but one game since. He has achieved immediate success in the NFL, rushing for over 1,200 yards and making over 50 receptions in each of his six seasons. He has also proven to be effective as a passer, having completed seven career passes, six of them for touchdowns and a career passer rating of 152.1

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Trinidad and Tobago born “Ladies Hearthrob,”Keston Karter debuted his self entitled, “Keston Karter 2007? Calendar, sales accrued with dynamic success in a relative short amount of time, and haven’t stopped. In fact, he’s already working on the completion of his 2008 calendar.

It’s no secret. Everyone is buzzing about Keston Karter. His exclusive full feature interview is featured on the DisilgoldSOUL Magazine Celebrity Interview Link at www.Disilgold.com. The founder asked over 50 questions over a 2 hour interview. His responses were very intelligent and well spoken.

Some of Keston’s answers to various questions were not published.

Keston Karter is fast on his way to becoming a movie star. Perhaps, the excellent designing of his latest website over at, www.KestonKarter.com by the Prodigal Sun, website designer of celebrities and movies, brings out his true-to-life charming personality that radiates through every eye-catching photo and why he’s in demand for guest appearances at events.

Keston is truly focused in 2007, and ready to take multi-faceted industries by storm with sheer intelligence, talent and extraordinary looks to match.

He motivates others to reach their goals as a man who once struggled to pay his way through school on his own. His everyday rise to creative freedom has been a challenge, but 2007 may prove differently.

However, don’t cast Keston off as a model only. His passion for acting, modeling, commercials, independent film and print work create an equal demand for the DisilgoldSOUL Magazine predicted”Millionaire Calendar Man.”

His film credits to date include roles in One in the Chamber and the Inside Man.

With so many daily sales of the Keston Karter Calendar, one wonders if his new passion will steal away from another passion as a musician.

You may even remember Keston Karter as a former Apollo performer. He is the lead musician in the New York Adlib Steel Drum Orchestra.

If this is not enough to buy Keston Karter’s calendar, what the ladies will find endearing about Keston Karter’s calendar are the quote tributes featured from people like Dr. Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes. Keston already has the right formula for success by paying tribute to his mentors.

Male print models and fashion conscious gentleman will get inspired style-wise as well.

Keston does wear GQ styled fashions at his best, leaving room for the ladies and men to appreciate a Black Man on the rise and destined for success.

Don Lemon (born March 1, 1966 in Louisiana) is an American journalist currently co-anchoring the weekday afternoon version of CNN Newsroom with Kyra Phillips each weekday.

CNN Newsroom is based at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Lemon joined CNN in September of 2006.Prior to joining the CNN team, Lemon served as a co-anchor for NBC5 News' 5p.m. newscast in Chicago.

He joined the station in August of 2003 as an anchor and reporter after working in New York as a correspondent for NBC News, The Today Show and NBC Nightly News.

In addition to his reporting in New York, Lemon was an anchor on Weekend Today and on MSNBC

In addition to NBC5 and NBC News, Don worked as a weekend anchor and a general assignment reporter for WCAU-TV, the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia.

 

Before that, a general assignment and investigative reporter for KTVI-TV in St. Louis, and as a reporter for Birmingham's WBRC-TV. While still in college, he began his career at WNYW in New York City as a news assistant.

Don earned a broadcast journalism degree from Brooklyn College. He also attended Louisiana State University.

Don Lemon won an Emmy regarding a special report on real estate in Chicago. He also received an Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage of the capture of the Washington, D.C sniper, and a number of other awards for reports on Hurricane Katrina, and the Africa AIDS epidemic.

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978(1978-08-23) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant is the only son of former Philadelphia 76ers player and former Los Angeles Sparks head coach Joe "Jellybean" Bryant. His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan, which they saw on a restaurant menu.

Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the youngest child and only son of Joe and Pam Bryant (they also have two daughters, Shaya and Sharia).

When Bryant was six, his father left the NBA, moved his family to Italy, and started playing professional basketball there. Bryant acclimated to the lifestyle there and became fluent in Italian. At an early age, he learned to play soccer and at first his favorite team was AC Milan. He has said that if he had stayed in Italy, he would have tried to become a professional soccer player, and that his favorite team is FC Barcelona. Bryant is a big fan of FC Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard and Barça star Ronaldinho.

In 1991, the Bryants moved back to the United States. Kobe earned national recognition during a spectacular high school career at Lower Merion High School in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion. His SAT score of 1080[3] would have ensured his basketball scholarship to various top-tier colleges. Bryant has stated that had he decided to go to college after high school, he would have attended Duke University. Ultimately, however, the 17-year-old Bryant made the decision to go directly into the NBA.

Bryant rose to national prominence in 1996 when he became the first guard in league history to be drafted out of high school, and led a wave of high school basketball players skipping college for the NBA. Bryant and then-teammate Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. Since O'Neal's departure following the 2004 season, Bryant has become the cornerstone of the Lakers' franchise, and was the NBA leading scorer during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.

In 2003, Bryant made headlines when he was accused of sexual assault. The charges were dropped after Bryant's accuser declined to testify, and the two sides ultimately settled the matter outside of criminal court.

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. (born March 13, 1972), better known by his stage name Common, is an American hardcore hip hop artist. Common debuted in 1992 with the album Can I Borrow A Dollar?, and maintained a significant underground following into the late 90s, after which he gained notable mainstream success through his work with the Soulquarians.

His first major label album, Like Water for Chocolate, received widespread critical acclaim and moderate commercial success. Its popularity was matched by 2005's Be, which was nominated in the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album. Common has also started a burgeoning film career, starting with a role in the action thriller, Smokin' Aces, followed by a part in American Gangster.

Common was born and raised in Chicago, the son of Ann Hines and former ABA basketball player turned youth counselor Lonnie Lynn. Common's parents divorced when he was six years old, resulting in his father moving to Denver, Colorado. This left Common to be raised by his mother, but his father remained active in his life and even landed Common a job with the Chicago Bulls during his teen years. While in high school, Common also formed C.D.R., a rap trio that opened for acts such as N.W.A. and Big Daddy Kane. Common later left this group when he attended Florida A&M University to study business administration.

Common dropped out of Louisiana State University (as quoted in the song "Its Your World pt.1") and was featured in the Unsigned Hype column of The Source magazine after a friend sent in a tape of Common rapping. Under the stage name Common Sense, he debuted in 1992 with the single "Take It EZ" followed by the album, Can I Borrow a Dollar?.

With the 1994 release of Resurrection, Common achieved a much larger degree of critical acclaim, which extended beyond Chicago natives. The album sold relatively well and received a strong positive reaction among alternative and underground hip-hop fans at the time. Resurrection was Common's last album produced almost entirely by his long-time production partner, No I.D., who was also the then-mentor of a young Kanye West.

T. J. Holmes (born August 19, 1977, in Arkansas) is a news anchor for CNN/U.S. Based in the network's world headquarters in Atlanta, Holmes joined the network in September 2006 and anchors the weekend edition of CNN Newsroom.

Holmes came to CNN from NBC11 in San Francisco. As an anchor and reporter for the station, Holmes served as a go-to correspondent for live reports across the Bay Area and California and traveled to Greece to cover last year's summer Olympics.

Before joining NBC11, Holmes served as a weekend anchor and reporter for KTHV-TV in Little Rock, Ark. He began his career at KSNF-TV in Joplin, Mo., where he started as a producer, eventually becoming a general assignment reporter and then a weekend anchor and reporter.

Holmes graduated from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism.

Clinton Earl Portis (born September 1, 1981 in Laurel, Mississippi) is an American football running back. Portis currently plays for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League.

Portis attended high school at Gainesville High School where he was a USA Today Honorable Mention All-American. He was Florida's #4 tailback on the Florida Times-Union Super 75 and No. 27 player in Florida, as well as first-team all-state, all-region and all-area selection.I

Portis starred at the University of Miami. He became just the second true freshman to start at running back since the 1975 season. Portis set a school freshman record with five 100-yard performances, and led the team with 838 yards and eight touchdowns on 143 carries (5.9 avg.) in 10 games. He also caught four passes for 44 yards (11.0 avg.) and 2 touchdowns.

Portis compiled 2,523 yards through three seasons to rank fourth on the Miami career rushing yards list. He also tied the Miami career record for 100-yard rushing performances with a total of 14, matching the total accumulated by Edgerrin James.

Portis rushed for over 1,500 yards in each of his first two seasons with the Broncos, averaging 5.5 yards per carry in that span. The latter is an NFL record for a running back's first two seasons.

After Portis' first season with the Broncos, he was named The "NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year" by the Associated Press and was also voted to the Pro Bowl in 2003.

Trade Prior to the 2004 season, the Broncos traded Portis to the Redskins for cornerback Champ Bailey and a second-round draft pick in the 2004 NFL Draft which the Broncos used to select Tatum Bell. The Redskins signed Portis to an eight-year contract worth $50.5 million.

Thierry Daniel Henry,  born 17 August 1977) is a French football player. Renowned for his pace and goal scoring record, he plays as a striker for the France national team and FC Barcelona.

Henry was born and brought up in the tough neighbourhood of Les Ulis, Essonne—a suburb of Paris—where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer.

He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and signed instantly, making his professional debut in 1994. Good form led to an international call-up in 1998, after which, he signed for the Italian defending champions Juventus. He had a disappointing season playing on the wing, before joining Arsenal for £10.5 million ($21 million)in 1999.

It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer. Despite initially struggling in the Premiership, he emerged as Arsenal's top goal-scorer for almost every season. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, he became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 226 goals in all competitions.

 Henry won two league titles and three FA Cups with The Gunners, and was twice nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year, named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice and Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year thrice. Henry spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the UEFA Champions League final in 2006. In June 2007, after eight years with Arsenal, he transferred to FC Barcelona for a fee of £16.1 million ($32 million).

Henry has enjoyed similar success with the French national squad, having won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000. In October 2007, he surpassed Michel Platini's record becoming the country's top goal-scorer of all time. Given his accomplishments, he is regarded today by many as one of the best footballers in the world. Off the pitch, as a result of his own experience, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. His footballing style and personality have ensured that he is one of the most commercially marketable footballers in the world; he has featured in advertisements for Nike, Reebok, Renault and Gillette.

My birthday celebration and the launch of the monthly networking Nubian Dreams Lounge. This will be a reunion for my friends from the South Oxford Club, Men are from Mars, Octogan, Brooklyn Cafe, Oasis, The White Party Moonlight Cruise, Black Pride NYC and so many other events. You only turn 50 once. Help us celebrate NY style. Come early. Thank you for the years of support... James Saunders

This Sunday, Dec. 16th, 2007 from 5pm-10pm for the launch of the Nubian Dreams Lounge we come together to celebrate a very special birthday for a legend, James Saunders III. This is a golden time for James where the wisdom of life comes together. With 30 years of experience developing parties, trips and events for same gender loving people he continues to seek new opportunities. A testament of his contribution can be seen from the thousands of people who have supported him from the barbershop parties to Black Pride to the White Party Moonlight Cruise and now with his new partnership - the Nubian Dreams Cruise & Lounge.

Please come to the birthday celebration for legendary club promoter, James Saunders and the grand opening of the Nubian Dreams Lounge at Taj Lounge 48 W. 24th Street @ 6th Ave., NYC from 5pm-10pm

Happy Hour  From 5pm-8pm. Entertainment by 4 of New York's top DJ's; Fred Pierce, Andre Collins, Poison & DJ Calvin, surprise guest entertainers including the return of the fabulous Ms. Tammy Peay and hosted by the ultra talented ButtaFlySoul.  Showtime is 8pm. Free admission.

By Michael Grossberg

In the play Crowns, Contemporary American Theatre Company celebrates the bonds among black women and the hats they wear.

Cast members found it easy to relate to the Regina Taylor play and to one another.

"It's been one of the most pleasurable experiences I've had as an actress," Cherise Jefferson said of the play, whose run continues through Dec. 16 in the Riffe Center's Studio One Theatre.

"We've grown so close to each other. I feel like we're a family.

"I come from Atlanta, others from Chicago . . . (or Columbus), but we all jelled. I think it's because this play has a way of connecting the spirit and the soul in people."

Jefferson plays a troubled 17-year-old, Yolanda, who moves from New York to her aunt's house in South Carolina -- where she discovers her heritage by hearing stories told by her aunt and four other women.

All revolve around hats.

" Crowns is a family affair that showcases the importance of the hats within the African-American community," said Jefferson, 29.

"Wearing a hat is a sign of status. . . . As Yolanda says, we just know that inside we are queens and these are the crowns that we wear."

By Robert David Sullivan

THE FIRST THING I ever did to identify myself as a gay man - before coming out to a friend or relative, before putting a rainbow-flag pin on my jacket - was to walk into a gay bar. This was not so unusual in the early 1990s, when few gay men identified as such before they left high school. Some of us needed to walk around the block four or five times before finally pushing open a dimly lit, unmarked door.

At the time, there were plenty of dimly lit doors in Boston. The Napoleon Club was a piano bar near Park Square that attracted theater students and older men who left big tips on small glasses of red wine. A few blocks away, Luxor was a video bar for younger guys; nearby were Buddies (all ages) and Chaps, a dance club where dressing conservatively meant keeping your shirt on. In other parts of town, there were Sporters, a friendly Beacon Hill dive, and Playland, a Combat Zone bar known for its sketchy clientele, banged-up piano, and year-round Christmas lights. In all, there were 16 gay bars in Boston and Cambridge, according to Pink Pages directories from 1993 and 1994.

Today, that number has been cut to less than half. None of the bars I've mentioned are still in business, and most of the city's seven remaining gay-every-night bars have sparse customers for most of the week. (Lesbian bars were never numerous to begin with.) The gay population may have political clout and the right to marry in Massachusetts, but it has fewer and fewer public spaces to call its own.

By Lisa Jo Sagolla

You know the difference between locking and popping; you understand the top rocking, footwork, moves, and freezes of breaking; and you even know a bit about krumping, that fresh L.A. dance craze. So does that mean you're hip to all the latest terpsichorean trends? Well, not completely.

There's another popular dance form that grew up alongside hip-hop and is suddenly soaring in global popularity. It's called house dance. And if you haven't yet learned how to do it, you may find yourself out of step with the latest dance fashion.

"House dance is an art form that has captured the imagination of a lot of people in the last few years," says Brooklyn-based house dancer Santiago Freeman, founding director of Dance Warrior Project, a house dance performance company. "Hip-hop has been prevalent for a long time and has really taken the spotlight in urban dance culture, while house dance took a back seat. But now house dance is beginning to proliferate worldwide."

Freeman also co-founded House Dance International, a producing organization that presented a four-day house dance festival in July in New York. "It featured competitions, showcases, film screenings — all representing the culture of house dance," he says, "and we plan for it to be an annual event. It took place in different clubs throughout the city and included workshops at the Alvin Ailey studios. We had participants from all over the world — from Japan, South Africa, London, Sweden, Germany."

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is currently accepting applications for its 2008–2010 African-American Fellowship, a two-year professional development program for early and mid-career African-American arts administrators. The application deadline is March 15, 2008. Visit www.steppenwolf.org for more information and to download an application.

Through Steppenwolf's African-American Fellowship, participants are given the tools to become strong, new voices in the field of arts management through professional experience, independent and collective learning projects, mentorship and classroom curricula. Built upon its nationally-recognized Professional Leadership Program, Steppenwolf received numerous applications from across the country for the Fellowship's inaugural 2007– 2009 year.

By Mark Helmantoler

Over 20,000 people attended Chile’s Gay Parade 2007 on Friday, hosted by the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Freedom (Movilh). This figure represents the largest turnout ever for an event promoted by the organization.

The Gay Parade took place on Paseo Bulnes, near La Moneda, and featured 22 DJs, 16 go-go dancers and an animated show by Paulette Favres. Three stages played music simultaneously for the thousands of attendees who began arriving early in the afternoon.

“It was an event against all forms of discrimination, where gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals and heterosexuals can dance without fear and say ‘no’ to discrimination” said Movilh president Rolando Jimenez. “People began trickling in at 3 p.m. and did not stop arriving.”

The previously announced Broadway run of the African-American production of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Debbie Allen, will hit Broadwawy beginning the week of February 11, 2008 at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre. This production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is being presented by Tin Cat Productions and produced by Stephen Byrd. Cast will be announcing soon.

"Hypocrisy, greed and secret passions threaten to tear apart a wealthy but dysfunctional Mississippi family in Tennessee Williams' stunning American masterpiece. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof searingly portrays the larger-than-life characters of Maggie 'the Cat,' her alcoholic husband, Brick, and the dominating family patriarch, Big Daddy," explain press notes.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof has been revived on Broadway several times before, but this production marks the first African – American production approved by William's estate for the Broadway stage.

The Box Office opening date will be announced soon. For details visit www.Cat2008onBroadway.com

By Maria Montoya

This week, New Orleanians will be the first American audience to see Richard Loring's "African Footprint," a stage show that tells the story of South Africa's history with a mix of Afro- and Euro-centric music and dance. The Contemporary Arts Center was chosen for the American premiere because the creator, dancers and staff felt it was important to take the show's message of hope and renewal to New Orleans.

"The show was created post-apartheid by black and white writers in a time of much hope in South Africa," said Corey Ross, tour producer for "African Footprint," who arrived in New Orleans with many of his fellow tour members Sunday evening. "When we heard there was a theater in New Orleans interested in having the show, we were certain it would be a good pairing for everyone involved. We hadn't planned to be in the United States until 2008, but when we heard we'd be the first show of such a large scale to visit New Orleans since Katrina, we knew we had to come."

The production was born out of Loring's passion for music and dance. In 1999, he recruited hundreds of young people from the streets of Soweto, selecting 30 apprentices to take vocal classes and intensive dance instruction. After 14 months of preparation, the troupe was asked to be part of CNN's millennial festivities broadcast on New Year's Eve, for which the group performed in the prison cell in which Nelson Mandela had been held on Robben Island.

"From day one, my goal was to bring the message of this show across the globe to America," said Loring via phone from his home in South Africa, where he just launched a production of "Hairspray." He feels that his tale will resonate particularly with New Orleanians, who've overcome so much adversity since Hurricane Katrina.

It's Loring's plan to meet up with the tour once it officially launches next January. And if all goes well, he'd also like to visit New Orleans, since he is a close pal of "Mr. Mardi Gras," otherwise known as Blaine Kern. Years ago, Loring traveled to New Orleans to develop Carnival ideas for the 100-year celebration of Johannesburg.

"Right now, my sadness is two-fold: I wanted so badly to be on stage in New Orleans and bring a group of dancers, who themselves have faced so many hurdles and survived," Loring said. "Secondly, I am sad that I will not be there to be with my friend to watch this dream come true. Blaine and I have discussed for some time how fortunate we've felt to lead such wonderful lives, and how this is the time to give back to others. We're not talking in a monetary sense; no, this about giving one's skills and building a platform for someone else's success. To me that is what 'African Footprint' is about. It's my way of celebrating song and dance and, at the same time, creating a voice for these young artists."


Announced American Tour Dates

Tamaulipas Festival	Tamaulipas MX	Oct 22-28
Contemporary Arts Center	New Orleans LA	Nov 1-4
Cowley College	Arkansas City KS	Nov 6
Proctors Center	Schenectady NY	Jan 3-5 2008
Anchorage Performing Arts Center  Carlson Center	Anchorage AK   Fairbanks AK	Jan 14-17
Michigan Opera	Detroit MI	Jan 19-20
Bushnell Center	Hartford CT	Jan 25-26
Lehman College	Bronx NY	Jan 27
Whiting	Flint MI	Feb 5
Sony Centre	Toronto ON	Feb 7-9
Victoria Theater	Dayton OH	Feb 10
Franklin County  Veterens Memorial	Columbus OH	Feb 12-13
Paramount Theater	Aurora IL	Feb 17
Turnage Theater	Washington NC	Feb 23
West Virginia University	Morgantown WV	Feb 25
Kimmel Center	Philadelphia PA	Feb 29-Mar 2
Sunshine Theater	Ft Pierce FL	Mar 12-13
Broward Center	FT Lauderdale FL	March 14-15
Miller Outdoor	Houston TX	March 18-19

Bounce back

By ROBERTO CURTIS

The African American Repertory Theatre's play "A Lesson Before Dying," though muddled with redundant speech patterns and melodrama, has a poignant, often overlooked theme that centers around the harsh realities of racism in the U.S. justice system of 1948.

The injustices of the system have all but claimed the life of Jefferson, a black teenager growing up in Bayonne, La.

Present in a liquor store robbery turned gun-fight gone wrong, Jefferson is pegged with a triple homicide including the murder of the white store owner, he didn't commit.

Mentally and emotionally scarred by the legal process and sentenced to the electric chair, a broken Jefferson is left with no hope.

In addition to the members of her community, the person most afflicted by the tragedy is Jefferson's godmother, Miss Emma Glen, played by the experienced and soulful Diana Carver. Glen calls upon her nephew Grant Wiggins, played by a convincing J. Ron Fleming, to console her godson and activate the nobility inside him that has been stamped out by his oppressors.

A.C. Stanford, David Tate, Michael Baugh, Bernard Alex Lewis in a scene from 'The Piano Lesson.' (CHRISTOPHER NIESS/UCF CONSERVATORY THEATRE

By Elizabeth Maupin

August Wilson's lyrical drama The Piano Lesson (with, above from left, A.C. Stanford, David Tate, Michael Baugh and Bernard Alex Lewis), part of his 10-play chronicle of African-American life in the 20th century, may be his best -- the funny, heart-wrenching tale of the fight between a big-dreaming man and his practical-minded sister about what to do with the piano they inherited -- and with the legacy it carries with it of their slave past.

WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays (opens Thursday, through Nov. 18).

WHERE: Black Box Theatre, UCF Conservatory Theatre, Alafaya Trail at University Boulevard, Orlando.

Bounce back

By David Brooks Andrews

If you haven't read a biography of George Washington recently, or thought much about him within the context of his times, you may have forgotten that he was a slaveholder. It's not exactly the image that was presented to us as grade-schoolers!

At age 11, he had inherited 10 slaves from his father. And by the time of his death in 1799, he owned 318 slaves — some were purchased and others were part of his wife's dowry.

This history is the basis for "A House with No Walls" by Thomas Gibbons, which is being performed by the New Repertory Theatre, as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. That means the play is having a series of openings at different theaters across the country over a year's time.

The New Rep has had a wonderful tradition of performing plays about African-American culture and race relations on a fairly regular basis. One such play that they produced was Mr. Gibbons' "Permanent Collection," about race within the context of an art museum choosing between European and African art.

Mr. Gibbon's new play, "No Walls," is loosely based on a March 2002 discovery of slaves' quarters in the backyard of the Philadelphia home where George Washington lived while he was president. A group demanded that a slave memorial be constructed alongside the museum celebrating George Washington.

The play leaps back and forth between this protest and the lives of Martha Washington's slaves, Ona and her brother Austin Judge.