November 5, 1984
Black Ink
Page 7
'A Soldier's Story' Packs Punch
(A Soldier's Story is currently playing at the Ram Triple in Chapel Hill ■)
Album Tracks
by Winired Cross
Staff Writer
Culture Club and Boy George
will certainly be remembered as a
very colorful as well as talented
group. But the group's third album,
"Waking Up With The House On
Fire," barely gets warm enough to
cause smoke damage, much less burn
down a house.
There are no real bad songs on
the album but there are few real good
one s. "The War Song" has a catchy
enough rhythmn to lift it out of
mediocrity. "The Medal Song"
sounds like "Karma Chameleon," ex
cept with a heavyer accent on a
calypso beat. "Don't Talk About It" is
"It's A Miracle" part II. That's ok! "It's
A Miracle" is one of their best songs,
and this song doesn't do any damage
to the original.
The album's best song is
"Mistake No. 3," a gorgeous ballad
that gives the Boy a chance to sing. It
is by far one of his best vocal perfor
mances to date.
The rest of the album is
lackluster. The biggest problems with
this album is that it comes to soon
after the multi-platinum "Color By
Numbers." Its very hard to follow an
album that good this soon with
something as good. The guys missed
the mark this time but not by much.
by Kevin Washington
Assistant Editor
Black films are rare.
And excellent Black films are im
possible to find.
But Hollywood (in general) and
Columbia Pictures (in particular)
may have done something right this
time— whether on purpose or by
accident--in producing the season's
powerful, riveting drama A Soldier's
Story.
Based on Charles Fuller's
Pulitzer Prize winning play, A
Soldier's Story is a mystery master
piece told with passion, humor and
horror. The ensemble acting is pro
bably the best seen in theatres this fall
and the work in A Soldier's Story
should bring in a number of academy
award nominations for both those on
and off screen.
The story opens in 1944 in a little
redneck Louisiana town near a Black
army base. Drunken Technical
Sergeant Vernon Waters (Adolf
Caesar) staggers out of a local dive
on his walk back to the base. As he
aimlessly wanders home, someone
pumps two 45 caliber slugs into his
chest.
Several weeks later, Captain
Richard Davenport (Howard Rollins),
a Howard University-trained army at
torney, shows up in the backwater
town as the official investigative of
ficer.
Through a series of interviews
with the men in Waters' platoon,
Davenport gathers clues, but more
importantly recreates the character of
Vernon Waters.
The script, which was written by
Fuller, is entertaining. There are no
slow moments in the story and the
flavor of the period, captured on
stage by the playwright, is brought to
the screen successfully.
The movies flavor is also enhanc
ed by the music. Although Herbie
Hancock's soundtrack is weak, the
Blues pieces performed by Patti
Labelle and Larry Riley (who wrote
several of the songs) are beautifully
done.Labelle's voice has rarely been
used for such good material--it's a
nice change from her 'so-so' soul.
Director Norman Jewison has
also pulled together a fine cast and
skillfully translated the play into an
excellent screen tale.
But, the ensemble acting is the
most powerful part of the movie--it is,
in a word, unbelievable. Many of the
actors have stepped from the stage
version, produced by the Negro
Ensemble Company, into the movie
bringing with them acting talent rare
ly seen on film.
Caesar and Rollins are fantastic.
Their presence in almost every scene
is what makes A Soldier's Story so
engaging. Caesar, who played
Waters in the stage version, A
Soldier's Play, won an Obie and a
New York Drama Desk Award for best
supporting actor. His work in a
Soldier's Story is undeniably the best
acting in film this year.
Rollins, who previous role as
Colehouse Walker in Ragtime which
should have won him an Oscar for
best supporting actor, returns to the
screen in full force. His Davenport is
a lesson in Black pride and should net
him an Oscar in April.
Both Larry Riley and Denzel
Washington (NBC's St. Elsewhere) as
Private Melvin Peterson, also give
memorable performances.
Washington, who originally created
the role of Peterson in the stage ver
sion, does his best work yet.
Possibly, the success of A
Soldier's Story (and even Prince's
Purple Rain) will enlarge the number
of Black films produced by larger film
studios. If not, maybe Black film pro
ducers will try to capture a part of the
film market with their own quality
Black films.
Bubbling Brown Sugar Rocks NCCU
by Rhonda Hubbard
Managing Editor
The North Carolina Central Uni
versity Drama Department was in rare
form a couple of weeks ago when they
performed Rosetta Lenoire and Loften
Mitchell's musical review "Bubbling
Brown Sugar." The show, which is the
first in the University's Diamond An
niversary year, was magnificent.
Every aspect of the show was
energetic and entertaining, from the
choreography to the brilliant light show
in the finale.
The Eagle Ensemble, noted for its
past productions of "Death and the
King's Horseman," "For Colored Girls
Who've Considered Suicide when the
Rainbow Isn't Enuf" and "Black Nativi
ty," placed itself on the map with the
first amateur production of "Bubblin"
since the Broadway show opened in
1975.
The musical odyssey about Harlem
was skillfully directed by Karen
Dacons-Brock. She has developed the
right formula for showcasing the talent
which is available to her. The entire
company under her astute direction
gives the show everything it needs to
sustain the energy set by the opening
number, "BubblingBrown Sugar."
Dacons-Brock has chosen ex
cellent production assistants as well.
Kaye Sullivan's choreography is one
half the energy equation which makes
the show work. All of the routines were
works of art, and the tap dance finale
"It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got
That Swing)" was worth the price of ad
mission alone.
But, the other half of the show's
spectacular energy equation was the
singing. "Bubblin' " most of all is a
musical and musical director Ben
Keaton pulled every ounce of vocal en
thusiasm from each performer in the
show. Rarely is the singing in a college
musical flawless — and when it is, it's
part singer, part coach. Keaton
deserves a hand.
Casting can make or break a play
— and this cast was out of sight. At the
top of my list for Tony Award nomina
tions was Gregory Staplefoot, the ram
bunctious Checkers. 'He's got star
quality,' as they say. A singer by trade,
Staplefoot has comfortably adapted to
the stage. His humorous "Nobody" and
"(Brother, If You Wanna Spread Light)
You Better Pray for the Lights to Go
Out" are the kind of things a singer
wants to put on his resume, and his per
formance did them justice.
Next on my list is Kelvin Allen as
_Checke£s_vaudeville^parta
Allen's remarkable portrayal of Lester
Young in "The Resurrection of Lady
Lester" on the NCCU stage last fall
placed him at the top of the list of high
quality student actors in the Triangle.
His performance in "Bubblin' " keeps
him at the top of that list. An actor by
trade, Allen's powerful voice enhanced
several excellent pieces.
"Savior Faire's" Rose Williams
couldn't be left out of a Tony Award
nomination list. As Irene Page, the
senior English major from UNC-CH
performed with her melodious soprano
voice. Her "There'll Be Some Changes
Made" and "Ain't Misbehavin' " were
two of the evening's high spots.
Donna Buie and Gregory Wade as
the young couple who experience the
Harlem of 50 years ago first-hand are
excellent on stage. Both Buie and
Wade complemented each other and
worked well. Wade, Buie and Allen's
"Harlem Makes Me Feel" and Buie's "I
Got it Bad" establish the actress as a
singer.
Kevin Dill as Bill "Bojangles"
Robinson also stood out — his intricade
tap dance routine in the finale brought
the house to its feet.
Special mention goes to Constance
Prince, one of the Triangle's premiere
jazz and Gospel singers. Prince, who
brought down the house with a Gospel
Medley in the first act, has been a
powerhouse for some time. Her pjer-
formance in "Bubblin' " was quite
enough for me to eagerly watch for her
next engagement.
The rest of the cast delivered a fine
ensemble performance. The ensemble
songs and dances matched the calibre
of the solos and duets.
The fantastic musical work by
Brother Yusuf Salim, Millard Bell and
Shawn Buckward was also well worth
the price of admission. Their work was
not only flawless but made the energy
equation an unqualified success.
Brother Yusuf, hot off the road show of
"Ain't Misbehavin'," has proven once
again that Black musicals in the
Triangle could never be satisfying
without him.
A special note — NCCU's produc
tion of "BubblingBrc)V/n Sugar" is cur
rently entered in the American College
Theatre Festival — a dramatic arts con
test for special grants, scholarships and
awards. One of the 470 productions
entered will perform in the Spring 1985
in the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
If you missed "Bubbling Brown
Sugar" this time around, you might
look for the Eagle Ensemble in D.C.