Family-safe humor
Sister Cantaloupe, the First Lady of Gospel Comedy, will come to
Union Baptist Church o
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Who says comedy can't he
clean and funny? Not Sister
Cantaloupe. As one of the few
clean-humored family-orient
ed comedians, this nationally
acclaimed performer will
entertain audiences of all ages
on Aug. 2 at 8 p.m. at Union
Baptist Church.
The service is open to the
public and admission is free.
However, donations of canned
foods and nonperishable items
to the Union Urban Ministries
Food Bank are appreciated.
Trina Jeffrie portrays the
wisecracking Christian char
acter Sister Cantaloupe,
preaching the gospel of laugh
ter with her style of religious
humor. Audiences love Sister
Cantaloupe's humorous
Q insights on subjects anyone
can relate to such as certain
relatives. For example. Sister
Cantaloupe says ber-cousin
Cucumber's "mind is bad. She
was reading the Bible the
other day and proclaimed that
God has a car. I told her God
doesn't have a car. and she
said it's right there in Genesis
3:34: 'God drove Adam and
Eve out of the garden.'"
Sister Cantaloupe is filling
a vacuum for audiences who
feel worlds apart from today's
bawdy comedy.
"My humor is clean; it's
that ain't-lhat-the-truth kind
of humor we all love. My
comedy is affecting kids,
adults and preachers of all
faiths," Jeffrie said.
Jeffrie beliefs through
humor she can (ouch the world
and remembers when a down
cast woman told her that she
listened to Sister Cantaloupe's
jokes all day long until she
laughed herself silly and the
depression lifted. "Proof,"
Jeffrie said, "that my style of
religious and clean humor
serves up heaping doses of
healing between the punch
lines."
Sister Cantaloupe. Jeffrie
explained, has a simple mes
sage: "Through faith in God,
we can get over any chal
lenge" Her own faith, Jeffrie
said, has sustained her
throughout the hardest times
in her life. As a child. Jeffrie
didn't see much of her mother.
"My birth mother suffered
from mental illness, spent
most of her adult life in a psy
chiatric institution and died
when I was around 19," Jeffrie
recalled. Her father rtunarried
and left her to be raised by a
series of relatives.
"Laughter does lighten the
soul. I'm using religious
humor for the purpose of
drawing attention to God, His
ways and our ways of coping
with His ways." Jeffrie said.
Jeffrie has performed on
"The Jenny Jones Show" and
on the "Bobby Jones Gospel
Hour," which airs on BET.
She's appeared on Fox News,
ABC News and "BET Tonight
with Tavis Smiley." The
Washington Post, Detroit Free
Press, The Dallas Morning
News, The Charlotte Observ
er. Gannett News Service,
Gospel Today and Emerge
magazines have written fea
ture stories on her. Jeffrie has
toured in London, Germany
and Japan and with recording
artists Kirk Franklin, Vickie
Winans, Vanessa Bell Arm
strong and Stephanie Mills.
She has also released CDs and
videos.
First Friday is an alterna
tive praise and worship serv
ice. For more information,
call (336) 724-9305 or visit O
the Web site at www.union
baptistwsnc.org. Union Bap
tist Church is at 1200 North
Trade Street. Dr. Sir Walter
Mack Jr. is pastor and teacher
Trina Jeffrie is well-known
as Sister Cantaloupe.
Tiny Guests
Photo t>\ Staff
The Chronicle staff got a lot bigger for about a half-hour recently as children from Bald
win's Chapel Seventh-Day Adventist Church Day Camp in High Point came to the news
paper for a tour: The kids got to see how pages are designed and visited The Chronicle's
production department and newsroom. Above, they pose in front of a mural on The
Chronicle's Liberty Street building.
Photos by Kc\ in Walker .
Les Epstein instructs the groups of actors Friday, hours before curtain time.
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lohn Tener and Deb Colvin-Tener join the youngsters in a laugh during a break in rehearsal
last week. The couple created Shakespeare in a Box several years ago.s
Play
from page A1
the Columbus. Ohio-based com
pany Shakespeare in a Box. The
cpmpany features husband and
wife team John Tener and Deb
Colvin-Tener, who regularly
perform abridged versions of
Shakespearean plays using their
acting ability and the contents of
a. box (hats, mustaches, set
screens).
For the last two summers,
they have been sharing their
expertise with Winston-Salem
youngsters at the theater's sum
mer camp. The Teners had less
than 13 days to take a group of
hyperactive kids and turn them
into thespians worthy of per
forming Shakespeare. They say
the experience was well worth it
and successful.
"We found that the kids were
naturals. They really pulled it
together very quickly." Tener
said. "It is really an empowering
experience for the kids. It gives
them an opportunity to be
Shakespearean actors.-and par
ents appreciate it because their
kids are working with something
that teaches them not only about
the language but about poetry
and grammar."
Colvin-Tener, a graduate of
N.C. School of the Arts, did not
give the kids a chance to be put
off or scared away by perform
ing something as weighty as
Shakespeare. To lighten the
atmosphere, she taught the
young actors Elizabethan songs
and dances; she also gave the
kids a chance to create their own
Shakespearean masks.
"I hope that they take away
from this that Shakespeare is not
scary," Colvin-Tener said. "The
parents arc the ones that sort of
shut down when you mention
Shakespeare. The kids love it,
and hopefully if you get the kids
to love the work, the adults will
love it as well."
Ben Smith had only danced
in "The Nutcracker" before
landing the role of Romeo for
the summer camp production
(the kids auditioned for the vari
ous roles). Smith said he came
to the camp not really a die-hard
fan of acting, but he admits the
craft grew on him quickly. Fie
even did a little research and
soul-searching in order to play
his character realistically.
"When I am with Juliet
(played by Olivia Teague). it is
kind of hard because I don't
know how to act because I never
experienced love before," said
the 11-year-old. "In order to do
the role, I watched some movies
and talked with my directors,
John and Deb."
Corretta Hickman also had
to dig deep to play one of her
characters (the character is a
male).
"I just make my voice deep,"
she said, demonstrating her
manly tone. " and cover my h.w
with a hat."
Like many of her peers in the
drama. Hickman hopes the play
was not her last time under the
spotlight.
"I want to be a famous
actress." she said.
Since the girls in th? camp
outnumbered the boys, Vienna
Rusxillo had to play two male
characters. When asked whether
she was bothered by switching
genders for the sake of art. the 9
year-old said it was all part of
show biz.
"I don't mind it at all. I play
men very well." she said confi
dently.
While crafting and perfect
ing'the play were the primary
focuses of the two-week camp,
the young actors admitted that
there were also lots of times to
have fun away from the auditori
urn.
Davaun Hickman. 12. did
not know any of his co-stars
before the camp started. But
after just a couple weeks, he said
many in the group are insepara
ble. .
"We diave had a lot of fun
being together, even away from
the stage." he said. Hanked by
several of his "new best friends."
"One time we pretended that
there was a ghost in the girls
bathroom."
Epstein said the goal of the
camp is not necessarily to breed
actors. Although many graduates
of the theater will go on to acting
in other productions and to arts
schools, the skills learned in the
camp can be used by the partici
pants in any career they pursue.
Epstein said
"You learn key skills like
public speaking, projecting your
voice and how to have a pres
ence." he said.
The young actors-impressed
an audience filled with their par
ents and peers Friday as they put
on the production at Mineral
Springs Middle School. Epstein
said that the theater will contin
ue to hold summer camps and
continue to mesh local young
talent w ith the timeless work of
Shakespeare. Children's Theater
actors are scheduled to perform
two works by Shakespeare dur
ing the upcoming season.
PFUNMfBOMg
Ebonique
July 30th
Showtime Begins^
Tuesday 8:00 p.m.
A Musical Extravaganza
July 21, 2002 - 7:00 PM
Featuring
Greg O'Quinn
"I Told the Storm"
Rodney Bryant
"He's a Keepa" &
"Testimony"
special appearance by
Tonya Blount of Sister Act singing "His Eye is on the Sparrow"
Co-Sponsor & Host
Beulah Baptist Church
135 Trade Street, W-S. NC
Purchase Tickets at PEANUT HOUSE or VARGRAVE HAIR DESIGN
Or Call 965-9016 or 965-9144
Sponsored By:
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T Volunteers
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