Boxing
matches
come to
K'ville
-StrtugrBI
Fourth St.
film series
finding
its niche
- See Page A5
Happy
Hill holds
annual
reunion
-SttP*fA3
Students
get look
around
the world
-S-PfCI
X 1 IT? For Reference!
" *C#iR-RT-I.CT*' f B^ Not to be taken
FORSi'1 'H CNTT PUB ?jXC
75 cents 66* w 57H 57 # Q l-SALEM ? GREENSBORO ? High PoiN< from this library Vol. XXIX No. 47
WINSTON SA131 NO 27101-275S
?MfllgSiMiLiJaiiiMI ,
6 Jackie Wilson' creator returns
to the NBTF with new musical
?'Doo Wop Shoo Bop"
will resurrect the music
of several artists from era I
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE I
Jackie Taylor said she doesn't like I
to be bogged down with all the emo- I
tions that high expectations can bring. '
So she doesn't have expectations. The
veteran theater writer, director and
producer said she just puts out the
best work that she possibly can and
then lets audiences decide its fate.
But expectations are through the
roof for "Doo Wop Shoo Bop." the
musical that Taylor's Chicago-based I
Black Ensemble Theatre will bring to I
the National Black Theatre Festival I
next month. The last time a Taylor I
production was staged at the festival - I
2001's "The Jackie Wilson Story.. My
Heart is Crying, Crying" - it set festi
val records, selling out the Stevens
Center for a straight week. When the |
Jackie Wilson musical returned to i
Winston-Salem the following year, it 1
was a sellout once again. The enthusi
astic thumbs-up from NBTF crowds
inspired Taylor to take the Wilson
pfay on Ihe road. The tour was a hit at
:very stop, including the famed Apol
lo Theatre in Harlem.
"Doo Wop Shoo Bop" uses the
same formula that made the Wilson
show a blockbuster. There is a cast of
talented actor/singers who can fool
even the most keen music lovers with
their dead-on versions of songs.
There is a resurrecting of a musical
era and the stars that made that era
great. And thrown in amid all of it are
the stories of their highs and lows and
joys and pains.
"Doo Wop Shoo Bop" is right on
the same plane as "Jackie Wilson,"
Taylor said last week by phone from
Chicago. "The (NBTF) audience is
the most sophisticated theater audi
ence in the country, and 1 expect the
audience will be just as thrilled by
this production."
"Doo Wop Shoo Bop" has already
been tried and tested again and again.
The Black Finsemble Theatre first
staged the musical in 1995. It has
been brought back to life several
times since then. Written by Taylor
and Jimmy Tillman, "Ddb Wop Shoo
Bop" features a cast of nine that will
seem like a cast of dozens. The actors
go through several wardrobe and
octave changes to become more than
15 doo wop-era musical talents. Leg
ends such as The Shirelles. The Plat
ters. The Moonglows, The Chantels.
The Skyliners, Dinah Washington
and. yes, Jackie Wilson, will be
brought to life in such a way that Tay
lor predicts that audience members
will swear that the actors are lip
synching. But they are not.
The actors had to study video and
audio tapes of the performers in order
See Musical on
A9 I
Photo courtesy of Black F.nsemhle Theatre
An actress from the hit musical "Doo Wop Shoo Bop" performs as
soulful LaVern Baker in a scene from the production.
A Humble Community Servant
Retired surgeon is
feted by friends and
former patients at 90th
birthday celebration
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
People in this town have long
memories.
Dr. H. Rembert Malloy found
that out Saturday afternoon as a
bunch of his former classmates,
patients and longtime admirers
and friends crowded the Ivy Arms
Clubhouse for his 90th birthday
celebration.
Not a year of Malloy's life has
been wasted, friends said. Nearly
all of the 70 or so people on hand
for the party had personal stories
about Malloy, a Hamlet native
who moved to Winston-Salem
when he was about 10 years old.
"His mother lived down the
street (from) our house, and we
used to sit on the porch and wait
for the good-looking doctor to
walk by." Velma Friende recalled
as Malloy blushed. "It was so
unusual for us to see such a young
black doctor."
Malloy was a well-respected
surgeon in this town for nearly 40
years, working mostly at the
city's black hospital. He was
among the first black surgeons on
staff at Wake Forest University
School of Medicine, where he
retired in 198l_as clinical assis^_
tant professor of surgery:^
Malfdy's Healing hands have
changed and touched lives, and
his bedside manner earned him a
slew of dedicated patients and
countless longtime friendships.
Irene Hairston has known
Malloy for most of his life. She
was one grade behind him in
schbol. and her late husband,
Walter M. Hairston. a one-time
treasurer of Winston Mutual, was
a good friend of Malloy.
"There were many times I
would call him about someone
who needed care, and I would
say. 'Rembert. they don't have
any money." He would always
say. 'Send them on anyway.'"
Hairston said.
Bcmice Davenport also has
ties to Malloy that stretch back
half a century . Malloy's late wife.
Elaine, the woman everyone
See Malloy on A10
Photos by Kevin Walker
Top: Rembert Ma/toy
admires a mug fea
turing the state seal
and the seal of Win
ston-Salem. The
mug was a gift from
ftpie Reps. Larry
Womble and Earline
Pmfmon, who smile
after presenting the
gift to Malloy.
Righ t: Longtimew
friends of Rembert
Malloy such as Irene
Hairston, far left,
look on as D.W.
Andrews performs a
special birthday
song for the retired
surgeon who turned
90 on Saturday.
Three local
schools are
first to feel
NCLB's fury
BYT KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Parents of students who attend three local
schools should have gotten a letter this week
informing them that they have the right to
transfer their child to another school for the
upcoming school year.
The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County
School system has a school-choice plan that
gives parents the leefvay to send their chil
dren to any one of a variety of schools, but
tk*. I
mv. iivniiitaiiun iv;iiv.ia
were sent out as result
of the new. sweeping No
Child Left Behind
(NCLB) legislation.
For the first time last
year, state schools
began to take into con
sideration federal
NCLB guidelines.
Atkins and Hill middle
schools and Forest Park
F.lementarv School fell
short of those guidelines out of the gate. And
since the schools receive Title I money (fed
eral funds given to schools with high num
bers of low-income students). NCLB stipu
lates parents must be given the option of
transferring the children, presumably to a
school that is doing a better job o? meeting
NCLB standards.
NCLB has been applauded and criticized
since it was signed into law by President
Bush in 2002. As its name implies, the legis
lation is pushing to have eVery student test at
his or her grade level by 2014. Schools that
fail along the way will face penalties, which
Sec NCLB on A10
Martin
Women
mle at the
city's AME
churches
o
BY COURTNEY GAILLARD
TtjE CHRONICLE
Lula Mae Williams remembers a time when
!jhe didn't believe that women should preach the
word of God. This daughter of and wife of a Bap
tist minister certainly never foresaw that some 50
years later she would be appointed pastor of
Union Bethel AML
Church in Winston
Salem. Nearly two
months ago, Williams
became the first woman to
pastor 107-year-old Union
Bethel - "the church that
sits on the hill."
"In my early years, I
didn't believe in women
nrf?n<'hf?rN Whf>n I w:in
called to the ministry, it Williamt
was in mis cnurcn. anu i
ran from (the Spirit) for 10
years because I didn't
believe a woman was sup
posed to preach ."
Williams said.
Originally ffoSn South
Carolina. Williams and
her husband. Hubert,
moved to Winston-Salem
in 1953 and joined Union
Bethel, where they
became active members of
(he church. Her husband is the pastor ot bethel
Pleasant Garden AME Church in Greensboro.
Once sickness fell upon Williams in 1971. she
said it became very clear to her that she could run
no more from the Spirit, which was calling her to
evangelize.
"I was in the hospital for 31 days and they
See AMI ?i A10
Peterson
The Only Choice for African- \inerican and Community Sews .1-4
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