City s mall one of
biggest in Southeast
C'HROMCUE STAFF REPORT
If you visit Hanes Mall, make sure you have
more than a little bit of free time. The mammoth
>hopper"s paradise is the largest mall between
Washington. D C., and Atlanta.
The 1356.0ID-square-foot mall is home to
more than 200 stores, including major retailers
such as Belk. Sears and J.C. Penney as well as
dozens of small specialty stores that cater to the
more discriminating shopper. Several restau
rants also call the mall home, including TGI Fri
day's and Ruby Tuesday. The mall also boosts a
large food court where everything from pizza to
Chinese and Cajun dishes are available.
The mall underwent a multimillion dollar
facelift earlier this year.
Shoppers will notice a brand new. fancy
"H" logo at all. maJl entrances, which are now
adorned with stainless steel canopies. External
directional signs have been added, and the inte
rior'rif the mall is painted in lighter colors. New
carpet, tile and hardwood flooring have been
put in place, and soft seating and cafe tables
have been added throughout the mall to accom
modate food facilities.
A sound system also has been added, with
speakers at all mall entrances, allowing for
music, advertisements and announcements to
be aired. Restrooms have been remodeled, and
a family restroom. complete with nursing room,
has been added for parents and small children.
"The whole architectural feel and look has
changed." said Brcnda Mc Nee ley. marketing
director for Hanes Mall. "(The renovations) are
definitely very family, entertainment oriented
and going in that direction."
The mall's management was recently taken
over by CBL Associates Properties Inc. The
Chattanooga. Tenn.-based company oversees
more than 50 properties throughout the coun
try.
Theater great Herman Levern Jones
bringing two productions to festival
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT __
In theater circles, the name
Herman Levern Jones is well
known The triple threat
factor/director/producer) has
used his talents to bring to life
many productions. At this
year's National Black Theatre
Festival theatergoers will have
the opportunity to see some of
the work that has the name Her
man Levern Jones so respected.
His Raleigh-based Herman
Levern Jones Theatre Consul
tant Agency is bringing two
productions to the NBTF.
"Images: A Multi-Media
Party" is directed and was con
ceived by Jones. The production
is a compilation of poetry and
prose from the Harlem Renais
sance era. The works of such
greats as Langston Hughes.
Countee Cullen and James Wel
don Johnson are among those
included in "Images: A Multi
Media Party." Music also is
infused into the production.
Genres from jazz and R&B. to
hip-hop and gospel w ill be used
to drive home the emotions "
expressed in the production.
And as its title suggests, the
Pfcotocounrt* of HUTTA
The young cast of "Images: A Multi-Media Party."
production also integrates
images that will convey experi
ences of our shared history and
make audience members ponder
the past and even laugh in some
' instances.
The cast of the production is
made up of a group of burgeon
ing artists, many of whom hail
from North Carolina.
The other production. "Like
Sun Fallin' in the Mouth," is a
collaboration between the Her
man Levern Jones Theatre Con
sultant Agency and the Yale
School of Drama. This dark,
poetic comedy is set in a ghetto
of modern-day Oakland. Calif.
It is a unique retelling of the
classic Greek story of Icarus. In
"Like SUn Fallin' in the
Mouth." Icarus has a lot on his
plate: a low-down father: a girl.
La-La. he can't get our of his
mind: his relationship with his
best friend. Butter: and his con
stant struggle of living in pover
ty
Marcus Gardley. Yale
drama student who grew up on
the mean streets of Oakland,
wrote "Like Sun Fallin' in the
Mouth." The production is
being Fine-tuned from July 24 to
Aug. 3 as it runs on the Yale
campus at Afro American Cul
tural Center. 'Images: A Multi
Media Party" is in the middle of
a successful run in the Raleigh
Durham area.
Jones' directing credits
incj\ide "The Roar of the
Greasepaint, The Smell of the
Crowd." and "Shoehorn." for
which he won a New York City
Audelco award for Best Direc
tor of a Musical.* The Herman
Levern Jones Theatre Consul
tant Agency is the umbrella for
the National Ensemble Theatre
and the Southeast Raleigh
School of the Arts.
Lena Home's highs and lows explored in play
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Lena Home has always been more than a
pretty face and a silky
I voice. "A Song for
Lena Horne
You...A Civil Rights
Journey of a Negro
Woman, Lena Calhoun
Home."* drives that
point home with force.
The play, which has
garnered rave reviews
in New York, where the
H A D.L.E.Y. Players
of Harlem first brought
it to life, follows the life
of the legendary
acirc*vsiugcr, creatively lemng anoui
Home's good and had times.
Wendi Joy Franklin wrote the play and
? *A-?# ?? N
stars as Home With the help of able support
ing cast and through a variety of unique
scenes, the audience learns about Home's
tumultuous childhood, which she spent being
shuffled between her grandmother, a vocal
campaigner for women's and black rights, and
her mother, an entertainer who often had to be
on the road.
The play also gives accounts of Home s
struggle to overcome racism from whites and
prejudice from her own people. Home's big
break in show business came as a part of the
chorus line at the famed Cotton Club also is
explored, as is her evolution from the stages
of Broadway to Hollywood, where she made
such films as "Panama Hattie." "Stormy
Weather" and "Cabin in the Sky."
In the 1950s. Home was accused of com
munism because of her close friendship with
Paul Robeson, and in the 1960s she was an
outspoken civil rights crusader.
In between the gripping dialogue in "A
Song for You," Franklin delivers knock-out
versions of a few of Home's classic songs
such as "Stormy Weather" and "The Man 1
Love."
Leon Pinkney directs the play.