Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Aug. 25, 2005, edition 1 / Page 25
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http://www,thecharlottepost.com Wife Cliarlotte $oi!t THURSDAY AUGUST 25, 2(m Alley, Broadway shows top Blumenthal’s 2005-06 season PHOTO/PAUL KOLNIK Alvin Alley Dance Theatre performer Renee Robinson in “Rev elations.” The troupe plays the Blumenthal April 4-5. By Herbert L. White 77/£ CHARLOTTE POST The Blumenthal Performing Arts Center will host several firsts and debuts in Char lotte theatre. The 2005-06 season features the first-ever North Carolina appearance of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and the Charlotte debut of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater There are productions of Broadway plays and chart-topping music artists. Single tickets for the more than 35 differ ent shows comprising the Blumenthal Per forming Arts Center’s 2005-06 season went on sale Wednesday at Founders Hall, by phone at (704) 372-1000 and online at www.blumenthalcenter.org. Discounted group rates are available by calling (704) 379-1380. The cent«* will present four new Broadway musicals - “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Doctor Dolittle,” “Little Women” and “Bombay Dreams.” It’ll also introduce a series that showcases Aiherican theat^*. ‘We’re working hard to bring the coimtry’s best and bri^test performers to the Blu menthal stages,” said Frances Egler, the Blumenthal’s vice-president of program ming. “It’s important to offer a wide variety of acts to attract people fi*om all parts of Charlotte’s ever-changing community” From Eve Ensler (“The Vagina Mono logues”) there’s “The Good Body,” an exami nation of how we feel about food, body image and self-esteem Nov 1-6. The musical “Cookin’ at the Cookery” (Jan. 18-29, 2006) tells the tale of jazz and blues legend Alberta Hunta*, who rose to fame in the 1920s and ‘30s and laimched a comeback at age 82. “Sheer Madness,” which debuts at Booth Playhouse next spring, is a whodunit in which the audience gets to solve the crime. “Theater fans have three wonderful shows Please see BLUMENTHAI_/2D Not much on ‘Love Experence’ Raheem DeVaughn The Love Experience Cliff Jones, Jerry Vines, executive producers Jive Records Neo soul started as a fi^sh, revitalization of black music, producing Maxwell, D’Angelo and Angie Stone. Now the genre is filled with singers that have more style than substance. Throw together some loopy music with lyrics that have deep intentions and you’ve got half the current radio air play lists. Raheem DeVau^in seems to fit in the latter category. He’s likable, but there just doesn’t seem much to hang your hat on. I think he can sing, but I don’t know that’s a fact. He nevo* really bites into a song, just sorta wafts in and out. DeVaughn certainly has good taste. Many of his songs are based on samples. Earth, Wmd & Fire, The Isley Broth ers, Boyz n Men and Switch provide loops for four of the 16 tracks. He uses each reason ably well, but “Footsteps In The Dark” and “Can’t Hide Love” have been done to death. Like Lyfe Jennir^s, DeVaughn like to talk between songs. He’s not as chatty as Jennings, but doing so more than once is a little annoying. Tha^ are times when this CD hits some creative peaks. “Where I Stand” has a feath ery beat that hooks you fix^m go. “Guess Who Loves You Motc” is d’ sdiool slick. “Who” is the ubiquitous call for all to do better spiritually and morally. “The Love E:q)erience” isn’t much of one, but it’s a nice warmup to something bigger that may be coming. DeVau^m has potential. Minty fresh at Amos’ PHOTO/WADE NASH Stokely, lead singer of Mint Condition, urges the crowd to sing along as the group performs one of its hits. Though they were iate coming to the stage, it was worth the wait. Charlotte show proves Mint Condition still has the vibe By Cheris F. Hodges cheTisJiodges®t)iecharlottepost£om Maybe Mint Condition got lost. That would explain the long delay in getting their set started at Amos’ South End last Friday. Doors opened at 7:30 p.m. but it was about 11 p.m. before the band took the stage. And it was worth the wait. Seeing Mint Condition live is an experience. Because unlike an R&B group, these guys are a band and you don’t just hear the music, you feel it. Dressed in camouflage pants and tee-shirts. Mint isn’t the flashiest band aroimd, but they sound as good live as they do on CD. Stokley’s vocals are smooth like velvet. The band has been around since the late ‘80s, they have a wealth of hits and the crowd at Amos’ went crazy when the band sang its old hits like “U Send Me Swinging,” and “So Fine.” And it’s obvious that their new disc, “Living the Luxury Brown” has been selling well in Charlotte, because as the band sang the new single “Whoa,” everyone knew the words and sang right along. Wth the crowd Mint Condition drew, I wonder why the promoters didn’t use a larger venue, which would have made the concert experience more comfortable and enjoyable for their fans. And there would have been less shoving and pushing. Since this was an adult crowd, there were only ugly looks exchanged. I guess in order to make concert- goers feel as if they^ve gotten their money’s worth there has to be an opening act. But did it have to be Rene? If you’re sa5hng “who’s Rene,” allow me to refresh your memory. Remember Rene and Angela from the ‘80s? He’s Rene. While Angela Winbush went on to have solo suc cess and write songs for the Isley Brothers dining her marriage to Mr. Biggs, a.k.a. Ronald Isley, ; Rene got lost in the past. His set, which was three songs long, consisted of him singing the Rene 2ind Angela hits without Angela or a decent backup singer that could make the crowd forget about Angela. He sounded old, outdated and played out. And it didn’t make much sense that he had more or just as much equip ment on stage as Mint Condition. But all is well that ends well and seeing Mint Condition do their thing onstage and sound as good as they did made Rene a distant memory. Maybe next time they will play a bigger venue. It’s OK to Scream IV more on tour By Cheris F. Hodges chfns}ttxiges@lhfchaThneposl£om When the Scream IV tour rolls into Charlotte, girls will do just what the name suggests, scream. The tour, whidi stars Bow- Wow, Omarion, Marques Houston, and Bobby Valentino, will be at the Cricket Arena on Sept. 1. And if “newcomer” Valentino sees a pretty giri walking down the street, he just might write a song ^5out it. Well, that’s what hap pened to inspire his hit “Slow Down.” ‘Well actually, I was dri ving down Melrose and I just saw this pretty girl finm the back. I never got a chance to catch up with her. She’d dip into a couple of stores, then I’d see her again, then she’d disappear. So when we went to the stu dio, we just came up with that whole little concept and we wrote the record about that,” he said. Valentino, whose real name is Bobby Wilson, hit the music scene in 1996 with the group Mista The Boyz II Men-stjded group had a hit with the sin^e “Blackberry Molasses” but the album didn’t follow. Valentino looks at his experience with Mista as a time to learn. So he took some time off, went to Clark Atlanta University, got a degree in mass communica tions and wrote two albums worth of material. “DTP (Disturbing the Peace, his record label) loved my material and my work ethic,” he said. That hard work landed him on one of the summer’s hottest tours. “I’m excited,” he said. “This is a blessing.” Also on the tour are two new groups, Pretty Ricky and B5. Pretty Ricky perform tracks fixan their smash Blue Star Entertain ment/Atlantic debut, “Bluestars,” including the hit sin^e “Grind Wildi Me.” The Miami-based sibling quartet - rappers Slick ‘Em, Baby Blue, and Spectacu lar, and singer Pleasure - exploded onto the Florida music scene in late 2004, when “Grind With Me” became the most requested song in the histoiy of Mami radio station Power 96. Bad Boy Entertainment’s B5 are new teen group. The Atlanta-based brothers - Dustin, Kelly, Patrick, Car- nell, and Biyan Breeding - merge the old school flair and finesse of the Jackson Five with the modern-day pop appeal of *NSYNC and the raw energy of New Edi tion to create a musical phe nomenon that carves a unique niche in the music industry. B5 have drawn acclaim for their electrify ing, high-energy stage show - complete with street danc ing, old school stepping and eye-popping acrobatics - and have already per formed with the likes of Mario Wmans, Kanye West, Please see SCREAM/2D ‘Cosby’ the best of ‘80s TV shows The Cosby Show Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Lisa Bonet, Malcolm- Jamal Warner, Keshia Knight -Pullman and Tempestt Bledsoe Jay Sandrich, director Urban Works Entertainment - For some reason, I don’t remember a lot of the ‘80s. I do remember I would be very angry if I missed “The Cosby Show,” by far one of my favorite shows. Nothing, I mean nothing, was better than Cosby. I remember the first episode and I was hooked for the duration. Nothing came between me and Cosby I bought a VCR because of Cosby. There are folks who are arguing on the internet that these are not the original episodes, but the edited ver sions shown in syndication. The box set does not indicate which are used. I guess I’m not a purist, because it does n’t bother me. This is a groundbreaking show that deserves a boxed set. Twenty-four episodes are spread across three discs. There’s some monumental stuff. Dizzy Gillespie appears as Vanessa’s (Tbmpestt Bled soe) music teacher. Leg endary producer Sheldon Leonard - the guy who gave Cosby his role in ‘T Sp}^’ - guest stars as the doctor who hired Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby). Lena Home, CTarence WTUiams HI, Angela Bassett and Adam Sandler also make appearances. What made the Cosby work, however, was the fami ly. Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Bledsoe, lisa Bonet, Keshia Knight-Pullman, Phylicia Rashad and Sabrina LeBeauf were the perfect compliments to Cosby’s laid back approach to parenting. My only problem is with the extra disc. It’s a special that aired on NBC looking back at the show’s impact on society Bonet is mentioned once and in a few clips. It’s almost as if she wasn’t on the show. Pity. Bonet was the affection of many a teenage boy in the ‘80s. Ratings Classic; Excellent; Good Fair ♦ Why? ■p No stars- -Amess
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Aug. 25, 2005, edition 1
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