Page 4
Black Ink
Sept. 27, 1984
Brown Sugar bubblin' at Central
Kevin Washington
Assistant Editor
"Before I went on stage, I was
very nervous--! just had to be alone in
a little room somewhere," recalls
Donna Buie, a 21-year-old drama ma
jor at North Carolina Central Univer
sity.
"I gave my audition to the empty
chairs in the room, which was close to
what I did in the theatre, but not
quite." Her hands dance in front of
her as she speaks, signs of her bubbly
personality.
"Once / returned to the waiting
room, I tried to let off some of that ex
cess energy by talking and laughing
with the other auditionees... Then,
just they called the person before me,
I got terrified. ft was
like...AAAAHHH!"
This is the auditionr-the actor's
doorway to the stage.
NCCU's drama department will
open its theatre season in a few weeks
with the animated musical review,
"Bubbling Brown Sugar," the Broad
way success which was a 1976 Tony
Award nominee for best musical.
For two days in late August, pro
duction staff members Dr. Benjamin
Keaton, Kaye Sullivan and Karen
Dacons-Brock sat through young ac
tor's auditions looking for the face
and feel that could lend the show its
spark and sparkle.
•
"What happens is that we herd
people on stage and let them put
themselves on display," says Dr. Lin
da Kerr Norflett, Chairman of the
University's Drama Department.
"Most of these people are
motivated...They have a craving to
perform."
"As we watch the students, we
ask:
"Does the person...command at
tention?"
"Does she have a strong voice
suitable for the stage?"
"Is he stiff or relaxed...can we
get out of him what we need in terms
of movement?"
"Does he physically look like the
character?"
"Does she fit the style of the
show?"
The answers to the questions are
quite subjective. Dr. Norflett notes.
"The director reads the play over and
over again until she can smell it...she
has a sense of how everything should
be by totally submerging herself in
the script."
But once the auditions are over,
the casting is not necessarily finish
ed; any number of things can happen
between the auditions and the actual
production in October.
"You never know what per
sonalities may surface. Some people
show extremely well in auditions, yet
do very little during the actual
rehearsal. Others don't show too well
at the auditions, but they grow during
the rehearsals."
Down the hall in the Green
Room--a lounge for drama majors—
sits Kevin Allen, a junior from
Durham who aspires to be an actor.
Dressed in t-shirt and jeans, he leans
back in a straight backed wooden
chair.
The ominous block theatre
across the hall awaits his arrival.
"/ don't know what song f'm go
ing to sing until I get on stage," says
Allen. "For the first few minutes, I'll
stretch then look into the audience."
He speaks in a soft, smooth tenor
voice .
"Of course the whole time I'm up
there. I'll attempt to feel
confident...and I'll try to remember
the basics. You know, to
enunce... enunce..."
"Enunciate, man," Kevin Dennis
says from one side of the room. Den
nis listens to Allen as he waits for his
audition.
Allen says he is not really ner
vous.
"I've sung before...I've even
been with a traveling gospel choir, so
the singing really doesn't worry me."
On the other hand, this musical re
quires that the students dance also.
Allen says he doesn't dance.
"You can find people who can
sing, "Dennis says, "andyou can find
people who can act; but you can't find
people can dance."
Production stage manager, Linda
Harris, a visiting instructor in the
department, agrees: "There was this
one person who could sing, but just
couldn't move — finally the person
gave up."
"They're ready for you Kelvin,"
she adds.
"In doing a musical, you have
more people to collaborate with in
stead of just one director as in a
regular dramatic piece," says direc
tor Karen Dacons-Brock, assistant
professor in the department. "You've
got me, the musical director, Ben,
and the choreographer, Kaye."
"It's a lot of work."
But the play is not really unique
in any other respect, she says. It is a
review, so the songs carry the show —
a showcase for the 15 singers, actors
and dancers who will be on the final
cast list.
"What we're looking for now are
the older people — 60 plus," she
says, "And we'd like to do it with stu
dents which can be very difficult be
cause it demands that students pro
ject mature characters.
"So far we've seen some good
movement in the earlier session and
some good singers; most of the group
was versatile and they all read well."
"When I'm on stage, what I'm
mostly concentrating on is how to
show them — the director, choreo
grapher and musical director — that
I can do everything," says Ms. Buie.
"Even during the singing audi-
The Carolina Union
Forum Committee
presents
JOHN IRVING
Monday, October 1
8:00 p.m.
Memorial Hall
CHRISTINE CRAFT
(TV Anchor dropped for not
being just another pretty face)
"Is TV News Show Business"
Monday, October 8
8:00 p.m.
Memorial Hall
tion, I tried to show them I could
move — a little heel-toe this and a lit
tle side-to-side that.
"And my facial expressions, I
hope, made them say, 'Maybe she
can do some acting too.
However, she says that during
the dance audition, one has to con
centrate on just keeping up with the
choreographer. Kaye Sullivan, a
visiting artist at the University, tests
the students dance abilities by
teaching students a simple routine
then watching them repeat it with
speed.
Ms. Buie recalls the routine:
"Four jazz steps to the front of the
stage. A quick turn to the right. Hop
left, touch the floor. Boll on your
back, legs in the air. To your feet —
hop left, hop right. Four point jazz
walk. Attitude."
"Easy," she says laughing, "if
you've got good coordination. I think
I even stumbled some ... but I still
have good coordination."
•
The final part of the audition is a
cold reading. Three weary actors,
Kelvin Allen, Kevin Dennis and Ruby
Prescott, are given scripts of the
musical and told to flip to page 1-4-8.
All6n is assigned to read the part
of the Sage; Ms. Prescott, that of
Irene as Dennis watches.
"Come on honey!" Allen booms
across the stage. "I got to tend to
business. I promised to show Charlie
and Judy this old town. And I got to
keep an eye on Checkers so he don't
mess with my half of the money."
"John, forget the money. Come
back with me."
"Forget the money! Are you
crazy?"
"I guess I was crazy to think that
anything could bring us back
together."
"Irene, I'm coming back to you.
I'm coming just as soon as this tour is
over."
"How long is that?"
"About 30 years."
"30 years — knowing you, it'll
take you that long to get warmed
up...."
•
After the audition, Allen says he
is somewhat discontented with his
dance performance, but relieved that
the auditions are over. "I wish I had
danced better. All I need is time —
maybe the five or six weeks we'll have
to rehearse."
"But," he adds, "they may not
give me time."
•
EDITOR'S NOTE: UNC-CH students
can see Kelvin Allen and Donna Buie
in NCCU's production of "Bubbling
Brown Sugar" Oct. 10-14 in the Uni
versity Theatre. Shows begin at 8:15
p.m. and student prices may be ob
tained by calling the drama depart
ment. □
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