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VOL. XVIII, No. 29
Black entertainment scarce at Coliseum
? For the last year ang a half,
coliseum directors ha\^ been
unable to attract black brtists to
the city: ~
By SAMANTHA McKENZIE - *
Chronide Staff Writer
Coliseum director Mike Solomon has been unsuc
. cessful in booking shows and concerts geared to
African- Americans despite a city set-aside fund created
more than a year ago. The special fund enables the
Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the
city to co-sponsor a variety of shows thereby increasing
the city s chances of luring shows here.
Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson ? all in 1990 ? the
coliseum has not entertained many shows geared to
black people. Solomon said those cancellations, initiat
ed by the promoters, were due to poor ticket sales and
other money losses acts suffer during a tour.
Cancellations as recent as last week came when
songstress Natalie Cole pulled out at the last minute.
Also an attempt to bring singer Patti LaBelle fell
through because no one could be found to co-promote
the act with the city, according to Solomon.
Solomon said while seteral attempts have and are
the city, it has been extremely difficult to get promoters
to book a show at the coliseum because of the close
proximity of the Greensboro coliseum.
"For years, most of these acts have been booked in
Greensboro, because we didn't have the facilities to
accommodate them. Now that we do, it's hard to get
promoters to come here when they know they have a
sure thing in Greensboro," he said.
11 We've contacted promoters and tried to convince
them to come here. To actually take advantage of the
set-aside fund we have to have someone go in with us
and that's been part of the difficulty," Solomon added.
rently being used to co-promote a theatrical production
called TRACKS!, has not been able to get smaller acts,
such as Luther Vandross, to the coliseum. The last co
sponsored concerts, other than country music, were
Please see page A9
Reinforcing education through art!
iiilU
Third graders at Clemmons Elementary School hold up posters they made of South American masks. The pro|ect was in conjunction
with an on-going process In which art specialist, Ms. B.J. Hoffman, coordinates art projects with what the students are learning in the
classroom. The students from left to right are: (bottom row) Brett Bryant, Kevin Cox, Myer Otto, Hayley Petree, Jessica Cline, and Sarah
Wood; (center row) Jason Gill, Drew Dosek, Joyce Braun, Butch Long, Laura Trader, Greg Wright, and Brldgette Prevette; (back row) Ms.
B J. Hoffman, Matthew Beroth, Lauren Clauss, Jonas Brown, and Kate Clauss.
I Skeleton in
| Brown's closet?
f. "I acted in the line of duty.
School Board
candidate addresses
parent's threat
By SHERIDAN HILL
Chronlch Assistant pdtor ,
'ft' It-1 Ajf'- ' '
In 1983, when she was principal at Moore
Elementary, Geneva Brown's paddle left bruises
on a boy. Last week after she filed as a candidate ?#n#va Brown
for the board of education, the boy's father, Larry
B. Snow, threatened to go public with photographs and a secret tape record
ing ? - unless Brown withdrew her name from the race.
Geneva Brown eases into a leather arm chair in her comfortable but
modest home and recalls an incident that has sneaked out of the past to
haunt her.
It's the kind of nightmare that putsfear in the heart of ordinary citizens
who consider running for public office. For most people, it would create a
public relations crisis, but Geneva Brown seems to be taking it in stride.
"I love children. A lot of people know my track record at Moore, my
concern for children, teachers and parents." She speaks evenly, her voice
and face betraying little emotion. "I do not intend to have someone threaten
me for an incident I carried out legally in the performance of my job."
For over twenty years, she worked in public schools as a teacher and
principal, and was promoted to the central office in 1989 to coordinate pro
grams for at-risk children. Now her title is director of research, planning
Please see page A 1 1
pi:-'
ON THE
AVANT-GARDE
By TANG NIVRI
'Ji' V-""
; Life is short, eat
dessert nrpti
?Mm;
As long as I can remember, grovy folks have
ahfrays insisted that I eat my desaert last!
; "Eat your squash, rwtahagn, and eggplantboy.
Eat your brussels sprouts and your liver ? then
yon can have some of grandma's pound cake and
? lomemade Ice cream," they would alwayaaay.
But cwan aa a child, I understood what the?
were trying to da They know that
life would not be a bowl of cherries! To be sue
ceauui, I needed to oout learn and understand tne
pfedple of delayed gratification so that I would
ypi I full prey to the temptation of believing that I
would get something for nothing. - W
< Instead, 1 would wort hard, save my money,
and then there would be tone to enjoy life's choco
late cake at the end ? That is the proper time to
eat chocolate cake!
j There is a great deal in this approach. Indeed,
it is aprincipfe thai many in the recent and *ven
current generation, teem to know little of.
The other day, my children and their frienAf
wanted me to tower the basketball goal so that
P***0$**P*OOA11
TRACKS! producer wants community support
? Producers and local
promoters are making
last minute attempts
to secure sponsors for
TRACKS! production
By SAMANTHA McKENZIE
Chronicle Staff Writer
The one-woman production TRACKS!, starring the
daughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Yolanda
King, is scheduled to begin its national tour at the
Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum next
month, while producer Pamela Goodlow and local pro
moters are continuing their search for corporate spon
sors.
The event, scheduled to open Friday, April 3 for a
10 a.m. and a 8 p.m. show, is being co-sponsored by the
city, but promoters say they have been unsuccessful in
securing sponsors for the production since November.
The production, which has a budget of $48,000, must
raise at least $22,000 within the next three weeks to
cover production expenses.
Local promoter, Jim B rammer, said he is currently
renegotiating with potential sponsors by asking corpo
rations for a lesser amount of funds.
"I guess 1 was overly optimistic on corporate sup
port, but we had a hard time solidifying sponsors. I sup
1
Yolanda King will star In the one-woman production of TRACKS I on April 3. The 14-character multi
media production ? all played by King ? focuses on single-parenting, physical disabilities, sub
stance abuse, and the lack of social and political Identity.
pose the economy has caused a dramatic effect on
everyone," B rammer said Tuesday.
The 50 percent production costs covered by the
city is taken frotn a grant set-aside to bring "marginal
risk" shows to the city.
Coliseum assistant director, Bucky Dame said:
The set-aside fund is there so that the city can bring a
variety of entertainment, such as TRACKS!"
So far Mutter Evans of WAAA radio station and
Larry Leon Hamlin of the North Carolina Black Reper
tory Company have rallied their support for the produc
tion.
"We're making contacts with groups, churches,
organizations and businesses to try to raise some sup
port," said Hamlin. Hamlin has given up office space
and the use of the NCBRC equipment to Goodlow.
Mutter Evans said: "I'm doing whatever I can to
solicit some sponsors or do whatever else that needs to
be done to see that this show is a successful one."
Goodlow said if the corporate sponsorship does not
come through, she's hoping the community will buy
enough tickets to break even.
"Right now I'm just poimtinron the community to
support the production," saidub&ttow.
More about the production
TRACKS! is a multi-character play that will be per
formed by Yolanda King, the oldest daughter of Dr.
King and Coretta Scott King. The performance pre
miered in Winston-Salem during the 1991 National
Black Theater Festival and will return to the area on the
eve of the 24th anniversary of the assassination of Dr.
King.
Please see page A2
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