Washington
from pagf A1 ~~
Festival graced the stage
in Muscat, the capital city,
in four productions of the
acclaimed production of
"The Music Man."
"That experience was
really just so wild,"
declared Washington, the
younger of two children in
his family. "I'd never
flown across seas, and the
Middle East is so different
from America."
Though the official
language in Oman is
Arabic, many of the citi
zens speak English, and
between that and the
supertitles that were avail
able to translate the script
into other languages, per
forming for the Middle
Eastern crowd wasn't
much different from per
forming before crowds in
the U.S., Washington said.
The Omani culture dis
played a strong apprecia
tion for the arts, he added.
"I felt that Oman was
just such a welcoming
community ...the culture
was so open," he related.
"Even with it being such a
dictatorship, the sultan, I
feel, is just so open and
accepting of all the arts."
Washington and the
other performers spent
most of their nearly two
week stay in rehearsals,
but the group did have a
few opportunities to break
away to tour Oman, which
is home to just over 2.7
million citizens. The
group visited the coast,
which is bordered by a
vast gravel desert that cov
ers much of the country,
shopped in local markets
and toured the lavish
Sultan Qaboos Grand
Mosque.
"It was very moving
for a lot of people in the
cast," he said of seeing the
mosque. "It was just very
cool to.see how religion
can just be so unifying and
so beautiful. It would be
hard not to feel something
in there. It even strength
ened my faith in
Christianity being in that
temple. It made me feel
very privileged and lucky."
Washington also
addressed drama and
music students at the
American-British
Academy. The Oman trip
was a source of inspiration
for him, Washington said.
"We're taught here (at
School of the Arts) that
everything starts from our
selves," he explained. "So
any new experience that I
have or anything that I feel
that I've never felt before
or seen before is an inspi
ration for me."
Washington, who
played 'Tommy Djlas," a
boy from the wrong side
of the tracks in the 1937
Broadway hit, has spent
the past three summers
working for the Festival,
which employs student
apprentices in a variety of
musicals and opera ensem
bles during the summer
months.
Its very renown,
especially in the opera
world," Washington, a
baritone, said of
Glimmerglass. "I was able
to be around and have con
versations with (profes
sional performers) and
talk about ait, and also I
had the opportunity to use
what I'd learned at School
of the Arts in major pro
ductions with major
artists."
Washington credits
Broadway Music
Supervisor/Director Kevin
Stites - who served as a
faculty-in-residence at
UNCSA's School of
Drama two years ago -
with helping him get his
first big break as a profes
sional performer before he
even finished school.
"He was actually one
of my teachers at the
school my sophomore
year... He was really
adamant about my talent
and just got me the job,"
Washington said of Stites,
who recommended
Washington to
Glimmerglass talent
scouts.
Stites, who has worked
in the entertainment indus
try for 33 years and has 13
Broadway shows to his
credit, said that even as an
inexperienced student,
Washington's talent and
flare for performing -
from singing to dancing to
acting - was obvious.
"He's just fantastic.
Allan is mature beyond his
years in talent, mature
beyond his years in the
way he approaches his art
and the business of art,"
Stites declared. "He is
extraordinarily talented.
Multifaceted too. He is a
real triple threat."
Stites, who will return
to the UNCSA campus in
February to serve as music
director and conductor of
Sondheim's "Into the
Woods," said it won't be
long before Washington is
gracing the Broadway
stage. He believes the sky
is the limit for the young
artist.
"I just think he has a
positive, good energy. He
has yet to become jaded
for someone of his skills,
and that's somewhat of a
fine line," he remarked.
"People just enjoy work
ing with him and want to
work with him again."
Though the School of
the Arts has played an
integral role in launching
his career, it wasn't
Washington's first choice.
He enrolled at UNCSA
almost on a whim, having
never even visited the
campus.
"I had heard of the
school, but didn't really
know anything about it,"
admitted Washington, who
won $10,000 by taking
first-place in a music the
ater competition staged by
the National Society of
Arts and Letters earlier
this year. "I was set on
going to SUNY Purchase,
but something told me this
was where I was supposed
to be. I just had a gut feel
ing that this was where I
was supposed to be."
Washington, who has
appeared in a variety of
productions at the School,
from die 2011 all school
production of
"Oklahoma!" to "Hoodoo
Love," which opened last
Thursday, says he was ini
tially concentrating on act
ing and singing, but he's
keeping his options open
these days. Wherever he
chooses to take his career,
Washington says his work
will be ever-enriched by
the lessons he learned in
Oman.
"As a person and as an
artist, it made me see a
much wider picture," he
remarked. "I just became
more globally aware of
how art can affect people
not just in New York or
Los Angeles, but around
the world."
W- ' *wT '?? \ r 7 J . ?? r
Allan Washington (second row, loft) poses with fellow members of the "Oklahoma!" cast.
UNCSA nwO
Phoao by L*yU Garim
Allan Washington poses on the set of "Hoodoo Love,"
which opened last week.
. National
honor for
Harris
SPECIAL TO THE
CHRONICLE ?'
Andrea Harris, presi
dent of the NC Institute of
Minority Economic
Development, will receive
the Abe Venable Award for
Lifetime Achievement
from the U.S. Department
of Commerce Minority
Business Development
Agency
(MBDA).
The
honor
will be
presented
on Dec. 6
at the
Marriott
Wardman
Park
Hotel in
Washington, D.C.
Appointed by President
Nixon, Venable was the
first person to head the
Office of Minority
Business Enterprise. This
national award is given to
an individual who has
played an integral role in
the creative, technical or
professional progress of die
minority business commu
nity over the course of his
or her life.
For 25 years, Harris has
served at the helm of the
Institute, a statewide eco
nomic development non
profit organization. The
Institute aims to reduce die
disparities that persist for
minority and women
owned businesses in pro
curement opportunities,
access to capital, and
strategic management
capacity.
Harris
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Annual subscription price is $30.72.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636
Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636
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