http://www.thecharlottepost,com
THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2006
Section
JAMES B I
___ JOHNSJ
CHARLOTIE, NORTH U .ROLiKA 2S216
Comedian Bruce Bruce keeps busy tourh
PHOTO/SHEARER PUBLIC RELATIONS
Stand-up comedy keeps Bruce Bruce on the road, but the Atlanta native clings to his southern roots
By Cheris F. Hodges
cherishodges®lhediarloueposirom
Comedian. Bruce Bruce is
bringing his southern filed
funny to Charlotte this
weekend.
Though the Atlanta
native splits his time
between Los Angeles and
the ATL, he’s stiU a south
ern boy at heart.
“I’m an ATL down South
country big dude,” he said.
“I wish I could have
Atlanta in LA. I can’t for
get home. People are crazy
in LA, I mean, they’re
crazy in Atlanta too.”
The former host of
“BETs Comic Mew” has -
been maku^ a name for
himself in movies and as a
writer, penning his first
book “Baby James Brown,”
which captures his witty
styling on paper.
The -comedian is set to
star with the hip-hop duo
OutKast in the new movie
“Idlewild.” (And no it is not
about the street in east
Charlotte)
‘T play Patti LaBeUe’s
personal assistant. I’m a
sucker for Patti and I’m
hard on everyone else,” he
said.
Despite his roles in
movies, like “XXX: State of
GALLERY REVIEW
The Union” and “Larry
The Cable Guy: The
Health Inspector,” Bruce
Bruce is still touring and
doing stand up in clubs
around the conjntry
“I work comedy clubs
every week hke a job,’’ he
said, adding that he’s more
in control when he’s
onstage than when he’s
making a movie. “I’m com-
Please see BRUCE/2D
Sinanan exhibit absolutely not for the faint of heart
At Elder Art
Gallery
By Sandy Seawright
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
. Larry Elder, owner of Elder
Art Gallery, 1427 South
Blvd., across the street and
near the Arlington, the pink
^ass highrise condominium,
is very courageous. He’s pre
senting the most provocative
art exhibit I’ve ever seen in a
Charlotte commercial art
gallery
Artist Franlin Sinanan, a
THEATRE REVIEW
native of Trinadad who lives
in Canada, presents paint
ings that address AIDS, gay
marriage. President Bush,
Haiti, Rawanda - most of the
world’s controversies.
Elder saw Sinanan’s work
in the artist’s studio in
Miami’s South Beach. Elder
commented that many people
who see these paintings say
the artist must be very angry
but that actually he is very
peaceful.
Sinanan’s work has the raw
expressive iftark of an
untrained ’’outsider” artist.
For example, “Black Lady
Haiti,” has a backgroimd that
looks like graffiti: drawings of
crosses and fish bones, ran
dom numerals and the
phrase. Love Life. The lady is
pregnant with fiery red eyes
and lips and necklace and
bracelets. She appears to be
very alone in a deprived
world.
Two of Sinanan’s works
appear to be directly influ
enced by the American artist
Robert Rauschenberg.
“Putting It Out There” fea
tures mixed media collage
with the letters, “S” “E” “X’
attached to the painting with
clothes pins.
‘Tast & Future” features a
man’s white shirt hanging
fi’om a doU affixed to the can-
Another image seems influ
enced by the late Jean
Mchael Basquiat, a friend of
Andy Warhol’s. Basquiat died
of a heroin overdose when he
was 27 years old and in death
became an art leg^id. The
painting “Love the Life” fea
tures a Basquiat style skuU.
In an artist’s statement
painted on the gallery wall,
Sinanan says,’L paint about
everyday stuff; abuse, rela
tionships, anger. Often my
work offends people. I’m
always surprised when people
think my work is evil because
I do it out of love for life.”
The exhibit continues at
Elder Gallery, through Mon
day, July 31. Hours are
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday
through Friday and 10 a.m.-2
p.m. on Saturday
For information, call the
gallery at (704) 370-6337
Versatile Cooper makes ‘Bombay Dreams’ come to life
By April Turner
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Tiffany Cooper is a true cit-
izai of the world.
The Louisville, Ky, native
travels the world singing,
dancing and acting in glitzy
made-in-the-USA musical
productions. Between shows
she makes time to volunteer
with charitable organizations
and teach drama techniques
to children.
“I have lived and worked in
Colombia, France, Austria,
Costa Rica - I 'even sang
coimtry music in Japan,”
Cooper said.
Her credits include per
forming in. Switzerland with
Olivia Newton-John in
“Grease the Musical” and
dancing in the Bregenz Festi
val, one of Europe’s annual
music events. She also per
formed as a solo cabaret
singer on the
Crown
Dynasty ocean
finer.
“I loved the
time I spent
overseas. I
enjoy learning
about other
cultures and
sharing what I do with people
around the world,” Cooper
said.'
Landing roles in such a
wide variety of shows evi
dences . her versatility as a
Cooper
performer. .This expertise and
experience garnered her an
ensemble role in the Broad
way production of Bombay
Dreams. The national tour
stops at the North Carolina
Blumenthal Center for Per-
formingArta through July 30.
“Bombay Dreams” show
cases East Indian culture as
filtered through Bollywood
inspired visuals and watered-
down (fiteraUy), Broadway
camp. Cooper says it’s a fun,
entertaining show that she,
as an Afiican American, is
proud to be a part of ‘When
we go to different towns peo
ple ask me, are you Indian? I
tefi. them no. I’m Afiican
American.”
She says being a black
actress has not hindered her
portrayal of an Indian
woman in “Bcanbay Dreams.”
“Once people find out that I
did the role on Broadway and
that I respect Indian culture,
they accept me as a per
former in the show. I help cre
ate the world of the show.
That’s my job. I give my heart
for two hours every night and
make it happen. That’s what
counts.”
Cooper says havit^ a global
perspective helps her stay
groLmded and focused on the
work. “Art brings cultures
together. The fines that sepa
rate, are invisible, when art is
involved,” she said.
Rapper Yung Joe’s no XL - and that’s the way he likes it
By Cheris F. Hodges
chens.hodges®fhechortoffepos/.com
TOth a number one. album
his first time out the box,
Y\mg Joe is out to prove that
he’s not the typical Atlanta
rapper.
Joe, who’s real name is
Jasiel Robinson, said that
when his smash hit “It’s Goin
Down” hit the airwaves, he
was immediately compared to
another ATT, lyridst-TI.
“A lot of people didn’t know
it was me,” he said. “People
thought that Block (CEO of
Block Entertainment) was
tiying to make another
PHOTO/ATLANTIC RECORDS
(Youi^) Jeezy”
But Joe says he isn’t like
other rappers because he
shows that everybody doesn’t
have to be “gangsta to get on.”
After grinding in the streets
and doing what he had to do
to maintain his rap credibili
ty the College Park/SWATS-
bred MC is getting his chance
to shine through Block Enter-
tainmentiBad Boy South
‘It’s Goin’ Down” is also
enjoying success in the rii^-
tone world. Last month, Yung
Joe was featured across all
major carriers including Cin-
gular, T-Mobile, Sprint, Veri
zon, and Mrgin Mobile USA
In addition. Sprint has two
exclusive non-album full-
tracks available for download
through the Sprint Music
Store.
“I’ve been doit^ this for a •
minute,” he said. “Since I was
10 or 11 I’ve been (rhymit^).”
At 23, Joe has become one of
today’s most popular rappers.
He’s so popular that at this
year’s BET Awards Show his
pre-show performance of “It’s
Goin’ Down” with Diddy was
one of the eventfs most talked
about acts.
“It happened at the last
These
‘Blocks’
don’t
quite fit
J6 Blocks
Bruce Willis, Mos Def
David Morse, Cylk Cozart
Richard Donner. director
Richard Donner did a great
job directing “Lethal
Weapon,” a buddy/cop picture
that sometimes was ov^ly
violent and full of foul lan
guage, but had chemistry and
was exciting to watch.
“16 Blocks,” Donner’s latest
foray into the genre, lacks the
former and certainly isn’t the
latter.
Bruce Willis and Mos Def
are good in the lead roles, but
David Morse is best. He’s got
the bad cop nearly down to a
science. Still, there isn’t
enou^ between the charac-
.ters to keep the film movir^.
Willis actually says very little
in the film. He’s Jack Mosley
a nearly washed-up cop who
gets to transport a minor hood
to testify Turns out Eddie
Bunker (Mos Def) is to testify
about dirty cops. Mosley
quickly finds himself having
to fend ofi" rouge cops, includ
ing his ex-partner Frank
Ni^nt (Morse), that want to
erase Bunker. Mosley has 118
minutes to get Bunker 18
blocks or the kid’s testimony
will be useless. Ihats actual
ly 16 minutes longer than the
film
Good premise. Not a bad
script. Even solid acting. But
something just doesn’t click.
The action scenes don’t have
an edge, which is somethfijg
Donner has always been able
to pull off There’s a lot of ran
dom shootii^ with only a few
people being hit. Even a bios
crash looks a bit ho-hum.
Nothing seems to catch fire.
The few moments of suspense
or action don’t last long
enot^.
The film’s biggest problem is
Bunker. You root for the guy
to do the right thing but his
voice is so whiny you fi.nd
yourself wishing the police
would shoot him.
Donner tries to rectify the '
film’s flaws by going fer a
sappy storybook endii^ that
doesn’t fit There’s an alter
nate ending on the DVD as
well as director’s comments
and deleted scenes.
Wherever her craft carries
her in the world, Broadway
or Bangladesh, Cooper relish
es the magic moments that
happen when barriers
between people fade into tiie
music and dancing. She looks
forward to continuing to trav
el the world learning new cul
tures and meeting new peo
ple.
“I’m always going to per
form. No matter what else I
do, performing will always be
a part of my fife.”
See Cooper in “Bombay
Dreams” this weekend at
Blumenthal Performing Arts
Center through July 30; 130
North Ttyon Street; (704)
372.1000.
minute,” recalls Joe. “I was
supposed to perform on the
red carpet, but Diddy and
Block pulled their juice cards
because I had the hottest sin
gle and it happened.”
Energy, said Joe, is part of
his show because he wants to
interact with the crowd and
show his personality
“When I first dropped and
did interviews, people saw
that I wasn’t just talking hood
(mess),” he said. ‘You have to
diversify your talent and
ejqjand you horizons.”
Ihe companion video for
Please see JOC/2D
Ratings
Classic;
Excellent
Good
' ys yays
Fair
Why?
iS'
No starc
-A mess
>o