ENTERTAINMENT
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: School Of The Arts To
i Conduct Area Auditions
WINSTON-SALEM-The North
Carolina School of the Arts will con
duct auditions and interviews for pro
spective students in the Raleigh area
as well as the eastern part of the state
on Saturday, Feb. U, in Raleigh. This
is part of an annual regional audition
tour across the state for the School of
the Arts.
Other auditions/interviews are
schedule*! for Feb. 25 in Charlotte and
March 4 in Hendersonville.
These auditions/interviews are for
.students who wish to enroll in the
School of the Arts’ professional artist
training programs in dance (high
school and college), drama (college
only), design and production (college
only) and visual arts (high school on
ly). These auditions are reserved for
North Carolina residents only.
“We’re continuing our practice of
scheduling regional auditions to allow
prospective NCSA students the oppor
tunity to audition or interview closer
to home," said Edward T. Brake, ex
ecutive director of enrollment and ad
missions at NCSA. “Winston-Salem is
an excellent central location in the
state, but it’s still a long drive from
Asheville or liocky Mount. We don’t
want any North Carolinian to miss his
or her chance to become an NCSA
student by not being able to make it to
Winston-Salem to audition.
“By taking our auditions on the
road to these regions of the state, we
hope to reach all talented
students—including those in rural
areas,” Brake continued. “We want
to encourage talented North Caroli
nians to take advantage of the great
opportunity that exists for them right
in their own backyard, at the School
of the Arts. ”
Students interested in audition
ing/interviewing must make ar
rangements in advance with NCSA’s
admissions office, 1-770-3291, P.0
Box 12189, Winston-Salem 27117-2189.
- J • < '
Melba Moore Closeup:
Talented Star On Move
Melba Moore is such a diverse in
dividual that her talents span various
areas in the entertainment world. Ms.
Moore has recently been doing a lot of
television projects in addition to
working on her coming album.
Melva will be seen on the tube in
different television programs as a
presenter, a performer, and co-host.
In January, she and “L.A. Law’s”
Blair Underwood appeared on the
Johnson Publishing Co.'s Black
Achievement Awards as performers
as well as presenters. Underwood got
some help from Melba with his
television singing debut when they
performed "Everything Old is New
Again.” She looked spectacular in a
fuchsia/silk organza off-the-shoulder
minidress ensemble.
While it’s cold and blustery in
February, Cleveland residents will
get a warm vacation treat as they
watch Melba on AM Cleveland’s
Princess Cruise Ship Caribbean
getaway special. Melba will be seen
performing "Love and Kisses” as
well as “Falling” in an Akira
Jevender strapless chiffon tunic over
darker lavender leggings.
If you don’t live in Cleveland, you
can still see Melba in a tropical set
ting in Santo Domingo. The beautiful
island is the background setting for
Melba as she stays at the Casa da
Campo. This luxurious resort has the
ultimate accommodations—an entire
villa, with maid service and security
for each guest.
Curious star-watchers will get an
inside look when “Lifestyles of the
Rich and Famous’’ spends a day with
Melba. “Lifestyles” will show her
shopping in New York, having lunch
with her daughter, and brainstorm
ing with her Capitol Records team.
Melb- ’s fans who enjoyed her in the
hit Broadway play “Hair" will get to
see her talk about the '60s on “Hour
Magazine's” '60s special. She per
formed “Hair” and “Good Morning
Star Shine” from the musical.
Flori Roberts has not only centered
an entire magazine campaign around
Melba, but the company has also
created a lipstick, nail enamel, and
blusher called Red Melba. Women of
color will be able to purchase these
products in the spring.
Creative Opportunity
Theater Group Molds Child Actors
BY JUDITH S. ANDREWS
Special To The CAROLINIAN
WASHINGTON, D. C.-Eddie
Robinson is a 10-year-old who has
been dancing since kindergarten.
What he wants most in life is to make
it on the stage and, by most accounts,
he is well on his way.
He has recently been called back to
audition for a television series and
has a coming role in a play about
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the late
Harlem legislator.
Like Eddie, 12-year-old Kellie
Williams has been performing for
most of her young life. She appeared
in August Wilson’s celebrated play,
“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” and
was recently in Philadelphia filming
a television drama titled “Lost and
Found.”
Another 12-year-old, Eric Coles, is
looking forward to his first television
role in ABC’s new series “A Man Call
ed Hawk.”
All three of these children polish
their performing skills as members
of the Kelsey E. Collie Playmakers
Repertory Company, which is
recognized in the nation’s capital as
Chuck Davis
Brings Dance
To Laodicea
The Laodicea Black Arts
Cultural Society, under the
auspices of Laodicea United
Church of Christ, will sponsor the
Chuck Davis and Durham Arts
Council African dance troupes on
Saturday, Feb. 4, at 5 p.m, Both
dance troupes will present danc
ing, poetry and drama; some of
the presentations will feature
students from Enloe High School.
This event is in celebration of
black history and will be held at
Wake County Opportunities, 567
Hargett St.
Admission will be $2.50 or $1.50
with four canned gods. The cann
ed goods will benefit the Wake
Opportunities Food Pantry. The
public is invited for a wonderful
and exciting night of entertain
ment.
Marsalis Profiled
As Double Winner
A “Great Performances” presenta
tion of “Wynton Marsalis: Blues and
Swing” profiles the first artist ever
awarded Grammys in both the
classical and jazz categories in the
same year. At 9 p.m. Monday, Feb.
27, Marsalis approaches the art of
jazz as the extension of the tradition
of the great musicians who preceded
him: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ell
ington, Thelonius Monk, Charlie
Parker and John Coltrane.
In this Black History Month
special, Marsalis talks about these
jazz greats and their contributions to
music. The program highlights his
remarkable talent as a trumpet vir
tuoso and presents him in concerl
with his versatile jazz quartet: Mar
dus Roberts on piano, Robert Hurst
on bass, Jeff Watts on drums anc
Todd Williams on saxophone.
“Wynton Marsalis: Blues and Sw
ing” also follows the artist as h<
coaches young musicians in a mastei
class at Harvard and a much youngei
group of students at the Duke Ell
ington School of the Arts ii
Washington. D C.
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the premier training ground for
talented black youngsters with
theatrical ambitions.
Founded in 1976, the repertory com
pany is an outgrowth of the Howard
University Children’s Theater
Workshop, an annual summer pro
gram that attracts youngsters ages 7
to 17 from around the nation.
The Playmakers meet each Satur
day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in
Howard’s College of Fine Arts, which
has produced the likes of former
“Fame” television star Debbie Allen
and Phylicia Rashad of “The Cosby
Show.”
While the summer theater has open
admissions, an audition is required
for admission to the select
Playmakers group, primarily com
posed of 34 talented youngsters from
a variety of urban and suburban
homes in the Washington, D.C.
metropolitan area.
With kids like Robinson, Williams
and Coles, who get called regularly
for both in- and out-of-town auditions,
this company of performers has gain
ed a reputation that keeps Kelsey E.
Collie, a Howard drama professor, in
touch with Hollywood and New York
producers when they are looking to
cast black kids.
“Recently, Lyn Stalmaster, a
Hollywood casting director, was look
ing for two little boys for a movie and
he called us,” says Collie, with a look
of obvious delight on his face.
’“Right now, here in Washington,
we have the greatest number of black
kids who are trained and ready to
audition,” he stresses.
Collie believes his kids are suc
cessful more often than not in audi
tions because of his comprehensive
approach to theatrical training. “We
teach everything, not just acting. We
have courses in voice, dance, and
most importantly we train them how
to audition,” he emphasizes.
Take dancer Eddie Robinson for
example. He never considered
himself much of a singer but is now
taking voice lessons from one of
several instructors who work each
week with the kids. In a profession
where performers are always looking
for that all-important edge, he
believes singing will give him an add
ed dimension when he is called to
audition. A
Ervin Williams, who has had his
daughter Kellie before the bright
lights since she was four years old,
says that she approached a recent
screentest with confidence because of
her work with Collie and the
Playmakers,
“It’s possible a Disney movie could
come out of this for her,” says the
proud father. “We can’t break away
from this group even though Kellie
has been earning pretty good money
for several years.”
While all of these kids in the reper
tory group may not go on to stardom
or even have the chance to earn large
sums of money, what they db receive
ie a strong sense of themselves as
doers and capable Individuals. They
also get the opportunity to travel.
Last year, they made appearances
in Mlfttht and the Bahamas. They
plan to perform this year in Toronto.
TRAINING GROUND—The Kelsey E. Cede Haymakers i ite repertory groop Is an ootgrowth al the Howard UnfroraNy
Repretory Company la recognized as the premier training ChMren’s Theater Workshop,
ground for talented black youngsters In the nation's capital.
“For Colored Girls, ” Acclaimed
Broadway Drama Staged At UNC
CHAPEL HILL-Poet Ntozake
Shange’s “For Colored Girls Who
Have Considered Suicide When the
Rainbow is Enuf” will be presented
at the University of North Carolina al
Chapel Hill on Jan. 31.
A bonus presentation of the
Carolina Union’s 1988-89 Performing
Arts Series, the acclaimed Broadway
drama will be on the Memorial Hall
stage at 8 p.m.
hirst performed in bars and cafes
in New York and San Francisco, the
drama opened on Broadway in
Carolina Blues
Still Survives
In Birth Area
The Carolina blues—traditional
music of mid-’206 Southeastern black
culture—still survives, as danceable
and evocative today as in the era of
its birth. Experience its driving
rhythms, expressiveness and com
plexity in North Carolina Public
Television’s original production
“Step It Up and Go: Blues
Carolinas,” at 10 p.m. Friday
24.
The hour of living history
in musical profiles of sisters Etta
Baker and Cora Phillips of Morgan
ton; James "Jr,” Thomas of
Wendell; Anthony Pough, formerly of
Gastonia; Thomas Burt of Durham;
James “Guitar Slim" Stephens of
Greensboro; Moses Rascoe, formerly
of Snow Hill; John D. Hoieman of
Durham; Algie Mae Hinton of
Zebulon; and the Thompson family—
Joe, Odell and Nathanlel-of Mebane.
With guitars, banjos, fiddles, piano,
homemade wind and percussion In
struments, and voices rich in tradi
tion, these remarkable artists reaf
firm a music’s past and mark new
milestones for its future. Despite
.shrinking audiences and ever
changing conditions, they and other
outstanding blues performers persist.
Until, the early decades of this
century, Southeastern blacks called
their instrumentally-accompanied
secular music “reds” or “rags,”
terms used interchangeably to denote
differences in tempo. By the mid-’Ms,
this music had evolved to emphasize
lyrics in standard tune structures,
and the guitar had replaced the banjo
“■-% lead instrument. The
September 1976. Since 1978 numerous
touring companies, a .London produc
tion and more than SO regional
theaters have presented the drama.
A celebration of being black and
female, “For Colored Girls..."
spotlights seven women in a series of
dramatic scenes, many with dance
and song, but most spoken with sim
ple directness and fierce passion.
The play moves through many set
tings, geographic and emotional. It
presents a series of portraits: a
school girl’s swing through the excite
ment ui her graduation night; an
adolescent’s search for a black saint
by the St. Louis waterfront; and the
hypnotic transformation of a carnival
dancer into an ancient Egyptian god
dess.
Later, in the city section of the per
formance, a bitter young woman
navigates the streets of Harlem
while, in another set, an angry poet
severs herself from an indifferent
lover. In a scene of horror, a ghetto
mother relives the careless murder of
her two small children.
Occasionally the language is raw
and shocking, yet it is appropriate for >
the content of the drama. “For Col
ored Oirls...” is fuiea w»ui music—
jazz, soul, salsa.
For tickets or more information,
call 1-962-1449. VISA and MasterCard
are accepted.