Features

The Ru Report #164

Give My Regards … Back Again
Living legend Leslie Uggams is back on the boards. The Broadway boards that is.

The multi-talented Tony Award-winner is currently receiving rave reviews for her role in the new production of "On Golden Pond," which has audiences lining up at The Cort Theater for eight shows a week.

"I'm very excited," the Washington Heights-bred thespian told "The RU Report" about the play, helmed by "Master Class" director Leonard Foglia and starring the remarkable, two time Tony Award winner James Earl Jones. "I was just saying to my husband that this is so exciting."

With a revised script by original playwright Ernest Thompson (who also won an Academy Award for adapting his own play into the screenplay for the 1981 hit film starring Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, Dabney Coleman and Jane Fonda), the new version of "On Golden Pond" features Linda Powell, Peter Francis James, Craig Bockhorn and Alexander Mitchell in the classic story about the lovable curmudgeon and his spirited wife--a couple whose final summer at their lakeside cottage in Maine is interrupt ed by the arrival of their estranged daughter and her fiancé's young son.

It's a timeless story about bridging the generation gap and overcoming familial hardships. The Jeffrey Finn-produced masterpiece is the very first major U.S. production to feature African-American performers playing the family (representing a majority of the characters in the play).

"I mean I love the play," Ms. Uggams continued. "I think people are pleasantly surprised with our rendition of it, because we're different people."

"It's much funnier than they remember it being," she added. "And I think… this is a different animal than what people expect to see since they've seen the movie."

Noting that she did not have any reservations about stepping in Ms. Hepburn's shoes as the female lead in the story, Ms. Uggams revealed that there was a certain variable that drew her in. "All I thought about was: 'Wow, I really loved the story and James Earl Jones -- what a fabulous journey this is going to be.' To be opposite of James Earl Jones is unbelievable. I have to pinch myself."

Ms. Uggams, who won a Tony Award in 1968 for her star turn in "Hallelujah, Baby!," is no newcomer to the Great White Way. She's starred in a string of high-profiled shows, including August Wilson's "King Headley II," which she was nominated for a Tony Award for. "Anything Goes," "Jerry's Girls" and "Blues in the Night" are also in her repertoire. Her most recent Broadway stint was in the Tony Award winning musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie" in 2003.

"I just love theater," she gushed about her stage work.

Ms. Uggams, who turns 62 on May 25, credits revolutionary Black theater maverick Woodie King, Jr. for bringing her back to the live theater realm, after achieving success on television. "I did [theater] for a while, and then I went out to Hollywood like everybody goes out to Hollywood and some do great and some don't do that great. I was out there. But I was always back and forth," the former Apollo Theater singer shared.

"It was really Woodie who got the ball rolling," she continued. "I was receiving an award from the National Black Arts Theater Festival and he said 'You know, it's the 20th Anniversary of 'Black Girl' and you played the ingénue and I'd like you to play the mother down at the Federal Theater' and I was like 'Ah, that's interesting.' I loved doing the movie --it was a wonderful story-- so I wound up doing it for him. And because of that a playwright named John Henry Redwood saw me do it and gave me the script to "The Old Settler," and from there I was approached to do "King Headley II." So it's interesting how things flowed."

Ms. Uggams, who is happily married to debonair Australian actor Graham Pratt and the mother of two grown children (Danielle and Justice)--also entertainers, has always known how to go with the flow. An accomplished singer, Ms. Uggams performs jazz-styled concerts across the globe. She even recently released "On My Way To You," a sublime opus of sultry jazz and Bossa Nova featuring her interpretations of the songs of Alan and Marilyn Bergman.

And of course I would be remiss if I didn't mention that fact that television audiences, worldwide, remembers her fondly as Kizzy Kente--the heroine of the historical Alex Hailey miniseries "Roots." That's the Emmy Award-nominated role that she still can't shake, nearly 30 years later.

"Oh God," she smiled. "I mean, what a woman.. I just admire her so, so much. Through everything she had to go through, she was a survivor. She was a great survivor and she was able to take it up a notch with her son because he was going to be doing better than what she did, so she was not going to diminish in his eyes in any way. In order for him to survive she had to be a strong woman."

She added that people still refer to her as the precocious slave-woman. But she doesn't take offense. "I love it, absolutely. I can't be prouder than ever playing that part. And I welcome it."

"I just love what I do," Ms. Uggams concluded about how her work inspires her. "I love getting a new project and working on it and watching it. It's like getting a little seed and watering it and watching it grow. And that's me, every time I face another project. I'm always excited about it because it's something else to try and to grow. And I'm always willing to learn more."

SHOWtime
White Milk and Red Blood is the fabric woven throughout the masterful new musical "Dessa Rose," currently playing at The Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater At Lincoln Center.

Based on the provocative novel of the same name by the late Sherley Anne Williams, "Dessa Rose" is the fictional story of two real women--a rambunctious runaway slave with a mind all her own, who is the title character, and Ruth, an abandoned plantation owner's wife with a heart of gold. These two lead characters embark on an unanticipated and perilous journey through the pre-Civil War south.

The Pulitzer Prize-nominated Ms. Williams, who passed away at the age of 54 before the musical was completed, was the first African-American literature professor at the University of California at San Diego.

Starring the single-moniker Broadway darling LaChanze in the lead role, it's safe to say that "Dessa Rose," is the most moving musical to open in New York this season. Sponsored by AT&T: OnStage, administered by the Theatre Communications Group, the resounding work of art features a rousing musical direction by David Holcenberg and orchestrations by William David Brohn and Christopher Jahnke.

In addition to LaChanze and Rachel York (who holds her own amongst some of Black theater's best voices), the cast of "Dessa Rose" features Tina Fabrique, Kecia Lewis, Norm Lewis, William Parry, Soara-Joye Ross, James Stovall Michael Hayden, Rebecca Eichenberger, David Hess and Eric Jordan Young.

At first, I chided at the thought of, yet, another big Broadway musical production about such sensitive subject matter, but at the urging of theatrical marketing guru Marcia Pendleton I saw the light. And it shined so brightly. It's okay that the slave narrative is being championed once again on the New York stage. In an era littered with young people not even knowing who Sojourner Truth is and was, it's important that these works live on.

Presented by Andre Bishop and Bernard Gersten and directed by Graciela Daniele, "Dessa Rose" is one hell of a show. It's worth seeing during its limited run. (www.lct.org)

Stages
Vocal virtuoso Billy Porter is making his way to the Great White Way, with his latest role in Cheryl L. West's "Birdie Blue," which starts previews at New York City's Second Stage Theater on May 31. In the latest production from the author of the acclaimed "Jar The Floor," the incomparable S. Epatha Merkerson plays the lead as the tough, funny, and big-hearted factory worker named Birdie Blue. The Obie Award-winning actress, who most recently garnered high marks in George C. Wolfe's HBO film "Lackawanna Blues," is just completing her 12th season as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on NBC's long running drama "Law & Order." Mr. Porter, who recently turned New York's Public Theater inside out with his autobiographical show "Ghetto Superstar," is elated to share the stage with Ms. Merkerson, who also shook up The Public Theater stage in previous productions. "S. Epatha is the bomb," he told "The RU Report" earlier this week. "I will be honored to share the stage with her and I'm looking forward to learning something special." Mr. Porter's previous Broadway credits include "Grease," "Miss Saigon," "Five Guys Named Moe," and "Smokey Joe's Café." "I'm looking forward to doing a straight play in New York," the newly-liberated self-proclaimed 'Black Broadway Bitch' added. "I haven't had the opportunity to do one in NYC in about a decade." The Pittsburgh native has also appeared in the films "The Broken Hearts Club," "The Intern," "Twisted," and "Noel" with Susan Sarandon and Robin Williams. This spring, he releases his sophomore album, "At The Corner Of Broadway + Soul!" featuring collaborations with Capathia Jenkins, Aisha de Haas, Marty Thomas, James Sampliner and Michael McElroy & The Broadway Inspirational Voices. And the multiple award-winning Miss West, who also worked her playwright-ing magic on "Play On!" and the Showtime movie "Holiday Heart," is currently adapting "Jar The Floor" for Paramount and is working on the musical "Rejoice!," to be directed by "Raisin In The Sun" director Kenny Leon. Directed by Seret Scott, "Birdie Blue" is scheduled to play through July 17 at Second Stage Theatre. The project is supported in part by an award from the national endowment for the arts. (www.secondstagetheatre.com)

Nominations for the 50th Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced last week at the New York Friars Club by actors Lynn Redgrave, currently rehearsing for The Roundabout Theatre Company's production of "The Constant Wife," and Robert Goulet, who recently joined the Broadway cast of "La Cage aux Folles." The hottest ticket in town "Monty Python's Spamalot" snagged 12 nominations, while Lincoln Center's "The Light in the Piazza" and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, received 11 and 10 nods, respectively. Off the 29 shows nominated for multiple awards, "On Golden Pond," received zero nominations; zilch; kaput. That's clearly not an oversight. The Drama Desk Awards have been compared as to The Tony Awards what the Golden Globe Awards are to The Oscars. For headliner James Earl Jones, who is believed to definitely be a contender come Tony time, to not be nominated for an award is shameful. And while the savage "Julius Caesar" was a tough production to swallow, the Denzel Washington-helmed production didn't drum up any nominations either. Described--in jest--as "an expensive nap," critics have panned the modernized Shakespearean revival. It has been considered box-office gold, with all of its marketing pizzazz, nonetheless. But still no banana! The 2004–2005 Drama Desk Nominating Committee consists of independent theatrical media members Barbara Siegel (TheaterMania.com), William Wolf (WolfEntertainmentGuide.com), Andy Buck (Playbill), Michael Buckley (Playbill On-Line), Christopher Byrne (Gay City News), Andrew Propst (American Theater Web) and Richard Ridge (Broadway Beat TV). The awards will be presented on May 22 at the F. H. LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center, hosted by Harvey Fierstein. A live webcast will be available at www.Theatermania.com.

Funnyman Mario Cantone is ready for his close-up with Showtime's exclusive presentation of his hilarious Broadway one-man show "Laugh Whore," which will premiere on May 28 at 9:00 PM (ET/PT). The critically acclaimed tour-de-force originated at Broadway's Cort Theater, last October. Written and performed by Mr. Cantone –who starred as super-gay wedding stylist Anthony Marentino on "Sex & The City"--"Laugh Whore" is a no-holds-barred autobiographical romp which finds the New England native ranting, raving and singing his face off. It's quite a sight to see--a full out spectacle that will have you falling out of your seat. Tony Award winner Joe Mantello, who also directed "Wicked," "Take Me Out" and "Love, Valour and Compassion," gave "Laugh Whore" his magic touch. Mr. Cantone's recent stage credits include turns in Broadway's short-lived show "The Violet Hour" and the Tony Award winning "Assassins." A Comedy Central network staple, he has also appeared in Off-Broadway's "The Crumple Zone." And for the folks who are really good at trivia, he got his start on TV hosting the local New York children's show "Steampipe Alley."

If you don't know, now you know!

Notable/Quotable
"I discovered that alcohol kills pain. Medicines don't work, but alcohol does. I did it consciously for a while to kill the pain."
--Tony Award nominated "tough broad" actress Kathleen Turner, who has returned to The Great White Way in "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolfe?"

Next Week
"The RU Report" continues its celebration of the theatrical arts with our annual "Give My Regards…" series, which runs throughout the entire month of May, preceding the Tony Awards. Nominations for this year's awards will be announced on Tuesday, May 10. Stay tuned.

©2005 The Ru Report™. All Rights Reserved~~Daniels-Goldstein, P.O. Box #25 Bushkill PA 18324

Message Karu F Daniels or email him directly at therureport@aol.com