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Dawoud Bey (b. 1953), Michael-Anthony Allen and George Washington, 2012,
The Birmingham Project, at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. The complete photo series may be found at the National Gallery website here.
When he was just a boy of 11, Dawoud Bey
(b.1953) saw a photograph in a book his parents brought home which
profoundly affected his life, haunting him, and laying the foundation
for his pursuit of photography as a profession.
Now, his works are collected throughout the world and are found at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Barbican Centre in London, the Cleveland
Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Detroit
Institute of Arts, the High Museum of Art, London's National Portrait Gallery, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington where an exhibition, the Birmingham Project, by Mr. Bey is displayed through tomorrow.
Dawoud Bey (b. 1953) with Betty Selvage and Faith Speights, 2012, The Birmingham Project, at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., September 11, 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie
The life-changing photograph showed a girl near Mr. Bey's age who lay in a hospital bed, her eyes covered with cotton balls, blinded in one eye, her face embedded with glass, caused by the bomb explosion at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963.
The Ku Klux Klan attack on the church took the life of the girl's sister and three other young girls as they got ready to sing at church.
Dawoud Bey at the exhibition, The Birmingham Project, at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., September 11, 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie
The exhibition includes diptychs of photos of four adults who are the ages the children would be today, and four children at ages the victims were in 1963.
Mr. Bey spent seven years on the project which includes a video of two screens which shows scenes in slow motion the girls might have seen from a car on their way to church that Sunday
morning, and every day city sights from 1963 in Birmingham. Original music composed by Mr. Bey's son, Ramon Alvarez-Smikle, accompanies the presentation.
Dawoud Bey introducing the exhibition, The Birmingham Project, at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., September 11, 2018/Photo by Patricia Leslie
The girls who died were Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Carol Denise
McNair (11), Carole Robertson (14), and Cynthia Wesley (age 14). All but Ms. McNair were born in April, 1949 which would make them 70 years old this month.
Seven hours after the Ku Klux Klan's bomb killed the choristers, two more black youths, Johnny Robinson and Virgil Ware, were shot to death in Birmingham.
It took the U.S. government 14 years to prosecute the first murderer, and one of the four suspects was never tried.
The photograph of Sarah Collins is included in an 11-minute interview with Mr. Bey which is shown in a nearby gallery and may also be seen here. He says that the Sarah Collins photograph "shook me to the core." In his research, he discovered the two boys' deaths have mostly been overlooked.
The children's deaths outraged the public and helped produce more support for the passage of the Civil Rights Act the next year.
With continuing public exhibitions and education about the tragedy and infinite focus on the lives of innocents taken by intolerant extremists who live among us today, the legacies of six Birmingham children live.
What: Dawoud Bey: The Birmingham Project
When: Now through tomorrow (Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m.to 6 p.m.). Open on Easter.
Where: Gallery 22 on the ground floor of the West Building between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.
Admission charge: No charge
Metro stations closest to the National Gallery of Art are the Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives and L'Enfant Plaza.
For more information: 202-737-4215
patricialesli@gmail.com
From left are Matthew Schleigh as Max, John Treacy Egan as Beppo, and Alan Wade as
Saunders in Ken Ludwig's A Comedy of Tenors /Photo by Stan Barouh
What is opera without sex? Not opera!
The year is 1936 in Paris where a zany group of stars beset by egos and threatened manhood (imagine) jeopardize the staging of the sold-out "concert of the century."
The show may not go on, after all.
The
hand-wringing producer (Alan Wade is Saunders) has become a madman with
only three hours left to get the team ready for the really big show.
From left, exiting over the balcony is Allyson Boate as Mimi, Alan Naylor as Carlo (hidden behind the door), Emily Townley as Maria, and
John Treacy Egan as Tito in Ken Ludwig's A Comedy of Tenors /Photo by Stan Barouh
A Comedy of Tenors by Tony winner (Lend Me a Tenor ) Ken Ludwig, with some Shakespeare on steroids and Verdi
and Puccini thrown in, is the featured performance at Olney Theatre Center, but you don't have to like opera to laugh a lot.
Just come for the enjoyment.
We did and got our just rewards, all right.
Temperaments, mixed-up identities, and escapades fill the show.
John Treacy Egan is Beppo and Patricia Hurley is Racón in Ken Ludwig's A Comedy of Tenors /Photo by Stan Barouh
In an elegant hotel suite (designed by Charlie Calvert) the opera star, Tito (John Treacy Egan) arrives after a flight (a fight?) with his wife, the animated and dynamic Maria (Emily Townley) whom Tito shortly "discovers" is having an affair with their daughter's fiancé (Carlo is Alan Naylor)! A man, 20 years younger! (Imagine)
Heartbroken, the inconsolable Tito forfeits his stage appearance, unable to sing one possible note.
Producer Saunders is beside himself. Now, two hours and counting. Whatever shall he do?
To the rescue from out in the hallway comes a super bellman bearing a striking resemblance to Tito with a voice to match (and a lover of Tito's "fruits," too).
Also arriving in town is a Russian diva and "other woman"(!), Racón (Patricia Hurley), a former Tito paramour, who wants to partake of Tito's "talents," too.
From door-to-(four)-doors and woman-to-woman, the men doth move, and over the balcony railing, to the gasps of the audience, daughter Mimi (Allyson Boate) throws herself, dress billowing, and arms flailing as she makes one giant leap for womankind (which was sur real).
The outstanding, sonorous voices of the three tenors singing together (Egan, Naylor, and Matthew Schleigh as Max) soon gave me pause to wonder if it was a tape, but my seatmate, Olney apprentice, Meghan McVann, set me straight, that the voices were real, belonged to the artists, and were on stage. (Kudos to McCorkle Casting.)
All the performers excel at their assignments but it is Maria, Mrs.Tito, who especially shines among the stars, a standout whose exaggerated mannerisms, dramatic gestures, and histrionics more than effectively convey her character.
Director Jason King Jones deserves much applause for getting the performers to their places on time.
Seth M. Gilbert's costumes are perfect for the period (and now), upper-class smaltzy, elegant, and operatic.
Mr. Ludwig attended the opening night show and afterwards, cast, crew, and audience celebrated another big hit in Olney.
Other crew members are Sonya Dowhaluk, lighting; Casey Kaleba, fight director; LaShawn Melton, wigs; Justin Schmitz, sound; Brianne Taylor, dialects; Cat Wallis and Ben Walsh, stage managers; and Dennis A. Blackledge, director of production.
What: A Comedy of Tenors by Ken Ludwig
Where: Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832.
When: Wednesday through
Saturday at 8 p.m. with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Wednesday matinee May 1 at 2 p.m. An audio-described performance for the blind and visually impaired Wednesday, April 24, at 8 p.m. and a
sign-interpreted performance Thursday, May 2 at 8 p.m.
Tickets: Begin at $42 with discounts for groups, seniors, military, and students
Ages: Olney rates Tenors as "PG-13."
"Afterwords": After Saturday matinees on April 20, 27 and May 4 and 11.
Duration: Almost two hours with one 15 minute intermission
Refreshments: Available and may be taken to seats
Parking: Free, lighted and plentiful on-site
For more information: 301-924-3400 for the box office or 301-924-4485.
patricialesli@gmail.com
A commemorative stamp issued in 1973 celebrating the life and works of George Gershwin, including Porgy and Bess/U.S.Postal Service
Hurry to Baltimore tonight or tomorrow for a knockout performance by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Morgan State University Choir in concert with national opera stars who present George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.
You ain't heard nuthin' 'til you hear (and see) this.
Another commemorative stamp issued in 1973 celebrating George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess/U.S.Postal Service
It's performed with spine-tingling songs, duets and trios, ("Summertime," "It Ain't Necessarily So," "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin,'') by singers who act, move, and dance, far more than anticipated for a concert opera.
Who needs sets with glamour like this flowing across and above the stage? Which is where the Morgan State Choir stood in all-black ensembles, about 50 voices strong, under the direction of Eric Conway.
The show's director, Hana S. Sharif, excels with her cast and crew, including effective, unnamed fight and sound managers.
The words to the music are screened above the performers, but the production stands on its own, and the words are unnecessary.
In 2015 the Morgan State University Choir sang at the White House for President and Mrs. Barack Obama in a televised live performance/Photo, Morgan State University Choir
Excellent, essential contributions by the BSO's xylophonist and pianist produce a hush in several places when they play solo, always under the capable direction of Conductor Marin Alsop.
While I waited in line to order my dinner at Strathmore before the Thursday evening performance, the couple behind me told me they had come just for the choir.
"Have you heard them?" they asked me.
No, I had come just for Porgy and Bess which I've heard and seen many times.
"Well, just you wait!" they exclaimed. "They are outstanding!" And they were, combined with the soloists and orchestra.
One of the soloists is the talented tenor, Larry Hylton, another star graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, who played Sportin' News, and there he was, a'prancin' and dancin' across the floor, back and forth, in yellow pants and a top hat made to stand out.
The show is a fast-paced exhibition by George Gershwin (1898-1937) which takes place in Charleston, S.C. during the Great Depression, when a woman, Bess, becomes the property of one man, Crown,
then another, Porgy, and finally, Sportin’ Life, who carries her away to New York.
No matter how many time you have seen this show, the exceptional tunes endure.
Bass-baritone Robert Cantrell is Porgy who carries the role fittingly, strong and rich, while he limps in suspenders across the stage, aided by a crutch, but it's the powerful voice of baritone Lester Lynch as Crown who makes his presence keenly felt even before he enters the stage. He commands the crowd's attention and sets the pace for the action, whisking Bess away to his land of no forgiveness.
Soprano Laquita Mitchell is the beautiful Bess who dashes out in a bright red, sexy dress to catch the hand of the most available.
The first mid-act applause followed soprano Reyna Carguill's incredible solo as Serena, who delivers "My Man's Gone Now," after Crown's murder of her husband, Robbins (Joshua Jones).
Another show-stopper is soprano Jasmine Habersham
who plays Clara and begins the show serenading "Summertime" to her baby until her husband, Jake (Cameron Potts) comes on stage to cradle their child and croon "A Woman is a Sometime Thing."
Alexandra Crichlow Bradshaw is the distinguished Maria who joins Ms. Carguill and Mr. Cantrell in the closing of "Bess, Oh Where's My Bess?"
Porgy takes leave of the stage singing "Oh, Lawd, I'm On My Way" to follow Sportin' Life and his Bess to New York.
Not to miss!
What: Porgy and Bess by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Morgan State University Choir and more
When: Tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.
Where: Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St.
Baltimore 21201
How much: Tickets information is at the link. For special "Young and Free" discounts at the Sunday performance, click here.
For more information: Call 410-783-8000.
I'm on my way....
to Baltimore
I'm on my way
to a heav'nly land
for in that town
I'll hear the grand
music o'er the land
Oh Lawd, I'm on my way
I'm on my way to a heav'nly land
I'll ride that long, long road
If You are there to guide my hand
Oh Lawd, I'm on my way
I'm on my way to a heav'nly land
Oh Lawd, it's a long, long way
But You'll be there to take my hand
Oh, I got plenty o' nuttin'
An' nuttin's plenty fo' me
I got no car, got no mule, I got no misery
De folks wid plenty o' plenty
Got a lock an dey door
'Fraid somebody's a-goin' to rob 'em
While dey's out a-makin' more
What for?
I got no lock an de door
(Dat's no way to be)
Dey kin steal de rug from de floor
Dat's okeh wid me
'Cause de things dat I prize
Like de stars in de skies
All are free
Oh, I got plenty o' nuttin'
An' nuttin's plenty fo' me
I got my gal, got my song
Got Hebben de whole day long!
patricialesli@gmail.com
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