Opera opens FILM students eyes to Ville...Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, James Moody and ... guitar...
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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 24 - 30, 2014 C4 once I heard jazz I was like, ‘This is the music I’m supposed to be playing.’” He has performed with Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, James Moody and many other household names of jazz. He has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival and many festivals throughout Europe. When Williams takes his seat at the piano, it’s anyone’s guess where he will go. What is guaranteed is that audiences will be delighted while listening to the sounds that transition from stroll to sprint at any given chord progression. The Whitaker Ivory Perry Park Concert Series will take place on Sunday, July 27 at 6 p.m. at Ivory Perry Park (Intersection of Belt and Cabanne). The final installment will take place on Sunday, August 24 and will feature The Uncensored Band. The concerts are free and open to the public. CONCERT Continued from C1 five decades. “The entire thing was a challenge,” Boseman said. “When I looked at the role, I was scared because there was no part of it that was straightforward.” He had to perform at a manic pace to convey the flamboyant persona and a soul troubled by a traumatic childhood and personal tragedy. “He wanted you to have that experience of seeing him in all of his glory – no matter what. I think that there is something to be said for that,” Boseman said of Brown. “There is a connection that you should want to make with people. I had to try to get rid of James Brown after we were finished filming, and I realized that there were some things that I would have to keep.” Director Tate Taylor leads Boseman and costars Nelsan Ellis, Octavia Spencer, Jill Scott, Viola Davis and Dan Aykroyd in giving insight and establishing a connection with the man behind the music. “When we met with his daughters for the film, they said, ‘Daddy didn’t talk music. He didn’t read music,’” Taylor said. “He spoke about music in terms of what feels good.” According to all parties involved, “Get on Up” will be more than just a music lesson. “James Brown was definitely a music icon and there was so much about the man in front of the music that I knew,” Spencer said, “but doing the movie I realized I knew so little about him.” The film has been more than 15 years in the making. It began with producer Brian Grazer – who had renewed the rights to produce the film with Brown personally for several years. When Brown died in 2006, things got complicated. Grazer lost the rights. Jagger won them. The two teamed up to produce the film together. Jagger sees it as a fitting, honest and comprehensive tribute to a man whose sound and signature stage experiences helped Jagger to etch his own name among the legends of music. “It tells the story of being single-minded and how he’s almost obsessed with making it and making himself out of somebody from nothing,” Jagger said. “There’s always one a price to pay for that one single-minded drive, and I think this movie shows the price you pay.” “Get On Up” opens in theatres nationwide on Friday, August 1. The film is rated R with a running time of 139 minutes. said of Frederick Douglass, the man who inspired the naming of his museum. Green’s personal collection extends from the 1850s through the 1890s with 90 percent taken by St. Louis photographers like Frederick R. Parsons and Samuel Smith. The Frederick A. Douglass Museum of African-American Vernacular Images is located inside the historic Henry W. Peters home. Green began building his personal collection of vintage photos in 1996 after a visit to Riley’s home. “He had a treasure trove of African-American artifacts,” Green said of Riley. “That day I would become a participant in preserving our culture and history.” Riley retired from teaching at St. Louis Public Schools to establish the George B. Vashon Cultural Research Center. For the last year, he has been working to rehab the mansion. He expects to open for business sometime next year. The museum will display artifacts he has collected over the years from prominent St. Louisans, like Homer G. Phillips and Tuskegee Airmen Lt. Col. Charles Lane. People should not be forgotten, Riley said. “Those people played a vital part in our community,” he said. “That’s why it’s very important that we preserve these artifacts for the young people to come in and see where we’ve come from and where we can go.” Both the Douglass museum and the Vashon center are within walking distance from the Griot. Conley was initially apprehensive of her new neighbors. “Anything new that comes on the block that is doing what you’re doing, you immediately worry about competition,” she said. “But if we work collaboratively, then we all benefit.” At the event, Conley, Green and Riley will present their respective exhibits. They will be joined by James A. Vincent, co-founder of the St. Louis African American History and Genealogy Society. The event will feature a different twist on the traditional “moveable feast,” Conley said. The event will begin and end at the Griot after attendees have visited each museum. A light reception will immediately follow the program. Attendees will also have an opportunity to become founding members of the Collectors’ Guild. The Collectors’ Guild is meant to be an ongoing educational component at The Griot that will offer hands-on workshops on how to preserve photographs or keep family documents safe. Prepaid registration is $15 per person and is required by Thursday, July 24. For additional information, call 314-241-7057 Follow me on Twitter: @ BridjesONeil. Email me: [email protected]. GRIOT Continued from C1 FILM Continued from C1 n “I had to try to get rid of James Brown after we were finished filming, and I realized there were some things that I would have to keep.” – Chadwick Boseman Local black history brought to life in ArtWorks/ Opera Theatre production By Emanuele Berry Of St. Louis Public Radio In honor of St. Louis’ 250th birthday, St. Louis ArtWorks commissioned “On Whose Shoulders We Stand: An Opera,” which focuses on the Ville. It was performed last weekend by students in the ArtWorks program. Juwaun Crawford is one of the teens in the program. With his sailor hat and shiny gold guitar crafted from cardboard and foil, he played a magnetic Chuck Berry. “You know me and Chuck Berry’s got a lot in common,” Juwaun said. “You know we like rock-n-roll and everything. He’s good with the ladies, you know. Just like me.” Although Juwaun seems to have found a kindred spirit in Chuck Berry, prior to working on the opera he knew little about the guitarist. “I box in the Ville,” said Juwaun. “So, I didn’t even know that Chuck Berry came from Sumner High School until now.” Learning is one of the fundamental parts of St. Louis ArtWorks, a nonprofit that offers art-centric job training to teens in underserved communities. For the past five weeks, nearly 20 students from around St. Louis have worked with a professional lead artist to create and perform the opera about the Ville neighborhood. The Ville is bound by Martin Luther King Drive on the south and St. Louis Avenue on the north. Taylor Avenue and Sarah Street mark the Ville’s western and eastern edges. This area was once one of the few places blacks could live under restrictive covenants. Within these enforced boundaries, the African- American community prospered. In 1875, Sumner High School became the first black high school west of the Mississippi. In the early 1900s, residents of the Ville successfully lobbied to have Sumner moved to the neighborhood. The Ville was also home to Homer G. Phillips Hospital and Poro College. John Wright is a retired educator and author who grew up in the Ville. One of his books details the community’s past. Wright said that, in under a square mile, the Ville offered limitless opportunities. “The teachers, many of them who taught in the school lived in the Ville,” Wright said, “so when you walked out you saw … the doctors and lawyers … you saw role models.” When housing restrictions were removed, people left the Ville. The hospital is now a retirement home; the Poro facilities are gone. Many of the schools are closed. Destiny Mayes plays a grandmother in The Ville Opera. She says she wants the opera to inspire people to restore the Ville to its past glory. “I think it could create hope for people,” Mayes said, “saying, ‘I want the Ville to look like that again or even so much better.’” But as Wright notes, the Ville is not just a place that can be restored. The Ville is also a time. “There was a special place in time where this happened,” Wright said. “It may not happen again. And you may not get the Ville, but people can work together to build a better community and better city. And it’s unlimited potential if you work together.” While Wright lived these valuable life lessons, Zacchaeus Windham, who plays Dick Gregory in the opera, is realizing he cannot even find these lessons in his textbooks. “I’m starting to figure out that most schools don’t teach other kids about black history, that the greater Ville is a part of our black history,” Windham said. “And I think it’s important that people, even kids in school, should know that it’s a part of our black history.” Mark Clark is the lead artist on the Ville opera project in conjunction with Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He says he’s really seen a change in his students. “From the first day when we were talking about the different players and people in the neighborhood and their significance, they were like, ‘Oh, what, wow. I had no idea,’” Clark said. “It’s been really neat seeing them change before my eyes.” Reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org. Opera opens students eyes to Ville Shakyla Hughes as Poro college founder Annie Malone.
Transcript of Opera opens FILM students eyes to Ville...Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, James Moody and ... guitar...
ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 24 - 30, 2014C4
once I heard jazz I was like, ‘This is the music I’m supposed to be playing.’”
He has performed with Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, James Moody and many other household names
of jazz. He has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival and many festivals throughout Europe.
When Williams takes his seat at the piano, it’s anyone’s guess where he will go. What is guaranteed is that audiences will be delighted while listening to the sounds that transition from stroll to sprint at any given chord progression.
The Whitaker Ivory Perry Park Concert Series will take place on Sunday, July 27 at 6 p.m. at Ivory Perry Park (Intersection of Belt and Cabanne). The final installment will take place on Sunday, August 24 and will feature The Uncensored Band. The concerts are free and open to the public.
CONCERTContinued from C1
five decades.“The entire thing was a
challenge,” Boseman said. “When I looked at the role, I was scared because there was no part of it that was straightforward.”
He had to perform at a manic pace to convey the flamboyant persona and a soul troubled by a traumatic childhood and personal tragedy.
“He wanted you to have that experience of seeing him in all of his glory – no matter what. I think that there is something to be said for that,” Boseman said of Brown.
“There is a connection that you should want to make with people. I had to try to get rid of James Brown after we were finished filming, and I realized that there were some things that I would have to keep.”
Director Tate Taylor leads Boseman and costars Nelsan Ellis, Octavia Spencer, Jill Scott, Viola Davis and Dan Aykroyd in giving insight and establishing a connection with the man behind the music.
“When we met with his daughters for the film, they said, ‘Daddy didn’t talk music. He didn’t read music,’” Taylor said. “He spoke about music in terms of what feels good.”
According to all parties involved, “Get on Up” will be more than just a music lesson.
“James Brown was
definitely a music icon and there was so much about the man in front of the music that I knew,” Spencer said, “but doing the movie I realized I knew so little about him.”
The film has been more than 15 years in the making. It began with producer Brian Grazer – who had renewed the rights to produce the film with Brown personally for several years.
When Brown died in 2006, things got complicated. Grazer lost the rights. Jagger won them. The two teamed up to produce the film together.
Jagger sees it as a fitting, honest and comprehensive
tribute to a man whose sound and signature stage experiences helped Jagger to etch his own name among the legends of music.
“It tells the story of being single-minded and how he’s almost obsessed with making it and making himself out of somebody from nothing,” Jagger said. “There’s always one a price to pay for that one single-minded drive, and I think this movie shows the price you pay.”
“Get On Up” opens in theatres nationwide on Friday, August 1. The film is rated R with a running time of 139 minutes.
said of Frederick Douglass, the man who inspired the naming of his museum.
Green’s personal collection extends from the 1850s through the 1890s with 90 percent taken by St. Louis photographers like Frederick R. Parsons and Samuel Smith. The Frederick A. Douglass Museum of African-American Vernacular Images is located inside the historic Henry W. Peters home.
Green began building his personal collection of vintage photos in 1996 after a visit to Riley’s home.
“He had a treasure trove of African-American artifacts,” Green said of Riley. “That day I would become a participant in preserving our culture and history.”
Riley retired from teaching at St. Louis Public Schools to establish the George B. Vashon Cultural Research Center. For the last year, he has been working to rehab the
mansion. He expects to open for business sometime next year.
The museum will display artifacts he has collected over the years from prominent St. Louisans, like Homer G. Phillips and Tuskegee Airmen Lt. Col. Charles Lane. People should not be forgotten, Riley said.
“Those people played a vital part in our community,” he said. “That’s why it’s very important that we preserve these artifacts for the young people to come in and see where we’ve come from and where we can go.”
Both the Douglass museum and the Vashon center are within walking distance from the Griot. Conley was initially apprehensive of her new neighbors.
“Anything new that comes on the block that is doing what you’re doing, you immediately worry about competition,” she said. “But if we work collaboratively, then we all benefit.”
At the event, Conley, Green and Riley will present their respective exhibits. They
will be joined by James A. Vincent, co-founder of the St. Louis African American History and Genealogy Society.
The event will feature a different twist on the traditional “moveable feast,” Conley said. The event will begin and end at the Griot after attendees have visited each museum. A light reception will immediately follow the program.
Attendees will also have an opportunity to become founding members of the Collectors’ Guild. The Collectors’ Guild is meant to be an ongoing educational component at The Griot that will offer hands-on workshops on how to preserve photographs or keep family documents safe.
Prepaid registration is $15 per person and is required by Thursday, July 24. For additional information, call 314-241-7057
Follow me on Twitter: @BridjesONeil. Email me: [email protected].
GRIOTContinued from C1
FILMContinued from C1
n “I had to try to get rid of James Brown after
we were finished filming, and I realized there
were some things that I would have to keep.”
– Chadwick Boseman
Local black history brought to life in ArtWorks/ Opera Theatre production
By Emanuele BerryOf St. Louis Public Radio
In honor of St. Louis’ 250th birthday, St. Louis ArtWorks commissioned “On Whose Shoulders We Stand: An Opera,” which focuses on the Ville. It was performed last weekend by students in the ArtWorks program.
Juwaun Crawford is one of the teens in the program. With his sailor hat and shiny gold guitar crafted from cardboard and foil, he played a magnetic Chuck Berry.
“You know me and Chuck Berry’s got a lot in common,” Juwaun said. “You know we like rock-n-roll and everything. He’s good with the ladies, you know. Just like me.”
Although Juwaun seems to have found a kindred spirit in Chuck Berry, prior to working on the opera he knew little about the guitarist.
“I box in the Ville,” said Juwaun. “So, I didn’t even know that Chuck Berry came from Sumner High School until now.”
Learning is one of the fundamental parts of St. Louis ArtWorks, a nonprofit that offers art-centric job training to teens in underserved communities. For the past five weeks, nearly 20 students from around St. Louis have worked with a professional lead artist to create and perform the opera about the Ville neighborhood.
The Ville is bound by Martin Luther King Drive on the south and St. Louis Avenue on the north. Taylor Avenue and Sarah Street mark the Ville’s western and eastern edges. This area was once one of the few places blacks could live under restrictive covenants.
Within these enforced
boundaries, the African-American community prospered.
In 1875, Sumner High School became the first black high school west of the Mississippi. In the early 1900s, residents of the Ville successfully lobbied to have Sumner moved to the neighborhood. The Ville was also home to Homer G. Phillips Hospital and Poro College.
John Wright is a retired educator and author who grew up in the Ville. One of his books details the community’s past. Wright said that, in under a square mile, the Ville offered limitless opportunities.
“The teachers, many of them who taught in the school lived in the Ville,” Wright said, “so when you walked out you saw … the doctors and lawyers … you saw role models.”
When housing restrictions were removed, people left the Ville. The hospital is now a retirement home; the Poro facilities are gone. Many of the schools are closed.
Destiny Mayes plays a grandmother in The Ville Opera. She says she wants the opera to inspire people to restore the Ville to its past glory. “I think it could create hope for people,” Mayes said, “saying, ‘I want the Ville to look like that again or even so much better.’”
But as Wright notes, the
Ville is not just a place that can be restored. The Ville is also a time.
“There was a special place in time where this happened,” Wright said. “It may not happen again. And you may not get the Ville, but people can work together to build a better community and better city. And it’s unlimited potential if you work together.”
While Wright lived these valuable life lessons, Zacchaeus Windham, who plays Dick Gregory in the opera, is realizing he cannot even find these lessons in his textbooks.
“I’m starting to figure out that most schools don’t teach other kids about black history, that the greater Ville is a part of our black history,” Windham said. “And I think it’s important that people, even kids in school, should know that it’s a part of our black history.”
Mark Clark is the lead artist on the Ville opera project in conjunction with Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He says he’s really seen a change in his students.
“From the first day when we were talking about the different players and people in the neighborhood and their significance, they were like, ‘Oh, what, wow. I had no idea,’” Clark said. “It’s been really neat seeing them change before my eyes.”
Reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.
Opera opens students eyes to Ville
Shakyla Hughes as Poro college founder Annie Malone.
