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The Champion, Thursday, April 7-13, 2016
LIFESTYLE
Page 5B
20th century perfnw lei Waters tones to life in 21st century siege
by Kathy Mitchell
What happens when one
enormously talented woman
tells the story of another through
music and drama? The answer
is a powerful, moving evening of
entertainment such as audiences
are finding in performances of
Ethel, a one-woman show now
on The Alliance Theatre’s Hertz
Stage.
Ethel Waters escaped a
life of poverty and desperation
to become one of the premier
entertainers of the 20th century.
Broadway performer Terry Burrell
found herself drawn to Waters’
story, wanting to portray her on
stage. When she was unable to
find a writer to create the right
vehicle, Burrell decided to write
and star in the play, taking the
one-woman show concept to
another level.
Still, in the program notes,
Burrell insists that she is not the
star of the show. “This is Ethel’s
show,” she said. “Ethel is the star
here; I’m just the storyteller.”
In a news release Burrell said,
“For as long as I can remember
I have always been attracted to
stories about women who were
able to overcome whatever difficult
hand life dealt them with daring
and intelligence. Ethel Waters
embodied that characteristic, and,
because I am a storyteller at heart,
what I read and heard about her
provided me with such rich soil
that I was inspired to share it.”
Waters’ story is astounding. The
short version is that she was born
in 1896 to a 12-year-girl who had
been raped by a neighborhood
roughneck. Then at age 13, her
mother forced her to marry a man
she didn’t care about who abused
her and cheated on her. Waters
ran away from that life to try her
luck on the stage.
She started by trying to imitate
the great Black female singers of
the time such as Bessie Smith
and Ma Rainey. Then a musician
friend told her she had a great
voice, but not that type of voice.
Hers was clear and sweet, not a
throaty, whiskey-soaked voice,
he said, suggesting she try more
mainstream music.
The change proved to be the
key to her success and resulted in
her garnering a number of firsts: In
1922, she became the first Black
woman to perform on radio; in
1925 she became the first Black
woman to headline at New York’s
Palace Theater and in 1939 she
starred in Mamba’s Daughters,
making her the first Black woman
to star in a Broadway drama.
In the 1920s and ‘30s, Waters
had approximately 15 songs in
the top 10 nationally. She starred
along with Lena Horne and Eddie
“Rochester” Anderson in the
1943 MGM movie Cabin in the
Sky, which received an Academy
Award nomination.
Despite her early success,
Waters lost most of her money
because of thefts and tax
problems.
Ethel finds her down on her
luck in the late 1940s, dodging
bill collectors while living in a New
York brownstone apartment that a
niece is allowing her to use. She’s
taking whatever nightclub offers
she can get and reminiscing about
better days. Those familiar with
her biography know that better
days come. She later has more
major motion picture roles, one of
which led to an Oscar nomination.
She had theater and television
appearances, including the 1950
show Beulah, where she was the
first Black woman to star on a
television program.
In the intimate setting of the
Hertz Theatre, Ethel explores
Waters’ checkered life and the
events, good and bad, that
made her the amazing performer
and fascinating personality
that she became. Throughout
the performance the audience
witnesses her efforts to balance
two sides of her complex
personality. She was both a tough
street-smart woman and a deeply
spiritual one who loved church,
gospel music and Billy Graham,
with whom she toured toward the
end of her life.
Performances of Ethel are
Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30
p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays
at 2:30 and 8 p.m., and Sundays
at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Ethel, which closes the
Alliance’s Hertz Stage 2015-
2016 season, was scheduled to
run through April 17. Before the
performance, Alliance Theatre
General Manager Mike Schleifer
announced that because of a high
level of interest, the run has been
extended a week and Ethel is now
scheduled to close April 24. “That
happens about once a decade,” he
said.
The Alliance Theatre is located
at the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280
Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta.
For more information, visit www.
alliancetheatre.org/ethel.
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Terry Burrell becomes Ethel Waters in the Alliance Theatre's 2015/16
production of Ethel. Photo by Greg Mooney.