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ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
Take a journey to the “West Side”
By Seth Pickens
Contributing Writer
Before the curtains
opened, I honestly wasn't
sure of what to expect from
Spelman College's
adaptation of Jerome
Robbins critically acclaimed
"West Side Story."
At the tender age of 14,
I had the honor of starring
as Riff in my Middle
School's rendition of this
award-winning musical,
and it has been one of my
favorites ever since.
But the opening night
performance on November
12 put to rest all of my fears.
Besides a few opening-
night jitters and technical
difficulties, it was an
enjoyable experience. And
though there is always
room for improvement, it
goes without saying that
this talented bunch put my
pre-pubescent peers and
me to shame.
What separated this
particular version of "West
Side Story" from the pack
was its pure originality.
The director, Gary
Yates, made the musical
much more accessible to his
Black college audience by
conventionalizing it
considerably.
As usual, the tragic tale
of Romeo and Juliet was set
in the slums of late '50s
New York City. In this
scenario, the Jets are a Black
gang instead of the Irish
Catholic coterie used in the
original work.
The music itself is also
different and better. Most of
the songs are from the
original score, but three of
them had newer, more
soulful beats and deliveries.
The finger-popping, bubble
gum sound that made
Leonard Bernstein famous
forty years ago was
replaced with a much more
robust R&B flavor.
While many were upset
with the "blackening" of a
masterpiece (it has even
taken on the nickname
"West End Story" in some
circles), I personally think it
took guts and ingenuity on
the part of Marcus Lee, the
musical director, to try to
improve on what most
consider near artistic
perfection.
Despite a shaky start,
Yates and Lee definitely
should be proud as the cast
was received with a partial
standing ovation.
The acting, singing, and
dancing were good, and
will improve with each
performance. Some of the
dance numbers and songs
were slightly off-beat, but
the star-quality of
Cleveland Jones (Tony)
more than made up for it.
Pia Days also stole the
show as a beautiful Maria,
and displayed a natural
chemistry with her Shark
cohorts Bernardo and
Anita, played by Jamaly
Allen and the lovely and
talented Kokui Selormey.
All told, "West Side
Story" is not the easiest
production to pull off well.
Add to this challenge very
limited means and full
course loads, and you will
have your work cut out for
you.
But somehow, in true
AUC fashion, everything
worked out for the best. My
compliments to everyone
from the Chair of the Drama
Department to the Props
Shift Crew.
If you're looking to
broaden your cultural
horizons, laugh, cry, and
think, or just to go on a a
cheap date, I highly
recommend catching "West
Side Story" in Spelman's
Fine Arts Building at some
point this weekend.
Cedric Dark/ Staff
Cedric Dark/ Staff
The passing of Jubilee
Margaret Walker spent half
her life gearing up to write her
only novel, and the second half
being celebrated for it. "Jubilee,"
which appeared in 1966 in a
cloud of acclaim and controversy,
has sold millions of copies and
become one of the standard texts
on the Civil War, which must
have made it all worthwhile.
Walker, who died Monday at
the age of 83, was one of the last
surviving members of the
generation of black female
writers who came to prominence
in the 1940s. The Harlem
Renaissance had run its course by
that point, its members lost to
death or creative exhaustion. A
new militancy was demanded.
"The writers of the Harlem
Renaissance," Walker
commented with her usual
directness, "believed that black
people were really what white
people said we were: some kind
of exotic... None of those writers
had the real conception of the
problems of black people being
basically economic and political."
When Walker's "For My
People" appeared in 1942, it was
the first collection of poetry
published by a black American
woman in 24 years. The book
went into a second printing
within two months, a sign of
successful verse in any era.
Walker took delight in
reminding people that hers was
not a rags-to-riches story, that she
was a third-generation college
graduate.
"The white man in America,
the white world, caters to the
black person who didn't go to
school," she once said. "I
represent education, family and
background. I represent
scholarship." Being classified as
a middle-class black woman, she
added, "has been my undoing.
I'm considered a black snob."
In a brisk 500 pages,
jubilee" tells the story of Vyry,
the daughter of the master of the
house and a slave. Solidly rooted
in history — Walker was Vyry's
great-granddaughter—and with
an epic sweep, it was inevitable
that the publisher touted it as "the
Negro 'Gone With the Wind.' "
Although Walker was much
honored, she never lost her edge.
She sued Alex Haley for
plagiarism, and even though she
lost she never had a good word
to say for him or "Roots." She
spent many years in legal
wrangling over the right to use
letters from her former good
friend Richard Wright, author of
"Native Son," in a book about
him. She won that war; her third
major book, "Richard Daemonic
Genius," was the result.
On that book and every
other, she felt, no one had given
her much help. Accordingly, she
thought everyone should be able
to make it on their own. Asked
what encouragement she could
offer young writers, she said, "I
avoid giving advice because
people don't want advice; they
want sympathy."
-Staff Reports
By Ignorance Incorporated
1. You thought you was gon' graduate on time, ha? 2.
But you withdrew from fo' classes, ha? 3. You was glad
the semester almost ovuh hut you gon' have to explain
to yo' mamma how you went from full-time to part-time
student, ha? 4. You glad yo' midterm grades didn't get
sent home, ha? 5. The basketball team is kinda shoht,
ha? 6. But they could still beat the football team, ha? 7.
So these is "Spelllllman women,' 1 ha? 8. But you got
'bout it like a hot gul in The Uptown Comedy Club, ha?
9. So the director of Financial Aid got fired, ha? 10. One
mo 'gain, ha? 11. So you think you gon' get yo' financial
aid NOW, ha? 12. Joke's on you, ha ha ha? 13. So y'all
went up to Mo' Brilla thinkin' y'all tough, ha? 14. But
every year they whip y'all alts, ha? 15. So Cash Money
Records is a fake alts No Limit, ha? 16. You sickof bearin'
this damn song, ha? 17. So they put a new tax on ciga
rettes, ha? 18. So you switched to smoking GPC's, ha?
19. So the editor in cheif resigned, ha? 20. But it don't
matter 'cause DC run this hyuh, haaaal?