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14 We’re Back! OCTOBER 1996 MBC Wolverine OBSERVER
ENTERTAIN M ENT
JOMANDI KICKS OFF SEASON WITH
“For Colored Girls Who have Considered Suicide/When
The Rainbow Is Enuf ”
(l-r): Jen Harper, Bernardine Mitchell, Brenda Porter, Kathy Smith, Roz White,
Tamara Madison-Shaw, and Olivia Dawson in Jomandi’s "For Colored Girls...'
STUDENT SPECIAL W/I.D.!
1ST WEDNESDAY ONLY! $5.00 Theater for the Price of a Movie
Offer Valid at Box Office Only from Oct. 14 to 7 pm on Oct. 23rd.
Jomandi announces “for colored
girls who have considered
suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”,
by Ntozake Shange, as the first
production of its 18th Anniversary
“From Broadway to Jomandi”
Season of Classics. Opening night
with gala reception is October 18.
Performances run through
November 10, 1996, at the 14th
Street Playhouse.
Twenty years ago The New Yorker
magazine wrote of the award
winning “for colored girls...”, “The
poetry and prose of a wonderful
American writer, Ntozake Shange,
encompasses, it seems, every feeling
and experience a woman has ever
had.”
It created quite a raucous in its
day. Are the secrets revealed by
seven-women as profound now as
they were then? Is there anything
more to be revealed? Find out when
Andrea Frye directs, in her own
inimitable style, Jomandi’s first
offering of its 1996-97 Season, the
Broadway smash hit, “for colored
girls who have considered suicide
when the rainbow enuf.”
For tickets, call the Ticketmaster
Arts Hotline 817-8700. For groups,
subscriptions and other information,
call 876-6346. Jomandi offers special
discounts for STUDENTS and
SENIOR CITIZENS. 14th Street Box
Office opens October 15, 733-4750.
Showtime and Ticket Prices
Opening Night and Reception
8 PM
$25
Friday and Soturday
8 PM
$20
Thursday
8 PM
SI 5
Sunday
3 PM
$15
Wednesday
8 PM
$12
Students and Seniors $9 on Wednesday and Sunday.
Student Special with I.D. - First Wednesday only you
con get
theotre for $5... the price of o movie. This offer valid at Box
Office only from October 14 to 7 PM on October 23, 1996.
"One
Blood"-
Original
Gospel-
Drama
Monday
Night
October 7
The story of two leaders, and the
others around them who were in the
vanguard of the Civil Rights move
ment in this nation, is dramatized in
a gospel/drama production which will
be presented at The Cathedral of the
Holy Spirit on Monday night,
October 7th, at 7:30 p.m. Born in the
church, the changes wrought by
peaceful activists during the middle
of this century were bought at a
heavy price by dreamers who dared
to attempt the unthinkable. This
saga tells of two leaders, one who
laid down his life in ultimate
sacrifice, and another who has lived
out the price of bringing about the
dream within a community.
This original drama, written, produced and
directed by the Worship and Arts Department
of The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, will be
presented one night only, October 7th.
Call 404 243-5020 for information.
Admission and parking are FREE.
MC Lyte hits you right from the
start with her trademark sense of
aplomb on her new album Bad As I
Wanna B. With over a decade of
rhymes on her resume, her laser
beam verses and persuasive delivery
are a welcome return on the new LFJ
with the added bonus of more R&B
flavorings than past efforts. It’s a
more mature Lyte this time around,
and she packs the fifth album with
crisp-straight ahead rhymes to
satisfy Lyte fans from every corner.
The mere fact that she’s able to
cultivate fans from the pop, R&B,
hip hop, and yes, the plain old
everyday freak category indicates the
immediacy of her wordplay has
always cut through stereotypes, no
matter how thick.
Now clocking her fifth album,
Lyte has prevailed by never
compromising her womanhood, or
resorting to the kind of caricature
like posturing that has plagued other
rappers, male and female. It says
something about her status in the
hip hop world that she and fellow
sisters Yo Yo and Queen Latifah are
now cited as influences by
newcomers of both sexes entering
the rap game. “I’m proud of how
long I’ve been in the business,” says
Lyte. “Of course when I started I
never imagined some of the things
you have to go through. But
anything you do in life is about
meeting challenges. What I tell any
young people who want to get into
this business is you have to be
prepared to never give up.”
On her most recent album, 1993’s
Ain’t No Other. Lyte souped it up a
notch. Some critics tagged the
blistering LP as Lyte’s “return to
hard-core,” which the veteran rapper
took slight issue with. “I’ve always
told the truth, if that’s hard-core, so
be it.” And though Lyte’s amazing
legacy helped pave the right for
females to fire off rhymes with the
same dexterity, (expletives and all) as
the boys, it was her inspiring anthem
to the boyz in her hood, “Ruffneck,”
from her fourth LP that gave her
and the rap world the first gold
single ever delivered by a female
rapper.
Since that time Lyte has
embarked on a number of other
ventures, branching out beyond
music, contributing to social efforts
and programs that are important to
her, like doing PSA’s for Rock The
Vote, and giving her time toward
various AIDS events. She has also
gained quite a business acumen,
becoming the co-owner of a Harlem
restaurant with her father, called the
Harlem Cafe. Plans are in the works
to open a second cafe in Atlanta, a
city Lyte has become very fond of.
She recently released a collaboration
with Atlanta’s X-Scape, “Keep On,
Keepin’ On” which appeared on the
Sunset Park soundtrack, gave Lyte
her second GOLD single and is also
included on the new LP Kandi
Barnes from X-Scape also does a
guest vocal on “Everyday.” “We
recorded some of the tracks in
Atlanta,” says Lyte. “There is quite a
music scene down there, quite a good
vibe.”
Such a vibe is evident throughout
Bad As I Wanna B, with standout
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