Newspaper Page Text
R R TR
e e f
t"‘w{fi‘*%‘i’w e
T Tl Ww*&f«#fi" Mg
L e R el ifi?fi«h{m‘f"‘fi‘h§<\£y -
S ERER 8% By %"fi{c“fi%fi%fi: o
ST . L A oTey L 0
SRR RN i%, VREE *%Eéwgfi:fi”&“{“”fiv
YRR ISR 2P BRRE. :
GB EE ‘ o [} /m\' "IN " :
e L. T i
L 1 '
T i . A ‘
- - ~~¢ =
RESERC A R LT i
o &
Lo S 4 R i 1
Personal AR’ by " -.
L AN e N ) o AN i
Primer | iR 1
3 Y W i 4
M&". ¥ e R
i 4 0 SR
ORI LF I eAR BBt
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
See Section C
One woman, one show
WJudith Simon-Butler
has been talented for a
long time and Augusta
audiences have been
the beneficiary.
By Eileen Rivers
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
A simple stage is set for the
June 9 rehearsal of the Augusta
Mini Theatre’s production of The
Johnny Williams Story in Collins
Elementary School’s gym: three
chairslinethe middle ofthe stage;
a phone sits on a wooden stand,
stage right; and two small,
brightly colored platforms,
slightly downstage left.
Judith Simon-Butler, its star,
and long time artistic director of
the theatre, uses her vast experi
ence as an aciress to fill in the
rest
It’s her strong performances —
the latest of which she is taking
on athreeweek tour—along with
the theatre’s impressive commu
nity outreach programs, that have
won her a nomination as Artist of
the Year by the Greater Augusta
Arts Council, its members said.
In Johnny Williams she trans
forms herself, literally, into five
different characters. Personali
ties that she makes real, not from
stage make-up (she wears none),
or elaborate costumes, but from
her apparent insight into human
nature, and her ability to show
that on stage.
Six times she steps behind a
small, curtained enclosure for
slight costume changes, and each
time, she comes back embodying
a different person from Johnny
Williams’past —two school teach
ers, his little sister, his mother
(twice), and his best friend.
Her talent and touching por
trayal of the lost, misguided boy
manages to do what only the best
in'a long history of one-woman
shows have — pull the audience
into the story being told, and force
them to empathetically search for
the title character in themselves.
Some have seen it and won
dered why she hasn’t taken her
“Broadway-esque” talent outside
the confines of Augusta, and the
radius of her state-wide touring
schedule.
But when she describes reac
tions from the children she works
with both inside and out of her
family-owned theatre, her need
to reach even the smallest of
Earl Shinhoster dies in Alabama car accident
BNAACP veteran
headed national voter
and census 2000
projects. ‘
j BALTIMORE
Kweisi Mfume, president and
CEO, the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored
people (NAACP), said theJune 11
tragic death of Earl T. Shinhoster
in an Alabama traffic accident is
“a profound less for the NAACP
and the largdr civil rights com
munity.” ’
Mfume sai(i: “Earl was one of
the NAACP le-
CSRA Classic scholarship winners announced
NAACP’s Shinhoster killed in auto accident
Serving Metropolitan === Ayqusta, South Carolina and the Central Savannah River Area
o
o |
G '
b
- |
5 :
g N e R A p
EN" o N
- - [ : A N :
ca e : o TR g gk N b
L i R % 2eag L ;.\:‘\\\ N
e i ! TR
R ke i 3 RRI o R
N : oiy At Lol S R
P B i 9 . gk go: o 8 s Y. CH S :
o s L . ¥ oHH 4 -] s o ¥ & e
b g € | it i o & o §7% 400 }Lf :
b 3 : i i PR & &oF (LR
b . - < £ 5 ittty i o STR :.:.v SRS
i //".\\ 1 : g Nt g ALR e i
e p 7 2 3 ia TIEANE 1 S A eTR
i s ¥ - : i L <o f_; 3 ? st ST O f,‘_«_
g g - 3 80 Fod g oSk IR SR
: { £ i it < e IR TR :
L - F - gy i b L iR
eEeE- ™ s b T
i A ; X N T A :
L.;l S s e :
L . ‘ i | o
R§iMe g : o ¢
PN ey : ,
| : T T e
Ly gf’ e i !
st i . i % ; 2
3 2 4
e b Z :
iP\ k 1
2gKi 3 ; 3
e ; ¥ i ] 4 3
o 3 - A 2
o ¥ f
[2«% 3 2 o
o¥ i 8
s%< - N
i i S -& &
| : % N 4 408
. o o k.| o~
o N b - RN
«§§ ¢ ; ! T e \\ e
é‘%@ L} i ) 7 3 u! : 4 '\\\ \ e
L o i p ! & ¥ 3 bWi DI e, o
B 7 e ¢ x i e \. % Y B
sޤ iE o 4l ) . ; Q! Y h P i
i P : i ) " & ) M v Y\ e
G T i gl 8 ! : ) )l 4 .
80A334 : o \ P
] o 3 o 1 & s ,)Ap: L q 4
b [LS R éj’fi"!’“: Ait p 3 Y #
s = R - i 4 5 3 g
.io% » v A
sics 1 i i ik, pLAn e . 7
. o . N %W;‘“ ‘ ¥
B Lok i ’ e
T e R 4
g - g ] :
’:'% fer i
o : e 3
i] ! i
i ' ¢ Y
B g i B
H R A
B .s e Y 5
B ey
e i f GO AR
e - ‘g %&j" 1T
LS B e
e o g £ il
i A G 4 ' x
F & B V 9 i b 14 ¥
P L g t !
Fiodd E i Bady :
033. U R B
L g L o s
RN ol |
‘§‘ S T T—————_—— : §
S BEER s aay R R U R 8 R
THE MANY FACES of Judith Simon-Butler —the Augusta Mini Theatre actor performs some
of her Johnny Williams roles. Lower right: In her natural state. Photos by Eileen Rivers.
crowds is easily understood.
“People ask me that all the time,
but I've never wanted to go to Broad
way, or do anything else but perform
here,” Simon-Butler said. “I love to
see young children getting a mes
sage. One, after the [Johnny Will
iams] show, said to his friend ‘But
through that whole thing, we never
got to see Johnny Williams.’ His
friend said, ‘We'll never actually see
Johnny Williams because heisin all
of us.” After that I knew I was reach
1
» | D
l |
] A\
.i B/
» Earl T. Shinhoster
this organi
zation wor
for 91 years.
He was
part of th
NAACPfam
ily for all o
his adult, lif
and he wil
surely b
missed. O
prayers ar
with his wife
Ruby and son Michael in this hour
of their deep grief and bereave
ment and we pray that God will
eomfart and keen them ”
JUNE 15 - 21, 2000
ing them.”
Even though she has been act
ingall of her life, as currentdrama
coach at the Mini Theatre, which
her husband founded in the “70s,
Simon-Butler is still blown away
by the positive feedback.
“It feels great to get recognition
for something I just love to do,”
she said. “It’s so funny because
I’'m here everyday, but it doesn’t
feel like work to me because I love
it so much.”
DeKalb, Ga., was originally from
Savannah, Ga. He was fatally
injured in an automobile accident
Sunday morning in Macon
County, Alabama near Tuskegee,
according to the Alabama State
Police.
Mfume named Shinhoster di
rector of Voter Empowerment, a
national registration and educa
tion program last November.
During his 30-year NAACP ca
reer, Shinhoster held a number of
senior administrative positionsin
the NAACP, including National
Field Secretary. Hehad served as
actingexecutive directorand CEO
The theatre’s main goal is to
bring arts to inner-city children.
— dance, drama, and music —
and groom talent that may have
no other outlet. ;
“When my husband founded this
theatre more than 20 years ago,
there wasn’t any place for black
actors in Augusta to perform,”
Simon-Butlerexplained. “Ifthere
were he didn’t know of them, and
See SIMON-BUTLER, page 5A
1996.
“Earl was one of those people
whomadethe NAACPthe nation’s
strongest civil rights organiza
tion,” said John Johnson, the
NAACP director of Programs.
Johnson said Shinhoster “was to
tally committed to the cause of
civil rights.” When Shinhoster
was appointed acting executive
director, he rallied NAACP mem
bers by making his mandate,
“Stepping Up and Moving For
ward.” ;
During his long career with the
NAACP, Shinhoster weathered
" WENAR A AAMPTIEN L DA
b
* M
> g SV
-
- - e
-
*
*
-
.
.
» > .
‘Q~O
*ata
ats
‘ote?
s S
,m‘m,
I
% aE
o
n'flv'
BLocal civil rights leader says Richmond
County school superintendent promised to
assist getting the state flag lowered on
school campuses. :
By Eileen Rivers
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Superintendent Dr. Charles
~ Larke has compromised the in
tegrity of the school board, and
is going back on his word to as
sistthe NAACPintheir struggle
to remove the confederate sym
bol from the Georgia flag, the
Rev. Dr. Alexander Smith, presi
dent of the Augusta branch of
the NAACP, said after the re
cent June 8 school board meet
ing.
Larke, who met privately with
Smith two months ago, agreed
to write a letter to the Georgia
~ General Assembly, supporting
~ the civil rights organization’s
~ stance to remove the confeder
~ ate symbol from the state flag,
according to Smith.
However, during the Thurs
day meeting, Larke did not
broach theissuetothe full board
for discussion, and stated after
the meeting that there was
Sign bill gets chilly -
receptiondowntown
£ i 4 e
.
§ £ i s el g
B * y
I B o
- i
| i p LR
' B e
ok v
' ~ Wi
4 o }‘
T 5%fi
W e i
# T
1 (7 .
o 4 fi» \‘.‘ ot :”‘,‘l
| a
Uit 7 l\“ :
e o |
St 1 ' f“j‘_”? o
Kenny Mulchandani in front of his shop. The Broad Stree
merchant wants the city so leave his sign alone. Photo by Timothy Cox
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
Kenny Mulchandani is frus
trated each fall when he antici
pates removing leaves from out
side his Broad Street business.
The city considers trees as ambi
ance for Broad Street, he says. As
a fair trade-off, he feels city offi
cialsshould leavehim alone when
it comes to having signs on the
FlececaMe ncsbnidn hin nhan TFhat
50 CENTS
BULKRATE -3
U.S. POSTAGE PAID:
NO. 302 AUGUSTA, GA ==
“nothing he or the school board
could do to change the flag.”. -
Larke’s misleading state
ments, and inaction by several
other school board members
have forced the local civil rights
organization to.continue press
ing the board, according to
Smith. NAACP members may
take action against Larke, and
the school board as early as next
week, Smith said.
“During a private meeting
Larke told me that he would be
willing to write a letter to the
state telling them that he sup
ported our stance to remove the
confederate symbol from the
state flag, and that he would
encourage his board to do the
same,” Smith said. “Now he’s
pretending he never said it.-He
did not address that issue diwr
ing the board meeting and'l
want the people of Richmond
County to know that he is dis
honest, and that he reneged.”
See NAACP, page 2A "y
occurs, he'll not complain ahpfit
treeshefeels should be eitherciit
or at least better maintainéd*by
the county.
In a calm-but-intense tone,
Mulchandani, who prefers to be
called “Kenny,” said he’sunhappy
with the recent order to prohibit
countybusinesses,includingones
on Broad Street, from displaying
outdoor signage, tables and
chairs on sidewalks. ‘
€ MAWMRITAWMA ouge 6‘