|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Press Release: 09/15/08 |
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/OPPORTUNITY FOR COVERAGE TO: All News Directors MEDIA CONTACT: |
COMMUNITY FOLK ART CENTER (CFAC) Meet Ma' at the FolkVenue: Community Folk Art Center Syracuse, NY - The Community Folk Art Center in collaboration with Syracuse Stage, is excited to host a Q&A with Broadway actress Ebony Jo-Ann. Jo-Ann is currently in the title role of August Wilson's play, Ma' Rainey's Black Bottom opening Saturday, September 13th at Syracuse Stage. August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom opened on Broadway in 1984, launching Wilson’s 10-play chronicle of African American life in the 20th century. In 1985, Ma Rainey won a Tony Award for Best Play and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play. Themes and conflicts in Ma Rainey can be found throughout Wilson’s cycle: jazz v. blues, males v. females, guys trying to become men, old guns schooling the young guy, migration from south to north, clashes between southern and northern African Americans, and clashes between older and younger generations. The story centers on a young horn player with a pocket full of songs and a head full of dreams who longs to place his name among the giants of the blues, legends the likes of Ma Rainey, for whom he is a session sideman. In a single day of making music, making jokes and making deals, the horn player succumbs to the harsh realities of unjustly thwarted aspirations and the self-destructive consequences of misdirected anger and violence. The real-life Gertrude “Ma” Rainey was signed to Paramount Records in 1923 as one of their first African American artists. Ma’s style was authentic Southern-folk, punctuated with moans, slurs and glissandos. Although a more “sophisticated” sound started to become popular towards the end of her career, Ma’s recordings stayed true to her Southern, rural roots of growing up in Georgia. Nick named the “Mother of the Blues,” it is rumored that Ma Rainey taught Bessie Smith how to sing the blues. For more information about this production or to purchase tickets please visit Syracuse Stage at http://www.syracusestage.org/. Please R.S.V.P. Spaces are limited. Contact the Community Folk Art Center and reserve a spot for this Syracuse Stage and Community Folk Art Center collaborative special event. To R.S.V.P please call 315.442.2230 or email cfac@syr.edu Copy Credit: Syracuse Stage |
The Community Folk Art Center is a program of the African American
Studies Department in the College of Arts & Sciences at Syracuse University and |
|