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Thursday, April 19, 2007
Cuttin’ Up @ Alliance Theatre
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cuttin’ Up. Alliance Theatre.
Through May 13. 404-733-5000. www.alliancetheatre.org
At Howard’s Barbershop, African-American males from lawyers to preachers to sullen ghetto hip-hoppers feel free to swap stories and gossip, tell jokes, brag about their sexual adventures and comment on the latest rave in the media.
Don Imus, Hurricane Katrina, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin’s road projects and the war in Iraq are among the hot topics. The mythical Atlanta barbershop, though, is a timeless place, with a 1950s belief in old-fashioned values such as hard work, religion and patriotism. In the age of the Internet and cellphones, Howard’s is like a place remembered from childhood, where youngsters are initiated into the rituals of manhood and where men working and battling in the working world can escape and try to hold on to their youth.
The barbershop is the setting of “Cuttin’ Up,” a play that swings from hilarity to poignancy at the Alliance Theatre.Written by Charles Randolph-Wright based on oral histories collected by Craig Marberry in the book of the same name, “Cuttin’ Up” is a broad celebration of the importance of the barbershop in black culture. Kent Gash’s direction keeps a play loaded with black history and personal stories moving quickly, leaving the audience with a rich and varied theatrical experience.
Howard, the owner, is a World War II veteran who seeks to instill his bedrock values into two younger barbers, Andre and Rudy. Rudy loves his work as a barber, but he’s a modern, low-pants-wearing kid enticed by violent rap lyrics who likes to come to work late, to Howard’s constant annoyance. Andre, a searching, sensitive man in middle age, has drifted from city to city cutting hair. He’s haunted by a ruined marriage to a successful female singer.
Played by Helmar Augustus Cooper with humor, generosity and compassion, Howard is wise man of great character, community spirit and love of church and family. He’s the kind of man whose values gave quiet strength to the black community from the days of segregation to the triumphs of the civil rights era.
He’s kept his faith, sacrificing and keeping his shop going so his three sons can become a doctor, a lawyer and a professor.
As Andre, Keith Hamilton Cobb, who created the role of Noah Keefer for ABC’s “All My Children,” lights up the stage with high-wattage star power. Telling stories about his experiences to Rudy, interacting with Howard with combined exasperation and tenderness, he gives a memorable performance. Physically appealing, valuing Howard’s love of black history and self-improvement, sensitive to the needs of others, Cobb makes Andre a deep and complicated male with a tinge of tragedy and the possibility of fulfillment.
Eugene H. Russell IV’s Rudy is the perfect foil for Howard and Andre, learning from both older men while trying to hold on to what’s best and vital in hip-hop culture. He and Cobb achieve fine comic and dramatic timing, and their interactions with Cooper build warmth and understanding..
While Andre, Rudy and Howard’s stories form the backbone of the play, it’s also interspersed with vignettes from legendary African-American barbers from around the country, including a stirring portrayal of Ophrah Winfrey’s father Vernon, a Nashville barber, by Donald Griffin. Griffin’s performance is the highlight of a strong ensemble cast, including E. Roger Mitchell, Carl Cofield and Marva Hicks, who’s especially striking as the successful singer once married to Andre.
Howard’s Barbership celebrates the virtues of African-American men, but it’s worth visiting by anyone who loves the power of human storytelling, faith and endurance.
Here’s to Kitty, here’s to life
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New York - When I heard that Kitty Carlisle Hart had died, the first thing I wanted to do was call her producer, Joe Spotts, who brought her to Atlanta last year for what turned out to be her final performances. Before those gigs, Hart had invited me to visit her at her grandiose New York apartment. I never made it, but the idea of having tea with the famous smile - for really Hart was just a fabulous set of red lips walking around on pair of pure-bred legs - had always intrigued me.
Heading up to New York this week to cover the Broadway scene, someone jokingly asked me if I would be taking tea with Kitty. Before I could get on the plane Wednesday morning, she had passed away Tuesday night, at 96. She once told me that she would never give up her Upper East Side flat, said to cover half a city block, for to do so would surely mean death. In the end, she passed away there quietly, with her son at her side.
Spotts told me that Hart had been suffering from pneumonia while in Atlanta, though no one knew it then. Frail when I first saw her on a soupy cold day last November, she apparently later became invigorated by her Midtown walks and was determined to go out with a blast. Spotts said he considered canceling each show, but she and her musical director, David Lewis, insisted on going on, and by the final number of the final night, Hart purred Shirley Horne’s “Here’s to Life” like it was as her last shining moment.
And it was.
Now this is the part I love. Spotts said Hart had become like a second grandmother and used to visit his Palm Springs home and swim laps every day in the pool. She told him that she had never been to the Taj Mahal and would like to go there, so Spotts was busy at work making it happen at the time of her death.
That’s a postcard I would have loved to have gotten. One great lady saying hello to another. A moment for eternity.
Once declared a “Living Landmark” by the city of New York, Kitty Carlisle Hart was like an ageless visitor from a lost time, when people still dressed up and said charming, witty things. She was an actress, a Metropolitan Opera singer, wife of playwright Moss Hart, an effervescent quiz show personality, a fashion plate and Manhattan socialite. She was always gracious and kind and she never stopped smiling. It would be impossible not to remember her with great fondness.
