purlie who?

That would be "Purlie Victorious (A Non-Confederate Romp through the Cotton Patch)", as in 'Reverend Purlie Victorious Judson', the titular character.

"Goodness, gracious, child, that is some kind of a mouthful."

I agree that is true. I don't know just when Ossie Davis wrote it, but I do know he starred as the character when the play opened on Broadway in 1961.

"That's when he wrote it, too. 1961. He was 44 years old."

Aha! You do know a little something about it!

"I'd heard of it, but I didn't know what it was about. I was pretty young when it came out, and still young when it was made into a movie. My guess is I heard the name a few years ago when it was revived on Broadway. You know the Hesters go up to New York City fairly frequently and see plays and musicals."

Yes, I know, they always have. It's where they get the ideas for Asbury Memorial's "God On Broadway series". Now, they have another reason, as their grandson lives up there. Yeah, I'm pretty sure Cheri may have mentioned the title.

"Is it a musical or a play?"

It's a play, which is why it hasn't hit the GOB circuit here. 'Purlie' is a traveling preacher in the south east, much like my Grandpa was, though I suspect 'Purlie' did it a century before Grandpa. Anyway, 'Purlie' hears tell that the plantation owner has $500 in trust as the inheritance due to 'Cousin Bee'. Now, 'Purlie' knows that 'Bee' is dead, but he brings in 'Lutiebelle' to pass for her and get the money. The problem is that 'Lutiebelle' is a bit of a scatterbrain and signs her own name onto the receipt for the money. Nope! All kinds of hilarity ensues after that!

"That sounds like it was a blast! Wait a minute... wasn't that aired on one of the PBS channels for Black Heritage Month? How did you get to see it now?"

I'd taped it a few days back, thinking the physicist might want to see it. That was a no-go, so I watched it tonight. That was good, as I'd started thinking about all the plays and musicals I missed this weekend. Nice to have this one waiting for me! And free!

"Nice, indeed! And was it a recorded Broadway show with Ossie Davis?"

No, this was from the revival of the play. 'Purlie' was played by Leslie Odom, Jr. in this one. And guess what? He was 44 years old, just as Ossie had been!

"Well, that's a nice bit of continuity! He was in "Hamilton", too, wasn't he?"

That's right! He played 'Aaron Burr' in that musical. Such a very talented actor he is! He came to Savannah for a talk at the Trustees Theater toward the end of February, as part of SBHF37, but I wasn't able to go. I sure would have loved to hear him talk about his roles! Still, it was good to have this play to watch. He was marvelous as a conniving free man! And why was he so set on getting that $500? He wanted to buy back the black church from the plantation, so he could preach to the slaves.

"Oh, then it must have been set before the American Civil War started in 1861. Do you think so?"

I think you may be right. There was no mention of the war at all in the play and I feel certain there would have been had it been going on. Good play! I wonder why Ossie Davis didn't write anymore plays?

"I'm sure he was plenty busy on the stage and as a family man. I'm impressed that he found the time to write this one!"

pan pizza, et alia

thanks, papa john's and aarp!

I've rediscovered a new favorite: pan pizza!

The moment I picked up the pizza box, I knew there was something inside - such delicious mass!

Why did it draw me out on a cold day?

I had ten bucks from AARP Reward points, $2 in Papa Dough, and the special knocked off another 4 dollars.

I paid $2.56 for pepperoni and banana peppers on a pie that's been lunch and dinner, plus breakfast tomorrow.

My favorite food for three meals - life is good!

(smile!)  

thanks, SBHF37 and City of Savannah!

The Savannah Black Heritage Festival isn't over just yet, but I won't be making it to any other events by Saturday.

I should have been paying more attention as February began.

As it was, I caught three of the events: the one about literature at The Learning Center of Senior Citizens, Inc.; the one about history at our HBC, Savannah State University; and the one about music held at the Savannah Jewish Educational Alliance.

Every event of the SBHF37 was free and open to the public, courtesy of the City and various sponsors.

Most of the events were held midtown Savannah, making sure locals were present and the parking was abundant.

I'll pay more attention to scheduling next year!

(smile!) 

thanks, comcast!

Because Comcast includes ME TV, Antenna TV, and seven PBS/GPB/SCE channels in my Basic TV subscription, I had a wealth of recorded shows to watch on this cold day.

The second of those channels provided me with "Just Shoot Me!", a show at takes place at "Blush" Magazone.

David Spade is the assistant to George Segal, who also has his daughter, Laura San Giacomo, on the staff, as he tries to make up for being an absentee father in her childhood and marrying her best friend.

Mostly, though, I like the spice added by Enrico Colantoni and Wendie Malick, and all the puns on the magazine cover!

Puns!!!

I get a lot of puns from "Toon In With Me", too, which is from that first free channel.

This time, Bill is pondering getting a part-time job, so he considers milkman (my Daddy did that!), pin boy at bowling alley, costermonger, knocker-upper, gong farmer, town crier, and even pony express!   

He even premiered two cartoons that were new to his show: "Ten Pin Terrors" and "Saddle Silly", both 7-minute oldies!

Toonie reminded him that his job as 'classic cartoon curator" takes all his time. (smile!)

Then, there's that plethora of educational channels to keep me informed and stimulated. 

The "Dream Of Italy" series must have been timed to prime folks for the Winter Olympics.

I just watched, "Andrea Bocelli's Tuscany", s3e1, which brought memories of vineyards in Livorno in 2002, as well as time in Siena and Florence and Pompeii on the trip with future nurses in 2012.

Here's the funny part, though.

I'd just recently seen similar footage, including inside the home of the Italian tenor, in a movie, "Solo Mio"!!!

Timing truly is everything!

Right time, right place! 

(smile!) 

getting some culture: part 5

This event for expansion of my world was also part of the Savannah Black Heritage Festival (SBHF37), just as part 2 and part 4 had been.

The Annual Future Of Jazz concert is one that I've attended for almost two decades, after my good friend Deborah Ray first turned me on to them.

(She's been living her best life in Costa Rica ever since she retired from working on the garbage trucks for the City of Savannah.)

This one, like last year's, featured the same instruments, with the saxophone man being the only repeat performer.

He's the one in the middle, in case it's hard to tell in the photo.

The male trombone player and the female bass player, both on the right, were both students of Donald Anderson School of Arts.

Sadly, I don't know their names, as there was no program, nor does the website say.

The show, dedicated to the memory of Ben Tucker as always, began with two of his songs, the same as last year - very nice!

Then we had a brand-new one from Teddy Adams!

Titled "The Patron", it was in honor of Bob Faircloth, notable not only for supporting jazz in Savannah, but also the Savannah Music Festival and Savannah VOICE Festival.

Thanks, Bob, for helping to keep all that culture alive!

Altogether, there were three more tunes that Adams had written: "Hutch Is Much", for 85-year-old Laurence Hutchins, his friend since the first grade; "A Piece For Reese", for another friend; and "Calypso Kelly", a really swinging number that led with a drum solo.

That Caribbean-flavored beat really rocked the Savannah JEA!

The song that stood out above it all, though, was "Georgia On My Mind", performed by the talented young woman who was one of the vocalists last year, and the only one this time around.

For SBHF37, she was the only vocalist!!!

Such great phrasing, such fine breath control, and a voice smooth as silk - oh, I wish I knew what her name was!

Perhaps Tina Tyus-Shaw will have her on the 5:45 "Wind Down" segment of WSAV's news broadcast.

I'm so glad I was there for the entire show this year!

All told, it went into overtime from its scheduled 90-minutes.

The last song was another Tucker tune, "Comin' Home Baby", which has been recorded by Michael Buble, along with Boyz II Men.

I wonder if Ben's widow, Gloria, still gets royalties for that tune?

I'm sure she does!

What a nice bit of music culture for me!

(smile!)

getting some culture: part 4

Nothing like a bit of history to make me feel like I've been schooled!

Especially on a rainy Sunday afternoon - lol!

"Say Her Name: Susie King Taylor" was a Savannah Black Heritage Festival event, held over at Savannah State University, in a place I knew well: the Kennedy Building, home of so many plays and musicals from Collective FACE in its prime.

The drawing card for me was the screening of the documentary, "The Making Of Taylor Square", about the transition of Calhoun Square into this new one that served two goals: the first named for a woman and the first named for an African American.

The woman was Susie King Taylor, who had been 13 years old when she found herself serving as a nurse for the Union Army in South Carolina.

That was in 1861, when the American Civil War caused her mom to send her and her siblings to that state to stay safe.

Taylor could read, write, and count, so she made sure to teach that to others over there, both children and adults.

She served in the position of nurse and teacher for three years, but never received any financial benefits from those jobs.

Five years ago, a grass-roots movement began to gain recognition for her.

The woman who started that movement, Patt Gunn, was a tour guide who always shared Taylor's story on her tours.

That's her, second from the left, beside the college student asking the questions during the post-film Q&A.

The documentary's director, Caroline Josey Karoki, is on the far right.

I didn't catch the names of the other two women, but they were part of the group that was instrumental in getting the square renamed.

Some folks may think all the squares downtown have the same names given to them by James Oglethorpe when he laid them out, but that's incorrect.

For instance, Telfair Square, home of two museums I love, was originally called St. James Square. 

Upper New Square was renamed Oglethorpe Square in honor of our city's founder.

Then there are squares lost to road construction - like Liberty Square and Elbert Square - and new squares added in the 21st century, like Yamacraw Square and Washington Square, where a park and a garden once stood..

In other words, Taylor Square follows a long history of changes with our walkable green spaces downtown, squares that have long welcomed peoples from other lands to our fair seaport.

I know the folks involved with this five-year project hope others will follow the blueprint for change which is modeled quite well in the documentary.

Who knows what structure, or road, or park, may be renamed in the future?

getting some culture, part 2

Remember when I went to the Learning Center a couple of weeks ago?

That was for the lecture about letters during times of war, and I'd very much liked it.

I'd go to more lectures there, but that would eat into my budget.

See, even if I join the organization - which would cost $75 annually - I'd still have to pony up money for each event (typically $10 to $20 each).

That's a bit much for me, as I'd have to cut out meals with others.

Nope!

So what had enticed me for a second outing?

Another free event!

"Who's Reading Banned Books... And Why?" was sponsored as part of the Savannah Black Heritage Festival, so it was free for all.

That's not to say the eight books were all by black artists - they weren't.

It's not to say the eight readers were all black, either - they weren't.

However, the books did concern fringe members of American society and I think that was the reason the city of Savannah chipped in funding, on behalf of SBHF37.

It should be noted that none of the books in the poster were included.

Also, the books used tonight had been "challenged", which is the precursor to their being banned.

They had not been forever removed from the public.

To my surprise, several of the books selected were novels that had been made into movies which I'd seen!

"The Color Purple" - written in 1982, from which Melissa Swindell read the conversation about God that Celie had with Shug.

"The Hate U Give" - written in 2017, from which Rexana Lester read the encounter that Starr and Khalil had with the police officer.

"The Grapes Of Wrath" - written in 1939, from which Roger Smith read the short speech of Tom to his mother, and then her speech about ordinary people.Those were very serious conversations.

So were the ones selected from "Native Son" (written in 1940) and "Go Tell It On The Mountain" (written in 1953).

The former excerpt, read by Andreia Wardlaw, was between Gus and Bigger Thomas about the power white men had that they didn't as black men.

The latter one, read by Lola Dewitt of the Live Oak Public Libraries, was between Esther and Rev. Gabriel when she tells him she is pregnant with his child and that he needs to leave his barren wife to be with her.

(I really liked that one, mostly because Dewitt used different voices for the characters, bringing them to life!)

Another one I enjoyed was "Love To Langston", a 2002 collection of poems meant to introduce children to the works of Langston Hughes.

My thanks to Teresa-Michelle Jackson (of the SBHF) for turning me on to that!

The last two books were nonfiction, meaning they weren't of much interest to me, but that's okay.

Reverend Guillermo Arboleda read from the prologue of "Stamped From The Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas In America", which came out in 2016.

Bruce Cohen, a retired epidemiologist, read from the 2018 "White Fragility: Why It's So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism".

Both books sound like somebody's doctoral thesis to me.

I'm glad those were the first two at this event tonight.

The spoonful of sugar that followed that heavy dose of gripes made this a successful venture for me.

(smile!)