THE OPERA OF ST LOUIS GAVE STANDOUT PERFORMANCES IN A COLLECTIVE WORK@BERGES THEATRE AT COCA MARCH 17

PHOTOS BY MAATOLOGY (UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE)

Yours Truly in the audience holding up the program for the musical opera.

The New Work Collective, directed by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, presented  its inaugural piece--a three collaged musical opera where three different works by various composers and librettists were staged at The Berges Theatre MARCH 16-18 located at The Center of Creative Arts (COCA) of St Louis. The works, which were produced by  the Opera Theatre of St Louis, told stories involving Black Woman Empowerment, Asian American hate awareness, and the Black Queer culture.

FROM LEFT: Olivia Johnson, Flora Hawk and Kimwana Doner-Chandler  in a scene from Cook Shack (Photo by Opera Theatre of St Louis)

The first opera, Cook Shack, told the story about a timid 11-year -old student, Dayo (played by Flora Hawk), and her getting bullied at school. She received her confidence after taking a school field trip to the St. Louis Griot Museum where she learned about three African American women who made historic feats in America in the "Superheroes of Invention" exhibit. The women featured were Annie Malone (played by Ardeen Pierre), Marie Van Brittan Brown (portrayed by Kimwana Doner-Chandler) and Dr. Patricia Bath (performed by Olivia Johnson). Each woman from the exhibit came to life and had spoken to Dayo about their experiences and their Black Girl Magic power.

This piece, which was written and produced by Samiya Bashor and Del'Shawn Taylor, was excellently executed as far its production and the main actress, Hawk, is delightful in her role as the winsome nerdy student-cum-supergirl enhanced by her angelic soprano voice. The standout of this piece was the fantastic visual photos of historical black women throughout time projected throughout the performance.

Matthew Pearce in a scene from Slanted: An American Rock Opera (Photo by Opera Theatre in St Louis)

After the first intermission, the next piece staged was Slanted: An American Opera, which told the story about a rock musician named Simon Tam (played by Matthew Pierce) who, along with his lawyer stood before the Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginzburg (played by Dorothy Gal) fighting for his right to trademark the name, "The Slants," for his Asian American based rock band. The conflict arose when the Solicitor General (performed by Keith Klein) claimed the name is hate speech.

This was a very moving and empathetic musical heralded by the invigorating singing of Pierce whose tenor voice captured the essence of being  heard and seen as a minority. Another standout was Klein who gave a comedic, bumbling performance along with his booming bass voice. The display of photos of different Asian American struggles (WWII camps) and triumphs (the recent Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan) throughout the production enhanced it as well.

Namarea Randolph-Yosea (main), Olivia Johnson (center) and Kyle Oliver (right) in a scene from Madison Lodge (Photo by The Opera of St Louis)

After the second intermission, the last piece of the night was Madison Lodge written by Tre'von Griffith. Set in the summer of 1928, X (played by Yosea) arrived in Harlem from Alabama to live their life, truth and dreams. When they reached their sister's house (played by Olivia Johnson) who, unbeknownst to X, was a drag king performer. Thus, their sister had taken them to one of the popular drag balls where she worked (Madison Lodge). Conflict occurred when the police raided the venue and X and the cohorts there raised money to get the sister out of jai. As a result, X received courage to come out as gay and a drag queen.

The standout of this piece were the dazzling costumes (designed by Davario Simmons)that depicted excellently the 1920s Harlem drag world with sparkles, tuxes and flapper outfits. Yosea was marvelous as the doe-eyed dreamer with an enticing tenor voice to match, The only drawback was it was the shortest length of the three pieces and most of the story felt a bit edited for time and rushed.  However, the background photos, that were displayed on screen behind the performers  of various heroes to the black queer movement (Stonewall, singer Sylvester) and the two male dancers (Ka Thomas and Kelly Marsh who also danced in the other two pieces staged) who dressed in flapper drag with their lean and lanky dance routines were added touches.

Additionally, orchestral music throughout the operas was conducted by Darwin Aquino and students from the COCA Theatre Artists Pre-Professional Division, read poems at the end of each intermission before each staged piece were performed. Also noteworthy was the video designer Tom Ontiveros who produced the splendid display of photos throughout each staged show. 

AFTER THE SHOW

There was a Q and A with the librettists and composers of each opera FROM SECOND LEFT of Moderator: Joe X. Jiang (Slanted), Samiya Bashir (Cook Shack), Tre'von Griffith (Madison Lodge),  Del'shawn Taylor (Cook Shack) and Simon Tam (Slanted)

The producers introducing themselves to the audience.

Griffith explaining to crowd about his piece Madison Lodge.

RANDOM BITZ:

Coming to theatres April 21 is the sci-fi film SPACE WARS: QUEST FOR THE DEEPSTAR. It also will be on Blu Ray May 2.

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TWO FUNNY MAMAS RECAP @GRANDEL THEATRE In MIDTOWN STL MARCH 10 AND OTHER TRAVELS

Photos and video by Ma'atology (Otherwise Noted and Credited)

YOURS TRULY taking a pic after the sold out comedy show. In the background is co-headliner Kym Whitley meeting and greeting her fans.

Los Angeles-based comedian Andre Lavelle in his element on stage. (Photo courtesy of Midcoast Media)

Headliners Sherri Shepherd and Whitley coming out to the stage before their set as the crowd stands on their feet.

St Louis based comedian, Larry Greene (FAR RIGHT), who opened the show, is introduced after  the show as Shepherd, Whitley, Chris Denman (of Midcoast Media, the company who produced Two Funny Mamas FAR LEFT) and comedian Rafe Williams (THIRD FROM LEFT).

The comedians who performed pose for a group pic. FROM LEFT: Greene, Williams, St Louis native comedian B-Phlat, Andre Lavelle, Whitley, Shepherd and Shanie D.

RANDOMZ.This attendee had their SOLID SILVER sparkly pants ready for the show in the lobby! 

After the show, the theatre's monthly Dark Room Signature Series was going on in progress. Performing was Chevy The Writer Unplugged Hip Hop set.

MEANWHILE WHEN YOURS TRULY WAS IN ATLANTA TWO COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO:

Outside of the Alliance Theatre where Yours Truly attended the hit stage play, HOT WING KING, there was a pianist playing the piano outside of the theatre. The pianist name was Dudson Jean-Baptiste. He is currently attending college and looking to get into TV and film scoring according to a report from HotPynkRadio

YOURS TRULY standing in front of the Woodruff Arts Center (where the Alliance Theatre is housed) billboard that had an advertising sign of the HOT WING KING

YOURS TRULY standing in front of The Georgia Aquarium in Midtown ATL

YOURS TRULY standing in front of the Centennial Olympic Park.

YOURS TRULY in front of the CNN Centre by Midtown ATL

YOURS TRULY in front of the Center for the Civil and Human Rights  Building in Midtown ATL

YOURS TRULY had a chance to order some Slutty Vegan in Edgewood Atlanta. All I can say is when will they expand to St Louis. The food was delicious!

MAAT TAKES.  So, lets start with The Two Funny Mamas Comedy Show that had taken place Friday, March 10 at The Grandel Theatre in Midtown St Louis. Yours Truly  checked out the show to see the co-headliners Kym Whitney and Sherri Shepherd (Who was re-added to the bill after it was advertised that she was not going to be able to attend). While waiting in the lobby, there was a camera guy who was taking video of the crowd and YOURS TRULY had taken advantage of the opportunity by shouting out the show. Apparently, Yours Truly was the only one who done the shout out. Yours Truly discovered  that the camera guy was part of Midcoast Media, the St Louis based company who produced the show as well as Shepherd and Whitley's NAACP  Image Award winning podcast, Two Funny Mamas (It was also discovered  that the company will post a video of the affair on their podcast). 

So, when the doors opened for the show and everyone was seated, the house was packed (The capacity of the venue is 600 seats). Welcoming  everyone was the Two Funny Mamas producer, Chris Denman and Whitley as the crowd started to sheer for them (Shepherd walked out soon after in her street clothes and sneakers to do a bit of her getting ready and then walked off the stage).

The first comedian was St Louis based comic Larry Greene who was quite funny under certain circumstances of being first. His 10 minute set was mainly observational and one joke that was remembered was about him wearing tight pants which was quite funny. 

The next comedian was Dowell, Illinois native comedian Rafe Williams who performed more of a self depreciating set that was also about 10 minutes. His memorable joke involved a dog named Blackie and him giving comedian Greene some love for being a stud.

Next up was Detroit based comedienne Shanie D who was gracious in her set  where she talked about getting back home after the show and performed a killer poetry set that ended her 10 minutes.

Next was Los Angeles based comic Andre Lavelle, who is also a regular guest on Two Funny Mamas Podcast, had a funny set where he talked about him being a freak in bed and told a hilarious joke about fear of monkeypox and snot in bed. He performed about 20 minutes or so.

Up next was St Louis native comedienne B-Phlat who also has a podcast under the Two Funny Mamas Podcast umbrella called Tighten Up Tuesdaze. She was the highlight of the nite! Her 30 minute set was extremely energetic and funny from the beginning to end talking about menopause, her marriage late in life and why men find her attractive because of her deep voice. 

There was then a 15 minute intermission and Yours Truly scouered the crowd to see who was there and saw Miss Robbie from Welcome To Sweetie Pies, Mr Gary of the St Louis based Them Yo People TV Show  and St Louis comedienne, Aretha Richardson. 

After the intermission, it was time for Whitley and Shepherd who were greeted with a standing ovation. Thy took turns blazing the mic and testing material that was filmed for the possibility of shopping for a comedy special. Some of their solo material was a bit all over the place (in a good way), but they mainly ribbed on each other (Whitley talked about her pink ensem and Shepherd talked about her not being dressed for the show) and the most memorable moment was when they talked about their time in the hood in St Louis the day before the show where they attended a bar/nightclub  KJ's for karaoke and how people there couldnt believe they were actual human beings. Also, the owner of that nightclub attended the show that nite and told Shepherd that he was married but was ready to mingle with her. Hilarious!

After the show, there was a meet and greet that had taken place on stage and much to the disappointment for the crowd Shepherd didnt stay for the meet and greet because she said she had a talk show and there was some stipulation involving that and was very apologetic for not being able to meet and greet. Whitley, however, was very hands on with the public, taking pics and she sold some of her merchandise outside of the theatre where  people continued meeting and greeting and taking pics. Also meeting and greeting were the other cast of comedians.

NOW GOING BACK TO THE ATL, you can first check out YOURS TRULY's review of  The Hot Wing King that had taken place at The Alliance Theatre,,. You can see the review at https://outstagin.blogspot.com/2023/03/hot-wing-king-cooks-up-winning-formula.html

There were also some random moments that had taken place the day after attending the play. Beside what was pictured above, Yours Truly attended a club called Whisky Mistress that evening. It was a 35 plus urban attendees, a little more above a hole in a wall but had a taste of elegance to it. They had a makeshift tent in front of the club where they had plush seats and heaters for the VIP seating was where couples were socializing. They also had a house band and singer perform some R&B covers for awhile,  and then it was back to the old school R&B music. After about an hour, Yours Truly decided to head back to the hotel to crash and sleep.

On the last day  of the ATL visit on that weekend, Yours Truly checked out the Centennial Olympic Park and CNN Area in a very crowded Midtown ATL intersection where both locations were and ran into a Hebrew Israelites rally where there was a convention going on (one guy handed Yours Truly a flier about their religion) and just when I was about to take a Lyft back to the hotel, I ran into a guy who needed help to get to the Greyhound Bus back to his hometown of Austin, Texas by ways of his born land Jerusalem, It was very random but was able to help him get a LYFT to his destination.

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"HOT WING KING" COOKS UP A WINNING FORMULA TO BLACK MASCULINTY @ALLIANCE THEATRE MARCH 5, 2023

PHOTOS BY MA'ATOLOGY (AS OTHERWISE NOTED*)

YOURS TRULY (MA'AT ATKINS) WITH ACTOR NICCO ANNAN AFTER THE PLAY. HE PLAYED THE ROLE OF BIG CHARLES IN "HOT WING KING"

THE MAIN CAST OF HOT WING KING: FROM LEFT: CALVIN THOMPSON, BJORN DUPATY, NICCO ANNAN AND  ARMAND FIELDS (PHOTO BY GREG MOONEY)

IN recent years, award-winning writer Katori Hall has received praise for her hit drama P Valley on The Starz Network. On the theatre stage, she brought some of the same flavor and assortments of that drama and recooked it with the Regional Premiere of "Hot Wing King," that had its final shows at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta March 3-5 after a two month run.

Set in current Memphis (Hall's hometown), the Pulitzer Prize winning comedy-drama tells the story of four black LGBTIA centered characters on the night before the annual "Hot Wang" Festival. 

It's main couple Cordell aka The Hot Wing Master (played by Bjorn  Dupaty) and his bougie  partner, Dwayne (played by Calvin Thompson)) live together while their friends/wing cookers sports fanatic Big Charles (played by Nicco Annan of P Valley fame ) and the flamboyant Isom (played by Armand Fields) help with cooking up Cordell's signature wings. 

Things turn awry when Dwayne's teen-angst nephew EJ (played by Myles Alexander Evans) visits and asks to live with him because of his disdain for his street centered father, TJ (played by Jay Jones).

THE PROGRAM OF "HOT WING KING"

At first glance, "King," that premiered in March 2020 at The 

Off -Broadway Signature Theatre in NYC, could be easily misinterpreted as a Tyler Perry-esque stage production with the characters' exaggerated physical humor, intonations (the N-word is quite prevalent in this play) and mannerisms of some of its characters  (e.g. Isom's hip twisting and tongue popping ) and neatly placed cookout songs throughout the production (Maze, Luther Vandross). 

However, those conventions were used more to flavor the play and Hall's intentional understanding of who her audience is (mainly black) and using these urban ingredients to tell the real story: challenging black masculinity and the social constructs from them (ex. street cred, homophobia, sexual prowess and joblessness) and questioning those tropes that define it.

THE CAST (FROM LEFT):JAY JONES AS TJ, ARMAND FIELDS AS ISOM, 

NICCO ANNAN AS BIG CHARLES,  BJORN DUPATY AS CORDELL 

AND CALVIN THOMPSON AS DWAYNE 

(PHOTO BY GREG MOONEY)

As far as the performances, everyone in the cast  had their moment to shine when the dramatic components of the story were highlighted (especially Dupaty's and Thompson's).  The actors' characters who were portrayed as straight  (Evans's and Jones's) also were treated honestly in their shortcomings and their own truths. The performances also redefined the roles of a meaningful gay relationships showing more of the humanistic and dimensionality of love, affection and their honest existence and not just archetypes of sexually driven characters within the LGBTIA  community.

EVANS AS EJ AND JAY JONES AS TJ IN A SCENE FROM "HOT WING KING" 

(PHOTO BY GREG MOONEY)

Although the ending of "King" came across a bit "happily ever after" with its main couple and the mature evolution of the nephew, the production overall gave an honest and open perspective of how important that all characterizations of black manhood are represented without compromise and the social aesthetics that comes with it. 

Additionally, the scenic design of an upscale two story house by Michael Carnahan of the movable and retractable stage was elaborate, "eye-taking" and gave a feel of a Southern motif with its choices of  furniture and posters (the art decco Diana Poster was a nice touch).

So, if and when this production receives another run either on a stage at a city near you or on your television screen, be sure 'King" is part of your appointment viewing! 

 

THE CURTAIN CALL (FROM  LEFT) JONES, FIELDS, ANNAN AND EVANS.

THE CAST ANSWERED QUESTIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE AFTER THE MARCH 4 PERFORMANCE

A VIDEO SNIPPET OF THE Q and A WHEN NICCO ANNAN EXPLAINED HOW HE BECAME INVOLVED WITH "HOT WING KING"

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