'FEBRUARY 24�. ARCH 2. 1986
THE CITIZE '
J
_.
9
Black Civic Players ready 'A Soldiers Play'
Lany Carte
In 1980 the egro En mble,
a profe tonal theatrical troupe
performed" Soldier' Play"
on the campus of estern
ichigan University 0 In 1982
same play won Pulitzer
Prize 0 Shortly thereafter, it wa
m de into hit mo ie.
o "A Soldier's Play" is
being readied by director J ame
Carver and the Bl c Civic
yers to open February 28th
on the Civic Theatre's main
state in Kalamazoo. And
Chan Pratt, one of Kalamazoo's
fine young talents will be
there playing the part of the
quiet, soldierly Pfc Peterson,
"The most difficult ta an
ctor faces," Chan says "is
when he initially auditions for
p . It i then, when he might
be eading the line cold (for
the first time) that he might
look to the director's eye to
e what type of inten ity and
movement he desire. In this
instance, though, I felt I had a
strong audition, I asn't sure
if I got the part. It i my first
time orking with Mr. Carver,
and I ju asn't sure if I was
re ding him right."
It didn't hurt that Chan h d
n the movie "A Soldier'
S ory" (which the play adhere
to but for a few deviations),
and h d spo en with friends
ho had the play per-
formed in e Yo. 0,
comfortable tth the character,
he only anticip te opening
ni&ht en his wiD be
ved to re mble a fresh
recruit, d he will don the
bi-focals familiar ith the time
group hears. ideas
0, promised that, if made
p ident of ){vCC, e would
de lop a DOwntown Center to
Ip t the n ds of inner
city d Jopment," he id.
The vee Downtown Cen­
ter hich' located at 126
E. South Str t in Kalamazoo,
a th of re urce material
to aid are busine persons.
They include a film ties con­
taining 13 educational video-
tte t covers topics
o ill Your
Customers Be?", and "Ho ill
You Penetrate Your arket",
to "110 Can You Survive
Bwmeu CriJe ."
The all Training
Cent has 20 units re ching
out to potential and existing
busine . E ch unit addresses
a particular aspect of busin
concerns - the Busi-
, Promoting, Protectin& the
Bulin , Busin Communica­
tions, etc. There are also com­
puters available, employee train­
ing films, and a full-time penon
on duty to . t intere ed
busin persons.
After the introductions, parti­
cipanu viewed a fDm that
ItreIllCl the importance of pIan-
frame the play i et in.
Among the play in which
Chan ha performed in since
debuting in "The Wiz" in
1982, are "Bubbling Brown
Sugar", "Damn Yankees",
"Jesus Chri , Superstar" and
a musical revue of "Dream
Girls", which he incidentally
directed, as well.
'Dream Girls" . was on
Broadway in '81 and '82, and
in May 1985 I given the
opportunity to direct the play
at lincoln School for the Doug-
lass Community Association 0 I
enjoyed it," he said, "and the
sho went off well. I also
gained new insights into a
director's many concern . "
There w time, however,
when Chan was interested in a
very different form of the
. dramatic art. Born in Kalama­
zoo, and a graduate I of Loy
orrix, he once entertained
hopes of being fighter.
"I boxed for few years,
between '76 and '78," he ys,
"and I learned a lot of things.
I met people travelled to dif­
ferent place , and actually en­
joyed the righg action." But
his mother w less than en­
thusiastic bout hi pirations
to the pugilists' craft. "She
thought I should get involved
in something le physical. And
since I didn't really like football,
ctin emed appropria e, and
certainly every bit challeng-
ing."
I could be said that Chan's
cting career began in 1974
hen he auditioned for a Jack­
in-the .. box commercial in Long
Beach, California, and lost out
Ding a busin rsus jumping
in feet first.
, 0 t beginning busine per­
sons do not it down and think
out what they ant to do with
their bu 0 eale said.
"And if they do develop a plan
it often go unused."
ost busine plans begin
with a b lc three point out­
line: TIle Introduction, hich
offe a Table of Conten ts
and Summary (which is written
to capture intere of potential
inve on.) The aiD Body
hich includes - descrptio
of the industry I Production
and keting tans, Corporate
Structure and Evaluation,
and The Appendix, hich I
letters, , agr menu and
other vitll documenta . D.
"Risk ent may be the
major point," eale, stre d.
"You must yourself "Do I
ant to risk mYlelf, my money
on 'iffy areu'. ithout a
b' plan a penon rt)i3ht
Dot co lder the 'ifs'," he
added.
Of particular int to the
group the tter of lia-
bility insurance, and what step
a small b· person can .
take to avoid lolina it all in a
coady
to Rodney Allen Ripley. 0,
Chan views that early disap­
pointment , perhap , a ble sing
in di uise. "Rodney Allen
Ripley hasn't been heard from
since," he declare .
Another time, Chan was con­
tacted by Sidney Poitier to
play a role in a movie Mr.
Poitier was filming in Chicago.
Understandably excited, Chan
left school audition in Chicago
only to find out that once he
got the part he was too young
to accept ito
Through the di ppoint-
ments, however, Chan em to
have w athered each tempest
with a smile.
"I've been in 17 play since
1982" he begin, while ack­
nowledging the refinements of
his talents. "And at one point I
considered th t there ould
be some type of monet ry com­
pen tion in it for me. There
was none."
But Chan matured with
his role , he learned the signi­
ficance of his stage experience ,
has come to cherish the
camaraderie that exists between
he and his fellow actors and
actre s; and perhaps· most
importantly, he now revels in
the emotional impact his per­
formance have on his audience
- keeping in mind that those
same audiences inspire him to
his fine performance in the
fir place.
"If I can make meone
smile, laugh .•. If I can brighten
someone's day with my God­
given abilities to sing, dance
and act, then lhave my reward."
"Seventy-eight percent of all
busin are proprietorship ,"
eale said. "By that I mean
owned solely by one person."
The advantage to sole pro­
prietorships 0 that they are
easily organized, and the owner
make all of the decisions and
claims all of the profits. The
disadvantag are one's limited
re ource , limited life of bu .­
ne (because it depends on
you), and you become totally
liable, which m IDS you can
be completely wiped out. .
On the other hand, a part­
J)ership gives your busin an
improved credit rating, and a
share of the liability. But it
mean divided authority,
shared ts; and inevitably,
partnerships do not last.
Corporations, on the other
hand, arare becoming much
more desirable, and is the
IeCOJ1d mo common type of
b .
"Unlike sole proprietorship ,
a corporation is an individual
tity it If, just like a person,"
eale explain.. "It is euy to
transfer ownership ( n stock),
it has continuous life ( long
stock exists), and it has
limited liability .
CHANPRATI
Earley appointed
to s ate po
By Deshorn Watkins
Darnell Earley was recently
appointed by Governor Blan­
chard to serve on the nine-
, membered State Board of Exa-
miners in ortuary Sci es.
He is expected to be confirmed
by the state enate 0 thin the
next 60 to 90 days.
Earley, �, a 1977 graduate
of Grand Valley State College,
tth a bachelor in sociology,
received his master's in public
administration from Western
ichigan Uni ersity in 1981.
Once a resident of us-
kegon Heigh , Earley now re­
sides in the city of Norton
Shores with his wife Sandra and
their two children. Sandra is the
prindpal of Glendale and
Roosevelt Schools in the
Heights.
Succ is not new to Earley,
ho no orb as the adminis-
trative . tant to County Ad-
ministrator Frank Bednarek.
.Contlnu from P 1
leader it once ." Atkins
blamed his perceived decline in
respect for the organization
directly to Hook' leadership.
Atkins wu the NAACP attorney
in the Benton Harbor de egre-
tion uit,
. In r ponse Hooks to d th
Times: "The NAACP and ita
leadership have been criticized
. ce the tio t found-
ing. You have tw�bit critics
ho constandy criticize but are
not giving any money or up­
port to the cause. If' you
these critics what they ould do
if they ere in my hoes, they
have no &D8WerL Everybody
wanta an ideal world, but have
DO y to set there."
At the board meeting on
Saturday, Michael eyers, a for­
I mer staff member, called for
• Hooks; resignation. This
Although his primary duty 18 to
officiate th equal employment
opportunity office, Earley has
also performed other service 0
From January to December
of 1982, Earley taught Admi.nis.
.. tration of Urban Human Ser­
vic and inority and Women
in Administration at Grand
Valley State College. During
the same year he elected to,
and rved on, the board of
education in the Heights. In
1984, Earley ranked among the
top fmalists for the Heights city
manager's po ition.
The State Bo d of Exa­
miners in ortuary Science
regulates and license funeral
homes, investigate violations
of the occupational code, and
admini ter testing for mor­
tuary licenses.
Earley said he sought the
po ition because of hi back­
ground in public idministra­
tion. The po 0 tion expire on
June 30, 1989.
following by a standin sho of
upport for the executive direc­
tor who later tated that eyer
w a disgruntled ex-employee
and did not expre the vie of
many others who had wor ed on
the staff durin his administra­
tiOn.
Hoo also listed a number of
accompliahmen of the organ­
ization including: Its fmancial
condition in the Black and
in better hape than it had been
for several years; "'{air share"
agreement being made with
the Democr tic National m­
mittee to iacre e e number
of minority members workina
°th the poup, and to increase
purchaaes from minority ven­
dors. He added that he ought a
i.milar agreement with the
RepubUcan National Commit-
. tee to II • tain the non-
partisan tatus of the
NAACP."