DETROIT
1
Y ATHANIEl SCOTT
" Writ.,
DETROIT-For i ye thi m n,
the "Country Preacher," the ho
maw , tatters, mate , neck bone ,
gre t God Almighty man who "mid
wife" brought into thi world; th
Reverend Wilmor Allen h b en
bro dca ting the Hollywood Go p I
C hion Go p I Houron radio tation
WCHB, 1200 on your AM dial.
Sinc its initial broadca t, th
broadca t time ha increa ed and
today he is on each Sunday morning
from 6 a. m. until 11 a. m.
He speaks Black idiom; his con­
versation i loaded with t er­
minologie from that ye ter-year
when ploughing, picking cotton,
slopping hog , rai ing chickens and
family togetherne were by-words
in almo t every Black community;
especially tho e in the outh.
He is a teller of folk storie ; a
Griot. A poem crying in the wilder­
ness of a ophi ticated ociety. And
Sunday, November 17 t :30 p.m.,
he will be celebrating hi 6th An­
niversary of radio go pel broadcast
at New Bethel Bapti t Church, 4
,C. L. Franklin Boul vard.
in
on
dr
b
low h
i
r
on
h a r
DETROIT - Detroit' dramatic
difference, Plowshare Theatre,
will continue its commitment to
cul turall y diverse wor thi fall
when they open their econd
on with "Pill Hill," powerful
new drama by Yale School of
Drama graduate Samuel Kelley.
Directed by Co-Arti tic Director
Gary Anderson, the play features
Luray Cooper and Tim Rhoze.
"Pill Hill" will begin preview
November 7 and opens officially
on November 14. Performances
will be Thursday through Sunday
evenings at 8:00 pm and
3:00 pm on Sunday after-
noons. Call 965-1515 for
ticket information.
"Pill Hill" tells the
tory of six Black men
from Chicago' South
Side. All have worked on
the steel mill assembly
line and each aspires
towards a better life, sym­
bolized by living in the
affluent neighborhood of
'Pill Hill: With humor
and insight this com­
manding new drama ex-
amines the timel struggle be­
tween assimilation and social ad­
vancement. In this way, "Pill Hill"
explores the price paid by each
man for obtaining his idea of the
American Dream.
includes being run out of town by
a white andowner because he wa
"too educated" - Kelley wrote a
tory which deals with the
economics of racism; blue-collar
ecurity of a steady paycheck for
unskilled labor v . the 'Buppie'
aspirations of the mid-1980's.
Director Anderson see the play
very relevant for the Metro
Detroit area. "The fact that 'Pill
Hill' addresses the sticky issues of
racial economics and assimilation
make it all too topical. Many of
the concerns of racial respon-
National Black Theatre Fe tival in
Winston-Salem.
Malcolm Johnson of the
"Hartford Courant" called Kelley
"a strong new voice in American
Black Theatre." He went on to
ay" ['Pill Hill' is] by far the best
production at the Yale Rep this
[1990] eason."
Nels Nelson of the "Philadel­
phia Daily News" aid, "Any way \
one cares to slice it,' Pill Hill' i
powerful and riveting stuff."
Erin Hart of the "Minne ota
Daily" said "'Pill Hill' deals with
the enormous
pressure on edu­
ca ted' African
Americans to s uc­
ceed."
A native of
rural Arkansas,
Keltey has ad­
vanced degree
from three univer­
sities, including
the University of
MiChigan.
Presentl y an As-
ocia te Professor
of Communica­
tion Studies at the State University
of New York at Cortland, his
playwriting honors include ° a
Yaddo Summer Fellowship in
Playwriting, the Molly Kuhn
Award from Yale, the William
Morris Agency Fellowship in
Playwriting and the Penumbra
Theatre Cornerstone Award.
Most recently, Kelley has been
commissioned to crea te a new
work for the Arena Stage of
Washington, D.C.
"Pill Hill" is co-production be­
tween Plowshares Theatre and
1515 Broadway.
For further ticket information,
call 965-1515. For more informa­
tion on the show, call 353-5591.
"Pltl Hill" will begin
previews
November 7, 1991.
Call 965-1515
R verend Wilmo
lien
Evelyn and the Go pel Warrior.
Slim and the Morro n Ech , New
Bethel' past r, the Reverend Rob rt
Smith Jr. inging "Bow Down" and
Mattie and the Angel of Joy.
Advance admi ion i 10 and
12 at the door. Children under 12 i
half price.
Ti kets can be purchased at Hol­
I ywood Fashions, 8035 C. L.
Franklin Boulevard, God's World
13533 W. Seven Mile Road and'
Dexter Auto Wa h, 12005 Dexter
Avenue.
TH GO P PROGRAM
feature the Pilgrim Jubilee from
Chicago, lllinoi and R bert Blair
and the Fanta tic Violianaire of
Detroit.
lnel uded in the program will be
Reverend Allen and the Victory five,
Marion and th Galatian ingers,
for tickets.
sibility which W.E.B. DuBois ad­
dressed in his theory of • the
talented tenth' are tackled with a
. modern perspective by Kelley. It
is this questioning of the connec­
tion h African Ameriean has to
his ' ess fortunate brother' - and
the hard choice of separation one
sometimes makes - which sets the
context for the play's tension."
THIS YEAR SEND A CARD •••
AND GIVE A GI T TO LAST A,LIFETIME
SAM KElLEY, a protege of
director Lloyd Richards, first saw
the real 'Pill Hill' on visits to rela­
tives in Chicago. "My Uncle John
worked in the steel mills for 30
years.. The Hill was the highlight
of hi tour for visiting relations."
Kelley based his play on personal
observations about the price of
success. Inspired by his Uncle
John's life which began as a
teacher for young Blacks in
Coahoma County, Mississippi and
THE PLAY HAS twice been
produced professionally in the last
nine months. It closed
Philadelphia's Plays and Players
Theatre's 15th season to sold out
houses. The play's run at
Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul,
Minnesota was so successful it was
revived this summer as part of the
:Fa�rakhan
: Conttm.d from page A-2
all summer long, not thinking of
winter."
land and for other ventures.
"The Honorable Elijah Muham­
mad w.-ned us that there w a time
coming that the factories would be
clo ing. the gates would be locked
with us on the outside unemployed,"
he said. "He told us to hurry and
unite with him on a program of doing
for self before we would be forced to
do it. Unfortunately, ° we coo the
past of the grasshopper, who plays
DONATIONSCANBE entto:
Three-Year Economic Savings Plan,
4855 S. Woodlawn Ave., Chicago,
Illinois 60615.
. quences." He reminded those in at­
: tendance of Elijah Muhammad's
emphasis the need for Black people
to fulfill their own needs.
Launching the Three- Year Eco­
nomic Savings Program established
the Nation of Islam as a model for
Black economic empowennent, the
· Minister said it will take billions of
: dollars to free the Black man and
: woman and that land is the basis for
• that freedom. He asked members of
the audience to dooate $10 per month
to the program, which will be used to
establish a banking system, buy fawm-
BIG STAR THEATRE
TEERS
VOLU
The Highland Park Old Newsboys' Goodfellow Fund is in need
of volunteers to assist us in keeping the spirit of -NO CHILD
WITHOUT A CHRISTMAS- aliVe in Highland Park. We are
asking you to please donate a couple hours of your time on
Friday. December 6, 1991, to assist us in the street sale of the
Old N boys newspaper.
CALOL
867 -5037 or 867-4598
':'1 on OFF \'.' AD
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