The mood today at the opening-day press conference for the National Black Theatre Festival was decidedly upbeat.
The press conference had the feeling of a comeback season getting under way.
While the 2007 festival was far from a downer, many a tear was shed then for Larry Leon Hamlin, the wildly popular and flamboyant director and founder of NBTF who had died just weeks before.
Grief over Hamlin’s loss alternated with praise and celebration for his contributions at that festival. It was sweet, but it was bitter too.
The festival press conferences are held noon-1 p.m. daily through Thursday in the Marriott Main lobby. They are press conferences in name only, being by turns pep rally, reunion and revival meeting. After all, giant banners hang from the mezzanine lobby declaring it Holy Ground.
And the press conferences are not limited to the press. Anybody who can wedge themselves in is welcome, and it’s a great opportunity to see the celebs up close and personal.
No lesser star than Melba Moore, here to collect a Living Legends Award at tonight’s gala, squeezed through the crowd to make her exit at the end of the meeting. Chester Gregory, who wowed audiences at two consecutive festivals (2005 and 2007) with his tour-de-force performances in the title role of The Jackie Wilson Story, was in the house.
Gregory will be a guest performer at some of the midnight poetry readings held nightly through Friday at Benton Convention Center.
This is not your mama’s poetry reading. Helena D. Lewis coordinates the performance -poetry evenings. Whoever wants to read or recite poetry to around 800 eager listeners can submit their name to be drawn at random. And at $3 admission, it’s the bargain of the festival for night owls.
Andre De Shields, who will also be getting a Living Legends Award tonight, closed the press conference by leading the crowd in a spine-tingling delivery of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the James Weldon Johnson song that’s become known as the Black National Anthem.
“Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.”
A fitting invocation. Let the plays begin.
The plays begin tonight with The N.C. Black Repertory Company and the National Black Theatre Festival’s production of Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope at the Stevens Center. Shows will be at 9 p.m. Monday and at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Tickets are $42, except Monday, when the show is included in a special gala package for $251. To order tickets, call 723-7907. For more information about the festival, which will run Monday through Saturday at venues throughout Winston-Salem, visit http://www.nbtf.org.
Lynn Felder can be reached at 727-7314 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).