Performance slated for Friday evening prior to 20-state tour
One of the first black actors to appear in a soap opera who also has worked alongside Dr. Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson among others in his 47-year national and international theater career is spending time in Bellefontaine this week to lend his expertise as the guest director of a Mad River Theater Works’ production.
Walk On: The Story of Rosa Parks is presented by the local professional theater troupe at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15, at the Holland Theatre, prior to the start of a 20-state and 85 performance U.S. tour in the upcoming months.
Herman LaVern Jones, founder, executive director and artistic director of Theatre South based in Miami, said this opportunity for his involvement in the Rosa Parks production came about after he connected this summer with Holland Theatre and Mad River Theater Works managing director Chris Westhoff. They both were in attendance at the National Black Theatre Festival, a biennial theater showcase that Jones helped to start in Winston-Salem, N.C., 30 years ago.
“ I met Chris (Westhoff) in a director’s workshop and that’s how this all began,” the former Guiding Light actor said Wednesday during a rehearsal break. “It’s been an extraordinary opportunity getting to spend time here at the Holland Theatre and with Mad River Theater Works to direct the Rosa Parks production.
“It’s a joy to know that there is a theater company here in Bellefontaine with such a dedication to bringing to life historically accurate and vibrant accounts of the Civil Rights movement.
“I’ve also been inspired just being here inside the incredible Holland Theatre while watching the windmills turn – it’s a powerful experience,” he said of the historic theater and its recent $1.6 million renovation project.
Westhoff said the collaboration with Jones brings a new and exciting perspective to Mad River Theater Works, a theater company dedicated to producing original plays that takes a look at various facets of American history while challenging racism, sexism, xenophobia and intolerance. In addition to Rosa Parks, other productions written by MRTW examine such historical figures as baseball great Jackie Robinson, African American military fighter pilot Eugene Bullard and escaped slave Addison White’s story of fleeing on the Underground Railroad in Ohio.
“We’re really privileged and honored to have Herman working with us on this production,” Westhoff said. “It’s good for us to branch out and bring new people into the fold.
“This is a re-staging of the Mad River Theater Works’ original ‘Walk On: The Story of Rosa Parks’ production that was first introduced in the mid-2000s.”
Audience members likely are familiar with Rosa Parks’ brave actions in refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white patron in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955. However, through drama and music, the one-act play presents a deeper look at Parks’ story, detailing her childhood in rural Alabama. It also dispels myths about Parks and her protest, “painting a portrait of a complex woman who had to find reconciliation within herself in order to become an effective Civil Rights leader,” MRTW representatives said.
MRTW newcomer Sheena O. Murray, a Florida native who was born in Jamaica, plays the title character.
“I feel so honored to portray her,” Murray said of Rosa Parks. “It’s easy to get into the role in a play that is so well-written. I’m a vocalist as well, and really enjoy the music in this production.”
Fayetteville, N.C., native Phillip Simon Lynch plays the role of E.D. Nixon, a NAACP founder who encouraged Parks’ participation in the Civil Rights movement and also bailed her out of jail.
“It’s my first time performing with Mad River Theater Works, and I love the company here. It’s great to portray someone who was so influential shaping the history of our country.”
Fellow cast members in the production include: Jackie, played by Evelyn LeTishia; Mary Ann/Miss Evans, played by Lisa Redfern; Sylvester, Rosa’s grandfather, played by Raiford Faircloth; and Myles Horton, played by Bob Lucas. Brandon Osley is the stage manager.
Tickets for Friday’s show are still available at www.thehollandtheatre.org, ranging from $15 to $30. In addition, $5 youth tickets for ages 17 and younger are available through a partnership with Serrano & Associates – Ameriprise Financial Services Inc.
A matinee performance for Benjamin Logan students also is planned for 10:30 a.m. Friday.
The Walk On production is made possible through the Ohio Arts Council, Honda of America and the National Endowment for the Arts