Saturday at the theater-The Amen Corner

I have been in love with film, stage, screen and concert hall.  My family would sing along to sound tracks and act out Peter and The Wolf. We had to take acting in summer camp, so I got to perform as well. When I first joined Columbia House I ordered Broadway show tunes like Fiddler on the Roof and Hello Dolly.  I was also the first kid on my block to become a Beatles fan (natic).

I had the honor of seeing my Mother and my Sister in a boffo (google it please)  staged reading of Baba James Baldwin's The Amen Corner.

Presented in a pristine and Black- Centric venue on Chicago's South Side. close to the expressway and Lake Shore Drive.  Talk about a hidden gem...this cozy theater is the brainchild of Marvinetta Penn, educator, show-woman,  Global Girls has been doing good work in our community for 20 years, it was a blessing to find her.

I loved the simplicity of the sets and the mesh of stage and audience space. 

Here's my Mom in costume change number one, she had 3.  Most of her children were in the audience and she sure taught me a thing or 3 about being active and involved in your children' lives. Ever our champion, every our teacher, every our friend.  I asked her why she didn't teach for a living..."Teaching four human beings how to be contributing, caring, fair-minded adults is quite enough teaching for me thank you".  She also showed humor, spirit and dedication to her character.  I thought my heart was gonna jump out of my chest.

Our hostess and the director Marvinneta Pen.  This sister has been about Black Pride, Black Power and Black Art for awhile.

My baby sister's performance was superb as usual, I've been dealing with her drama for better than half a century, that performance reinforced my faith in her ability to carry a tune, a scene or a room with her powerhouse performance.  Soft when she had to be, strong as fit her character and shrill as her soul demanded.  Brava Diva, Brava!!

  The cast was obviously involved and excited.  They knew their lines and hit their marks and delivered true to life portrayals of church folks everywhere.

The costumes were dead on as well.  I enjoyed myself immensely. The dialogue flowed effortlessly and the characters were realistically acted..

It was heartwarming to see young people so eager and involved in their roles.  Some of their performances were almost too big for the room.
 

I am not going to go into plot details, please accept my somewhat biased judgment, if it's staged again please go see it.

Thanks for reading.

Find further information about The Global Girls, go to the website at:

http://www.globalgirlsinc.org/?page_id=2