AUGUST IN AUGUST WILSON'S 'RADIO GOLF,' AS DIALED IN BY KENNY LEON, ENDS 10-PLAY CYCLE.Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Writer A saga concludes. A torch is passed. And Kenny Leon Kenny Leon is an African-American director notable for his work on Broadway and in regional theater. His success on Broadway has made him one of its foremost African-American directors. , who has watched the unfolding of August Wilson's 10-play, century-spanning cycle with a mixture of awe and excitement, gets to be present both at a beginning and an ending. Leon directs the West Coast premiere of Wilson's ``Radio Golf,'' which opened last week at the Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a small thrust stage with 745 seats at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Beckett and Associates. It has presented innovative plays since 1967. The world premiere of Angels In America was produced here. . ``Radio Golf'' marks the second of Wilson's plays that Leon has helmed from the early stages of development. The 49-year-old actor/director follows in the legacy of longtime Wilson collaborators Lloyd Richards Lloyd Richards (June 29 1919, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – June 29 2006, New York City) was an American actor and director best known for staging the original production of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (with whom the playwright had a falling out) and Marion McClinton (who developed health problems). Formidable shoes to fill, but Leon - who has numerous stage and TV credits - is more than up to the assignment, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. John Earl Jelks, one of ``Radio Golf's'' five cast members and a veteran of Wilson's plays. Jelks took over the role of Citizen Barlow in ``Gem of the Ocean'' originated by Leon when the latter was tapped to direct the Broadway production, replacing McClinton. ``He's always saying he's our friend, not our enemy, and he understands. He truly does,'' Jelks says of Leon. ``He knows how to push only so far, and he knows how to pull back.'' ``I never think about putting my stamp on anything,'' adds Leon. ``If someone watches a play and they don't see the hand of the director in it, if it's seamless and seems effortless, then I will have achieved what I'm after. I want folks to sit and hear August's music.'' More like a symphony, actually. Beginning with ``Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,'' (produced in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of in 1984) Wilson has chronicled the experiences of blacks in America, with a play set in each decade of the 20th century. Leon has had a solid hand in the cycle's historical bookends, ``Gem of the Ocean Gem of the Ocean is a play by August Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright. It is the first installment of his decade-by-decade, ten-play chronicle, often called The Pittsburgh Cycle ,'' and now ``Radio Golf.'' ``Golf,'' set like many of Wilson's plays in Pittsburgh's Hill District, takes place in 1997, and is both Wilson's most recent play and the last chronological play of the cycle. ``Radio Golf'' takes place in a redevelopment office where Harmond Wilks, a businessman seeking to become to the city's first black mayor, is looking to declare the neighborhood ``blighted'' in order to clear the way for demolition and development. The house at 1839 Wylie Ave., former home to the matriarchal ma·tri·arch n. 1. A woman who rules a family, clan, or tribe. 2. A woman who dominates a group or an activity. 3. A highly respected woman who is a mother. Aunt Ester in ``Gem of the Ocean,'' is scheduled for the wrecking ball, but a character named Old Joe appears to complicate matters. Two of the characters are descendents of characters from ``Gem of the Ocean,'' while a third appeared in Wilson's 1960s-set play, ``Seven Guitars.'' Jelks, Rocky Carroll Rocky Carroll (born Roscoe Carroll on July 8, 1963) is an American actor. Biography Early life Carroll was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. His acting career is rooted in the theatre. , Anthony Chisholm, James A. Williams James A. Williams (March 29, 1932 - ) was a United States Army general. Williams served as Director of the Defense Intelligence in the 1980s. He is a member of the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame. Education Williams was born in Paterson, New Jersey. and Denise Burse burse n. 1. A purse. 2. Ecclesiastical A flat cloth case for carrying the corporal that is used in celebrating the Eucharist. [Late Latin bursa; see bursa.] compose what Leon calls his ``dream team'' of a cast. ``It's no different than what one would need to come to the table with to do a Shakespeare play,'' says Leon. ``With August's work, you have to build a strong ensemble and get them to sing the same song. You have to have actors that can honor the pauses and commas. August works so hard on the writing that everyone has to have at least the same energy and the same commitment that he does.'' Leon is anything but a newcomer to Wilson, having also directed productions of the playwright's ``Joe Turner's Come and Gone Joe Turner's Come and Gone is a play by August Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright. The original working title of the play was Mill Hand's Lunch Bucket, the title of a painting by Romare Bearden. ,'' ``Ma Rainey Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett Rainey, better known as Ma Rainey (April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939), was one of the earliest known professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. ,'' ``The Piano Lesson'' and ``Fences,'' the latter of which launched his True Colors Theatre Company in 2003. ``It's almost like I've known him all my life,'' Leon says of Wilson. ``When I went to the Alliance Theatre, 'Joe Turner' had just opened on Broadway. I read that play, and I couldn't believe it. When I took that job, I said, 'You have to let me do this as my first play.' ``I had seen 'Fences,' and I knew that the soul of those words spoke to me, this country boy born in Tallahassee and raised on his grandmother's back porch. I finally had found something where I could say, 'That's me. I know those rhythms. I know that poetry.' I've always felt a strong connection to those words.'' Since leaving the Alliance, Leon has directed the bulk of the plays at the Atlanta-based True Colors, the mission of which is to explore the canon of black playwrights and to bring new interpretations to American and world classics. Last year, Leon also directed a Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry's ``A Raisin in the Sun A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The story is based upon Hansberry's own experiences growing up in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. ,'' a production that generated buzz less for its Tony award-winning performances by Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is a four-time Tony Award-winning American actress and singer. Biography Born in Berlin, Germany and raised in Fresno, California, the elder of two daughters, she began to study acting at a young age to counteract her diagnosis as than for its marking the Broadway debut of Sean (P. Diddy) Combs. ``By the end of the run, people were talking about the play,'' says Leon. ``A young generation of people came to that play expecting to see Puffy or Clair Huxtable. When it was over, people were saying, 'Who is Lorraine Hansberry? I want to read her. I want to know who she is.' '' And could Combs ever end up in a future August Wilson play? ``Absolutely,'' says Leon, ``but he'd have to be totally committed and shut down the businesses. He couldn't do anything else. He'd have to say, 'For these five or six months, I have to be about looking at and studying August's work.' It would definitely take some work, but I think he could do it.'' Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com RADIO GOLF Where: Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday; through Sept. 18. Tickets: $34 to $52. (213) 628-2772. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) no caption (Kenny Leon) Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer |
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