by Amrita Mangus, Crowns Production Dramaturg
During the past few days, I can’t seem to escape the overwhelming essence of hattitude wherever I go. It started with our first preview performance. In addition to the sensational hats onstage, the lobby was filled with hats for sale from local hat vendors. When I returned home that night, I received an e-mail announcing the winners from our Crowning Glory contest. All of the hats submitted were extravagant and full of character, but in my opinion, Pat Zinski’s purple feather hat stole the show (or contest). It’s a perfect homage to Jeanette’s monologue about the feathered hat she received from a co-worker and refused to lend to any of the church ladies (“I’d rather lend my children than my hats”). Monday night, we culminated our adventures in hat making with an inspirational Crowns salon. Costume shop manager Joe Salasovich entranced the audience with his passion for hat making and gave them the opportunity to see and handle the materials that built the hats, as well as the finished products. He talked about the importance of keeping millinery alive and how he and the costume shop really enjoyed creating nearly 40 hats for the production.
(The hats that are sold in the lobby during Crowns)
by Janine Sobeck
One of the highlights of our time away from our Southwest home has definitely been the chance to do productions down at the Lincoln Theatre. For those of you who have already visited this gorgeous theatre space, you know that the history of U Street resonates within its walls.
The more time I spend down at U street, the more I am struck by the unique history that is still present in this commerical and cultural hot spot. Flourishing during a time when Washington D.C. was intensely segregated, and with the Lincoln Theatre at the center of what became known as Black Broadway (featuring performances by the likes of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday), U street emerged as a happening place in the 1920's, with nightclubs, restaurants and businesses creating an exciting neighborhood. Sadly, the life and energy of the area was threatened by the intense civil disrest following the assasination of Martin Luther King Jr, and for many years U street struggled to return to its former vibrancy. However, attention from the city in the 1980's, and the renovations of several businesses (including the Lincoln Theatre, which re-opened in 1994) has sparked the life and energy that is so apparent today.
The cast and production team of our many shows (including the currently running Crowns) has had the great chance to rehearse and perform down at the U Street area, getting great exposure to everything it has to offer. And now there is a chance for our audience members to have the same chance.
Arena is offering the chance to participate in one of two special "walking tours" of the U-Street area. Covering the historical period of the neighborhood, or as the tour guide says, "a time of blues and jazz, and a time of great aspirations amid the cruel oppression of segregation," this hour and a half tour covers former houses, clubs, and businesses of such luminaries as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Duke Ellington, and Carter G. Woodson, and talks about the way the neighborhood has changed over time. It truly is a great way to immerse yourself in the culture of the area - and of course, we always recommend staying for the show afterwards.
So here are some details...
The two available dates are April 4th and 18th.
The cost? $10.
The only way to reserve (for space is limited) is by calling the sales office at: (202) 488-3300.
And yes...the tour is wheelchair accessible.
So come and see the other part of Arena's temporary home...and one of our favorite new neighborhoods.
by Amrita Mangus, Crowns Production Dramaturg
If you're looking for chance to see those fabulous hats up close and personal, be sure to check out the Crowns salon on Monday, March 31st at 7:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Theater. I will be joined on stage by Joe Salasovich and Ted Stumpf, our wonderful costume shop supervisors who built many of the hats seen in the show. They will discuss the hat making process and show off (and try on!) the hats. Come experience hattitude like you never have before!
by Amrita Mangus, Crowns Production Dramaturg
I love that I notice something new every time I watch a rehearsal of Crowns, thanks to our
cast’s
ability to continuously explore different character choices and surprise us with
their discoveries. During our last rehearsal on Tuesday, E. Faye Butler managed
to make me laugh and cry by delivering the same line in two unique and emotionally-gripping
ways. When E. Faye’s character, Mother Shaw, talks to Yolonda about her wedding
and her husband’s death, she bookends the scenes with the phrase, “Today, I don’t
own a lot of hats.” This bookend illustrates the life cycle of all of the
characters in the musical and how their hats carry them through “a lot of joy and a lot of sorrow.” On Tuesday, the contrast of these two
moments struck me as E. Faye began the wedding scene with an ecstatic delivery of
“Today, I don’t own a lot of hats” and then lingered on the line during her
husband’s death, saying it with a forlorn, slightly nostalgic tone. It was the
first time I had ever seen such a strong differentiation between the two
deliveries of that line. It really helped me empathize with the character and
situations on another level and recognize how Crowns takes us through "lots of family history."
