Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The Only Woman Who Spoke at the March on Washington

On this day in history, August 28, 1963 - The Historic March on Washington, Josephine Baker was there as the only woman speaker.  She was wearing her French uniform adorned with the medal of the Legion of Honor when she addressed the crowd. She delivered a moving speech that inspired the mass of people gathered that day.  They responded by screaming dancing and jumping. She had instilled in them a feeling of brotherhood, equality and pride.... It was one of the greatest ovations she had ever received. 

Friday, June 29, 2012

Happy Birthday Josephine!

There are so many social media sites - Facebook of course, Tumblr and Pinterest to name a few that I have been dabbling with.  So my blog has not been updated - so now I have to say it belated.  Of course I did not forget it -I said it, tried to spread it - that one of the greatestest icons of all time was definiately on my mind and I wished her happy birthday on the 3rd of June!

Friday, April 13, 2012

Take a Bow Ms. Baker!

When Josephine Baker performed at the Bobino Theater in 1975 the audience went wild.  At the end of the standing ovation Josephine said quietly "maintenant je peaux mourir" which means "now I can die."
She'd once remarked that she'd like to die breathless at the end of a dance and two days after that comeback performance, she passed away.  She lay in her bed surrounded by newspapers with rave reviews of her show.  While the official cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage, I would have to agree with those who believe she died of happiness.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Saturday, April 7, 2012

April 8th - Josephine Performs

It was April 8th, 1975.  She opened a new show -  "Josephine"  at the Bobino in Paris and received rave reviews.   After the devastating loss of her home and fortune, she clearly had made a comeback.  Yes Josephine Baker was back on top!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Coming Soon! A new Vintage Styled Umbrella with Images of LaBakair!

Josephine Tonight Part II

As promised here is part II of my review of the play.  All I can say is if you missed it, you truly missed something phenomenal!  From start to finish it was a theatrical delight. Each and every actor, the story line, the songs (backed up by a live orchestra) - each musical dialogue (Wally Harper) contained clever content and told a story that touched the heart..  And the costumes.... Oh! the costumres... Designer Reggie Ray outdid himself! All of the cast members were dazzling and dapper. However, two of the white ensembles worn by Zurin V. stick out in my mind. That white pantsuit and cloche hat would cause the real Josephine to smile.  An the final white ensemble was clearly well  reserched and almost perfectly duplicated to match the one worn by LaBakair herself.

As I sat in the audience watching the play for the third time, I had the biggest grin on my face - so proud
to see such a quality production and glad the story of my shero is being told with such dignity and grace.

Bravo!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Part I BBS Reviews the play - Josephine Tonight!

Josephine Tonight
A new play on the life of Josephine Baker up to the age of 24

          I have only had the opportunity to veiw the preview performance of this play sans costumes.
However as someone who has researched and studied Josephine Baker for more than six years, I felt
compelled to give my preview review.I was uber excited to attend the performance and was delighted to sit in the seat origionally reserved for thecostume designer for the production – Reggie Ray.  So to my delight  I ended up sitting next to the playwrite Mr.
Sherman Yellen!  After saying hello, we discussed his vision briefly. He told me that he wanted an
all black cast and that the play will travel under different names.  It was previously presented as
Tumpie’s Dance but few people know that Josephine was called Tumpie as a youngster. Josephine Tonight seemed like a better fit.
 When aksed if he had aspirations for a Broadway run, he was flattered at the thought, but said that
 he would rather have a great run off Broadway, than have a lukewarm response on Broadway. Josephine Tonight has a stellar cast including Howard University’s graduate Zurin Villanueva in the starring role and a full orchestra to boot!

     Knowing the full story of Ms. Baker’s life, I watched with a critical eye and when Mr. Yellen asked me
halfway through “So does it live up to your expectation of what you know about her?”  I answered, “So far
so good.”  Clear to me, was the fact that the play is a mixture of truth and creative license, but I love the story
that was told.  The fact that Josephine’s mother went to Paris with her in the beginning is not factual, but her
presence  provides a moral conscience and softens the attitude of Josephine who was scarred
by a race riot she witnessed as a child and other acts of prejudice. The songs and music in the production contain
 delightful lyrics and support the storyline perfectly.  The Choreography and Direction of Maurice Hines who I also
 had the pleasure of meeting was on point.  In the end all I could say to Mr. Yellen was “Brilliant! Simply Brillant!”
As someone who worked behind the scenes on historic research and costume research for this production, I cannot
Wait to see it again!

Stay Tuned for Part II of my Review

Josephine Tonight  January 26 – March 18, 2012    Alexandria Virginia    www.metrostage.org