<div dir="ltr"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,255)"><br><br>••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••</span><br><br><b>“BREATH AND IMAGINATION” enlightens at Cleveland Play House <br></b><br>Roy Berko<br>(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)<br>
<br>Roland
Hayes, Paul Robeson, Marian Anderson. While Robeson and Anderson are
probably names that many Americans can identify, Hayes probably is not.
<br><br>Robeson was a football player, political, and civil rights
activist, who, because of his criticism of the US government and
communistic leanings, was blacklisted during the McCarthy witch hunts.
He was a star of movies and Broadway and an international singing
sensation, thus garnering public name recognition.<br><br>Anderson, not
only was a world renowned singer, but became a cause celeb when, in
1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution refused permission for
her to sing to an integrated audience in Washington D.C.’s Constitution
Hall. With intervention from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, her
performance was transferred to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where
she sang before a crowd of more than 75,000 and a radio audience in the
millions. Her role in the Civil Rights movement is well documented.<br><br>Roland
Hayes preceded both Robeson and Anderson, but received little public
recognition in the United States. He had an understated personality and
did not demand attention. At the height of his fame, well before the
Civil Rights movement, little attention was given to the plight of the
Negroes and the virulent prejudice against them, especially in the
south, so his story did not get the spotlight. <br><br>Hayes, born in
Curryville, Georgia in 1887, was the son of a fanatically religious
mother who was a freed slave, and a father who was part-Native American.
His maternal grandfather was a Côte d’Ivoire chieftain in Africa, who
was captured and shipped to America. Hayes’ father died as a result of
an accident while working in a factory. When taken to a local hospital,
he was refused treatment because of his skin color. <br><br>In that
era of hate, against great odds, Hayes rose from being a young boy
singing spirituals in a church founded by his mother, to became the
first world-renowned African-American classical vocalist. His fame
resulted in his singing before kings and queens and being a favorite on
the European continent.<br><br>His unique vocal style, which combined
classical precision with the passion of Negro spirituals, resulted in
nuanced dark tones to his presentations, making him unique among
classical singers of his day. <br><br>Though some of the historical
details have seemingly been altered for dramatic effect, Daniel Beaty’s
"BREATH AND IMAGINATION" combines narrative sketches, comments to the
audience, and song selections, into a bio-drama, a play with music, that
tells the remarkable tale of this gentle yet powerful and talented man.
<br><br>We travel Hayes’ life path as he discovers the sound of
operatic music via a recording by Italian tenor, Enrico Caruso, is
exposed to languages and music by a white church organist, is accepted
into Fisk University though he only had a 6th grade education, received
training through the financial support of a teacher who without his
knowledge paid for his education, attempts to find venues in which to
perform, has a sold-out performance in Boston’s Symphony Hall with the
aid of local Black churches, travels to major cities of the American
north, and embarks on a European tour. In 1923, when he returned to
America, he became the first African-American soloist to appear with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra. <br><br>In spite of his international
renown, when, in 1942, he returned to Georgia with his wife and
daughter, they were arrested and beaten for sitting in the white-only
section of a shoe store.<br><br>CPH’s production, under the direction of
May Adrales, is a fascinating journey that exposes the audience to the
reaches of prejudice and the difficulties placed on people by those who
hate and perform acts of cruelty for no other reason than that they
can. The production is nicely paced, and the characters are clearly
developed, but Adrales should have paid attention to sight lines and
hearing difficulties caused by scenes being placed in the back segment
of the stage.<br><br>Cleveland native, Elijah Rock, a University School
grad, with Cleveland Institute of Music, Singing Angels, Karamu and
Lyric Opera Cleveland training, has a fine singing voice, the acting
skills and the ability to create a very believable Roland. Though some
may question his pure operatic skills, the arias he presented incited
strong positive audience reactions. <br><br>Dephne Gaines finely
creates in Angel Mo’, Roland’s mother, a woman who has grown from slave
to strong freed woman, filled with habits and beliefs. She adds the
right levels of determination and humor to make Angel Mo’ into a
memorable person. Gaines well follows the mantra of her character,
“Keep your focus.”<br><br>Tom Frey not only is a fine pianist, who plays
the entire score, but portrays a Jim Crow policeman, preacher, Roland’s
male and female music teachers, and King George V. This is a taxing
role, which Frey does with skill.<br><br>Rachel Hauck’s set design
consists of a huge wire tree and gauze formed leaves which arches over
the entire stage, encompassing Roland’s entire life. Placing some of
the scenes far upstage, however, makes for difficulty in hearing spoken
and sung segments in this microphone-less production.<br><br>Jeff Nellis’s lighting design effectively highlights designated performance areas.<br><br>Though
script purists may question the play’s present, past, interactive
asides to the audience format, Beaty has concocted a way of telling the
tale, so that the ideas flow well and hold the audience’s attention for
the hour and a half intermissionless performance.<br><br><i>CAPSULE
JUDGMENT: "BREATH AND IMAGINATION" is an ideal offering for Black
History month. It exposes the audience to an African-American who
deserves recognition, spotlights the horrors of racism, highlights
musical sounds not commonly seen on theatrical stages, while
illustrating a script developmental scheme that allows for history to be
portrayed in a non-traditional mode. This is a show well worth
seeing!</i><br><br>"BREATH AND IMAGINATION" runs through March 9, 2014
at the Allen Theatre in PlayhouseSquare. For tickets call 216-241-6000
or go to <a href="http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com">http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com</a>.<br><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,255)">••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••</span><br><br><br><br><br></div>