Fishburne Marshalls In Broadway Opening Night For ThurgoodNearly 100 years after the July 2, 1908 birth of America's first African-American
Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall, celebrated actor
Laurence Fishburne brings his fresh interpretation of this great attorney-cum-jurist to life on Broadway.
Under the direction of
Leonard Foglia,
Thurgood is a one-man show written by
George Stevens, Jr. The play opens at Rialto's
Booth Theatre for a limited engagement running through July 20.
Thurgood is
described as:
...the remarkable and triumphant story of Thurgood Marshall, who rose from a childhood in the back-street of Baltimore to the Supreme Court of the United States. Along the way, Mr. Marshall overcame many adversities but through them all, remained focused and positive to maintain the great country he wanted to serve. And did. Thurgood brings to the stage the words, the wit, the tenacity and the wisdom of one of America's greatest Heroes.
Given the dramatic impact that Marshall had on 20th Century America, whether it was in successfully arguing the landmark
Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court in 1954 or being appointed by
President Lyndon Johnson to the nation's highest court on June 13, 1967 where he served until his death in 1993, will a one-man show adequately portray this American giant in a compelling case?
Stay tuned tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:36 Down, 3 To Go (April 12, 2008)
Seafarer Set To Sail Out Of Broadway Berth (January 30, 2008)
Labels: Broadway, George Stevens Jr., Laurence Fishburne, Leonard Foglia, Opening Night, Play, Supreme Court, Thurgood, Thurgood Marshall
Freedom Of Speech...Even For Voices In ConflictThe
United States Supreme Court may not believe that First Amendment rights to free speech extend to high school students, but New York's Vineyard certainly does.
Next month,
The Vineyard will stage three free performances of the controversial
Voices In Conflict -- a documentary-style play constructed by drama students at Wilton (CT) High School as a class project that gives voice to actual interviews, letters and essays from American soldiers serving their country in Iraq. Wilton's students will perform the work.
Voices In Conflict originated when the students were confronted last September by the death of a 2005 Wilton High School graduate who was killed in the line of duty in Iraq. That soldiers's legacy included a written letter. The students began to compile other soldier's writings and soon had a series of monologues that were ready to be staged.
After deeming the original high school production as too controversial this past April, Wilton High School Principal Timothy H. Canty canceled all performances at the school.
He was quoted in The New York Times saying, "'It would be easy to look at this case on first glance and decide this is a question of censorship or academic freedom....In some minds, I can see how they would react this way. But quite frankly, it's a false argument.''
Ironically,
the high school bills itself as "a community of learners dedicated to academic and personal excellence. Within a nurturing, respectful environment, we foster scholarship, character and citizenship."
While the school's claims are specious at best, we can be thankful that these students will understand that there are far more Americans who care about the proper protection of First Amendment rights and are willing to join in teaching school administrators a thing or two about what those rights actually mean.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for ticket information.Labels: Freedom Of Speech, New York State, Off-Broadway, Play, Supreme Court, The Vineyard, Voices In Conflict, Wilton High School
