Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 20, 1992 TAG: 9203200127
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF DeBELL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
All performances are sold out.
And co-director Greta Evans isn't at all surprised, because people have been asking for a revival practically since the curtain fell on the last performance six years ago.
"I thought it would sell out even sooner than it did," said Evans, who is community affairs director at WSLS-TV (Channel 10).
The show is a musical revue about a part of Roanoke that was at one time the social, commercial and entertainment hub of the city's black community.
Henry Street - also known as First Street and "The Yard" - is just across the railroad tracks from downtown Roanoke. It was a place where women paraded in their fashion finery, a place where small businesses thrived and where clubs offered the likes of Fats Domino, Lionel Hampton and Ray Charles to their patrons.
"Those were hard times - fun times, but hard times," said singer-pianist William Penn, co-director of the show. "People want to see a time in history" through the show. "People love the street."
Evans agrees. "It was a source of pride," she said.
The street life died out during the 1960s, when desegregation became the law of the land and Roanoke's blacks began the slow move into the mainstream from which they had been barred. With the exception of the old Dumas Hotel, which is being rehabilitated as a community music center, little remains except vacant buildings and lots. So far, the music center is the only sign of a hoped-for neighborhood revitalization project.
Using a racially mixed cast of all-local talent, "Henry Street!" tells the story of the neighborhood from the 1920s to the present in song, dance and a narrative crafted by Evans from her own research about the area. The title song was written by Audrey Whitlock.
The show opens tonight with a performance at 8 o'clock in Whitman Auditorium at Virginia Western Community College. There will be a second show at the same time Saturday, and a concluding performance Sunday at 3 p.m. All have been sold out for weeks.
The Chevys and Premiers, a rhythm-and-blues group that had a large local following in the 1960s, will come out of retirement to be in the show. It did the same in 1986 and was a hit.
Some of the other outstanding performers of the original "Henry Street!" won't be in the revival for a variety of reasons. They have moved away or they're too busy or, like dancer Roma Turner, they're nursing injuries. Singer Keith Pullen is out, and so is Lloyd Stephenson, the Catholic priest who electrified 1986 audiences with his dancing.
They are being replaced by, among others, singer Charlene Cochran, rap artist Rob Webb and dancers Joyce Davis, Laurice Hampton and Larry Terry. "I'm really enjoying it," said Terry, who is the show's only male dancer. "It's come together real well."
A 44-year-old Roanoke native, Terry is a self-taught singer/dancer who may be remembered from his work in such bygone local venues as the Thunderbird and Colonial Hills clubs. He performed with such groups as The Kings, The Dynamics and The Brown Sugar Band.
In all, about 12 members of the 35-person cast are new to the show.
"There are no stars," Evans said. "It takes all of us to do the show. Every part is essential."
Penn said the show has 11 songs and about half a dozen dance numbers ranging from the Charleston to styles of the 1950s and '60s. "Unchained Melody," "Blueberry Hill" and Penn's own rendition of "Minnie the Mooch" are among the musical numbers.
The show has been slightly shortened and generally tightened since 1986, according to Penn. "It's going move a lot faster," he said. "It's a little bit more mature."
Bob McCleary is technical director, and the choreography is by Gloria Randolph.
The revival came about as the result of an invitation from Virginia Western to do the show on its stage. It was the idea of Mary Johnson, an instructor in Virginia Western business division and chairman of the minority affairs committee.
The school is donating the stage and the services of McCleary, who is on the staff there, and will get a share of ticket proceeds.
Members of the cast also will get a share, according to Evans.
Blue Ridge Beverage Co. Inc. is the principal sponsor. Others, in addition to the college, are Shirley and Cabell Brand and the Hamlar & Curtis Funeral Home.
Mill Mountain Theatre and Roanoke College have loaned costumes. Free rehearsal space has been provided by the downtown Roanoke YWCA, St. Gerard's Catholic Church and Bishop's, a Franklin Road club where Penn frequently appears.
It is because of such support, say the co-directors, that they have been able to bring the show in for about $10,000. The long process of finding the talent, casting, rehearsing and seeing to countless other details began just after Christmas.
"I've had to lean on talents I didn't know I had," Evans said. Her co-director agreed. "It's been a learning experience," he said.
"HENRY STREET!": Sold out. March 20-21, 8 p.m.; March 22, 3 p.m.; Virginia Western Community College's Whitman Auditorium, Roanoke. 857-7334.
by CNB