THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 7, 1994 TAG: 9408070059
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
When you've organized eight Gospelramas, as Christine Davis has, you're faced with problems large and small.
Large problem: the weather. Friday night's shows at the gospel-music festival at Portside were rained out. Grim clouds also held down Saturday's attendance.
Small problem: drumsticks. As things got rolling Saturday, there weren't any with the drum set rented for the festival's stage.
Fortunately, however, the rains held off, the drummers dug up sticks of their own and spirits were a-soaring Saturday on the city's waterfront.
Davis founded Gospelrama to help unify musicians and music lovers of different races. ``Unity,'' she said, ``that's our motto.''
Her goal was met Saturday. The performers - from a twangy, country-influenced female quartet to a raucous 12-piece brass band - explored nearly every avenue on the gospel-music map. And the audience seemed to appreciate the mix.
``It reaches people,'' said Katherine Paige of Portsmouth. She and her daughter and her daughter's three daughters were swaying to the brassy sounds of the Sons of Zion orchestra:
Oh, glory, glory, glory, glory, Hallelujah!
I sing the praises to You.
Oh, glory, glory, glory, glory, Hallelujah!
That's the reason why I sing.
``This music makes people think about Christ who might otherwise not,'' Paige said. ``Sometimes you can't reach people with the Word. Sometimes you have to reach them through the music.
Christine Davis couldn't have said it better herself.
The music and the Gospel have dominated her life - her whole family's, for that matter. ``Nothing but preachers and musicians,'' she said of her clan.
A piano teacher, church organist and choir director, the thin 68-year-old organized the first Gospelrama in the mid-1980s at I.C. Norcom High School. Back then, it was the tail end of a larger, three-day unity celebration.
It has been an annual event of its own at Portside from the second Gospelrama on. A nonprofit group of which Davis is president, Helping Others Progress Successfully (or HOPS), sponsors the event. This year it also got help from Portsmouth General Hospital, WTKR-TV, WSVY-AM/FM and PortsEvents.
The tugs and ferries chugging along the Elizabeth River make for a lively backdrop for the festival. But moving outdoors opened the event up to risks.
Friday's canceled events marked the second straight year the Friday evening shows had to be scrapped because of bad weather. ``I'm through with Fridays,'' Davis vowed.
Since some of Friday's eight scheduled acts wanted to come back the next day to perform, that meant tearing up Saturday's schedule. Each act was allotted 15 minutes of stage time, and Davis had to keep gently reminding her stage helpers to keep the performers moving.
Everybody who sang or played did so for free. By the time the festival concludes today, dozens of individuals or groups from throughout the region will have performed.
There is no charge to attend. HOPS encourages donations of canned foods to help the needy. But on Saturday several festival-goers handed Davis crumpled cash donations as well.
She's hoping to raise enough cash for a down payment on a sound system. She said she has been invited to start Gospelramas elsewhere, including Baltimore. For HOPS, having its own system would make it easier to take the show on the road. MEMO: Gospelrama continues today from 2 to 9 p.m. at Portside in Portsmouth.
For information, call INFOLINE at 640-5555 and press 7678. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
Above, Raiheen Jones, Sherilynn Cherry and Shaunte Colden of Honey
in the Rock School of Creative Dance in Portsmouth rehearse Saturday
at Portside. Left, James DeJarnette leads the St. Stephen's Church
of God in Christ Choir.
Photos
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
Above, Kelly Jackson or Virginia Beach holds up his daughter Laura,
3, to giveher a better view of the stage on Saturday. Below, members
of the St. Stephen's Church of God in Christ perform before the
Portside audience. The show continues today.
by CNB