THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 1996 TAG: 9603200054
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARSHA GILBERT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
IN THEIR combined 80 years of stage and film experience, Boncellia Lewis-Lucas and Portsmouth's Moses Gibson have done it all - musicals, comedy and drama from community theater to Broadway and Hollywood.
But ``40 Acres and a Mule,'' the musical continuing tonight at Hampton University, is a new challenge for the two veterans: It's the first production of the show and the first time they've performed on a college stage.
The play, set in the late 1800s, recounts a complicated quest undertaken by Virginia's ex-slaves. They had to find all of their kin before each received a promised 40 acres and a mule to begin new lives as free men and women.
It was not easy: Families were separated when they were sold into slavery.
Working together, the darker-skinned, ex-field slaves learned to work with the more favored, lighter-skinned former house slaves to get the plantation owner's record book and find their relatives.
Lewis-Lucas, 44, originally from Winston-Salem, plays Granny Minnes, an ex-house slave and matriarch. ``She is a mean, evil, old biddy that is set in her ways,'' Lewis-Lucas said.
Gibson, 74, is Pappy Tate, the counter to Granny Minnes.
``He is the grandfather figure of the valley slaves,'' said Gibson. ``It's a dynamite musical.''
The two play matchmaker with an ex-slave from each group to get the records.
Lewis-Lucas has been performing professionally for 22 years, usually in supportive roles in such productions as ``The Wiz'' and ``Momma I Want to Sing.''
The feisty, 4-foot-11 entertainer, who has suffered four heart attacks in the past three years, has been in more than 50 Broadway and off-Broadway plays. She's sung back-up for Della Reese and Linda Hopkins and has opened for James Brown, Phyllis Hyman and Chicago.
While performing, she was also a special-education teacher and a Pentecostal prophetess for 10 years.
``The love of God and constantly learning about myself keeps me going,'' said Lewis-Lucas, who spends most of her time with her husband, son and grandchildren.
Lewis-Lucas worked on Broadway with the author of ``40 Acres,'' the late Avon Long. They met in her first show, ``Bubbling Brown Sugar,'' in 1974.
Long is best known for his roles on Broadway in ``Porgy and Bess'' and ``Ain't Misbehavin'. '' He was in the movies ``The Sting'' and ``Trading Places'' and, on TV, played Chicken George in ``Roots: the Next Generations.''
His daughter, Ellyn, who discovered the play after his death in 1984, allowed the Hampton Players to perform this first production.
Gibson was a letter carrier for 25 years in Portsmouth. Although retired, he's eager to get more work in movies. An actor for 58 years, he said he's never too old to try new things.
In 1986, he was in David Lynch's ``Blue Velvet.'' Since 1994, he's been in 15 movies, including ``Navy SEALS,'' ``Love Field'' with Michelle Pfeiffer and ``The Vernon Johns Story.''
``When I was in high school, I won best actor in the Virginia State Drama Festival in 1938,'' Gibson said. ``I thought I didn't deserve it, and I've been trying to prove myself ever since.'' ILLUSTRATION: Moses Gibson and Boncellia Lewis-Lucas star in the premiere of
``40 Acres and a Mule'' at Hampton University.
WANT TO GO?
What: ``40 Acres and a Mule,'' musical by Avon Long
Where: Hampton University's Little Theatre, Armstrong Hall
When: 8 tonight through Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: $10, $8 for seniors, students, groups and children; free
for Hampton University students
Call: 727-5236 or 727-5402
by CNB