REVIVAL OF THE GOSPAL MUSICAL “CROWNS” AND “IF THIS HAT COULD TALK” IN CHARLOTTE

The Actor's Theatre revival of "Crowns," the gospel musical that celebrates African American women and their hat, opens this month.

"It was all about the hats and the gloves and the pocketbooks," says Natalie Wilson, who plays civil rights pioneer Mary McLeod Bethune in the touring musical "If This Hat Could Talk."

The show traces the influence of Bethune and other African American leaders -- chiefly Dorothy Height, longtime president of the National Council of Negro Women. Height, 94, will be at Central Piedmont Community College's Halton Theater for the opening-night gala.

George Faison, the Tony Award-winning choreographer of "The Wiz," created "Hat" based on Height's memoir, "Open Wide the Freedom Gates." The musical spans the 1940s through the 1970s; Bethune appears after her death, in 1955, as a guiding spirit to Height, who in turn advised presidents and inspired such present-day activists as Oprah Winfrey.

"Being a part of the production, you feel as if you're a part of that era. There was so much oppression," says Wilson, pointing to one of her songs, "Dark Days," with its echoes of the lynch mob. "Because they felt so down, they dressed up."

The show comes to Charlotte the same week Actor's Theatre revives its popular staging of "Crowns.” While "Hat" centers on Height and other famous names, "Crowns” focuses on the unsung. "Our show is more about the `everywoman,' " says Sidney Horton, director of "Crowns" at Actor's Theatre.

Through impressionistic monologues and a rousing score, "Crowns" tells the story of an urban teenager who loses her brother to gang violence, then is sent down South to live with the kind of God-fearing, hat-wearing women Horton grew up with.

"On Sundays, my mother would never leave the house without a hat on," Horton says. "My grandmother would never leave the house, period, without a hat. To go to the grocery store, she had something on her head, even if it was just a simple straw hat."

"Some of these hats are so exotic, just gorgeous and beautiful," says Horton.

And when that much care goes into accessorizing, the director says, it reflects a woman's sense of herself and her place in the world. Both "Crowns" and "Hat" suggest that in the march of generations from ancient Africa to present-day America, there have been queens beyond count.

“Crowns is about faith: weddings, funerals and baptisms. The other one is about the civil rights movement and our journey.”

"Both have a lot to offer, from the point of view of our history, our struggle, our triumphs -- through hats," the director says. "What a great catalyst."

If This Hat Could Talk is from March 14-15th at the Halton Theater, CPCC Central Campus, 1206 Elizabeth Ave.

For gala, (704) 332-5819 - www.wi-ce.org;
for other shows, (704) 330-6534; www.vanjoproductions.com.

Crowns opens March 8th through March 25th at the Actor's Theatre of Charlotte, 650 E. Stonewall St. March 22 performance is pay-what-you-can. Call: 704-342-2251; or www.actorstheatre charlotte.org.

	Dorothy Height