‘Minstrel Show’ makes mark
SPARBER from page 12
of catharsis for many black people
searching for an outlet in an era of
fearful discrimination.
Sparber, who wrote the play in a
dialect that dropped the jaws of actors
(the first cast called it “divine inter
vention”), wrote much of the dia
logue based on what he heard grow
ing up in a heavily black Minneapolis
neighborhood. His interest in black
literature and old radio shows such as
“Amos ’n’ Andy” helped him give
final shape to his minstrel characters.
“Although it’s easy to criticize the
show, it featured African-American
actors and the vernacular is actually
accurate,” Sparber said.
When he shopped his script to
Omaha’s Blue Bam Theatre, the ver
dict was unanimous: Sparber knew
what he was writing about.
Taking the stage
David Lewis, a long-time local
talent in Omaha theater, starred as
one of the minstrels in the plays’ first
run at the Blue Bam Theatre.
“I think he’s one of the most bril
liant playwrights I’ve ever known,”
was his first comment on Sparber.
Lewis credits him with writing the
“role of a lifetime,” which he plans to
pursue by starring in, producing and
directing the show in California,
where he now lives.
Having earned standing ovations
for the show’s first opening in
Carmel, Calif., Lewis said, Sparber
helped reclaim minstrel heritage as a
source of pride.
“The way (Sparber) was able to
capture the essence of these charac
ters that has long been a source of
embarrassment, anger and humilia
tion gave them a dignity and intelli
gence that people don’t assign when
ever they come across images of min
strel actors.
“He was able to capture them as
intelligent people with souls, passion
for their art and with social con
sciences.”
The marriage of a minstrel show
with one of the darkest, most horrify
ing moments in Omaha’s history
seems not only bizarre but even a cor
ruption of the evil nature of the crime.
But this was in fact the greatest
triumph of “Minstrel Show” - not the
accolades nor the awards - but the
telling of the story itself, as exposed
through the voices of black entertain
ers witnessing the racist hysteria of a
mob lynching. It was a story so per
sona! to the actors of the cast that in
repeated performances in New York
they broke into tears.
Director Rob Urbinati headed the
production at Queen’s Theater in the
Park in January and February. The
show became one of the theater’s
biggest hits, (“a cash cow,” according
to Urbinati) and is scheduled to be
recast for a bigger opening later in the
year.
“The actors found it very tough to
remove themselves from the anger
and the anguish of the lynching,” he
said.
The unscripted emotion worked
for the audiences as well as the
reviewers who, according to
Urbinati, didn’t just write good
reviews but ones that “were over the
top.”
Urbinati said the critic from
Newsday was so impressed, he took it
upon himself to nominate the play for
the prestigious Oppenheimer Award.
Encores
While critics glowed and audi
ences wept, Urbinati and Sparber
remained unsatisfied. The play was
supposed to be told from the perspec
tive of minstrels, i.e. entertainers who
are giving this testimony before a
committee in their own unique flavor
of storytelling.
The earnest emotions of the
actors changed the focus of the play
to the tragedy rather than Sparber’s
original mix of minstrel humor as a
means of coping.
“The actors were amazing,”
Urbinati said. “But here’s the truth
with them: What’s so distinct about
the play is the angle of the characters
and the fact that they are just ordinary
guys.
“Their concern is that he is moan
ing and groaning and keeping them
awake. The characters are not neces
sarily sympathetic to the man who is
being lynched.”
In future productions, (plans for
which are already under way)
Urbinati hopes to cast actors who can
bring more life to the nuances of the
roles as written by Sparber.
Not that the playwright finds his
subject matter ftmny. Sparber’s sensi
tivity to the blight of racism and the
celebration of black history is what
has garnered his play such respect
among audiences of all colors.
Denouement -
When Sen. Chambers denounced
the play, he hadn’t even seen it;
instead he declined free tickets and a
written invitation to the Blue Barn
Theatre performance.
Of course, the controversy only
fueled the play’s popularity and
turned Sparber into a hero of sorts
among some people for the bravery
of turning the tragic event into one
accessible, enjoyable and enlighten
ing.
While “Minstrel Show: The
Lynching of William Brown” faces a
bright and even profitable future,
Sparber hasn’t made grandiose plans
as a playwright. In fact, he hasn’t
started work yet on any new projects
for the stage. But Sparber has already
made his made by confronting racism
and crafting entertainment into a
means of catharsis and historical
Matt Haney/DN
preservation.
As Sparber explains, his play is
not about racism and it’s not about
the idea that lynching is a horrible
crime. Those are obvious.
“I think racism has been con
fronted to death,” he said. “My take
on racism is simple: I think it’s bad,
and I don’t understand it very well.
“The play was very much an
attempt to try to understand history
through using art. As minstrels (the
characters) are more than just humor
ous entertainment; in some ways they
are repositories for cultural experi
ences.”
As Sparber has proven, so are
playwrights, when they can turn a
tragedy into a lesson, and a forgotten
culture into standing ovations.
Kilbom *not arrogant,’ says
his former coach
HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Talk
show host Craig Kilbom may be a
smart aleck with “the greatest hair in
television” but he’s certainly not
arrogant, his former college basket
ball coach says.
Kilbom, a 1984 Montana State
graduate, takes over “The Late, Late
Show with Craig Kilbom” tonight.
In one of many promotional
spots for his show, Kilbom says he
played Division I basketball at
Montana State in Bozeman until his
senior year, when his coach told him
he was too selfish and arrogant.
“Now I have my own talk show
on CBS,” he says in the ad.
But his former coach, Stu
Stamer, says he never thought of
Kilbom as arrogant.
“He was a neat guy. We chuckle
when we see that because Craig was
just a solid guy,” he said.
‘Simpsons’ creator mourns
show’s loss of controversy
NEW YORK (AP) - Matt
Groening, creator of “The
Simpsons,” is a little sad that Bart,
Homer and the gang don’t offend
people like they once did.
‘“The Simpsons’ used to be the
downfall of Western civilization,”
says Groening, adding that he loved
complaints that the show under
mined parental authority.
Groening also says in TV Guide’s
April 3 edition that he has a lot of
confidence in his new animated
series, “Futurama,” a science fiction
spoof set 1,000 years in the future.
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