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Two Old Black Guys: Raw, gritty, humorous and real
Left to right: Abdul Salaam El Razzac and James Craven
By Alaina Lewis
Mo’Nique at the Orpheum Theatre
By Alaina Lewis
When it all began for Mo’Nique
Imes-Jackson, things weren’t always
a laughing matter. Coming from a
troubling start after suffering abuse at
the hands of her very own brother, the
actress got tough and found a way to
outsmart her circumstances.
Through the craft and tool of joke
telling, intelligence and a natural
charisma, Mo’Nique superseded her
prior conditions by claiming her right
to offer everyone she touched a
permanent smile. With each of her
career endeavors, she has seen a
multitude of success and fortune that
naturally place second when you
compare them to the richness in her
spirit.
The comedian, whose claim to
fame started on the UPN television
series “The Parkers” and also an
author of the bestselling book Skinny
Women are Evil, has hosted a Beauty
Pageant on the Oxygen Network for
Plus Size women called “F.A.T.
Chance” and is now the host of her
Rush
From 1
Blues master Bobby Rush, one of the
enduring elder statesmen of
American Blues music, returns to
Twin Cities next week for two shows
Saturday night, May 15, at
Wilebski’s Blues Saloon, 601
Western Av., St. Paul.
It will be a grand reunion
performance event. Rush helped
build the legend of Wilebeski’s as a
bona fide Blues saloon a couple of
decades ago when over the years,
Rush brought his world-famous
Blues Revue to the St. Paul Club.
Where Bobby Rush went, other
Blues masters followed. Wilebski
hosted the giants of the idiom
including Buddy Guy, Muddy
Waters, Johnny Taylor and others.
Tad Wilebski, who has recently
reintroduced the Wilbeski brand, is
coming back to the blues bar
business after selling the business
AESTHETICS
Ann Marsden
Penumbra does it again… but that’s
a statement that assumes that there
Courtesy Hennepin Theatre Trust
Mo’Nique
own BET talk show called “The
Mo’Nique Show.” Aside from that,
she also has many films under her
belt that illustrate her talent and her
progression through the arts.
For someone who was once
thought of by a few biased critics as
just another a “ghetto comic,” for her
roles in films like B.A.P.S, Phat Girlz,
Hair Show and Soul Plane, she’s
proved that true talent cannot be
confined to a box or subjected to any
and leaving the music scene for
several years.
“But I love this music, Brother,”
Wilebski testified in an interview last
week on the “Conversations with Al
McFarlane” broadcast on KFAI FM
90.3. “And I am honored that Bobby
Rush connected with us to help us
bring new life into the Twin Cities
Blues scene.”
Bobby Rush joined the KFAI
radio broadcast by phone from
Jackson, MS. He talked about his
longevity in the industry, about his
health, and about the business of
building new and expanding
audiences that will be touched by the
artistry of his gift.
Rush has discovered the
meaning of timelessness. His
soujourn as artist, performer,
entertainer, and businessman
includes experience gained and
shared throughout the Chitlin’
Circuit South, and Urban Blues
Emporiums across the North and
West Coast. He has performed
throughout the capitals of Europe
Insight News • May 10 - May 16, 2010 • Page 5
was ever any doubt in the world in the park outside their apartment said and gone, their current needs is not that of always expecting a
premiere of their new play, Two complex. In this Odd Couple are timely met and defined by a fairytale happy ending, but rather
Old Black Guys Just Sitting Around Parody, Abe, is an old school gent multitude of inner riches. Their learning to co-exist in areas where
Talking. and a former prize boxer who’s relationship, although seemingly agreeing becomes the hardest task.
If the title is a mouthful, it only joined at the heart strings with built on a sand trap and melded Two Old Black Guys Just
places second to the incredible tug Henry, a suave and artistically with a consistent antagonizing Sitting Around Talking, runs at
of war story, sewn together inclined fellow, due to a bond spirit, is more rhyme than riddle, Penumbra until May 23. And if my
between two elder Black men formed by their love for the same and incased in a solid friendship. opinion counts for more than just
whose lifelong hate for one woman. The play is raw, gritty, ink trappings on a page, I
another, provides an unbreakable As the saying goes, there truly humorous and real. Under the encourage everyone to check out
bond of necessity and brotherly is a thin line between love and hate. direction of Lou Bellamy, this two- this wonderful tale, if not for a
love. And for two men who’ve spent the person story doesn’t exist to good laugh, than to witness the
The story, written by Virgin fortunes of their youth intertwined resolve any lifelong issues between unmistakable magic and chemistry
Islands native and retired by a window seat into each other’s the pair, but rather it serves as a shared between the characters.
University of Arizona professor lives, they learn that after the jobs, guidebook to any adversaries, by For more information, visit
Gus Edwards, isn’t your typical the women, and their agility are showing us that the best resolution www.Penumbratheatre.org
tale spawn from a problem and met
with a cliché resolve. Rather, it
illustrates a truer depiction of life
and the art of getting around its
many challenges, by focusing more
on a cloud’s silver lining without
pretending that in the end there will
never be another storm.
There’s a lot to learn from
dropping eaves on a private
conversation between two elders
who deliver more bark than bite,
during their daily war over a bench
one label.
Her Oscar-winning portrayal of
Mary Lee Johnston in the movie
Precious, proved to everyone, that
rather then living up to others
expectations of her film roles, she’ll
continue to be the Galileo behind her
own quest through the stars.
Bringing it back to square one,
and revisiting a natural ability to
furnish a laugh, Mo’Nique and
friends, Rodney Perry, Tone-X and
DJ Ant, have hit the road on a new
comedy tour that is sure to bring love,
laughter, and plenty of welcome
surprises. Presented by Hennepin
Theater Trust, Mo’Nique’s “Spread
the Love Tour,” arrives in
Minneapolis at the State Theater on
May 14th.
Tickets range from $39.50 to
$65, and will definitely be a show
you won’t want to miss, from a star
that exudes the essence of a kept
promise. Prepare to be entertained.
For more information please
visit, www.ticketmaster.com or the
State Theater Box Office.
and even at the Great Wall of China.
The multitudes of Chinese fans
who saw him perform, he said,
hailed him warmly as “Little
Brother.” With endearing embraces
they compared him to the Great Wall
of China. “You have withstood the
test of time,” they said,
acknowledging his stellar career that
produced over 260 records over
more than a half century of
performance.
Bobby Rush’s Blues Revue
features what Wilebski’s bills as “his
lovely ladies” … whose sensual
dance gives meaning to a bluesman’s
lament. Rush’s dancers conjure the
rhythmic juke-joint gateway,
breathlessly revealing the
diaphramic connection between
ancient African worlds and Southern
Soul.
Minnesota’s own blues master,
Willie Walker opens the set with
performances beginning at 7:30 pm.
Doors open at 6 pm. For tickets and
information call (651) 331-0929.