‘Fences’ Breaks Cort Theatre Sales Record

COMMENTS (9)

• so refreshing to see theatre featured here on DHD. i’m happy for all involved with Fences and hope their succuss will lead to a brighter future for all people involved with the stage.

  Comment by eyechart — Monday May 10, 2010 @ 2:53pm EDT  Reply to this post

• Wilson, for those who are unaware, unfairly maligned Jazz great Jelly Roll Morton in “Jelly’s Last Jam” since Morton could not defend himself, being long dead and with no descendants. Easy pickings.

  Library of Congress recordings have thankfully been re-issued, with Morton’s own words in 1938 make Wilson’s accusation that Morton “passed” a bunch of bunk.

  It was easy for Wilson to accuse long-dead Black men living under real, actual Segregation of being “Uncle Toms” but it was as false as Vanilla Ice posing as a hard-core rapper.

  If you’re interested in an actual, real giant of American culture, you’re better served by purchasing the recordings from Amazon. It won a 2005 Grammy. Not only does Morton perform, he tells stories about what New Orleans was like, for a Black man under the most brutal Segregation, but in a weird, Black-majority town that had almost completely separate but parallel societies that most of the time tried hard to pretend the other did not exist. A Black man could wander the city for an entire day without having to speak to a White man (and vice-versa).

  Morton was a pioneer in Jazz who took a lot of abuse from Whites and long after he was dead, from Wilson. Louis Armstrong respected Morton, so that’s all you need to know.

  Comment by whiskey — Monday May 10, 2010 @ 3:25pm EDT  Reply to this post

  • Do you mean George Wolfe? August Wilson did not write Jelly’s Last Jam, dude.

    Comment by One of these men is not the other.... — Monday May 10, 2010 @ 6:08pm EDT  Reply to this post

  • august wilson didn’t write jelly’s last jam. george wolfe did.

    Comment by bruce vilanch — Monday May 10, 2010 @ 6:54pm EDT  Reply to this post

• I agree Fleming. I hope their is a film. This is one you just want to bottle up and keep around forever. Who knew Washington was such a great stage actor.

  Comment by tiffany — Monday May 10, 2010 @ 3:42pm EDT  Reply to this post

• KL an amazing feat! Mo B’Way for the AA? Hope so…….

  Comment by "street" guy — Monday May 10, 2010 @ 5:54pm EDT  Reply to this post

• So, this WHISKEY guy who just complained that August Wilson “maligned” Jelly Roll Morton in the musical, Jelly’s Last Jam, really meant to point his finger at the musical’s actual author, George Wolfe. Haaa! Guess Whiskey believes, like so many others do, that “they all look alike.”

  Comment by Cam — Monday May 10, 2010 @ 7:47pm EDT  Reply to this post

  • LMFAO!

    Comment by Chris — Tuesday May 11, 2010 @ 11:13am EDT  Reply to this post

• Re WHISKEY’s emotional yet misinformed comment. I suppose, that is why these sections allow anonymity. So people who don’t have a clue what they’re talking about can spout misinformation and suffer no significant rebuke.

  I saw this production. Honestly, I expected more from Mr. Washington. There is nothing that was “bad” about this production, and seeing the Cort Theater filled (to capacity) with so many black faces was a welcome sight on Broadway. However, I imagine this posts validity on DHD is much buoyed by Mr. Washington’s movie star power.

  The audience laughed their way through this piece, pausing only when Mr. Washington’s smile subsided (and those moments were outweighed by Kenny Leon’s affinity for lightness over harsh truth.) The show will continue to sell and I’m glad, but if Broadway is “supposed” to by the best of the best (It hasn’t been for a long time, I know) this show misses the mark. True, Mr. Washington had the audience eating from the palm of his hands, but I received no impression they were listening. It should be the Best of Best AT their best.

  The cast is exemplary. The set, perfection. There is never a moment when the sheer wattage blooming from the stage will allow you to look away. But make no mistakes…that is a MOVIE STAR up there.

  Comment by Desponoir — Tuesday May 11, 2010 @ 4:51pm EDT  Reply to this post