Purlie, April 1990

Purlie

April 1990 

Purlie

Even with the measles delay Purlie did open and it was worth the wait.

As you can see from the production photos the show had a big set.

There were a lot of moving parts with several rolling platforms and flying wall units that all came a went from a large basic multi-level platform unit.

With all the many parts there was a great deal to figure out and I do know that I made a few mistakes.

One of the rolling platforms units, which was also raked(on an angle), ended up too being short and instead of making all new legs I just scabbed on  about a foot to each of the legs.

It might not have been the best way to do it but it was the fastest.

Purlie calls for a large cast of Black actors and we were fortunate that we had a good number of very talented African-American students at that time.

Being one of the  smaller departments on campus we do not always have the greatest ethic mix and cannot always do plays like Purlie.

One of the actresses did help fill out the cast by bringing in four of her children.

Her oldest son was not in Purlie but would be in 42nd Street that next summer.

More about him and that show coming up soon.

Originally we were scheduled to do the much smaller play version that the musical was based on but the powers that be in the department decided that we could it and I was glad that we did.

Back then I was often not in on the talks when big changes were made and even today 25 years later sometimes things change and sometimes I am the last to know.

That's Show Biz for ya.

Working in theatre, especially with college students I hear about their lives and problems all the time and unless I watch the news I can lose contact with what is going on in the world.

When I was younger I did not mind hanging out with the students but as I got older and over thirty I wanted to be more of part of the adult real world, have conversations and relationships of substance.

What would happen next would shake my world in such a way I that I did not see coming and was not ready for and would change my life forever.

  

 

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