"Barnstormer" will have your heart soaring with its ensemble of talented veterans - Cheryl Alexander, Stu James, David St. Louis , Andre Montgomery, Ken Prymus and Gayle Turner. Barnstormer has the ingredients that Broadway hits are composed of - memorable score, great choreography and on point acting. Book and lyrics are by playwright and practicing attorney, Cheryl Davis, whose works have been performed at the Kennedy Center, with music by Douglas J. Cohen and directed by Jerry Dixon.

The Lark Play Development Center, under Producing Director John Clinton Eisner, provides American and international playwrights with indispensable resources to develop their work, as well as nurturing artists at all stages in their careers. The Lark Play Theatre is located at 939 Eighth Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York City.

Hurry! Only two days remain in this showcase - Nov. 15 and 16. Ticket are $15 and all performances start at 8 p.m. For further information, please call 212-246-2676 ext. 22.

Famed Pioneer Aviator Bessie Coleman

By Camille Darby
The Black Star News

Vol. 10 No. 2

www.blackstarnews.com

December 1 - December 7, 2005

[ Theater ]

The Lark Play Development Center recently ended their rehearsal of Cheryl L. Davis's adaptation of Barnstormer-the untold story of the first Black female aviator, Bessie Coleman.

Led with the stunning voices of Erica Ash who brilliantly plays the protagonist Bessie Coleman; and David St. Louis-her brother John, a war veteran; this musical tracks the life of Bessie, a resilient, high flier with intentions of being more than just a colored girl from Texas. The play spans from 1919 to 1942 offering strong subtext about a time-period where many African-Americans celebrated the rebirth of life and culture in Harlem. Men wearing their uniforms proudly returned to the U.S. after World War I hoping to finally call it "home" although racism and the Great Depression left many in hopelessness. Blacks in Chicago lifted their heads higher with every strut as illustrated in the musical number "On the Stroll."

Bessie's image of the New Negro despite the social and economic circumstances of the times shines vividly the minute the lights come up on stage. She argues with her mother, played by the gifted Cheryl Alexander who symbolizes a generation that warns, "keep your eyes down."

Determined and convinced that she will do more and live more than the cotton in her shirt, Bessie teaches her mother that "nice" is not enough. The Chicago Defender-though just a newspaper-serves as her window through which she'll climb through to fly above the clouds. Although met with trying obstacles of the time including sexism, self-deprecation, and religion, Bessie fights relentlessly to maintain herself as a Black woman with the ability and right to simply live.

So what's next for this telling and uplifting play? With over four years of work, Barnstormer has had its first act presented at the York Theatre and a production in full length at the Stamford Center for the Performing Arts. The writer, Cheryl L. Davis has also received the Kleban Award for writing the book and lyrics to this musical.

For more information on supporting the Lark, finding out more about Barnstormer, or for playwrights who wish to have their work supported by this laboratory, send emails to info@larktheatre.org or visit their website at www.larktheatre.org.

(Black Star Editor's note: , Bessie Coleman received the first pilot's license issued to an African American; male or female, on June 15,1921, from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. She was an independent and determined woman, and believed learning to fly was a worthy challenge. After being denied training in the U.S. due to racism, she moved to France and won her license. In the U.S. she started performing aerobatic loops and figure eights in Chicago, hoping to eventually open a flying school for Black people. Before she realized her dreams, on April 30, 1926, she was in a practice flight for a May Day celebration in Orlando, Florida, when 10 minutes into the flight, the plane piloted by her publicity agent/mechanic nose dived and flipped. She had not fastened her belt and fell to her death. More students should research this fascinating life).