Date: Fri 09-Feb-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-8

Quick Words:

Yale-Rep-Byron-April-Scar-Film

Full Text:

(rev "Scar of Shame" @Yale Rep, 2/9/96)

Theatre Review-

A Cinematic Response To Hollywood

(with photo)

By June April

NEW HAVEN - Silence can speak volumes, and it can transcend time. Watching the

1920s silent film Scar of Shame , at Yale's Repertory Theatre on York Street

last Saturday evening, one clearly sees that human frailties are color blind.

This was not only a visual journey, however, but an energized flight of sound,

owing to the creative compositional talents of Don Byron.

The American Museum of Moving Images approached clarinetist Don Byron to

compose a score for one of several silent movies. Mr Byron selected Scar of

Shame . Backed by "white" money, this movie was made by the Colored Players of

Philadelphia in 1929. Though it is stylized and dated in many ways, Scar of

Shame reveals the prejudice within black society, and the impact of that caste

system on the lives of poor and rich African-Americans.

The multi-talented Don Byron's score brought a heightened sense of emotion to

this film. The "band," under his guidance (Pheeroan akLaff on drums, Uri Caine

on piano, Bob Debellis playing the saxophone, Richard Schwarz navigating the

percussion instruments, Bob Stewart on tuba, Steve Swell swinging on his

trombone, and James Zollar on trumpet), is as eclectic as Byron's musical

background.

Classically trained, but adept at salsa, Klezmer and jazz, Don Byron is an

outstanding clarinet player - that includes bass clarinet, too. Music and

expanded thinking are an integral part of his being... as is his laid-back joy

of giving music. Opening the program with a tantalizing version of the theme

from the movie Goldfinger , Byron and the band went on warming up the audience

with such wonderful oldies as "Tangerine" and "War Dance for Wooden Indians."

By the time the movie flickered onto the screen, the audience was tuned in and

"Byronated."

The American film industry grew from Hollywood, but the black movie industry

grew, in part, in response to Hollywood. D.W. Griffith's controversial film,

Birth of a Nation , and the economic incentive of the black audience were two

major factors in the formation of the independent black movie industry.

In a nutshell: in response to the negative portrayal of black people in

Griffith's movie, Booker T. Washington's secretary, Emmet J. Scott, garnered

funds and produced Birth of a Race . In Nebraska in 1916, the first black film

company, Lincoln Motion Pictures, was incorporated.

Responding to the needs of a growing black audience, other companies were

formed, sometimes backed by white producers. Most of the products of the black

film producers were underfunded, and not as "polished" as their Hollywood

counterpart, but their presentation of black people was usually in a far more

favorable image.

For those interested in pursuing additional information on this subject

matter, there are a variety of resources. Several videos that delve into this

are Black Shadows on a Silver Screen and That's Black Entertainment . There is

also a Public Television documentary entitled "Midnight Ramble." Several

authors who have written informative books on the topic are Donald Bogle,

Phyllis R. Klotman, G. Williams Jones and Thomas Cripps.

In neighboring (to Yale) Quinnipiac College, another Black History Month event

also profoundly impacted its audience. A riveting one-woman program created

and acted by Maxine Maxwell depicted four black heroines. The defiant

Sojourner Truth, Winnie Mandela, Henrietta King (an 86-year old slave) and

journalist/freedom fighter Ida G. Wells were transformed into vibrant lights

of history, telling their stories and bringing the audience into a circle of

pain and awareness.

It might be a consideration in the educational world: Instead of a "holiday"

to observe Martin Luther King, would not a day at school focusing on Dr King

and other black leaders be a better investment of the mind?