Fermat’s Last Theater presents
August 13, 2020, Cafe Coda Madison
Concept and curation by Quanda Johnson
Program
Lawd, How Come Me Here – Negro spiritual – sung by Quanda Johnson
From Giovanni’s Room – read by Melvin Hinton
The Giver [for Berdis] – poem read by Quanda Johnson
From Sonny’s Blues – read by Melvin Hinton
Staggerlee Wonders – poem read by Quanda Johnson
Le Sporting-Club de Monte Carlo [for Lena Horne] — poem read by Quanda Johnson, dance by Akiwele Burayidi
Letter to My Nephew, from The Fire Next Time – read by Melvin Hinton
Munich, Winter 1973 [for Y.S.] – poem read by Quanda Johnson
The Darkest Hour – poem read by Quanda Johnson, dance by Akiwele Burayidi
From Go Tell It on the Mountain – read by Melvin Hinton
Untitled – poem read by Quanda Johnson
Amen – poem read by Quanda Johnson, dance by Akiwele Burayidi
Recollections – My meetings with James Baldwin by Melvin Hinton
The Creole Love Call by Duke Ellington – sung by Quanda Johnson, dance by Akiwele Burayidi
Negro spiritual – In De Mornin’ When I Rise – Quanda with dance by Akiwele Burayidi
Bass for all pieces by Oliver Gomez
Please note: Baldwin often used the N-word. If you listen carefully you will understand how and why.
Cast information
Quanda Johnson is a Fulbright Scholar and a current doctoral student in Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies at UW – Madison. A performer from Broadway to grand opera, she seeks ways to utilize performance to disrupt and consequently alter entrenched, cyclical conversations about Blackness and the African Diaspora. An AUDELCO Award nominee for her portrayal of Marian Anderson, she appeared in Broadway’s Tony award winning Ragtime and made her New York City Opera debut in The Mother of Us All with Lauren Flanigan. Her work is dedicated to the memory of the first artist in her life, her mother, Vernetta. Her full biography is here: https://dept.english.wisc.edu/intertheatrestudies/people/its-students/
Melvin Hinton produces and hosts Radio Literature on WORT and Between You and Me on Madison College’s Clarion Radio. He completed a paid internship–and turned down a full-time job offer–at The New York Times News Service before going on to Stanford University as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. Two years in France as a Fulbright Scholar and teaching assistant in a secondary school were followed by a long residence in Spain. Other honors include a Martin Luther King Scholarship at New York University, a University Fellowship at Texas A&M, and a doctoral fellowship at the UW-Madison.
Besides acting with The Madrid Players, and with Kathy Seley in Murray Schisgal’s The Typists, Melvin toured Spain with Donna Hightower’s gospel music ensemble. He has directed students in theater at the U. S. Cultural Center in Madrid, at Tennessee State University, and at The University of the South. He directed a Queer Short at the Bartell, and at the Overture Center he was Rev. Sykes in CTM’s production of To Kill a Mockingbird. He has taught Spanish and French at several universities, among them Texas A&M and The University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Oliver Gomez will be a freshman at the Eastman School of Music and says his favorite bassist is Ray Brown, and he is currently studying with John Christensen.
Akiwele Burayidi will be a third-year student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison pursuing degrees in Dance and Health Promotion and Health Equity. She has received several scholarships to train at summer programs such as the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Paris Summer Academy, and most recently Perry Mansfield Performing Arts School where she worked with Shannon Gillen and Vim Vigor Dance Company.
Graphic Design by Wendy Vardaman; all photos and video of Akiwele by Jan Lin ; sound and video and live stream by Micah Buffat and Scott Leisman.
Our co-sponsors/funders of this performance were the following:
… and the many individual donors who contributed
At noon on the day of the performance, WORT’s Allen Ruff interviewed Professor Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., Chair of African American Studies at Princeton University and author of the best selling book, Begin Again: James Baldwin’s American and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own. Melvin Hinton joined the discussion. The wortfm.org archives have the audio from that show.
Five of the poems read during the program are available at The Poetry Foundation: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/
Baldwin’s body of writing is huge and includes novels, short stories, plays, essays and poems. Wikipedia has a good bibliography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baldwin#Works
Youtube also has some key Baldwin resources, including his two hour conversation with a young Nikki Giovanni recorded in 1971, the famous debate with William F. Buckley, Jr at the Oxford Union and his conversation with Margaret Mead.