The Weather Up Here:: RP: In Appreciation of Randall Kenan!!!

Saturday, December 5, 2015

RP: In Appreciation of Randall Kenan!!!

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Randall Kenan

The success of NBC’s THE WIZ, and the bizarre accusations from certain quarters that it was “racist,” reminds me of Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein’s opera, "Four Saints in Three Acts," which, in 1934, the midwestern white kid Thomson insisted ONLY be performed by “Negro” singers. That was a long, long time ago, and few directors/companies adhere to Thomson’s wishes, which can be construed as having been patronizing and racist. I knew Thomson in his later days. His interests in black folk was deeper than his critics’ imagine. An all black cast can be seen as a corrective in a culture that marginalizes and discriminates. I pray that we can all see better, hear better, hear all.

Four Saints in Three Acts, 1934

The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde February 28--June 3, 2012http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2012/steins-collec...

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Michael Malone Tell it, Randall. "I pray that we can all see better, hear better, hear all."

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Scott Kenan Randall Kenan while I worked for Tennessee Williams 1981 - 82, I met Virgil Thomson at his 85th birthday party -- and also Ethyl Merman, David Hockney, and Meryl Streep at that party.

THEN, YOU sent me the info to understand MUCH of the CORRUPTION at University of the South, Sewanne, who murdered Tennessee Williams with Episcopal Church, Republican Party,CIA, and FBI -- just like Jackie Kennedy Onassis warned us would happen.