The Bluest Eye – Karamu Performing Arts Theatre 2012

“Fred Sternfeld’s strong direction creates sufficient dramatic tension, keeping the audience, including this reviewer, thoroughly engaged”

“In the opening tableau, young Pecola reads from a Dick and Jane primer as the two families enter and assume their places on stage like a Norman Rockwell painting. As Pecola reads aloud, the others join in, chorus-like, talking faster and faster until the words become gibberish. With one inventive stroke, director Sternfeld illuminates the irony between the ideal and the real.”

“Her sad eyes and a broad smile teetering on the edge of despair, Andrea Belser’s magnetic portrayal of the insecure and emotionally vulnerable Pecola haunts me still … This stunning performance won my heart and broke it in the same moment.”

“India Burton as the more introspective Claudia, and Corlesia Smith as the sassy Frieda, perfectly capture the sibling relationship, fighting one moment, loving the next. Rochelle Jones is effective as the sisters’ sharp-tongued yet compassionate Mama.”

“The scene in which Pecola discovers she is “ministratin” is humorous, tender and utterly believable as portrayed by this quartet of actors.”

“… Maurine Peal, played with haughty superiority by Valerie Kilmer.”

“Jimmie D. Woody delivers an inflammatory performance as Pecola’s abusive father Cholly. Woody’s nuanced characterization creates sympathy as well as antipathy for Cholly, as much victim as perpetrator.”

“The excellent Stephanie Stovall conveys the bitterness and defeatism of Pecola’s mother, a woman broken down by life, unrealized dreams, and a marriage to a man that has turned sour and violent. Finding escape in the movies, Mrs. Breedlove tries to fix her hair like Jean Harlow; it’s funny and pathetic.”

“One of the saddest scenes is when Mrs. Breedlove, who works as a maid for a rich white family, comforts her spoiled white charge as Pecola watches, ashamed to even acknowledge that Pecola is her daughter.”

“Gregory White is suitably glib as the local fortuneteller Soaphead Church, who tricks Pecola into believing he can grant her blue eyes at a horrific price.”

“Muting some of the more shocking scenes makes them even more shocking.”

“The action is structured around the four seasons. Award-winning scenic, lighting and sound designer Richard H. Morris Jr.’s targeted sound effects mimic the seasonal changes, while a tiered stage and pinpointed lighting advance the plot. Harold Crawford’s costumes, from Pecola’s torn dress and Claudia’s and Frieda’s simple skirts and cardigans, to the rich Maurine’s more expensive togs, embellish character.”

“The Bluest Eye” is a most absorbing evening of theater and one that illuminates a sad chapter in American history.”

read the entire review on this webpage or on The Cleveland Jewish News website.

“faithful to the tone and structure of Morrison’s work.”

“Stephanie Stovall uses her immense stage presence to make Pauline a fearsome familial entity, and Jimmie D. Woody is often affecting as Cholly.”

“Andrea Belser plays this conflicted young woman with compassion”

“Director Fred Sternfeld has a firm hand”

read the entire review on this webpage or on The Plain Dealer website

“understanding direction”

“Andrea Belser is compelling as Pecola. She rings all the right notes out of a scene in which she is unknowingly cajoled into poisoning a dog, a dog, much like her, who is the victim of fate.”

“Corlesia Smith gives a textured performance as Frieda.”

read the entire review on this webpage or on Roy Berko’s Website

Andrea Belser (Pecola) is a native of Cleveland with a Bachelor’s degree in Theater Studies and Vocal Music. She was last seen on the Karamu stage as Salima in Ruined. Andrea has also performed in various shows at various theaters in the area including Outside the Lines with MegLouise Dance and Things of Dry Hours at Cleveland Public Theater; The Pearl Fisher with Opera Cleveland; and her Roy Berko “Times Theater Tribute 2008” award winning performance as best actress in a drama in Cleveland as Juliette in I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda. Her love of the arts keeps her alive and she owes homage to her God given talent not only to God, but to her biggest fan: her mother.

India Burton (Claudia) is a native of Akron and a graduate of The University of Akron where she received a B.A in Theater Arts. While there, she worked with many directors receiving training in method acting, Meisner and other techniques. She also appeared in many shows there, including favorites The Fifth of July, The Taming of the Shrew (Directed by Dr.Susan Speers), The Three Sisters, A Mouthful of Birds (Directed By James Slowiak, Artistic Director of New World Performance Lab NWLP) and Dog Sees God (Directed by Benjamin Rexroad, Artistic Director of Heads Up Productions). India is a founding member and resident playwright of the new and hip theater company Heads Up Productions. In 2009, India wrote 1,000 Hills. It was first performed at First Grace CC in Akron, Ohio and will be a part of Cleveland Public Theatre’s 2012 Black Box series. In 2009 she made her directing debut at Heads Up Productions with the critically acclaimed choreopeom by Ntozake Shange, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf! Other directing credits are The Laramie Project and DayBreaks Children, an original play by Akron native and brother John Dayo Aliya. India is excited about the opportunity to work with Karamu and Fred Sternfeld. THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!

Rochelle Jones (Mama) is a native of Cleveland and a graduate of Case Western Reserve University where she minored in theater. She also received theater training at Cleveland School of the Arts where her focus was on theater and dance. She also participated in 4Real Players a triple threat troupe at 4Real Empowerment Center and won a summer scholarship to attend Cleveland Play House summer theater program. She is currently taking voice lessons with 4Real Arts Factory. Her theater credits include Open Admissions, Oak and Ivy, Inside the Mind of a Madman, From Breast Cancer to Broadway and was last seen playing Josephine in Ruined at Karamu. She is excited to be part of this dynamic cast!

Valerie C. Kilmer (Maureen Peal/White Girl) is originally from Ithaca, New York and moved to Cleveland in 2006. She attended Shaker Heights High School where she received valuable training in theatre and movement as a member of the school’s Ensemble Program. Shaker Heights also provided her with the opportunity to enter and win the English Speaking Union’s National Shakespeare Competition at the regional level (with Fred Sternfeld as a judge)! Most recently she has been seen as Little Red Ridinghood in Loyola University Chicago’s Into the Woods, Simplina in Dover Players’ Two Pails of Water, and Gloria Nance in Western Reserve Playhouse’s Be My Baby. Many thanks to Fred Sternfeld for this opportunity to make her Karamu debut!

Richard H. Morris Jr. (Scenic / Lighting Designer) Mr. Morris is a native of Cleveland Ohio, and holds a B.A. in Scenic and Lighting Design from Kent State University. Mr. Morris was recently the recipient of the 2011 National Black Theatre Festival award for “Outstanding Achievements in Scenic Design.” He is currently Technical Director for Karamu House Performing Arts Theatre in Cleveland Ohio. Since his return to Karamu in 1997, he has designed scenery and lighting for over 104 Productions. Some of Richard’s recent design credits include: Ruined, God’s Trombones, Yellowman, Caroline or Change, The Great White Hope, Purlie Victorious, Holes, King Headly II, The Odd Couple, Split Second, For Colored Girls…, Jar the Floor, Bee Luther Hatchee, Raisin, The Little Tommy Parker Celebrated Colored Minstrel Show, Riff Raff, Treemonisha, Steal Away, Jelly’s Last Jam, Coming of the Hurricane, One mo Time, Just Passin Through, Five Guys Named Mo, Four Queens, No Trump, August Wilson’s Jitney, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, and Crumbs from the Table of Joy, other productions include, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Indahomey, The Tap Dance Kid, and The Colored Museum. Mr. Morris has also been guest designer for several theatres throughout Ohio. For the Jabar Productions set design: Once on this Island, and Trouble in Mind. The Cleveland Public Theatre set design: The Bacchaeand Mo Pas Connin. Ensemble Theatre:The Rabbit Foot, Later Life, and Meetings on the Porch. Weathervane Playhouse set design: Seven Guitar’s and Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting. Oberlin College Theatre set design: Blade to the Heat and Omnium Gatherum, his Oberlin lighting design credits include: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Macbeth, and Death of a Salesman starring Avery Brooks. Rabbit Run Theatre: Enchanted April, Ragtime, and Cemetery Club. Mr Morris has also been Production Designer for a number of independent film projects throughout the Cleveland area.

CorLesia Smith (Frieda, Darlene) is a sophomore at John Carroll and is a former student of the Chagrin Falls Performing Arts Academy. She most recently appeared at FPAC in Big, the musical and Eat (It’s Not About Food) and at Karamu in Ruined. Some of her favorite roles have been Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, The Cat in the Hat in Seussical, Angel in Celebration, Mother Miriam in Agnes of God and Julia Sullivan in The Wedding Singer.

Terrence Spivey (Artistic Director, Karamu House Theatre) formed his own not-for-profit theatre company “Powerful Long Ladder” in Harlem that staged for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange. He came to Cleveland as a guest director in the spring of 2003 for Karamu Theatre’s production of Carlyle Brown’s The Little Tommy Parker Celebrated Colored Minstrel Show. In Fall 2003, Mr. Spivey relocated to Cleveland to accept the position of Artistic Director for Karamu Performing Arts Theatre. He has directed many critically acclaimed productions at Karamu and has premiered several new works such as John Henry Redwood’s No Niggers No Jews No Dogs, Jonathan Reynold’s Stonewall Jackson’s House, Guggenheim fellow Dianne McIntyre’s Daughter of a Buffalo Soldier and the hit comedy/drama Johnny Taylor is Gone by rising young playwright Gregory S. Carr. Mr. Spivey was voted “Best Theatre Honcho – 2005” by Cleveland’s Scene Magazine, a 2008 Governors Award for the Arts nominee, and Nguzo Saba Award winner in Cleveland. He was one of fifteen artists selected throughout the country to appear in the 2008 book Artist and Influences and profiled in the February 2009 Issue of American Theatre magazine. He is a member of the prestigious National Theatre Conference, the third professional from Ohio to become a member since the elite eighty-five year old organization’s existence. He currently serves on the board of trustees for Community Partnership for Arts and Culture and was recently honored with a proclamation by Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson and resolution by Councilwoman Mamie Mitchell for his contributions to the arts locally, regionally and nationally.

Fred Sternfeld (Director) is pleased to return to Karamu, after directing the award winning production of Yellowman in 2009. He most recently directed The Fantasticks, Steel Magnolias and Baby at TrueNorth Cultural Arts and A Little Night Music, Company and Les Miserables: School Edition at FPAC. Fred is widely represented on Northeast Ohio stages through diverse projects, garnering numerous honors and awards. Recently he directed the award-winning productions of Baby at TrueNorth, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast & at Beck Center and Ragtime, the musical at the JCC. He previously served as Artistic Director at Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory, Lakewood Little Theatre – Beck Center for the Arts and the Cleveland, Seattle & Dallas Jewish Community Centers. Other selected credits: Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver! & The Sound of Music at Cain Park; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife & The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek at Dobama Theatre; Children of Eden,Into the Woods, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Eat (It’s Not About Food) and The Odd Couple at FPAC; A Shayna Maidel, Jolson and Company, Man of La Mancha, Modern Orthodox, Rags, From Door to Door, South Pacific, The God of Isaac, Beau Jest, Crossing Delancey, The Twilight of the Golds, The Immigrant & Conversations With My Father for the Cleveland JCC; Bad Seed at Ensemble Theatre;Amadeus at Willoughby Fine Arts; Table Settings, Isn’t It Romantic, The Diary of Anne Frank & Broadway Bound at JCC Center Stage in Seattle; Peter Pan (1987 & 2008), On the Town, Of Mice and Men, La Cage aux Folles, Saturday Night, Foxfire, Noises Off, Children of a Lesser God & The Importance of Being Earnestat Beck Center; Proof at GLTG and All My Sons & Enter Laughing at the Dallas JCC. Upcoming: Gruesome Playground Injuries for Ensemble Theatre in April of 2012. For pictures and reviews for any of the shows listed here you can go to this link.

Stephanie Stovall (Mrs. Breedlove) has been acting since the sixth grade. Stovall’s most recent performances includes From Breast Cancer to Broadway (2010) directed by Terrence Spivey at Karamu. Steal Away (2009) directed by Jean “Granny” Hawkins also at Karamu. Bourbon at the Border (2008) at Ensemble Theatre at the Cleveland Play House. Stovall was also featured in independent films written and directed by Konnie Perone entitled “Silver Rain” (2007) and “Drag Bottle Dreams” (2008), which was accepted at the Burbank CA film festival. Venturing out into comedy under the studies of Mike Veneman in 2006 allowed her to land a gig as opening act for Louis Ramey at Marymount College in Maryland, VA in 2006. Other performances include: Purlie Victorious (2007), Clevelands Art and Technology Ingenuity Festival, Hip Hop Aesop, George Wolfe’s Colored Museum directed by Caroline Jackson Smith (2006) and Peter Lawson Jones’s Family Line directed by Desmond “Storm E” Jones (2005). Growing up in the church, Stovall has developing her talents by playing the piano for various churches and performances as Tina Turner for Christmas socials for the church. Native of Warrensville Hts., Ohio has studied tap and modern dance, the piano for 12 years and the trumpet for 5 years. Earning a degree in Public Relations, Communications from Cleveland State University in 2007, has allowed her to work with a non profit organization My Fairy Godmother, that provides affordable new and gently worn prom dresses to young high school ladies in Cleveland and surrounding areas . Stovall enjoys acting, listening to live music, traveling with friends and family, gardening, decorating, cooking and hanging out with “son” Kingston her faithful Shitzu. “My family & friends are constant motivators in my life in all that I do, always there to support me. Thank’s ya’ll, and I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me!” Stovall currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio.

Gregory White (Daddy / Soaphead Church) is an alumni of Ohio University’s School of Theater. He was last seen in Karamu’s production of The Shadow Box, as Joe, the hard working family man, coping with terminal illness. Greg has displayed a wide range of characters, including the crafty diamond merchant, Mr Harari in last season’s Ruined. Greg showed off his dancing abilities as Noah in the 2011 Karamu House version of God’s Trombones. For Ensemble Theater he was a 92 year-old in Horton Foote’s Dividing the Estate. He was awarded the best overall actor trophy by the Indie Gathering Film Industry in 2010. Greg also performed in the Beck Center’s Peter Pan and as Mr J. Robinson in Truenorth’s production of To Kill A Mockingbird, in Karamu House’s Bow-Wow Club and in Waiting 2End Hell. Greg is ecstatic to be working with such a talented cast and would like to thank them all for their dedication and hard work.

Jimmy Woody (Cholly) has appeared in numerous productions in Cleveland and New York. Some of his most recent Cleveland credits include: William in Lobby Hero, Booth in Top Dog/Underdog at The Beck Center for the Arts, Hamlet in Hamlet at Cuyahoga Community College, Tigre in Dream On Monkey Mountain, portrayed multiple characters in The Colored Museum at Karamu House directed by Terrence Spivey and Caroline Jackson-Smith, and he appeared in Cleveland Public Theatre’s production of Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape directed by David Herskovitz. Jimmie directed and performed the role of Dionysus in Cleveland Public Theatre’s production of The Bacchae of Euripedes a Communion Rite written by Wole Soyinka. Some of Jimmie’s New York credits include Waiting for Godot, Hollis Mugley’s Only Wish and The Caucasian Chalk Circle staged by The New York Shakespeare Festival and LaMama E.T.C. respectively directed by Andrei Serban. Jimmie received his M.F.A. in acting from Columbia University.