In ‘I Wish You Love,’ race, civil rights and Nat ‘King’ Cole - The Washington Post: ...“I Wish You Love” travels back to 1957, when “The Nat ‘King’ Cole Show” — a network variety show hosted by Cole, already a major star — was a television milestone. The play, written by Dominic Taylor and directed by Penumbra founder Lou Bellamy, imagines the behind-the-scenes tensions at Cole’s show as the black entertainer skirmishes with network bigwigs who want him, among other things, to segregate his band. The script juxtaposes this saga against the civil rights movement, with a news-anchor character who reports on such events as school desegregation in Little Rock. The play was a smash hit in St. Paul, so much so that Penumbra will reprise it there next season.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
In ‘I Wish You Love,’ race, civil rights and Nat ‘King’ Cole - The Washington Post
In ‘I Wish You Love,’ race, civil rights and Nat ‘King’ Cole - The Washington Post: ...“I Wish You Love” travels back to 1957, when “The Nat ‘King’ Cole Show” — a network variety show hosted by Cole, already a major star — was a television milestone. The play, written by Dominic Taylor and directed by Penumbra founder Lou Bellamy, imagines the behind-the-scenes tensions at Cole’s show as the black entertainer skirmishes with network bigwigs who want him, among other things, to segregate his band. The script juxtaposes this saga against the civil rights movement, with a news-anchor character who reports on such events as school desegregation in Little Rock. The play was a smash hit in St. Paul, so much so that Penumbra will reprise it there next season.
