Play explores conflict of skin color

Like turning the pages of a diary kept hidden under a lock and key of secrecy for decades, Eleanor Kinlaw-Ross' new play, "Cross the Color Line," explores the complexities, truths, myths and pain of an African-American family separated by variations in skin color.

For Kinlaw-Ross, a Charleston native who divides her time between Atlanta and James Island, the seed for writing "Cross the Color Line" was planted long before our nation became focused on presidential candidate Barack Obama, reported in the news to be viewed by some as not being "black enough."

"It's really a coincidence about Obama, but it is certainly appropriate," says Kinlaw-Ross, whose play, "Hush Dat Gullah," was performed by Art Forms and Theatre Concepts at the 1996 MOJA Festival.

Since that time, the playwright has retired from her position in advertising at CNN and now writes, produces and lectures about the Gullah culture.

"When I was writing 'Cross the Color Line,' I was actually thinking of an incident that astonished me," says Kinlaw-Ross. "About 10 years ago, I witnessed an exchange between two senior citizens who were having a heated argument about how the color line had separated their worlds as children. I was amazed that the pain was still so fresh and divisive after all the years that had passed between the two men."

This was when Kinlaw-Ross felt the issue should be explored and dramatized.

"Cross the Color Line," set in the 1970s in Charleston and Boston, will be directed by Charleston native Henry Clay Middleton, a critically praised Lowcountry actor.

"This explosive play speaks to the heart and soul of a matter that is still very much alive today," says Middleton. "Even as we have entered a new millennium, the issues of the differences in light-skin and dark-skin African-Americans are still a major cause for debate and discussion."

While the color line is at the heart of this play, other burning issues also are explored, such as the booming development of James Island, and higher taxes resulting in the loss of land that has anchored generations keeping Gullah legacies alive, Kinlaw-Ross points out.

She also emphasizes, "Certainly, this play is grounded in serious issues, it is also laced with many lighthearted moments and side-splitting humor."

"Cross the Color Line" is part of the third annual Island Heritage Festival, celebrating and commemorating the historic treasures of Sea Island culture and history.

Director Middleton also will portray William, one of two brothers. The other brother, Booker T., is played by Herbert A. Johnson Jr. Others in the cast are Denise Jones, Michele Powe, Lorraine Frasier and Patricia Jones.

The play will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday with a 3 p.m. matinee June 29 at the Footlight Players Theater, 20 Queen St. An opening reception will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Tickets are $25 and may be purchased at the box office up to two hours before the performance, by calling 800-595-4849, or visit www.islandheritagefestival.com for information.

Piccolo awards

At the 2008 Piccolo Spoleto Festival Finale on June 7, three Charlestonians received Piccolo Spoleto Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs. The award recognizes their tremendous contributions over the past 30 years toward staging Piccolo, which is the official outreach program of Spoleto Festival USA.

Recipients of the award were Robert Ivey, founder of the Robert Ivey Ballet and professor emeritus of dance at the College of Charleston; Steve Livingston, director of the Charleston Parks Department; and Dr. William Gudger, professor of organ at the College of Charleston.

Ellen Dressler Moryl, director of the Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, said, "Many local arts professionals have worked tirelessly to plan and produce Piccolo Spoleto, but only a few have been involved with Piccolo every year since its founding. Therefore, we wanted to give them special recognition."

Moryl added that only Ivey, who has coordinated the Dance at Noon Series and the Dance Festival, has produced a series at each festival.

Gudger is a founding member of Piccolo's L'Organo Series, which brings some of the nation's finest organists to the festival.

Livingston has provided labor and resources from the city parks department to ensure that Piccolo's large outdoor events run smoothly.

Charisse memories

I grew up wanting to be Cyd Charisse, after watching her in "Broadway Melody Ballet," her one number in "Singin' in the Rain" danced with Gene Kelly.

Although only in the first grade, I identified with her. She was not the short, blond Debbie Reynolds-type considered all the rage then. Rather, she was tall and exuded a dark glamour, but mostly it was the way she moved that fascinated my young mind.

I also was mesmerized by her in "The Band Wagon," elegantly partnered with Fred Astaire in "Dancing in the Dark." But the image that sticks in my head, through the decades, is of her in "Silk Stockings" (1957), in which she played an icy Soviet official who is sent undercover to Paris, where she meets and falls for a Hollywood producer, Astaire.

Her long legs and early ballet training at 14 with the Ballet Russe mingled with show-dance moves in Cole Porter's "All of You." Famously, Astaire once said, "When you've danced with Cyd Charisse, you know you've been danced with."

When Charisse died Tuesday at 86 in Los Angeles, I thought not only of a great dancer who gave a new definition to the term "grace," but also of someone who was living proof that a girl didn't have to be "5-feet-2, eyes of blue" to get a dance partner.

Reach Dottie Ashley at dashley@postandcourier.com.