Hit the lights! Pull the curtain!
Caribbean Life, MAY 28-JUNE 3, 2021 43
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
You can’t see where the roar
is coming from.
But you can hear it, and
that’s what matters. The role
was made for you, you hit
every line and note, the audience
loved you — and now the
roar of cheers and applause
is yours. How long does the
standing ovation last? How
hard do they clap? As in the
new book “Footnotes” by
Caseen Gaines, how long will
your star stay aloft?
Growing up in an affluent
Black neighborhood in Columbia,
Tennessee, Flournoy Miller
had everything he could
ever want — and when he was
nine years old, he wanted to
be onstage. It was 1894, and
his parents had taken him to
see Sissieretta Jones, a famous
soprano and “one of the highest
paid Black entertainers of
the day.”
“Miller,” says Gaines, “was
captivated.”
And yet, growing up, Miller
knew that fame was a dangerous
reach. Every Black entertainer
seemed to know someone
who was killed by white
folks for no reason, but once
Miller met Aubrey Lyles in
1903 and “the two hit it off
right away,“ the danger was
ignored. Miller, in fact, was
more determined than ever
for fame, and the two developed
a popular comedy act.
From the time he was a
child, Noble Sissle loved to
sing. Few things pleased him
more than a chance to perform
in church and, while it
was expected that he would
become a minister like his
father, he grew more passionate
about music.
When Sissle took a job
in Baltimore, he met Eubie
Blake, a talented pianist who
grew up in a Godly house as a
child and honed his talents at
brothels as a teenager. They,
too, became fast friends and
eventual collaborators.
It’s a small world, and
because they worked in the
same industry, Miller and
Lyles knew Sissle and Blake
and there was mutual respect
all around. They had kicked
around the idea of working
together on a show but the
idea didn’t coalesce until early
1921.
And “with nothing but a
handshake agreement…” says
Gaines, “the quartet agreed to
give it a shot.”
The nicest thing about
“Footnotes” is this: you don’t
have to be a Broadway-goer to
enjoy it. You don’t ever have
to have even seen a play. You
can love this lively, sparkling
book for no reason but just
because.
Though it takes awhile to
get there and though it may
not seem like it, the main subject
of this book is the musical,
Shuffle Along. Author Caseen
Gaines seems to use this main
feature as a backdrop, as he
wraps biographies, history,
and everyday life around that
century-old show to show how
it came to be and why it was
so important to Black culture.
There’s racism in this tale, of
course, but also determination
and a sense of opulence
and grandeur, at times. It can
be a feel-good story, but one
that hurts, too.
Shakespeare said, “The
play’s the thing” and so is
“Footnotes.” If you love Broadway,
history, or books on culture,
it’ll make you roar.
“Footnotes: The Black
Artists Who Rewrote the
Rules of the Great White
Way” by Caseen Gaines
c.2021, Sourcebooks
$26.99 / higher in Canada
448 pages
Book cover of “Footnotes” by Caseen Gaines.
Art exhibition tells stories of Queens community
By Tangerine Clarke
Artists whose works are on
display at the ‘Made in Queens’
exhibition, unveiled on May 15
by the South Queens Women’s
March (SQWM), at the King
Manor Museum, received citations
from the office of Mayor
Bill de Blasio in recognition of
their contributions to New York
City’s cultural and arts landscape.
They are Veli V, Kerry Cox,
Amy Simon, Seema Shakti,
Amelia Inderjeit, Farhana
Akther, Movina Seepersaud,
Kim David, Juliet James, Angela
Miskis, Maria Liebana, Shristi
Sookram, Sherese Francis and
Giancarlo Vargas.
The exhibition will run
through Sept. 15.
Aminta Kilawan-Narine,
founder and director of South
Queens Women’s March, during
the reception told patrons, “Today
we unveil an exhibit that centers
on who we are as an intersectional
movement and amplifying
our mantra: Our voice is our
power and doing that solidarity
work that paves the way for true
collective liberation.”
This first exhibition is sponsored
by the Nest Restaurant and
Bar, Mr. Wonton Queens, High
Profile Sounds and Events and
Renee K Production, and according
to Narine, Rufus King likely
could never have imagined the
walls of his home adorned in
this way.
“The arts have a way to transcend
language and identities;
to function as a healing balm
for our aches, pains and struggles.
What you will see in King
Manor Museum is emblematic of
our voice being our power; these
pieces literally live out loud and
they tell the story of our beautiful
borough in a way never
before done. And that is specifically
because of the artists who
answered our call and believed
in our cause,” she said.
“Art has the ability to heal,
provoke, tell stories and build
communities. Through the
selection and design process, I
was constantly thinking about
art accessibility and community
representation. This is an exhibit
I wanted to see growing up
in Queens and one I‘ve always
wanted to participate in.”
“I’m ecstatic that we were able
to offer local artists this beautiful
platform to share their talent
and their stories with the Queens
community. We hope to make
Queens proud,” said Fatima
Shabbir, South Queens Women’s
March board member and curator
of the exhibit.
Members of the public must
book a reservation for a tour of
the exhibit through the King
Manor Museum website at
https://www.kingmanor.org/reservations.
Aminta Kilawan-Narine, founder and director of South Queens Women’s March, extreme
right front, squatting, surrounded by members and patrons of the organization.
Renee K. Productions
/res-ervations.Aminta
/res-ervations.Aminta
/res-ervations.Aminta
