Tazewell Thompson

Tazewell Thompson is a playwright, a director, and former Artistic Director of the Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, Connecticut. He wrote and directed, among many others, the play "Constant Star", which has toured the United States.

A musical about the life of Ida B. Wells, "Constant Star" uses five actresses to play her as well as other persons in her life. Although primarily a drama, it includes about 20 negro spirituals sung by the actresses. Of his play, Thompson says

:My first introduction to Ida B. Wells was the PBS documentary on her life. Her story gnawed at me. A woman born in slavery, she would grow to become one of the great pioneer activists of the Civil Rights movement. A precursor of Rosa Parks, she was a suffragist, newspaper editor and publisher, investigative journalist, co-founder of the NAACP, political candidate, mother, wife, and the single most powerful leader in the anti-lynching campaign in America. A dynamic, controversial, temperamental, uncompromising race woman, she broke bread and crossed swords with some of the movers and shakers of her time: Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Marcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, President McKinley. By any fair assessment, she was a seminal figure in Post-Reconstruction America.

:On her passing in 1931, Ida B. Wells was interred in the Oak Woods Cemetery, Chicago. Her formidable contributions to the Civil Rights movement have, until most recently, been under-appreciated. Until now; almost, but not quite, an historical footnote.

:This play with song is my attempt to let her story breathe freely on stage - to give it a symphonic expression - to give her extraordinary persona an audience, something she always craved.

For the televised performance of his production of "Porgy and Bess", he was nominated for an Emmy as Best Director. [ [http://dctheatrereviews.com/review/2006/05/14/185/ DC Theatre, May 14, 2006] ] In the early 1990s, he was artistic director of Syracuse Stage. [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30712FC355F0C778EDDAB0894DC494D81&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fT%2fTheater New York Times, February 24, 1994 - Director Shakes Up Syracuse Stage] ] He also won an NAACP Theatre Award for Director of a Musical in the 16th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards. [ [http://www.blacktalentnews.com/artman/publish/article_474.shtml Black Talent News - The Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP Announced Winners Of The 16th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards, posted on Feb 23, 2006] ]

As an actor, he was a cast member of the original Broadway productions of "The National Health" (1974) [ [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=89704 IBDB - Tazewell Thompson] ] and "Checking Out" (1976). [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1210934/otherworks IMDb - Tazewell Thompson] ]

References

Other sources

* [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117924840.html?categoryid=15&cs=1 Variety, Tue., Jun. 21, 2005 - Thompson in at Westport: Artistic director to begin new role Jan. 1 - by Frank Rizzo]
* [http://www.westportnow.com/archives/011854.htm Westport Now, June 20, 2005 - Westport Playhouse Names Tazewell Thompson Artistic Director]

External links

*imdb name|id=1210934