Tony Award-nominated actor visits Ann Arbor with one man play about James Baldwin
Compiled by Donald V. Calamia
Originally printed 2/12/2004 (Issue 1207 - Between The Lines News)
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ANN ARBOR - A one-man play following the ardent and passionate life of writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin will be performed by Tony Award nominated actor Calvin Levels at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, in Angell Hall, Auditorium B. A talk back will follow the performance.
The play, "James Baldwin: Down from the Mountaintop," was written and is performed by Levels. It begins with Baldwin making his way back to earth from the ethereal realm by embodying an actor who is doing a one man play about his life.
Intent on setting the record straight, Baldwin recounts various topics about his life. These include his early childhood growing up in Harlem as a prodigious reader and fiery young minister; his first sexual experiences and love affairs; his relationship with his idol Richard Wright; leaving America and moving to Paris; his friendships and rivalries; his sour relationship with the Actors Studio; his association with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and the civil rights movement; and his death at his home in the South of France.
Calvin Levels is member of The Actors Studio who studied with Lee Strasberg. He has also worked with theaters across the country, including the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Lincoln Center Theatre and the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. He received the Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent and was nominated for the New York Drama Desk Award.
The event is sponsored by the University of Michigan Housing Department, the Office of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Affairs, the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs, the American Culture Department and Kappa Alpha Psi.
For more information please contact the Office of LGBT Affairs at 734-763-4186.
