Vincent Williams dates his love of show business back to the 1968 Oscars. “That was the year Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn tied for best actress,” says the 36-year-old Williams. “They showed clips of the nominees, and I remember sitting there in front of the TV–just a little kid–watching Streisand sing ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade.’ She was pretty–strange-looking, but pretty. I thought to myself: ‘Who’s this lady singing on this boat?’”
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Black artists have been a major presence in Chicago theater for years, notes Goodman Theatre artistic associate Chuck Smith, who’s staging the awards show. “Chicago is the largest center of African-American theater in the nation. No other city, not even New York, produces the quantity of black theater we do here. Even before the off-Loop movement, blacks had produced theater for years, going back to Theodore Ward in the 1930s,” says Smith. “But we need to get the word out more. I was recently at a national black theater festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was my first time attending. All the African-American theaters were there, and they knew very little about Chicago. There is a great deal of activity. I want the world to know this.”
Sixteen shows produced between September 1994 and July 1995 have been nominated in 23 categories. Distinctions are made between “straight” plays and musicals, but not between Equity and non-Equity productions, a decision that’s already caused some controversy. “I don’t care,” Williams says. “A non-Equity actor can give a better performance than an Equity actor.” He adds that next year’s awards may have a category for community theater.
The first annual Black Theatre Alliance Awards will take place Monday, September 18, at the DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Place. The evening begins with a reception at 8 PM, followed by the awards presentation at 9. Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 at the door; advance tickets are on sale Saturday, September 16, from 2 to 4 PM at the Chicago Theatre Company in the Parkway Community House, 500 E. 67th. For more information, call 949-0704.
