Archive: An Interview with Paul Robeson (January 2007)
From Negro Spirituals to Blues
A Two-Act Musical Drama
Based on a true story
Original script by Paul A. Mabon Sr.
Excerpt from Othello by William Shakespeare.
Original music score written by James S. 'Cornbread' Harris Sr.
Featuring The 'Cornbread' Harris Quintet.
Starring Paul A. Mabon Sr., James S. 'Cornbread' Harris Sr. and cast.
Photo by Kwame McDonald.
A Cool Show in a Cool Spot
The powerful and provocative two-act musical drama, Interview with Paul Robeson: From Negro Spirituals to Blues, is coming to the Caves at Luna Rossa January 6, 7, 13 and 14 . This show, presented by Theatre Associates of Stillwater, features the powerful Paul Mabon playing athlete-intellectual-singer-actor Paul Robeson, as well as the blues piano stylings of Rock and Rock Hall of Fame inductee James S. "Cornbread" Harris, Sr.
The caves will be a dramatic backdrop for Paul Mabon’s commanding voice and presence, and you’ll be moved by his beautiful renditions of Old Man River, Amazing Grace, and other spirituals. Accompanying Mabon will be "Cornbread" Harris, along with twelve other actors and musicians.
Luna Rossa is located at 402 S. Main Street, at the south end of downtown Stillwater. The caves are located at the back of the restaurant, just a short walk on level, wheelchair-accessibile surfaces. The cave temperature is a cool 50 degrees, so patrons should dress accordingly.
Show Times & Tickets
Extended by popular demand!
Two more performances:
Saturday, January 13, 7:30 PM and
Sunday, January 14, 3:00 PM.
Tickets are $18 (or $12 for students).
Advance-sale tickets are available at Brine's Market & Deli on Curve Crest Boulevard, Stillwater, River Market on the north end of Main Street, Stillwater, or The Daily Grind, Stillwater, or can be ordered by phone at (651) 439-0993.
Advance-sale tickets for both shows come with a coupon for a 10 percent discount at four downtown Stillwater restaurants: Luna Rossa, The Dock Café, Marx Wine Bar and Grill, and Savories Bistro.
About Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson was a man of almost mythical, larger than life stature. A star college and professional athlete, powerful intellect, and world-renowned singer and actor, Robeson was the sort of prodigiously talented human being who doesn’t appear on the world’s stage very often. And if all that were not enough, Robeson was something more – a man whose outrage against injustice could not be suppressed and whose moral courage proved stronger than his country's determined efforts to defeat him.
About 'Interview'
'Interview,' billed as "A Two Act Musical Drama," joins two very different artists, professional actor and singer Paul Mabon and blues legend James S. ‘Cornbread’ Harris Sr.
Mabon has the voice and presence to do Robeson justice. And he sings masterfully the spirituals that represent, in Robeson’s words, the hopes and dreams of a people in bondage.
If such music doesn’t move you, you cannot be moved.
'Cornbread' Harris, who plays Robeson’s performing partner Larry Brown, is well into his seventies, and brings a marked contrast to the collaboration. Accompanying Mabon or playing
his own compositions and blues renditions, age becomes inconsequential with his fingers speaking so eloquently for him.
Robeson's story is a heroic drama on the scale of the Shakespearean characters he played on the stage. Paul Mabon and Cornbread Harris give it new life.