Features

The Ru Report #158

One Tough Broad
Stage and screen actress Cicely Tyson has made a triumphant comeback to the big screen.

The past two weeks have seen the release of her two most recent film projects, “Because of Winn-Dixie” and “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” open in wide release, with the latter hitting #1 at the box-office this week. And just to think, the three-time Emmy Award winning thespian, known for more serious fare such as “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” “Roots” and “A Lesson Before Dying,” initially scoffed at the idea of starring in the Tyler Perry-written slapstick comedy.

“I have a tremendous amount of admiration and respect for Kimberly Elise,” Ms. Tyson revealed said in a rare and candid interview. “So she called me up and she said ‘Well, now let me tell you, this isn’t your kind of thing and you may not want to do it but I would love it if you would and we have some beautiful scenes together. So they’re going to call your agent and talk to him about it.’ They did and my agent then sent me the script and I called her and I said ‘Well, I don’t know, maybe we should wait.’”

Ms. Tyson, who had a experienced a Hollywood misstep in 1997 with Bill Duke’s catastrophic period piece “Hoodlum,” is known throughout the industry as someone who isn’t an easy customer. She’s notoriously known for being meticulous about the roles she chooses.

She disclosed that she pondered the thought of starring in “Diary” further, and yielded to Ms. Elise’s wishes. “[Kimberly Elise] said, ‘But I don’t want to wait.’ And I said ‘Ya know, what am I waiting for? Let’s just go ahead and do it.’ And I’m really glad that I did.”

Having Ms. Tyson grace the independent Lions Gate flick was a very good look. Not too many first time efforts can boast such a living legend. Mr. Perry, an Atlanta-based playwright who has made a fortune off of traveling stage musicals widely known as “Chit’lin Circuit” plays, didn’t take the coup lightly.

“I tell you what he did to me and I finally fixed him,” Ms. Tyson divulged. “From the time I arrived, I walked into a suite that was covered in flowers, from one end of it to the other. And every day, two or three times a day came more flowers. Flowers, flowers, flowers. So finally, I called him up one night and I said, ‘Ya know, I think I got the message.’ And he said, ‘What are you talking about?’ and I said, ‘I understand what you’re trying to say to me and I have come to a decision and I have decided that I am going to relinquish this suite, I am leaving. So the flowers can have the suite.”

“The man almost had a heart attack,” she continued, laughing hysterically. “And if that wasn’t bad enough, he did the same thing to [veteran Hollywood power broker] Reuben Cannon and he was in bed sleeping�then they turned around and did it to my agent who almost had a heart attack because he knows that I am quite capable of doing such a thing. Until the night I was leaving at one o’clock, here came three men lined up with flowers all over the place. It was unbelievable.”

Ms. Tyson, who turns the ripe old age of 72 this year, has no other film projects in development but will be honored at this year’s Sixth Annual Jamerican Film & Music Festival. “We look forward to honoring the legendary Miss Cicely Tyson,” festival founder and accomplished actress Sheryl Lee Ralph told “The RU Report” this week, citing that Ms. Tyson will receive “the Marcus Garvey Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding body of work and undying commitment to the betterment of her community as a citizen of the world.”

Ms. Tyson, however, doesn’t respond to adulation very well. During the very forthright discussion, the former Mrs. Miles Davis sneered: “I have to look up [the word ‘legend’] in the dictionary and see what it actually means. It differs from what it meant when I was coming up as a child. The meaning is not quite the same. I’ve heard it applied to too many people that I don’t think of as such, and that includes myself.”

Alrighty then.

“I am here for a reason,” the Spanish Harlem turned Atlanta suburbs transplant continued on, “and obviously I have not completed my work and when my work is done, that will be it.”

Touche.

I must congratulate the team over at Donna Daniels Public Relations (no relation) for working on a excellent grassroots campaign and making sure they the right folks were exposed to the movie. Lions Gate has done the right thing by having the New York City-based firm oversee the movie’s publicity campaign. “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” directed by music video lens-man Darren Grant grossed close to $22 million during its opening weekend, a whopping $14,771 per screen according to estimates.

The film, which cost just $5 million to produce, stars Ms. Elise as a wronged woman, and also features soap opera star Shemar Moore and Steve Harris, formerly of “The Practice.” And of course the cross-dressing playwright Mr. Perry, who brings one of his beloved characters, Madea, to the big screen.

Ms. Tyson most likely won’t garner another Academy Award nomination, like she did for 1972’s “Sounder,” for this latest cinematic offering. But who needs awards, anyway. She admitted that she didn’t keep the three Emmy Awards she’s already won.

What?

“I said ‘I don’t keep them?’ (laughing) That should be enough of you! I don’t have a thing in my house to indicate that I am in show business at all. [I’m] dead serious. I do things for others, not for myself. I don’t sit around and look at pictures of myself. I don’t watch my movies. The joy and the gratification for me comes in the doing of it.”

Now, that’s ‘tough.’

Vagina Goes Black
A bevy of Black thespians will descend on Los Angeles’ Wilshire Ebell Theatre on March 17 in recognition for the 2005 Worldwide V-Day Campaign, which aims to end violence against women. Black sitcom faves such as Marla Gibbs, Tracee Ellis Ross, Wendy Raquel Robinson, and Erika Alexander will team up with the likes of Gabrielle Union, Amy Brenneman, and comedienne Sommore to perform in a one night only staging of Eve Ensler’s “Vagina Monologues.” Directed by Hollywood powerhouse, Penny Marshall–also a former sitcom actress–the award-winning production should be a show worth seeing. The benefit performance will honor local Vagina Warrior organization, The HerShe Group. Tickets are available at www.vdayla.org. The 2005 Worldwide V-Day Campaign consists of over 1100 cities around the world joining forces to raise funds and awareness to end violence against women. From Los Angeles to London to Cairo, V-Day benefits celebrate the work of local Vagina Warriors, women and men working toward ending violence against women at the community level.

Pages
The folks over at Newmarket Press couldn’t have had better timing with the release of a new and updated edition of the hard-cover tome “CONDI: The Condoleezza Rice Story” ($19.95). It’s the only adult biography on the newly-minted Secretary of State and close confidant to President Bush. The book, written by best-selling author Antonio Lenix, “CONDI” delves deeply into the life and passion of the 50-year-old history maker. Some nuggets revealed in the 304-page book include the news that Dr. Rice registered as a Democrat in 1976 and voted for Jimmy Carter; High school officials referred to her as “not college material;” She dated a member of the Denver Broncos, whom she almost married, a University coach, a Fortune 500 professional, and a San Francisco 49ers wide receiver. The private and professional path of Dr. Rice is well documented throughout the book.

The recently released “TRIUMPH! The Beautiful Face of Courage” is a collection of essays compiled and edited by Trenay Perry Bynum, a first time author who shares her story of survival from physical abuse, the painful aftermath and healing. And she united some of her sisters in the struggle to tell their stories in this worthwhile literary endeavor. An ethnically diverse group of women from Canada and the United States share their stories of survival throughout “TRIUMPH�” the book. Ms. Bynum, the founder and director of Figures of Nashville Inc. (FONI), a nonprofit organization with the mission to inspire and encourage plus-size women to become their own health advocates, proposes that proceeds from the book will benefit the charity. “There’s healing in the sharing of our pain,” she offered. For more information, go to www.mytriumph.homestead.com.

Stuff
This week saw the return of J. Lo and the release of her newest album, “Rebirth” in DualDisc format–a new entertainment product, which melds music, film and video on a single, two-sided disc. The “Rebirth” DualDisc contains the entire album in enhanced stereo, as well as an exclusive, never-before-seen documentary on the making of the album, footage from an intimate listening session, behind the scenes clips from the “Get Right” music video featuring Fabolous, the “Hold You Down” video shoot and footage from Jennifer Lopez’s European promotional tour. DualDiscs play on existing CD and DVD hardware devices such as DVD players, car stereos, PCs, game consoles and CD players.

The music of the legendary Billie Holiday will be performed at Lincoln Center’s swank new hot spot Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola from March 30 through April 3. Multiple Grammy Award nominated chanteuse Ernestine Anderson and bandstand veteran Frank Wess and his quartet will pay homage to Lady Day, in commemoration of what would’ve been her 90th birthday on April 7.

Queen Latifah’s buddy action comedy “Taxi” is now available on DVD with a load of extras, including a new extended version, deleted scenes, five behind the scenes featurettes and more. In “Taxi,” directed by former music director Tim Story, Latifah plays Belle Williams, a mouthy and feisty New York City taxicab driver who mixes things up with the overeager cop Andy Washburn, played by former “Saturday Night Live” star Jimmy Fallon. The two go on a high speed, high jinxed adventure to solve a string of New York City bank robberies committed by a quartet of female Brazilian bank robbers. Supermodel Gisele B�ndchen makes her film debut as one of the sexy bandits.

The upcoming Broadway production of “On Golden Pond,” starring the legendary James Earl Jones and Tony Award winner Leslie Uggams, has been nominated for four Helen Hayes Awards. The production premiered last Fall at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Winners will be announced at a ceremony at Washington’s Warner Theatre on Monday, May 9. Directed by Leonard Foglia, this new production features a revised script by original playwright Ernest Thompson (who also won an Academy Award for adapting his own play into the screenplay for the 1981 hit film). Previews begin March 22 at Broadway’s Cort Theatre.

Ruminations
Internationally renowned gossip guru and entertainment journalist Jawn Murray must be psychic. Weeks ago, the “Jawn’s Juice” columnist tipped the huge readership of his wildly popular America Online column off that Jessica Betts will win the Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot-helmed UPN reality show, “The Road To Stardom.” And after receiving calls from UPN officials, and even having the show’s producer scoff at the spoiler, he proved correct. On last night’s “live” grand finale, the Chicago-bred singer was transformed in front of America’s eyes from a rough-and-tumble thuggish rap prototype to a more polished Lauryn Hill-look-alike. It was like magic. I relished in the hour-long ending.

Maybe it’s the country living but UPN has become my latest guilty pleasure with its latest slew of programming–most notably Taye Diggs’s excellent “Kevin Hill.”

But I have to admit, I had a special affinity to “Road To Stardom” because of that fact that the show’s creator and executive producer Mona Scott is an old pal of mine–dating back to twelve-years ago when I was just a teenage boy, and she was a more mature and seasoned industryite, who was always very nice to me. Miss Scott used to work for the then-in-demand New York City-based artist development firm Duntori & Company, and fancied cat-suits accentuated by artificial pony-tails. Those were the days. My hat goes off to her for turning her dream into reality, and still developing talent. As the President of Violator Management, she oversees the careers of Ms. Elliot, Tweet and Busta Rhymes, amongst others.

And to Mr. Murray, who’s always on point with his scoops: keep on keeping on! Move over Miss Cleo.

Notable/Quotable
“I don’t play that disrespectful ho shit. I have very little respect for those kinds of women. And if I catch you with my man, disrespecting, I will beat your ass.”
–fashion model turned urban fashion mogul Kimora Lee Simmons, about women interested in pursuing relations with her husband, rap impresario Russell Simmons.