Changing Taglines
Broadway Is Seeing Benefits
Of Building Its Black Audience

NEW YORK--They thought it was about Elvis.
That’s what a focus group of a dozen Black women concluded about the musical, “Memphis,” last summer when they were asked to assess the show’s tagline, “The Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
But after seeing artwork featuring Felicia, the Black R&B singer in the show, and after hearing about the turbulent romance between the character and a white D.J., the women in the focus group said the show was much more up their alley. [Read full story]

Bad Tour Reviews
Houston’s Glorious Voice:
Perhaps Gone Forever?

NEW YORK--In her prime, nobody could touch Whitney Houston’s towering gospelized mezzo-soprano. [Read full story]  

Grier!
New Book Is Collection of Lessons Learned by Actress

Pam Grier, who manages to exude toughness and sensuality in equal measure, has also managed to embody many of the cultural shifts of the last 40 years. [Read full story]

 

From Mali
String Band Expanding Boundaries of a West African Instrument

There were no Western instruments onstage when the Malian griot Bassekou Koyate and his band, Ngoni Ba, performed at SummerStage in Central Park  
[Read full story]

Khaki, Man!
A Leaner, Sexier Look, but Decidedly More Dressed Up Than Jeans

NEW YORK--The country may not be in the midst of a great color conciliation, what with Red and Blue paint balls flying as furiously as ever, but fashion is. [Read full story]

Men Who Share a Name Take Different Paths in Life

On a glorious spring afternoon, sunshine glitters off the bales of silver barbed wire at Maryland’s vast Jessup Correctional Institution prison complex. [Read full story

‘Memphis Beat’
The Blues, Southern
Charm, Crime Blended

LOS ANGELES--A new sound arrived for the summer on Tuesday, and it stars Alfre Woodard. [Read full story]

Entertainment

 

It’s Legend’s
‘Wake Up!’ Demonstrates The
Relevance of Yesteryear’s Songs

Chronicle News Services

LOS ANGELES--The music of the Civil Rights/Vietnam Eras routinely reflected the social and economic tensions of the times.  War and financial struggles are again upon us, though you wouldn’t really know it listening to most current artists. 
But John Legend and The Roots (who already released the acclaimed politically tinged opus, “How I Got Over,” this year) have a soul-stirring remedy.  They deftly demonstrate that the relevance some of the most profound songs of 40 years ago hasn’t been dulled by time. 
The Roots contemporize them with just enough hip-hop flavor, while the soulful Mr. Legend injects them with renewed passion.
To their credit, they didn’t just redo a laundry list of familiar hits, though title inspiration and first single, “Wake Up Everybody,” was certainly one for Harold Melvin & the Blues Notes. 
Mostly, they dug deep into the catalog of stars, such as Nina Simone (“I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free”), Marvin Gaye (“Wholly Holy”) and Bill Withers (album standout, “I Can’t Write Left Handed”) and lesser knowns, like Baby Huey and The Babysitters (“Hard Times”) and Ernie Hines (“Our Generation”). 
Their goal wasn’t to take a trip down memory lane, but to find inspiration in the past to motivate people nowadays to “Wake Up!” and make things better.