Marian Anderson, in true character

By Howard Shapiro

Philadelphia Inquirer

January 26, 2008

It's not true what they say about first impressions - when you see the opening of Welcome Home, Marian Anderson, with an actress talking at you about a key moment in her life, it seems like another formulaic one-woman show. But Welcome Home quickly reveals itself: It's a story told by three actors in deft portrayals, and anything but formulaic.

The show, which opened Thursday at Bristol Riverside Theatre, is a well-stitched account of the singer from South Philadelphia and her rise to acclaim. In Welcome Home, Anderson is a real person, not just an emblem.

The production has its problems. Odd amplification makes the characters sometimes sound otherworldly, old-music segues are too full of static, and an occasional image flashed on a stage-rear screen fails to connect with the action.

But in Jeffery V. Thompson's staging, the character of Anderson trumps everything. Vanessa Shaw, an actress who has played on Broadway in Timbuktu and Camelot, wrote the show and portrays the singer.

Welcome Home explores the different ways in which race played into the career of the great singer of opera and spirituals, a black woman who conquered European audiences before her many artistic victories in the United States.

Much of it charts her success in a long European tour in the '30s and its scary ending in Germany, where early on she'd perfected her style and captivated audiences. As the Nazis gained strength, they blocked her from singing because she was black. The show has a particularly well-crafted scene in which she tries to leave the country with her Finnish pianist, Kosti Vehanen.

Anderson arrived in a United States that was equally threatening - on stage, she was a superb artist, but after concerts she was often nothing more than any black woman without entree, particularly in the South.

She always knew she'd be judged by her color, ultimately. "This skin does not allow any room for mistakes," she tells her pianist in the play. "One day," he tells her, after so-so notices early in her career, "you'll be so good that your voice will be the only thing they will review."

Anderson died in 1993 at age 96, leaving a legacy of beautiful music and barrierbreaking performance. The show takes us through a defining moment in her career - her free 1939 Easter Sunday concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, after the Daughters of the American Revolution barred her from performing at Constitution Hall, the city's largest auditorium, which they owned and where they imposed a white-artists-only policy.

Shaw, who had some obvious throat problems on opening night, has a lovely voice, if not always powerful enough to make us feel Anderson through song. But she makes up for it easily in the acting, and she's aided by two hotshot performers. Piano-playing Ivan Thomas portrays her accompanist Billy King, as well as the gadabout Orpheus "King" Fisher, who eventually married her, and many others. Mark Edward Lang similarly takes many roles, including her European accompanist and impresario Sol Hurok. All together, they bring Anderson to life.

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By: Lindsay Warner , The Bulletin

January 24, 2008

Philadelphia - After nearly a decade of performance, Vanessa Shaw's musical drama about Marian Anderson returns to the famed contralto's real home - Philadelphia - in the premiere of "Welcome Home, Marian Anderson," opening tomorrow at the Bristol Riverside Theatre.

Written and starring Ms. Shaw, "Welcome Home, Marian Anderson" is a production exploring the life and legacy of the celebrated Philadelphia singer who overcame racial bias to become one of the most successful singers of her time. Focusing on the years between 1930 and 1939, Ms. Shaw's production employs only two actors besides herself, Mark E. Lang and Ivan Thomas.

"I chose to focus on this decade because I feel the 30s were some of Marian's meatiest years, during which she really grew as an artist," said Ms. Shaw.

The show contains both musical numbers and dialogue, but Ms. Shaw is quick to note that "Welcome Home" is not a musical or a concert, but rather a drama with music.

"I wanted to do music that was theatrically friendly - not a concert of purely classical pieces," said Ms. Shaw. "Most importantly, I wanted to show Marian's struggle to lay claim and create an avenue for what spoke to her heart - classical music."

Keeping the set open and surreal to encourage a dynamic flow between scenes, Ms. Shaw attempted allow an open interchange between characters, as the three actors embody several characters apiece. Hoping to define the feel of the production through music and visual images, the characters set the stage. Only a few props to aid in translation, including a representative of the Lincoln Memorial, where Ms. Anderson performed the legendary Easter Sunday concert in 1939.

Using the Easter Sunday concert as the central theme of the production, "Welcome Home" portrays Ms. Anderson's many achievements as an African-American singer with a careful attention to historical accuracy. Known for her dignified resolve when faced with racial bias, many of Ms. Anderson's experiences as a black woman are addressed in the production, including the Daughters of the American Revolution's denial to allow the singer to perform on basis of race, as well as the many awards Ms. Anderson received for her artistic and personal endeavors.

"Most of the historically important events are in the production, but I've taken some artistic license with a few things," said Ms. Shaw. "For example, I've seen several of the documentaries, and Marian Anderson was not an easy person to interview. She had a very sheltered persona, and was very proper and reserved. But I decided to approach this as the way I imagine Marian Anderson to be in her own home, showing her private views, and with the freedom to speak her own mind."

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Marian Anderson remembered

Robert Baxter

Courier Post Online

January 25, 2008

The inspiring life of contralto Marian Anderson is celebrated in a musical drama called "Welcome Home, Marian Anderson." Performed at the Bristol Riverside Theatre through Feb. 10, the musical explores the life and legacy of the great African-American singer who triumphed over racism to claim a historic place in American cultural history.

Vanessa Shaw wrote the show and stars as Marian Anderson and two other roles. The cast of three also features Ivan Thomas as Paul Robeson and other roles, as well as Mark Edward Lang as Sol Hurok, Anderson's manager.

"Bringing this legend to the stage has been both rewarding and daunting and worth every minute," explains Shaw, who has appeared with Eartha Kitt in "Timbuktu," Robert Goulet in "Camelot" and Debbie Allen in "Raisin."

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