Plays by Carole Eglash-Kosoff
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The Human Spirit
A story of human experience telling the stories of the "Mamas"...women, black and white, who worked to provide basic necessities to South Africa's black townships during the worst years of Apartheid. The Human Spirit - Apartheid's Unheralded Heroes (www.thehumanspirit-thebook.com) is the composite of more than sixty interviews conducted by the author, Carole Eglash-Kosoff, over two years while working in the townships.
PREVIEW: YouTube
When Stars Align
The love that Thaddeus and Amy feel for one another can get them both killed. He is colored...she is white. Born from the rape of an 11-year old slave girl by the white son of the plantation owner, Thaddeus is reared in the main house, loved by his grandfather...hated by Henry, his biological father. Amy and her family have to come to the plantation for protection against approaching Union soldiers. The two young people bond immediately, but in 19th century Louisiana mixed race relationships are both illegal and unacceptable.
Moss Grove, a large Mississippi River cotton plantation has thrived from the use of slave labor while its owners live lives of comfort and privilege. Deepening divisiveness between North and South launches the Civil War. Henry and Thaddeus find themselves in the same battle. Henry is seriously wounded. Only Thaddeus' bravery gets them both back to Moss Grove.
When the war ends Thaddeus, no longer a slave, returns to Moss Grove hoping that he and Amy might have a chance together. Under the protection of Union soldiers, schools are established to educate those who were formerly prohibited from learning to read. Medical clinics are opened and businesses begun. Black legislators are elected and help to pass new laws. Hope flourishes. The love that Thaddeus and Amy feel for one another grows. Perhaps the stars will now finally align for the young lovers.
Henry, now married to Elizabeth, Amy's older sister, is stunned at the birth of his second child...a little girl...born colored. An outspoken bigot, he learns that he has black blood coursing through his veins. He refuses to accept that he isn't entirely white and becomes active in the Klan. His background is revealed during a Klan raid and he is killed.
Amy and Thaddeus realize there is no place they can share their love. They are forced to separate. Years later, Thaddeus returns to Moss Grove to attend Amy's funeral and discovers he and Amy had had a son together.
PREVIEW: YouTube
When Jazz Had the Blues
When Jazz had the Blues celebrates the genius of Billy Strayhorn, his contribution to the creative collaboration between him and Duke Ellington and his talent in composing and arranging in his own right. We hear the great music of the big band era, while also experiencing the drama of the complex relationships of Billy with the great Lena Horne and his lover Aaron Bridgers.
The play spans the period from 1935 to 1956. Billy, talented, gentle, abused by his father is introduced to Duke Ellington, a bigger than life, composer and successful African-American orchestra leader. Billy moves to New York to work for Ellington, who often took credit for the work of those around him. Billy also meets a beautiful, mulatto singer, Lena Horne, with whom he establishes an instant friendship.
Billy, lonely, is introduced to Aaron Bridgers, a handsome, piano player and a deep homosexual relationship is established. Meanwhile World War II has broken out. Billy's career working with Duke continues but Billy's frustration with not getting credit for his work grows, including an unsuccessful mixed-race show.
Lena's path to stardom continues, including a movie career with MGM. She becomes active in Civil Rights and is upset when she loses the coveted role of Julie in Showboat.
While Billy struggles with heavy smoking and drinking, Aaron seeks a career of his own and moves to Paris, leaving Billy despairing.
Billy joins Lena in a USO performance where they both see Negro soldiers receiving little respect. The war ends and the era of big bands comes to an end. Lena marries Lenny Hayton, a white, Jewish, successful music director of MGM. Aaron and Billy reunite, and Duke's career is revived by his performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival.
The show's songs are all from the period and include such standards as Lush Life, Sophisticated Lady, Satin Doll, Lady is a Tramp, and Stormy Weather.
The show received 4 Ovations awards including Best Book and Best Production.
PREVIEW: YouTube
The Double V
Early in 1942, a young Negro tries to enlist in the Army. He’s beaten and told that this is a ‘white man’s war’. It’s his first experience with racism. Frustrated, he writes a letter to the Pittsburgh-Courier, one of the largest black newspapers in the country. “There shouldn’t be two Americas, one white and one black, why should Negroes die for a country that treats them like 2d Class citizens?”
This is a play about activism, a dramatization of true events. How a simple letter to a newspaper initiated a series of changes that gave black Americans their first taste of equality in a society that had always denigrated them. The Double V campaign, early in the years of World War II, campaigned for both Victory in the war and Victory in the battles for racial equality in the United States.
PREVIEW: YouTube
The Downbeat
It is 1968 at The Downbeat, a tired, but not quite seedy, small jazz club on New York’s upper west side. In its heyday, musicians would come up from the Village and connect with those coming down from Harlem after hours to play some great jazz. But that was then.
Times changed. The Vietnam War, Civil Rights, and the assassinations of both Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, have created universal unrest. Danny Fisher, a renowned musician and the owner, died. His widow, Flo, struggles to keep the doors open. Oscar, a musician who had played with all the names but never got his own break, leads Downbeat’s small combo. He stays because of the music, because of Flo, and because at this point in his life, there is no better gig on the horizon. Trying to find the formula to return the club to its former glory, Flo and Oscar plan an ‘open mike’ night. Perhaps a future star can be discovered. The world is filled with ‘wanna- bes. Four aspiring talents will take the stage. Maybe one will make magic.
Featuring Original Songs by Jack Eglash