Ex-Supreme pays tribute

[marv2]

http://www.dennews.com/news/ex-supre...8-3787-11e2-9\
532-0019bb30f31a.html

Posted: Sunday, November 25, 2012 11:11 pm | Updated: 8:38 am, Mon Nov 26, 2012.

By Amanda Wilkinson/Staff Reporter | 0 comments




The walls and the audience in the Dvorak Concert Hall were covered in speckles
of light like stars after stormy weather.

Mary Wilson, a member of the `60s band The Supremes performed songs by Lena
Horne in a sparkly dress to display Horne's glamour as an actress and singer.

The show, "Stormy Weather: The Lena Horne Project" on Nov. 16, was based off of
James Gavin's book of the same name.

The show was in honor of Lena Horne.

Horne was one of the first black actresses and singers to appear on TV in the
early 1930s and she was also a civil rights activist.

Wilson described the show as a "multimedia performance" because there were
readings from Gavin's book, audio and video clips, photo slide show and Wilson's
singing.

Richard Guss, a junior theatre arts major, said Horne was a well known name
around his family's house.

"Lena Horne has always been a household name," Guss said. "I remember hearing
stories of my great-grandmother going to see the Wiz and how they all stood up
and clapped after she sang."

Margaret Niccum, of Greenup, said she became a fan of Horne's from her brother
in the early 1940s.

"As an 8-year-old child, my brother and his girlfriend's favorite singer was
Lena Horne," Niccum said.

Most people did not know that Horne often battled with the life as a black
singer and actress in the spotlight.

Niccum said as a long-time fan, she learned something new about Horne from the
show.

"I learned the extensiveness that she was tormented with racism," Niccum said.

Because Horne was in the spotlight, she was also easy to target, especially
since she was an activist for civil rights.

Guss said he knew she was a leader in the beginning of the civil rights
movement, but he did not realize that people did not consider her important to
the movement.

"I know that she was in the civil rights movement, but I did not know the extent
of how the community viewed her as unattached or as knowing what the rest of
society was going through," Guss said.

Horne, deemed "Queen of the Supper Clubs," would often perform at clubs and at
the same time, not be able to enter them as a black guest.

Wilson, who sang Horne's songs such as "The Lady is a Tramp" and "The Man I
Love" at the show, said Horne was trying to open doors for the black community
when it was not popular in the early '30s and '40s.

"She was already doing it at a time when the black people were not doing that
well in America," Wilson said. "I was around later, and it still wasn't good. We
couldn't be in a room like this."

Horne subsequently became closed off and angry when she was home and not
performing.

Gavin said when he went to meet with Horne, he noticed that Horne had a long
life.

"To me, Lena was warm, funny, more than a little sad and weary," Gavin said.

Gavin quoted what Horne said about her life in the spotlight.

"I was never allowed to enjoy the damn thing," Gavin recited.

Horne later performed in the one-woman show, "Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music
in the early 1980's."

She won two Grammy Awards from the show and two others: the Lifetime Achievement
Award in 1989 and the Best Jazz Vocal Performance in 1995.

Guss said he knew what Horne's attitude and personality was, but he got to see
how she became Lena Horne.

"This is a diva," Guss said. "You know, she has a reason. Her attitude and her
just, everything—it's just intoxicating."

Amanda Wilkinson can be reached at 581-2812 or akwilkinson@eiu.

[luke]

Yea Marv, Mary's not doing much of anything!LOL

[marv2]

Yea Marv, Mary's not doing much of anything!LOL

Yeah she's just sitting around baking pies and getting fat with her grandkids, hehehehehehe......!

[luke]

Oh no u didnt!! Didnt Bill Wyman ask him to tour with her? Guess Im just making up things.

[Methuselah2]

Gosh. Sensational photo of Mary! Gorgeous in blue.

[marv2]

Oh no u didnt!! Didnt Bill Wyman ask him to tour with her? Guess Im just making up things.

Yes Bill Wyman did ask Mary to tour with his Rhythm Kings again this year. You might recall the extensive tour they did together last year of the U.K. This time around it was other locations around Europe.

[luke]

Now Marv I think u r making that all up! Oh no I didnt! lol

[marv2]

Now Marv I think u r making that all up! Oh no I didnt! lol

Of course I am making it up. I even made Mary wear that blue dress, bend over while I darken the lights in her kitchen before I snapped the photo.........

[luke]

LMAO--another background singer relegated to the kitchen shadows!