Robert Hooks was nominated for a Tony Award for his lead role in the musical, Hallelujah, Baby!, has received both the Pioneer Award and the NAACP Image Award for Lifetime Achievement, and has been inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. He also won an Emmy Award for his PBS special Voices of Our People.

 

He passed down his passion for acting to two of his sons, Kevin Hooks, and Eric Hooks. Kevin Hooks is also a film director and cast his father in two of his films: Passenger 57 (1992) and Fled (1996). Eric Hooks is an actor, known for Sounder (1972) and Just an Old Sweet Song (1976).

Significant roles for which Robert is known, include Reeve Scott in Hurry Sundown (1967), Mr. T. in the blaxploitation film Trouble Man (1972), Grandpa Gene Donovan in the comedy Seventeen Again (2000), and Fleet Admiral Morrow in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). He also appeared on television in an episode of the NBC crime drama series The Eddie Capra Mysteries in 1978 and portrayed Doctor Walcott in the 1980s television series Dynasty.

 

 

Nominations:

Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical

Hallelujah, Baby!

 

Robert Dean (Bobby) Hooks is an African-American actor in films, television, and stage. With a career as a producer, theatre builder, and political activist to his credit, he is most recognizable to the public for his over 100 roles in films and television. 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBERT [ 2020 ]

Slide Presentation by Dale Ricardo Shields

DCN Presents: The Robert Hooks Story

Biography

 

Early life 

Parents: Edward Hooks and Bertha Hooks 

The youngest of five children, Hooks was born in Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C., the son of Bertha (née Ward), a seamstress, and Edward Hooks, who worked on the railroad tracks, where he died.

 

 

 

 

Career

Robert Hooks is regarded, variously, as a gifted artist who has broken color barriers on stage, in film, and on television.  A leading man when there were few African American matinee idols. He originated roles on the New York stage in such classics as Dutchman, A Taste of Honey, and Where’s Daddy? for which he won the Theatre World Award. He was the first African American male lead on a television drama, the original N.Y.P.D.

In 1968, Hooks was the host of the new public affairs television program, Like It Is.
Famously, Hooks, along with Douglas Turner Ward, founded The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC). He then brought Gerald Krone in as Production Manager. The NEC is credited with the launch of the careers of many major Black artists of all disciplines, while creating a body of performance literature over the last thirty years, providing the backbone of African-American theatrical classics. This important theater company has produced plays by Charles Fuller, Wole Soyinka, Peter Weiss, Derek Walcott, Samm Art Williams, Leslie Lee, and Joseph A. Walker, and many others.

Additionally, Hooks is the sole founder of two significant Black theatre companies: the DC Black Repertory Company, and New York’s Group Theatre Workshop, which was created to mentor the talents of New York’s disadvantaged youth. He brought in Dr. Barbara Ann Teer to help teach classes and develop the workshop.

 

 

“Saturday morning classes were held in the living room of my Chelsea apartment (circa 1964.) The Kurt Vonnegut quote, James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes, poems, and many other Black literary materials ‘lit up’ the excitement of these workshop sessions at our new Group Theatre Workshop.

 

 

“All of it was informal (as you can see here! where I guess I should have been standing front and center ) but Oh! so vitally important to the young wannabee thespians getting the chance to show their talents. Everything was free to those New York youngsters who wanted to learn the art of acting and of the new and burgeoning Black theatre movement!”

23 Teen-Agers to Perform ‘We Real Cool’ in City Parks

 

Robert Hooks – December 17, 2014

Per Dale Shields who chose this photo to illustrate the important principles stated below: Robert Hooks…Sometimes… if you look at a photograph… it speaks volumes. Teach the children. Share your stories. Pass on our history. “Each one, teach one.” {Each One Teach One is an African-American Proverb. The original author is unknown.} This phrase originated in the United States during slavery, when Africans were denied education, including learning to read.

Many, if not most slaves were kept in a state of ignorance about anything beyond their immediate circumstances which were under the control of owners, the lawmakers, and the authorities. When a slave learned or was taught to read, it became his duty to teach someone else, spawning the phrase “Each one, teach one.” In the first half of the 20th century, the phrase was applied to the work of a Christian missionary, Dr. Frank Laubach, who utilized the concept to help address poverty and illiteracy in the Philippines. Many sources cite Dr. Laubach as creating the saying, but many others believe that he simply used it to advance the cause of ending illiteracy in the world.

In the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire as well as the 2009 movie Precious the expression is used as the name of an alternative school that the principal character is attending after being expelled from public school.”}

*~*

HOW IT ALL STARTED…

 

“The thinking was that there was no place in New York or anywhere else of theater for Blacks. So we wanted to create an organization where we could produce four or five plays a season and create opportunities for all these wonderful actors and playwrights and choreographers and music folk. In April 1968, I got a call from Mayor Walter Washington to come down and help the city after Dr. King was assassinated. We truly needed something after Martin was killed. We renovated an old movie house on Georgia Avenue and Emerson Streets called the Old Colony Theatre. It was just a gorgeous facility, and we had some fantastic people working with us: Debbie Allen, Glenda Dickerson, and of course, Peggy Cooper [Cafritz] and Clifford Alexander, and people like that were on board.

We were doing all original plays, but we were continually in debt. We were doing great work on stage, and the audience was coming as well. But you know, we didn’t have a full house, and the ticket prices were not high, so we couldn’t make a ton of money at the box office. The grants dried up. And I think that we just couldn’t get the support that I thought we were going to get from the Black elite. They thought the company was going to be in Southwest, down around the Arena Stage or downtown Washington. But I had no intention of doing that. I wanted the company to be in the Black community, which is where we were and were always going to be. Don’t get me wrong, we had a lot of Black support from the community. But the influential Blacks who could really help the company out financially — or at least cause the company to be more financially stable — were not to be found. And that was really one of the key reasons the company had to close.” – WASHINGTON POST [ Roxanne Roberts 2018]

 

The great and bold playwright Lonne Elder, III’s powerful award-winning drama “Ceremonies in Dark Old Men” (runner-up for the 1969 Pulitzer Prize in Drama) was produced successfully in the Negro Ensemble Company’s second professional season, then was immediately picked up by ABC as a televised ABC Theatre Special. Here are four of its stars, Douglas Turner Ward (standing) and (L to R) Godfrey Cambridge, Rosalind Cash, and Me, (btw, the amazing Glynn Turman co-starred with us in this historic televised production!). ABC’s Nielsen ratings went through the roof. Also, the original production at the St. Mark’s Playhouse, home to the NEC, was directed by Edmund Cambridge (circa 1969).

 

 

The records of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC), 1967-1993 document the work of the most successful African-American theatrical company in the United States to date. In addition to information about the productions, the records also document the growth of the company through the development of its administrative structure and of the funding base that keeps a theatrical company alive. The collection is divided into three series, thirteen subseries, and eighteen sub-subseries.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL INFORMATION

The Negro Ensemble Company was founded in 1967 as the indirect result of an article written by playwright/actor Douglas Turner Ward at the request of the New York Times. In the August 1966 article entitled, “American Theatre: for Whites Only? ” Ward called for theatre from the Black point of view with Black playwrights writing of their experience for primarily, though not exclusively, the Black audience, as well as the establishment “of a permanent Black repertory company of at least off-Broadway size and dimension”, to decide, promote and oversee their creative destiny. (At the time Ward was starring in the production of two of his one-act plays, Happy Ending and Day of Absence, which was produced by actor Robert Hooks. Ward enjoyed a very successful 500-performance run at the St. Mark’s Playhouse, in the East Village, New York City, where Gerald Krone, general manager of the playhouse, was the manager of the show.)

After reading the article, an executive of the Ford Foundation contacted Ward to ask exactly what he had in mind. As the story goes, Ward sat down with friends and colleagues Robert Hooks and Gerald Krone to discuss the establishment of a repertory company that would produce work germane to Black life, with a training company for both actors and technicians, thus promoting Black professionals in front of and behind the scenes. As a result, the Negro Ensemble Company’s mission statement declared its purpose “to provide a forum for the continuous, fully professional, theatrical exploration of themes relevant to Negro life in America through the presentation of mostly new plays, with an emphasis on those by Negro writers; and as a secondary mission to train Negroes in all areas of the theatrical profession. ”

Based on the proposal that Ward, Hooks, and Krone developed, on May 14, 1967, the Ford Foundation announced a grant to establish the Negro Ensemble Company with Ward as artistic director, Hooks as the executive director, and Krone as the administrative director. The grant for $434,000, paid over three years, was to be used to found and develop a Black repertory company to present works on social themes, expand opportunities for experienced Black theatre artists, and offer professional training to potential new talent with materials that emphasized Black identity.

The attempt in the early years of the company to fulfill this goal resulted in several productions billed as “An Evening of Music and Dance”, but the principal interest, available skills, and majority of funds would go into theatre productions and training programs in all aspects of the theatre profession: acting, playwriting, directing, design, and technical areas.

The Training Program

As one of the core goals of the Negro Ensemble Company the training program was the first unit to be established in the Fall of 1967. From the start, it had several components: Young people between the ages of sixteen through mid-twenties were offered beginner classes. A similar workshop was offered for more advanced students and young professionals who were extending and developing their acting skills. Fifteen of the original young professionals came out of Robert Hooks’ Group Theatre Workshop, which had been developed in New York City in the summer of 1964. Classes for the resident company and a workshop to develop new playwrights and directors rounded off the program.

Through these classes and workshops, which included acting, dance, speech, and related disciplines, the NEC began grooming an apprentice company. Additionally, training in management and administrative areas of the theatre was offered in on-the-job training. Students were also trained in scenic and costume design. One of the company’s ambitions was to dip into the talent trained in its workshops, but realizing that it could never employ all of its students, it was understood that the program was raising a generation of black talent to go out into the larger theatre world. Instructors for the workshops included Paul Mann from Yale University, for the professional troupe; Lloyd Jones for the 38 young professionals; Ron Mack led the approximately 22 beginners; Christian Linkletter coached voice; Louis Johnson instructed students in dance; and Lonnie Elder III coordinated the Playwrights’ Workshop. Other instructors involved in the training program over time included Percival Borde, Chuck Vincent, Steven Carter, Michael A. Schultz, Gilbert Moses, Wilma Moses, Edward Burbridge, Lauren Jones, Otis Salled, Hal deWindt, Morse Donaldson, and Kris Keiser. Many of these people were known in the theatre world as professionals in their own right, and many became known because of their association with NEC.

In 1971, with the end of the initial 3-year Ford grant to NEC and difficulty in developing additional funding sources, the resident troupe and training programs were cut back severely. Only the Playwrights’ Workshop and on-the-job training were reinstituted after a short break. Ward would later state that over 3,000 students, at all levels, were trained in theatre arts over the life of the program – which was no small contribution to the field.

The Resident Company

NEC conducted a nationwide search for what would become the resident company. The first season’s class included Norman Bush, Rosalind Cash, David Downing, Francis Foster, Arthur French, Moses Gunn, William Jay, Judyann Jonson, Denise Nicholas, Esther Rolle, Clarice Taylor, Hattie Winston, and Allie Woods. Edmund Cambridge served as production stage manager. Members were given alphabetical billing and received the same salaries. The season was twenty-six weeks long; productions ran five weeks, with one week of previews, and eight performances a week.

In the 1968/69 season, Samuel Blue, Jr, Damon Brazwell, Mari Toussaint, Anita Wilson, Julius W. Harris, and stage manager James S. Lucas were added to the company when several of the members left to go on to other projects and successes. Those who remained became very familiar faces to the company’s audiences and would go on to national success in television and film in addition to the theatre. When financial woes forced the Negro Ensemble Company to discontinue the resident company, possibly in the mid-70s (records do not reflect the actual date), open casting for plays became the norm. The resident company was re-instituted for a short time during the 1978-1979 season and consisted of Graham Brown, Aldoph Caesar, Laverne Scott Caldwell, Michele Shay, Olivia Williams, Francis Foster, Barbara Montgomery, Leon Morenzie, and Samm-Art Williams. Glenda Dickerson, Dean Irby, and Horacena J. Taylor were the resident staff directors. Wynn Thomas (scenery), Alvin Perry (costumes), and Larry Johnson (lighting) were the resident staff designers. However, the uncertain financial condition of the company never allowed the resident troupe to be sustained for long periods.

The Playwrights’ Workshop

The Playwrights Workshop was established to develop and encourage black writers. Playwrights submitted works-in-progress to the workshop where they were read and critiqued by professional playwrights at weekly meetings. Lonnie Elder, III was the first director of the workshop but resigned in 1969 to move to Los Angeles to pursue his career there. The NEC produced several of Elder’s highly praised plays including Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, which went on to become the first production of the company’s “Negro Classics” series. It is not clear from the records who succeeded Elder as director of the workshop. Many new plays and playwrights emerged from the Playwrights Workshop, among them Companions of the Fire by Ali Wadud, Daughters of the Mock by Judi-Ann Mason, and Nevis Mountain Dew by Steven Carter. In addition, several playwrights who became successful in the 1980s and 1990s participated in the workshops including Charles Fuller (Pulitzer Prize winner for A Soldier’s Play), Samm-Art Williams (Home), Steven Carter (Eden, Nevis Mountain Dew), Paul Carter Harrison, Gus Edwards, Derek Walcott, and others (See the appendix for a list of playwrights and plays).

In the 1979-1980 season a regular Monday night reading program was initiated. The Monday Night Readings Series became so successful at drawing an audience that it was expanded. Staged readings were added and the program was renamed “Developmental Stages”. This program became a regular part of the seasons’ productions, adding many new readings to each season as budgetary constraints forced the company to do fewer full productions with shorter runs.

The Seasonal Plays: Broadway and Tours

The company formally inaugurated its first season in 1967-1968, following a preparatory period of three months involving an intensive regimen of rehearsals. Ward’s goal had been to develop a program that would have permanence in the theatre world. For that to happen, he believed the company would need diversified challenges, so he established a rigorous performance schedule. The season opened with Peter Weiss’ Song of the Lusitanian Bogey, followed by Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Ray Lawler, Kongi’s Harvest by Wole Soyinka, and Daddy Goodness by Richard Wright. While not deliberately choosing a theme for the season, these productions focused on the theme of the oppression and exploitation of Black people.

That first season NEC received high praise for both its acting and writing talent. Reviewers hailed the company’s variety, strength, and sensitive direction, saying that the actors were clear and consistent, never missing a nuance of mood or a chance for comedy. Criticism, however, was voiced over the fact that two of the four playwrights, (Peter Weiss and Ray Lawler) were White, raising the question of whether or not the company was truly Black-run, and pointing to the fact that one of its three founders was White. Artistic director Doug Ward defended his choice of the Weiss and Lawler works because the material held to the Black experience and the author’s race was not critical. Nevertheless, from that point on Ward chose to stage scripts written only by Black writers.

During the first decade, the company explored themes of the Black man’s (African) struggle by producing many works by African playwrights, such as Akakowe, Ododo, Kongi’s Harvest, and The Imprisonment of Obatala, later called “Plays from Africa“. The choice of African subject matter and theme enabled the company to show the connection between the Black struggle in Africa and here in the United States.

In the following seasons, as the Playwrights’ Workshop began to produce an abundance of quality material that spoke from the experience of Black people, there was more than enough work upon which the artistic director could draw. Productions such as Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, Colored People’s Time, Nevis Mountain Dew, The Sty of the Blind Pig, The Great MacDaddy, Eden, and Home brought to the forefront common issues, situations, and struggles that faced Black America. Additionally, historical dramas such as The Brownsville Raid, the “We” plays, and A Soldier’s Story became favorites in the company’s lineup.

Broadway

While most of the Negro Ensemble Company’s success was on the off-Broadway stage, they also enjoyed several Broadway runs, beginning with The River Niger in 1973-1974, which ran for 280 performances at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. It was nominated for and received two Tony awards: the 1974 Tony Award for Best Play, and a Tony Award for Special Achievement in Theatre. A nomination for Douglas Turner Ward for “Best Supporting Actor in a Play” was also garnered, but Ward turned it down because he felt it was listed incorrectly, insisting his character was not merely a supporting role.

The next show to move from the St. Mark’s Playhouse to a Broadway locale was The First Breeze of Summer which opened in June 1975. It ran for six weeks and received favorable reviews, “Genuine, engaging, refreshing, and welcome” from New York Magazine and WCBS-TV. It was also nominated for the 1976 Tony Award for Best Broadway Play. The third NEC production to move to a Broadway venue was Home, by Samm-Art Williams. It played 280 performances at the Cort Theatre in 1980 and was nominated for two 1980 Tony Awards, for “Best Play” and “Outstanding Actor in a Play” (for leading man, Charles Brown).

Tours

In 1969, NEC made its international debut as the result of an invitation to participate in the World Theatre Season at the Aldwych Theatre, London, England, and then at Italy’s “Premio Roma” Festival. This would be an honor for any theatre company, but particularly so for NEC as it was only in its second season. At the festival, the company was awarded the “Premio Roma Award for Artistic Excellence and Production” for Song of the Lusitanian Bogey. The Negro Ensemble Company was a triumph at home and abroad!

During the fall of 1971, the company launched its first national tour with The Sty of the Blind Pig. The next summer the troupe again traveled internationally, accepting invitations to perform at the Bermuda Theatre Festival followed by the 1972 Olympic Games Arts Festival which was held in conjunction with the Munich Olympic Games. The company presented both The Sty of the Blind Pig and The Dream on Monkey Mountain at both these festivals.

Over the next twenty years, the company took its cast and crew on tours across the country and around the world several times. Productions that went on national tours included The River Niger, 1974, Nevis Mountain Dew, 1979; Home 1980-1981 and 1982; Colored People’s Time, 1983-1984; Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, 1985-1986, 1986, and 1987; Two Can Play, 1987-1988; From the Mississippi Delta 1988-89 and 1990; and various productions of the WE quartet of plays, separately or together between 1988 and 1991. International tours included The Great MacDaddy which visited the Virgin Islands in 1977; The Sty of the Blind Pig which toured the cities of Melbourne, Perth, and Adelaide in Australia in 1976; and Home, which played London in the 1985 season and various cities in Asia in 1987.

By far, A Soldier’s Play was the longest-running tour mounted by the Negro Ensemble Company. It began with a four-week engagement at the Empire Performing Arts Center in Albany, NY in February 1982, followed by another 4-week engagement at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in August 1982. Between 1982 and 1984 there followed several links in a chain of first-class national tours, ending in a bus and truck production during the spring of 1985. In 1984 the company was once again invited to perform at an Olympic Arts Festival, this time in Los Angeles, where they performed A Soldier’s Play, followed by an appearance at the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland. This property was also made into a film titled A Soldier’s Story in 1984, starring NEC regulars Adolph Caesar and Denzel Washington.

In addition to the long-term engagements of A Soldier’s Play, other NEC productions had similar arrangements. The Isle is Full of Noises was produced at the Hartford Stage during the 1981-82 season, Two Can Play entertained audiences in Cincinnati, OH for a six-week engagement in 1986, and Lifetime on the Streets was mounted at the SUNY Purchase campus in Purchase, NY in 1991. Television

The Negro Ensemble Company was able to bring several of their productions to a broader audience by accepting the invitation to air their productions on television. In May 1974, PBS broadcast Philip Hayes Dean’s Sty of the Blind Pig. The cast included Mary Alice, Maidie Norman, Scatman Crothers, and Richard Ware. Advance articles for the production called it a “powerful” and “moving” drama and generally gave the production favorable reviews.

The following year (January 1975) the NEC produced its performance of Ceremonies in Dark Old Men on the ABC-TV series “ABC Theatre Presents“, also to very favorable reviews which hailed the performance as “well written; the direction, well done and the acting simply superb”. Other reviews and advance articles mentioned that the Negro Ensemble Company was an award-winning company with “landmark” performances that reflected Harlem (Black) life. The cast included Douglas Turner Ward, Glynn Turman, Godfrey Cambridge, Rosalind Cash, J. Eric Bell, and a special appearance by Robert Hooks as “Blue Haven”

Similarly, in January 1976, The First Breeze of Summer won critical praise when it was broadcast on PBS’s “Theatre in America” series which showcased the country’s outstanding regional and resident drama companies. Frances Foster, Moses Gunn, Barbara Montgomery, Ethel Ayler, and Reyno headed the original cast. Reviews hailed the performance as a “Warm, touching portrait”, “moving”, “a compassionate domestic drama with relevance beyond the specific Black experience detailed”, “a naturalistic and deeply engaging work”, and a “portrayal of real blacks”

Financial History

Fundraising was the linchpin of the Negro Ensemble Company’s existence. Throughout its existence and despite box office successes, contributions from foundations, government entities, benefits, and individuals provided the majority of the capital needed to run the company. During the early years, the Ford Foundation and the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) were the sole funders. In time, Douglas Turner Ward and Gerald Krone succeeded in attracting other contributors, among them National Broadcast Company (NBC), Philip Morris Companies, Inc., Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Inc., Shubert Foundation, Inc., FEDAPT (Organizational Assistance for the Performing Arts), New York Department of Cultural Affairs (NYDCA), and New York State Council of the Arts (NYSCA). Although NEC experienced both financial and critical successes in the following decades, records do not indicate if the company’s productions were financially successful during the first five years.

The company’s fiscal and corporate structure began to take shape in the 1970s. Toward this end, the institution of an “active” board of directors and the establishment of the Development Department were formalized. The company also instituted regular fiscal audits and computerized record keeping. This provided the structure needed to formalize the company’s relationship to future funders and increase the amounts of the grants. Both the Ford Foundation and the NEA were critical to those efforts. At the start of the 1970s, the Ford Foundation required that NEC provide certified audits and seek other means of support to continue to be eligible for Ford Foundation grants. To meet these requirements, the company held several benefits, and sought and received grants from corporations such as Conde Nast Publishers, Inc., Nosutch Foundation, and Time, Inc., among others.

The formation of an active board, which would actively participate in fundraising, occurred in the company’s fourth year. Community and business leaders were invited to serve. But, as with many arts organizations, the board never fully succeeded in raising enough financial support to sustain the company.

Managing Director Gerald Krone was responsible for fiscal matters and worked closely with Fund Raising Director Frederick Garrett, who also held the title of administrative director in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Together with Douglas Turner Ward, they handled fundraising responsibilities. A formal development component was not established until fiscal year æ79, as the result of a special NEA grant. Alternately called the Development Unit, the Development Office, and/or Department, its function as outlined in a 1978 grant proposal was to aid the company in achieving permanent institutional stability. Before the establishment of this department, NEC’s efforts to broaden its financial base without a development staff or plan had been inconsistent.

Despite the steps taken by the NEC to improve its financial base, by the end of the 1970s, the financial situation had deteriorated significantly. The company was refused a $20,000 Rockefeller grant because it “had no five-year plan, no broad-based members and questionable administrative policy”. NEC also had a severe deficit, and to stabilize the company, the staff went unpaid for three months.

In the 1980s, NEC underwent major changes. The company received grants that aided in the institution of marketing, subscriptions, and group sales departments. The phenomenal success of A Soldier’s Play in 1983 bolstered the company’s reputation, and it was during this time that the company moved uptown to the Broadway theatre district with the expectation that the move would lead to increased ticket sales. Financial problems, however, continued to plague the company and forced them to cancel their entire 20th anniversary season in 1987 and significantly reduce their operations.

At the beginning of the 1979-1980 season, NEC had started on an encouraging note. The company was awarded an NEA 4-year Institutional Advancement Grant. This grant enabled the company to work towards improving the range and production of each play; acquire a 500-seat theatre as a permanent home; reduce cash flow crisis syndromes; and improve the overall financial management of the company. That year, the company hired its first comptroller, John Berrera, in a continued effort to solidify its corporate structure. NEC also struggled to maintain and upgrade its operations and increased salaries (the last raises had been in 1972).

Concurrently, the Developmental Unit had been funded by the NEA as well, under a special NEA grant called the “Development grant, ” which commenced in 1979. Initially, the Unit was dependent upon NEA as its sole funder. Under the grant guidelines, it was understood by both the granting agency and NEC that the Unit would take two to three years to be completely effective and that NEA would maintain a major financial commitment to the Unit during that period. However, the fiscal year 1980 request for the Development Unit grant was refused because of changes in staff and grant panels that took place at the Endowment. Immediately, Managing Director Gerald Krone met with NEA staff, and in light of their original commitment, the agency agreed to extend the original grant that covered production costs through November 1979.

By 1981, other changes were looming. In September NEC moved its administrative and production staff to a new office, located at 165 West 46th Street, and began using Theatre Four on 55th Street, which eventually served as the home theatre for its upcoming season. Krone resigned as managing director, staying on as a board member and consultant, and General Manager Leon Denmark took over his position. The position of Marketing Director was instituted and Tshaye Llorens was hired to fill the position. Under her direction, subscriptions were formalized for the first time.

The company’s financial situation nonetheless remained problematic. Although in the 1980-1981 season, NEC received increased foundation, corporate, government, and individual support (Ford Foundation’s contributions to the company totaled $2. 6 million at the time), and had held two successful benefits “Salute to Negro Dance Classics” and “Salute to Negro Music Classics“, financial problems persisted. NEC could not meet its production goals, budget, or deadlines to pay off loans and business creditors. In October 1980, Krone informed the board that the financial crisis impeded the company’s ability to mount productions that season. By December, the situation had not significantly improved. The company’s credit was endangered, and it was forced to operate on a cash-only basis. Tours and expenses were severely cut and productions were delayed while the company waited for income from grants, some of which was used to pay off outstanding loans. At the same time, the company’s annual budget continued to rise and by 1981, it was $1.4 million.

Although NEC had moved to Theatre Four, which had a seating capacity of 299 seats, the company believed that the space was insufficient and that they needed a larger theatre to capitalize on popular productions. The company commissioned a feasibility study in February 1981, conducted by the Carl Shavers Company to assess whether NEC was “in a position to raise sufficient funds needed to obtain a larger space”. At that point NEA support was uncertain, they had limited support from earned and contributed income, and renovation of a theatre would cost $1 to $3 million.

The suggested strategy by Shavers representative Walter Reeves was tripartite: step up annual fundraising geared around a 3-year plan to encourage key leaders in the community to lend their support; actively develop the board of directors; and enlarge the company’s subscription program. Although it is not entirely clear from the records how the company responded to the recommendations, in 1983 the subscription program became formalized, and members of the artistic and political communities often lent their names to fundraising efforts in the years to follow. NEC remained at Theatre Four until 1991, as their funding situation did not substantially improve to allow them to move into a larger theatre.

In fiscal year 1982, the company continued to operate in the red, primarily due to a large working capital deficit left from the previous fiscal year. The company sought to reduce outstanding bills by canvassing the board for donations, hosting benefits, and negotiating with creditors to reduce outstanding balances throughout 1982. Concurrently, the company experienced an increase in membership (which rose to 1,500) and increased box office sales due to the phenomenal success of A Soldier’s Play (ASP), their biggest box office success. Profits from the production helped the company stabilize and replenish its cash on hand. The company was able to end fiscal year 1983 without a large deficit due to the play’s success. Additionally, they received a significant amount of money from the sale of the movie rights of ASP to Columbia Pictures in 1983.

Despite this success, however, fiscal year 1983 had begun with a $25,000 deficit. Contributing to the company’s financial woes was the cancellation of Colored People’s Time, another box office success in the 1981-1982 season, due to playwright Leslie Lee’s withdrawal of his permission to mount the play, and a concomitant loss of potential profits from the tour which would have been used to reduce the deficit. To cut back on expenses, the company laid the staff off for three weeks, which was followed by more cuts later that year.

By February 1983, the actual deficit had increased to $179,570 due mainly to a substantial reduction in box office revenue projected for the entire subscription season; a small profit originally projected for an extension of ASP; and a reduction of unearned income. As a result, administrative staff was laid off for another month. Board member William Aiken lent NEC an accountant from his company, Main Hurden, on a volunteer basis to bring the company’s finances up-to-date. To save further on expenses, the company used the same set structure from previous productions for that season’s productions. Only three plays, rather than the usual four, with fewer actors, and a six-week run for each play, were produced for the 1982-1983 season.

At the onset of the 1983-1984 season, financial matters improved greatly due to the ASP tour. Profits from the production underwrote the expenses for the local season. By mid-season, the company’s budget was balanced due to the production’s higher-than-forecast grosses. The company produced a benefit to send the cast and crew of ASP to the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival in California, hosted by Patti LaBelle. Subscriptions also benefitted from ASP. The Subscription Department, which was created in 1983, was most active during the 1983-1986 seasons and targeted its audience by developing a Discount Voucher Program for schools, organizations, and employees of corporate donors, along with taking advantage of conventions, holidays, and anniversary celebrations by offering discounts to productions. The most profitable season for subscriptions was 1983-1984 during the successful run of A Soldier’s Play.

About this time, board minutes reveal that ASP’s success highlighted tensions within the company, particularly between the board and artistic director Douglas Turner Ward. The board stressed that it was important to capitalize on the success of ASP by maintaining the quality of their productions and that Ward’s micro-management of the ASP tour impeded planning for a dynamic local season due, in part, to the inability of the staff to get an approved season of plays in a timely manner. Board members expressed concerns that seasons should be announced in advance and that there be an assurance of an able production staff to carry out the company’s artistic vision. There was a call by the board to restructure the company, specifically for the artistic director to share the responsibilities for planning the seasons, as well as for the addition of a “second stage” for new writers.

Ward responded to the board by pointing out that looking at box office revenue to reduce the deficit was incorrect, and that the board should focus instead on increasing contributions. Although it was recommended that the company host a “blockbuster season” to raise money to reduce the deficit, Ward refused on the grounds that he would not select plays merely for their commercial value. Records do not reflect whether the schism between Ward and the board was ever resolved.

During the following seasons, some of NEC’s funding sources expressed their dissatisfaction with the company’s financial management. In the 1983-1984 season, the Ford Foundation had demanded that NEC have no deficit at the end of their seasons, and to provide a three-year plan explaining their artistic goals. Later in that same season, it was reported at a board meeting that the foundation had serious reservations about the financial stability of the organization, and was watching NEC very closely. Nevertheless, the foundation continued to help the company by instituting a cash reserve fund in order for it to remain afloat during financially stressful times. At the same time, steps were taken within the company to monitor its financial status. Comptroller Jay Spach instituted an improved accounting system that enabled management to view current financial figures and, if needed, take immediate action to make the necessary adjustments in spending and other areas.

Even while they were suffering from the loss of confidence from long-time supporters, Managing Director Leon Denmark reported at a board meeting that despite the weak financial status of the company, there were numerous successes during the 1984-1985 season. Two tours, A Soldier’s Play, and Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, had been completed and the revival of Two Can Play was also successful. NEC also made two international appearances, in London and Edinburg. The 4-play subscription had been completed, and the subscription base and income had doubled.

Nevertheless, at the start of the 1985-1986 season, financial problems continued to plague the company. The 1986 fiscal budget projected a $250,000 deficit. Denmark sought to reduce this deficit by raising the amount of corporate and benefit contributions and applying for a grant from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. The NEA informed the company that they were cutting a grant for NEC’s 1985-1986 production season by $50,000 due to the “fallen” quality of acting and directing over the years. Though the company challenged this decision, the grant was only partially reinstated.

From 1986 to 1992, records reflect that there was an extreme drop off in activity for NEC beginning with the 1986-1987 season. Though the company hosted the very successful “The Adolph Caesar Performing Arts Award Benefit” in April 1987, the entire season was suspended due to severe financial problems resulting from the deficit that had been accumulating since 1983. Although the Negro Ensemble Company continues to operate into the year 2001, their presence in the theatrical community has been severely reduced. Since 1992, NEC has attempted to produce at least two plays a year, along with playwright workshop readings.

To date, the Negro Ensemble Company was the most successful Black theatrical company in the United States. It was the recipient of over 40 major theatre awards, including a Pulitzer Prize, two Tony Awards, thirteen Obie Awards, and the NAACP Image Award. Their most substantial contribution to the theatrical field was helping to train or launch the careers of dozens of actors, playwrights, directors, and other theatrical professionals, many of whom achieved stardom, such as Denzel Washington and Samuel Jackson. From 1967 to 1992, the NEC produced over 200 productions, which included full-length and one-act plays, and workshops – a tremendous contribution to the theatrical field.

SCOPE AND ARRANGEMENT

The records of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC), 1967-1993 document the work of the most successful African-American theatrical company in the United States to date.

 

“There was considerable controversy when the newly created Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) announced its inaugural season’s opening production, selecting white German playwright Peter Weiss’ satire “Song of the Lusitanian Bogey”! I immediately heard from a few New York artist friends: “How can the NEC call themselves a Black theatre company and open with a white writer’s work? and why call themselves “Negro” instead of “Black”?
Those questions had already been anticipated by key NEC founders (especially me), and we were more than happy to confront the controversy that arose from a small number of critics who harbored those feelings about the motives and actions of the new and promising Black arts institution. Our company title “Negro” was selected as a sincere and real homage to the artists of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, and the other genius heroes of that historic period, who proudly called themselves Negro. We wanted “Negro” embedded in our company’s title…forever!…As to the white German playwright Peter Weiss’ brilliant play “Bogey”, we selected it because the key founders wanted NEC to be a theatre company that produced plays about the Black experience from around the world, not just here in America, it was our mission and it immediately became clear to the world, who we were!”

 

 

On the passing of Douglas Turner Ward  [February 22, 2021]