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Article: GOSPEL MUSIC IS THE STAR OF `BLACK NATIVITY'.(Entertainment)(Review)
- Article from:
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- Article date:
- December 15, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Toward the end of ``Black Nativity,'' music director Pat Wright thanks the crowd for attending the ``Intiman Non-denominational Church.'' And that's the way Intiman Theatre's current production works best: as a lively and spectacular church service where the devotions concentrate on praising God.
``Black Nativity,'' subtitled ``A Gospel Song Play,'' is strong on gospel music and weak on drama. The New Testament account of the birth of Jesus is not a story fraught with suspense. Playwright/poet Langston Hughes (1902-67) did little to imbue this very, very familiar tale with novelty or surprises. A scene in which shepherds tease a lazy and incompetent colleague is ...