Officials at the Heymann Performing Arts Center were caught off guard Thursday when informed about black comedian Willie P. Richardson's act. Why? Well, it's because he's not black — he's a white man who appears in black makeup.
Richardson is set to open for country music legend Ray Price at the Heymann Center at 7 p.m. tonight. The event has already sold more than 700 tickets.
The show has been scheduled since March, and Frank Bradshaw, manager at the Heymann Center, said he was unaware of the comedian's act.
"It was our understanding he was an Afro-American. We'll have to research it," Bradshaw said. "We're going on what the promoter told us."
The promoter is David Stallings of Landmark Productions in Nacogdoches, Texas. Stallings said Richardson is a character portraying a black man and that the show has been seen by people of all races and ages.
| Continue Jason Brown's "Comedy act stirs questions" for the Advertiser (via Scott Norvell's Tongue Tied column "Banned Blackface, Gender Bending" for FoxNews.com)
posted in articles on July 11, 2004 8:24 PM | t (0)
« Previous phile: Race integration in the web design and development field.
» Next phile: Get all up in my business.
God, I love the South! And what makes it so brilliant is that most of the crackers watching won't have a clue why it's inappropriate...
Return to top of page