New McCree Theatre Presents JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE, 2/24-3/12
By: BWW
News Desk Feb. 24, 2011
The "New" McCree Theatre is proud to present Joe Turner's Come and Gone as its winter production of the 2010-2011 Season. Preview performances will be held February 18 and 19, 2011 at 8:00 p.m., regular performances are February 24 - March 12 with performances on Thursday and Friday at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Advance admission for previews is $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for students and senior citizens, at-the-door admission for previews is $10.00 and $6.00. Regular admission is $12.00 for adults in advance, and $7.00 for students and seniors, while at the door prices are $15.00 and $10.00.
Joe Turner takes place in 1911, right at the turn of the second decade of the century, when African Americans were still transitioning from chattel slavery, near chattel slavery (sharecropping), and the trials and tribulations of being black in a country that outright disdained people of color.Many African Americans went from pillar to post trying to find their place in America. They worked building roads and bridges and the country's burgeoning infrastructure. They moved from place to place, living in boarding homes if one was lucky, or sleeping underneath bridges and embankments. Many of these so-called "free" blacks were bum rushed into forced labor gangs by well-placEd Whites, who would profit by selling their muscle and sweat to farms in the labor- depleted south. JoeTurner was one of those well placEd White men. When a black man suddenly and mysteriously disappeared, the old folks would say: "Joe Turner's Come and Gone." Joe Turner held Herald Loomis captive for seven years.
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