The Pacifica Radio Archives Invites You to a
Special Benefit Performance of
JAMES BALDWIN
DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP
*Levels intense stage presence beguiles*
Recommended by LA Weekly 1/3-1/9
A New Play Written & Performed by
CALVIN LEVELS
Winner of NY Theater World Award
Nominated for a Tony Award
NY Outer Circle Critics Award
& NY Drama Desk Award
Directed by ART EVANS
Presented by RON RICHARDS Production
Sunday, January 12, 2003
Performances: 2 PM & 6 PM
VIP Reception: 4 PM - 6 PM
4305 Village Theatre
4305 Degnan Blvd. in Leimert Park
(near 43rd and Crenshaw)
VIP Honorary Host Committee: Ed Asner, Ben Caldwell, Eso Won Books
Danny Glover, Martin Landau, David Moses, CCH Pounder, Mark Rydell,
Susan Sarandon, Tavis Smiley, Paul Alan Smith, Rep. Maxine Waters
Howard Zinn & Michael Zinzun.
Catering Courtesy of Christoria Le-Florence.
Proceeds to Benefit the Pacifica Radio Archives Restoration Project, KAOS Network Youth Programs & Momma Di's Kitchen for the Homeless.
2PM Show .00 per ticket includes VIP Reception 4-6 PM
6PM Show .00 per ticket includes VIP Reception 4-6 PM
For tax-deductable ticket info or to make a
donation by credit card call: (818) 506-1077 ext. 264
Email: shawn@pacificaradioarchives.org
Mail your checks payable to:
Pacifica Radio Archives
3729 Cahuenga Blvd. West
North Hollywood, CA 91604
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Pacifica Radio Archives
www.pacificaradioarchives.org
December 23, 2002
Dear Friends:
On behalf the Pacifica Radio Archives we invite you to attend a very special event -- a benefit performance of JAMES BALDWIN DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP, a new one-man play written and performed by Calvin Levels depicting the rich, impassioned life of the great novelist, playwright, essayist and civil rights activist.
The fundraiser will be held Sunday, January 12, 2003, with performances at 2 PM and 6 PM with a buffet reception from 4-6 PM hosted by the 4305 Village Theatre at 4305 Degnan Blvd. in Leimert Park (near Crenshaw and 43rd Street).
JAMES BALDWIN DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP traces the turbulent life of the American writer recognized for his novels on sexual and personal identity, along with plays and sharp essays on the civil rights struggle. Baldwin returns from the ethereal realm and embodies a playwright-performer on the brink of failing miserably before an opening night Broadway audience. Baldwin, intent on setting the record straight, directly addresses the audience as he recounts various topics about his life.Â
They include his early childhood growing up in Harlem as a prodigious reader and fiery young minister; to his first sexual experiences and love affairs; to forming and destroying a relationship with his idol Richard Wright, author of Native Son; leaving America and moving to Paris; publishing his works, including his first novel Go Tell It On The Mountain; friendship and rivalries with the likes of Marlon Brando, Loraine Hansberry, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, William Faulkner, Langton Hughes and many others; his sour relationship with the Actors Studio; his association with Dr. Martin Luther King , Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and the civil rights movement; up until his death at his home in the South of France. Baldwin, finally summoned back to the mountaintop, leaves the performer imbued with a passion that will change his life forever.
Calvin Levels portrays the performer-playwright and James Baldwin.This is Mr. Levels Los Angeles theatre debut. In New York he has appeared in OPEN ADMISSIONS the one-act at The Ensemble Studio Theatre, David Mamet’s THE SHAWL at Lincoln Center Theatre and OPEN ADMISSIONS at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway for which he received The Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent, and nominations for The Tony Award, New York Drama Desk Award and New York Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Play. He has also appeared in numerous feature films television movies and series.
The PACIFICA RADIO ARCHIVES is working to save more than 47,000 historic tapes that span half acentury of radio programming. Considered by many historians and scholars to be one of the most important audio collections in the world, thousands of tapes in the Los Angeles-based Pacifica Radio Archives are in danger of permanent damage caused by aging. Internationally recognized sound preservation experts have advised Pacifica to conduct an immediate review of the endangered tapes and to transfer them to new mediums, such as digital audio.
The archives house rare recordings of internationally known writers, political activists, religious leaders and entertainers such as Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, Malcolm X, Archbishop Oscar Romero, Fannie Lou Hamer, Paul Robeson, Pablo Neruda, Langston Hughes, Allen Ginsberg, Bette Davis, Simone de Beauvoir, Jack Kerouac, Rachel Carson, the Dalai Lama, Lenny Bruce and of course James Baldwin.
"It's a priceless cultural record," said Gary Handman, director of the Media Resource Center at UC Berkeley's Moffitt Library. "(Pacifica) has chronicled most of the bellwether social and political movements around the country over the last 50 years or so." (San Francisco Chronicle November 21, 2002)
Founded in 1949 by World War II conscientious objector Lewis Hill, Pacifica Radio was created as the first non-commercial, listener-sponsored radio station in the United States. The Pacifica Radio Archives was established in 1971 to house the audio-tape collection gathered from Pacifica Radio stations KPFA-94.1 FM in Berkeley, KPFK-90.7 FM in Los Angeles, WBAI-99.5 FM in New York, KPFT-90.1 FM in Houston, and WPFW-89.3 FM in Washington D.C.
We are thrilled that Calvin Levels and Ron Richard Productions has graciously has agreed to stage two special performances of JAMES BALDWIN DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP to benefit the Save the Pacifica Radio Archives project, KAOS Network's youth programs and Mama Di's Kitchen for the homeless and we would love to have you join us.
Happy Holidays
Warmest Regards,
Brian DeShazor
Archives Director
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