For immediate release:
Cal State L.A.
Presents Albee's
The Death of
Bessie Smith
Legendary Blues Singer's Death Sparked
Major Racial Controversy
What:
The Death of Bessie Smith by Edward Albee
When:
April 28, 29 & 30: Thursday, 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 3
p.m. & 8 p.m.
Where:
THE ARENA THEATRE, CAL STATE L.A. Â Eastern Avenue exit
of the San Bernardino (10) Freeway, at the intersection of the 10
and 710 freeways.
Tickets:
General admission, $15; students and senior citizens, $10
Parking:
Public permit dispenser parking is available at 50 cents per
hour in Lots C, F and G or upper level of Parking Structure II.
Info:
ReservationsÂcall the Cal State L.A. Box Office, (323)
343-4118.
Could Bessie have been saved? Several stories have developed
around the questionable facts of what happened the night of blues
legend Bessie SmithÂs fateful car crash. Award-winning playwright
Edward AlbeeÂs play spotlights his version where discrimination at
an all-white hospital led to Bessie SmithÂs death.
The Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at California State
University, Los Angeles brings AlbeeÂs tale, The Death
of Bessie Smith, to its Arena Theatre, April 28-30,
2005. CSULA graduate student Henry Livingston directs this
production set amidst a racially contentious 1930Âs Tennessee
society.
The performances will run Thursday at 8 p.m. and Friday
and Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 170,000 alumniÂwith a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds--reflect the cityÂs dynamic mix of populations. Six colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12. Among programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include a noted alternative energy technology initiative; an NEH- and Rockefeller-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, to be housed in the Los Angeles Regional Crime Lab now under construction. www.calstatela.edu
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