Boulevard of Bold Dreams A REVIEW

Kai EL’ Zabar Editor in Chief

The outcry from Black theatre leadership in Chicago and throughout the country emerged in a big way after the pandemic. Their recent demonstrative responses to the racist barring or prohibiting of works by Black playwrights, directors, and actors now find that traditional theaters are opening their mindset and seeing the value of Black stories. The Goodman, The TimeLine, and Court Theaters have rotated Black plays into their scheduled seasons moving from the August Wilson-only annual presentation. This is a huge step opening doors to younger Black playwrights and fresh modern stories. TimeLine has showcased some recent work by celebrated and new playwrights featuring the direction of Ron O.J. Parsons and most recently Malkia Stamply who directed Boulevard of Bold Dreams, written by LaDarrion Williams. The production will continue through March 19, at 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago IL. 60657.

“Boulevard of Bold Dreams,” explores the Black experience snapshot of that historic day of February 29, 1940, when Hattie McDaniel made history when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, becoming the first African American to win an Oscar. Don’t worry, it’s not her autobiography, instead ‘Boulevard of Bold Dreams is a meditation on a pivotal moment in her life. This interesting look at a day in the life of Hattie Mc Daniel is the world premiere. It is the provable behind-thescenes perspective of that moment in her life that we get to ponder the emotional and social impact of her nomination and her eventual win. The play takes place in a cocktail lounge in the Cocoanut Grove Ambassador Hotel, in Hollywood, California.

The play opens in the cocktail lounge, and we meet Arthur Brooks a big dreamer working his way up to his future vision of himself as an Academy Award-winning Director of a big picture film. He’s so excited about the idea of Miss Hattie McDaniel winning that night. In fact, he’s sure that she’s going to win. Then we meet his best friend Dottie Hudson who fled with Arthur the oppression of their hopes and dreams that’ dry up and fester’ in the southern town of any place in the south. They work as bartender and hotel maid respectively, at the Cocoanut Grove Ambassador Hotel. We enter their world of dreams and fears, and we recognize Arthur as the die-heart romantic. He’s put all his hopes into the future which he somehow feels is very connected the win for Hattie Mc Daniel. It will be a sign that ‘things are changing for Colored folks.’ On the other hand, Dottie’s view of the view is dark, and the brightness of hope is very dim. She’s not so sure about the outcome of the evening. She doesn’t believe that white folks will honor Miss McDaniel. Because Mc Daniel initially was not permitted to sit in the room at Cocoanut Grove Ambassador Hotel where the Academy Awards were held. This was consistent with her having not been included in the film’s Atlanta premiere. Studio head David O. Selznick asked that McDaniel be permitted to attend, but MGM advised him not to, because of Georgia’s segregation laws. Clark Gable threatened to boycott the Atlanta premiere unless McDaniel was allowed to attend, but McDaniel convinced him to attend anyway. The insistence of Clark Gable’s indignation of the racist treatment of Miss. McDaniel’s ended with her being seated at a small table in the back alone.

We know the outcome but what we don’t know is the pain and the burden Mis McDaniel suffered from the weight of the two- edged knife of being acknowledged as paving the way for Blacks in film, while also being denigrated for playing roles depicting harmful stereotypes. And worse, she was given an acceptance speech to read, reportedly written by MGM to control her message to the world. This happened in America in 1940!

“Boulevard of Bold Dreams, “ tells the story of how the dreams of three people merge as one that conjures up the hopes and vindication of a people.

Fabulous set design, great direction, strong acting/delivery, and well-written dialogue,

• Critique . . .I look forward to the time when the research of the Dramaturg inspires the playwright to push harder at crafting dialogue more accurately depictive of the period. The dependency of profanity should not be a crutch which I find is consistent with younger writers, who apparently have no knowledge that Black women of a certain cultural realm and era did not use loosely if at all.