Brown Bomber Synopsis

In Partnersh ip with

A dance suite that will knock you out

World Premiere 20 and 21 June 2012

In Partnersh ip with

Director Adam Eisenberg Creative Director Tertia Sefton-Green

P RESENTS

THE BROWN BOMBER A Dance Suite in Three Scenes Music Julian Joseph Choreographer Sheron Wray 1.The Training 2.The Dressing Room 3.The Ring This work commissioned by HMDT Music is made possible by a grant from PRS for Music Foundation as part of New Music 20x12 – a UK-wide commissioning programme initiated

by Jillian Barker and David Cohen, and delivered by PRS for Music Foundation in partnership with BBC Radio 3, London 2012 and NMC Recordings.

The Brown Bomber is a jazz and boxing project for secondary school students conceived by Adam Eisenberg and Tertia Sefton-Green. Treatment by Tertia Sefton-Green.

Set built by The Scenery Shop.

Joe Louis Jason Poullard

Marva Trotter – Joe’s Wife Destinee John Anthony

Max Schmeling Bless Klepcharek

Mike Jacobs – Promoter Ishimwa Muhimanyi

Max’s Team

Journalist/Referee Beatrix Da Cruz

Joe Jacobs – Max’s Manager Sonny McCook

Journalist Janay Seivwright

Max Machon – Max’s Trainer Aisha Barnes

Photographer Summer Priest

Trainer/Corner man Shayna Allen

Photographer Alicia Williams

Joe’s Team John Roxborough – Joe’s Manager Samson Adeola Jack Blackburn – Joe’s Trainer Tonye Obene Trainer/Corner man Harriet Mugowu Trainer/Announcer Fatoumata Njie Students from Bridge Academy, Hackney Haggerston School, Hackney Graverney School, Wandsworth I Can Sing! Performing Arts School

World Premiere 20 June 2012 at Lilian Baylis Studio at Sadler’s Wells The Brown Bomber is made possible with the generous support of

This organisation has been awarded a Transformers grant, funded by The National Lottery, through the Olympic Lottery Distributor, and managed by East London Business Alliance

Smart Lady Dasia Abrahams Cop Courtney Eckersley Young Girl Georgia Moona-Sam Working girl Mischa Dijer-Antoine Boy Olamide Aregbe Boy Joel Santos

THE JULIAN JOSEPH SEXTET Piano Julian Joseph Saxophones and Clarinets Patrick Clahar Trumpet Jackson Mathod Trombone Ross Anderson Bass Mark Hodgson Drums Mark Mondesir

ARTISTIC TEAM

PRODUCTION TEAM

Choreographer Sheron Wray

Production Manager Dennis Charles

Designer Neil Irish

Stage Manager Helen Gaynor

Lighting Designer Aideen Malone

Deputy Stage Manager Laura Stevens

Film Maker Tim Corrigan

Assistant Stage Manager Claire Louise Baldwin

Costume Supervisor Karen Large

Sound Design Othman Read

Assistant Choreographer Dena Lague

Assistant Costume Supervisor Katy Adeney

Dance Coach Pauly Skerrett

HMDT MUSIC

Boxing Coach/Technical Advisor James Cook, MBE

Director Adam Eisenberg

Rehearsal Pianist David Keefe

Creative Director Tertia Sefton-Green

Film Students Ife Grillo Hamish Harty Abel Masho Ziyad Said-Wardell

Projects Assistant Alex French Photography Clive Barda Graphic Design DesignRaphael, Ltd Sound Recording Tony Clark Video Documentation Outline Pictures Printing Schwartz Ltd

Synopsis The Brown Bomber

1. The Training Joe Joe Louis sets up camp in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. Huge crowds come to watch Louis train, gazing at him from trees, roofs, fences and cars. Promoter Mike Jacobs charges $1 a head to 5,000 people who turn up twice a week to see Louis train.

Max

Jeweled octoroons from the Cotton Club on Broadway, sport-togged, whitespectacled young blades from Harlem, conservative mulatto businessmen, all rolling up in sedans or touring cars.

Max Schmeling sets up a training camp in Speculator by the peaceful Adirondack Mountains, 250 miles from New York. He runs 8-10 miles a day, poses for the cameras between sparring bouts, trains with the punchbag, shadowboxing, skipping rope and performs tricks – ‘a crowd pleaser was a precision punch which knocked the ash of the cigar in Mike Jacobs’ mouth’.

Chicago Paper

Press focus on his relationship with Hitler who had given him great support. Despite Schmeling refusing the honorary role of an SA Commander and turning down the Dagger of Honour, he is perceived to be a messenger of the Third Reich.

Joe Louis training at Pompton Lakes

Image: © Corbis

In 1936, to the surprise of boxing fans worldwide and the delight of Hitler, former world heavyweight champion German boxer Max Schmeling defeated the number one contender, African-American boxer Joe Louis – known as “The Brown Bomber” in a match that lasted 12 rounds. In 1938, a rematch was scheduled amidst a backdrop of impending war.

Original design drawings by Neil Irish

Joe trains as crowds arrive to watch

Joe in training

Joe works with his Trainer Jack Blackburn

Eager spectators watch Joe’s training

Promoter Mike Jacobs revels in the money he will make

Max makes his way to the training camp

Max in training

Manager Joe Jacobs arrives to check on Max

Crowds scour the daily papers for news about the Big Fight

The camp was permeated with the flavour of Nazi Germany with Schmeling’s house an island of Nazi Germany, encircled by barbed wire and state troopers.

Dan Parker New York Mirror

Image: © Corbis

Max Schmeling and his wife, film-star Anny Ondra meeting Hitler

2.The Dressing Room Before the fight, there is a heavy police presence at Yankee Stadium with Anti-Nazi League members distributing leaflets for a boycott of German goods and Communists handing out notes to cheer Louis and boo Schmeling. Louis’s car is swamped en route and he arrives late.

Joe Joe Louis sleeps for two hours in his dressing room.Trainer Julian Blackburn begins bandaging his hands at 9.00pm. Promoter Mike Jacobs (who increased ticket prices and added rows to collect a hefty million dollars) visits the dressingroom. Joe usually shadowboxed for 10 minutes, but instead he spends half an hour flicking jabs and tossing hooks before putting on his blue silk robe.

Max

Max is alone in his dressing room: “A few days earlier the Boxing Commission had declared Joe Jacobs (his manager) ineligible to work in my corner (for a misjudged PR stunt).They banned him not only from my corner, but also to my amazement, from the locker room. Even Doc Casey, who had been to my corner so many times, wasn’t there.The general hysteria and flood of threatening letters had both shocked and scared him. I had never before felt so alone before a fight. In the critical last few minutes even Max Machon (his trainer) was missing, as he had to go and observe the wrapping of Joe Louis’s hands so I was actually relieved when the door opened and an official came to bring me to the ring.”

Max Schmeling’s autobiography

Fans make their way to the dressing room

Joe’s Trainer Jack Blackburn bandages his hands

Joe shows Max’s Manager Joe Jacobs, he’s fighting fit

Joe reflects on the fight to come

A final pep talk from Jack

Jack checks Joe’s gloves

Alone before the fight, Max thinks of his wife Anya.

Synopsis 3.The Ring Murder that bum and don’t make an asshole out of me’.

Promoter mike Jacobs

In a heat wave, 70,000 fans pour into New York by train, plane, boat and car with the “Louis Victory Special” chartered from Philadelphia. Celebrities include Tallulah Bankhead, Clark Gable and Gary Cooper as well as Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

Louis and his team, with police escort, enter the arena to great cheers. Schmeling, even with police escort, has to pull a towel over his head to protect himself from abuse and flying objects (banana skins, cigarette packs) thrown at him.

Referee Arthur Donavan calls the contestants to the middle of the ring, and asks them to touch gloves.

Back in their corners, Schmeling stands calmly while Louis shadowboxes. The bell rings.

The Fight on 22 June 1938 at Yankee Stadium

Give the crowd the greatest fight in heavyweight history

Image: © Corbis

Referee Arthur Donavan

The crowds psyche themselves for what’s to come

Max poses for the press

Joe is ready

The referee prepares the fighters

Max and Joe square up

The first punch

The Rest is History and was beaten by Rocky Marciano in 1951. He was forced to accept menial jobs such as welcoming tourists at a Las Vegas hotel.

Max Schmeling, once Hitler’s favourite, was immediately discarded and drafted into the army. Despite several hard years, he ended up a wealthy man and President of Coca Cola in East Germany.

By the 1960s Louis and Schmeling had become friends and Max assisted Joe with his financial troubles. As well as helping pay for Joe’s funeral in 1981, (Louis was buried with full military honours at Arlington), Schmeling acted as a pallbearer.

Max and Joe in 1961

Image: © Corbis

After 124 seconds and still in the first round, a badly wounded Schmeling threw in the towel and Louis reigned as World Champion for the next 13 years. However, even the first African American celebrity did not escape public censure. Eight years after some charity bouts to raise funds for the War, the IRS handed him a bill for half a million dollars. Louis came out of retirement to help pay the bills

Acknowledgements With many thanks to:

PHOTO CREDITS

James Joseph and James Joseph Music Management

BOXING PHOTOS Cover, p.2-3, p.4, p.12, p.14, p.19, Back Cover, Corbis

Dr Raymond Doswell and the Negro Leagues Museum, Kansas City, Missouri

Performance Photos Clive Barda

Bridge Academy: Helena Burke, Natalia Dawkins, Ian Dust, Mariam Oyejobi Haggerston School: Rachel Ray-Choudhuri, Paul Newman

Media Partner for The Brown Bomber.

Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance: Ross McKim Amanda Priest

HMDT Music Second Floor 22 Aldermans Hill London N13 4PN Tel: 020 8882 8825 Fax: 020 8882 6253 Email: Info@Hmdt.Org.Uk Website: Www.hmdt.org.uk

For more information about The Brown Bomber please visit our website www.hmdt.org.uk

HMDT is grateful for Core support from

Farquhar and Wendy Mckay Eugene Ariyo Viveen Wray University of California University of Surrey Fay Fearon The New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich The Young Vic

New Music 20x12 The Brown Bomber is part of New Music 20x12; PRS for Music Foundation’s UK-wide commissioning programme consisting of twenty new pieces of music, each of 12 minutes in length, celebrating the talent and imagination of the UK’s musical community as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. The commissions are full of the energy, hope and excitement that will emanate from across the Cultural Olympiad and the Games themselves.They are inspired by the dynamism of Olympic and Paralympic sports, the passion of human endeavour so central to the Games, and the once in a lifetime opportunity of creating a musical work contributing to a global celebration.

Each commission will be broadcast by BBC Radio 3 and available to buy as a download from NMC Recordings at www.nmcrec.co.uk New Music 20x12 was initiated by Jillian Barker and David Cohen, and delivered by PRS for Music Foundation in partnership with BBC Radio 3, London 2012 and NMC Recordings.

© 2013 HMDT Music. All rights reserved.

The Brown Bomber is a registered trademark of HMDT.