June 26, 2002 — Madeline McCray founded St. Croix Center Stage two years ago with the hope of drawing talented young Crucians into the world of the performing arts. Her efforts are continuing with the second annual U.S. Virgin Islands Performing Arts Festival that will take place July 3, 5 and 6 with two events on St. Croix and one on St. Thomas.
"I want to enhance the arts on St Croix," McCray says. "There's a great deal of talent, young talent, here."
She is making it possible for talented young women to audition for an acting workshop to be conducted on St. Croix by nationally known performing artists including Danny Glover and Felix Justice, and then to appear with Broadway musical star Lillias White in a cabaret show to be presented on St. Croix.
White has appeared on Broadway in productions of "Cats," "Dreamgirls," "How to Succeed in Business," "Rock and Roll: The First 5000 Years" and "Barnum." She also has had dramatic roles on the television series "Law & Order" and "NYPD Blue."
Auditions will begin on Saturday on St. Croix. Four teens will be chosen to appear with White in her cabaret act "From Brooklyn to Broadway" on July 3 at the Divi Carina Bay Resort. There will be no St. Thomas auditions, McCray says, but three young actors will be chosen by Reichhold Center staff to participate in the show. For more information, call the festival office at 772-0712.
The workshop will include master classes taught by actors Glover, Justice and Glynn Turman; producer-director Woody King Jr.; and poet Sonia Sanchez. McCray views the workshop as a chance for artistically talented young Virgin Islanders "to showcase themselves."
On July 3, White's revue will be part of the "Broadway Meets Hollywood Welcome Gala" that is the opening event of the festival. It will take place at the Divi beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are available for a $50 "donation." They may be obtained by calling the festival office at 772-0712.
A highlight of the gala will be the presentation of the 2002 St. Croix Center Stage Award for Service Above Self to Glover and to St. Croix tourism and talent show entrepreneur Claire Roker. McCray says she has asked Gov. Charles W. Turnbull to serve as presenter and is awaiting his response. She says Glover is being honored for his work with civil rights groups, while Roker is being recognized for her work in the St. Croix community, particularly with the annual Hal Jackson's Talented Teens pageant.
The late Crucian Casper A. Holstein, whose personal motto was "service above self," is the role model for the award, McCray says. He was known as a generous benefactor in Harlem during the 1920s and provided numerous scholarships to talented Crucians over many years.
Following the awards ceremony will be the performance of "From Brooklyn to Broadway" featuring White and the teen-agers who complete her workshop. Appearing with them will be local musicians Marsvyn David, Timothy Graphenreed, Elvis Pedro and Bobby Richards.
On July 5, there will be a night of poetry and music at Pier 69 in Frederiksted featuring Sanchez and local jazz favorites Claudette "Adjoa" Young-Hinds "and Friends." Tickets are $10 and are general admission. Call 772-0712 for further information.
On July 6, the festival will move to St. Thomas At the Reichhold Center, the evening will open with poetry reading by Sanchez, to be followed by a performance by Glover and Justice in "An Evening With Martin Luther King Jr. and Langston Hughes." Tickets are $35 in the covered section and $25 and $15 in the open air; they're available at the Reichhold box office, UVI bookstore, both Modern Music stores, Parrot Fish Music, Krystal & Gifts Galore and Connections on St. John. Call the box office at 693-1559 to make charge-card purchases.
McCray says she hopes the festival will help people on the U.S. mainland "shift their thinking" about St. Croix and recognize the island as a viable place to visit. She said the island must fight the news of cruise ship pullouts and its reputation as a place where crime runs unchecked. She says she hopes the performances will help to enhance tourism in the slower summer months by targeting the African-American travel market, which she says produces revenues of more than $50 million a year.
"Events of this caliber enhance a community's revenue," she says, pointing to the National Black Theater Festival which has been held annually in Winston Salem, North Carolina, for the past 12 years. "In the course of a week," she says, "they see 40,000 to 50,000 people. These are return visitors. In that community, it means $8 million to $10 million over the course of a week."
She says an annual performing arts festival drawing big names like Glover and White could help increase name recognition for the territory, and in particular St. Croix, on the U.S. mainland and draw more tourists to the Virgin Islands.
Despite problems finding enough sponsors to support an ambitious schedule of events, McCray says, the festival will be substantial. An initial schedule, released in May by the Department of Tourism — a festival sponsor — included more events on both islands. McCray says the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had an impact on her marketing plans, not only because of travel and security fears but also due to a general economic slowdown throughout the United States.
As she puts it, "911 happened and everyone said, 'We love this idea. We roll with this idea, but not this year.'" Additionally, she says, the overall poor economic situation on St. Croix has led some potential sponsors of the festival to be more cautious. "Business is not as good as it is on St. Thomas," she says. "People are reluctant to get involved."
McCray says she expects the community to get more involved following the success she hopes this year's festival will bring to the area. "I'm confident that our gala is going to be well attended," she says. "We've already sold a number of tickets, and space is limited there."
The festival will cost about $75,000 to produce, she says, and she is still soliciting sponsors. Those on board now are the Tourism Department, the Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino, WSTA radio, the Buccaneer Hotel and Hidden Beach Records out of Los Angeles. The V.I. Council on the Arts has provided grant assistance.
"Out of every challenge comes an opportunity," McCray says. "We're one territory; we're the Virgin Islands. It's about developing it for all of us."
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