Sans Culottes in the Promise LandVarious ArtistTheComplete Motown Singles, Vol. 1, 1959-1961Various ProducersMotown Records

Motown Records, orwhat�s left of it, has sur-vived largely off reissuesand greatest hits packagesfor the past two decades.

It�s fitting the company�sfirst release for 2005 isanother package but not ofhits necessarily. �TheComplete Motown Singles,Vol. 1, 1959-1961� chroni-cles the company�s fledg-ling start. Most of this stuffI�d never heard or evenknew about. There is therarest of rare stuff.

Do people really needthese recordings? No, butthis is a collector�s dream.A few of these songs haveappeared on other artists�collections but nevertogether.

The well-known players- The Supremes, Tempta-tions, Marvin Gaye,Smokey Robinson, TheMiracles and the Contours- are present. But thereare a host of who�s that'sand say whats. Everyheard of Popcorn & TheMohawks? Me either, butthey had a novelty hit songcalled �Custer�s LastMan.� The group�s name is

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Please see ONE THING/2DPlease see ARE/2D

Please see MOTOWN�S/2D

AT THE MOVIES:‘Are We There Yet?’

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The Charlotte PostThe Charlotte Post

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2005http://www.thecharlottepost.com

& & By Cheris F. Hodges cheris.hodges@thecharlottepost.com

By Cheris F. Hodges cheris.hodges@thecharlottepost.com

In the novel, �If It Ain�t OneThing� author Cheryl Robin-son tells a fresh and excitingstory about a man andwoman on course to fall inlove.

But this isn�t your typicalromantic novel. Robinson cre-ates complex characters withmore layers than a sweetonion.

First she introduces sexyPorter Washington, a Detroitfirefighter who learns hislong time girlfriend cheatedon him and her son isn�t his.Porter dumps her and moveson with his life, having noproblem finding women toshare his bed with. He justcan�t give up his heart.

Porter has to move backinto his mother�s house afterleaving his scandalous girl-friend. He has issues with hismother because of his broth-er�s death in a fire, but neverfully communicates his emo-tions to his parents.

Winona Fairchild has madeher share of mistakes andher biggest leaves her with asecret she doesn�t want any-one to know. As the mother oftwo children, Winona returnsto her native Detroit thinkingthat she has a great new job

What if your daughter went from reading Snow White,to becoming her?

Would you notice or are you too caught up in makingmoney to see it?

These are the questions posed in the new play, Sans-Culottes in the Promised Land.

�The title refers to the working class revolutionarymovement in the 18th century France,� said MelissaGibson, spokeswoman for the show.

The play chronicles the lives of a modern black familywith the mother, Carol, as the primary breadwinner.She�s working her way up the ladder of success and inthe process ignores her young daughter because thehousekeeper and the nanny take care of her.

Carol�s husband is by no means the head of the house-hold and he tries to avoid confrontation rather than helphis wife and daughter. This life leaves Greta, Carol andGreg�s daughter unhappy and she decides to becomeSnow White.

�She�s in a lot of classes, but in those situations, she�salways the only black girl,� said Gibson.

This production is a Charlotte first to celebrate Black

Bentleykilled inautoaccident

Classic;

Excellent;

Good

Fair

Why?

No stars � A mess

Ratings

A young girl becomes Snow White while her parents focus on making money in the CAST production.

‘OneThing’ tothinkabout

Planes, trains and automobiles apparent-ly aren�t enough anymore.In straining to wring every imaginable

last laugh, the road trip comedy �Are WeThere Yet?� also trots out a horse, a blinged-

out sport utility vehicle and an armada of 18-wheelersdriven by misinformed, overzealous truckers.

None of this helps, though, when the passengers ofsaid vehicles are the manipulative, high-maintenancebrother-sister duo of Lindsey (Aleisha Allen) andKevin (Philip Daniel Bolden), under the inept, reluc-tant watch of Nick (Ice Cube), who tolerates them inan effort to woo their exceedingly hot, divorced moth-er, Suzanne (Nia Long).

Real quick plot set-up (not that it matters, becausedirector Brian Levant�s movie is all about the sightgags): Suzanne is a Portland party planner with a bigevent scheduled for New Year�s Eve in Vancouver.When her useless ex-husband claims he�s sick andcan�t take their kids for the night, Nick, the child-hat-ing bachelor, agrees to drive them up to Vancouver tostay with her.

But 11-year-old Lindsey, the tattletale, and 7-year-old Kevin, who�s asthmatic and has obsessive-compul-sive disorder, want their mom to get back togetherwith their dad, and will stop at nothing to dissuadeany potential suitors.

So they set out to destroy Nick and his shiny newLincoln Navigator with tactics that make MacaulayCulkin�s antics in the ``Home Alone�� movies lookhumane.

They kick him in the groin. They lock him out of theSUV. Lindsey hijacks it, gets stuck in reverse andcrashes into stuff. Kevin spills juice and throws up allover the interior-and almost does worse.

Each of these painfully familiar gross-out jokes ispunctuated by an overbearing, jaunty score (thoughit�s mildly amusing when Kevin asks from the backseat whether Nick has any Justin Timberlake or ClayAiken to listen to, and is met with the thumping of 50Cent instead).

And all the hijinks are accompanied by commentaryfrom a talking Satchel Paige bobble head boll, whichNick (the owner of a sports memorabilia store) hasmounted on his dashboard. �Saturday Night Live�alum Tracy Morgan provides the voice. He�s not funny,either.

Play examines cost of success

A A

History Month, according to Gibson.The cast includes local theatre favorites Brian Daye,

Rodena Barr and Adara Blake.The show, which begins its run on Feb. 9 and runs

through Feb. 26, will be held at the Carolina Actors Stu-dio Theatre. This is the regional debut for the piece, Gib-son said.

CAST�s history of cutting edge shows, was one of thereasons the piece was picked.

�CAST is an attitude, not a paycheck. We put 110 per-cent into every production we create. CAST raises thestakes,� said Michael Simmons, CAST president.

And, Gibson said, even though the story focuses on anAfrican American family, the theme is universal.

�The playwright was very ingenious the way she pulledit all together. It is a common thread that anyone canrelate to,� she said.

Tickets are on sale now. They are $15 for adults, $12 forstudents and seniors. The tickets and be purchasedthough the CAST web site at www.nccast.com.

The show begins at 8 p.m. and runs as follows:Wednesday through Saturday-Feb. 9-12

Thursday through Saturday-Feb. 17-19

Thursday through Saturday-Feb. 24-26

LOS ANGELES � LamontBentley, who was a regularin the 1990s sitcom �Moe-sha� and appeared frequent-ly in television and movies,was killed in a car crash, hismanager says.

Bentley, who grew up inMilwaukee, died Tuesdaynight when his vehicleplunged off the San DiegoFreeway, manager SusanFerris said Wednesday. Hewas the only person in thevehicle.

Bentley, 31, playedHakeem Campbell, the long-time friend of pop singerBrandy�s character, MoeshaMitchell, in the UPN sitcom�Moesha.�

Bentley had appeared in anumber of films, including�The Wash� and �Tales Fromthe Hood.� He also playedTupac Shakur in the TVmovie, �Too Legit: The MCHammer Story,� and hadappeared in guest roles on�The Parkers,� �NYPD Blue�and �Clueless.�

The Milwaukee native andfather of two daughtersbegan his career after mov-ing to Los Angeles with hismother, an aspiring singer.

�This is a big year for him,�Ferris said. �We were veryexcited because he was com-ing into his own. It�s like acandle being snuffed rightout.�

(l to r) Philip Daniel Bolden, Nia Long, Ice Cube and Aleisha

Allen star in Revolution Studios� family come

REVIEWREVIEW

PHOTO/ROB MCEWAN

ACTOR STARRED

IN �MOESHA�

Thursday, January 27, 2005A & E/The Charlotte PostThe Charlotte Post2D

THE ASSOCIATEDPRESS

‘One Thing’ to read Continued from page 1D

Continued from page 1D

Continued from page 1D

with Chrysler. As it turns out, she�s workingfor a dummy minority company and a manwho is more interested in Winona�s body thanher brain. Winona tries to make peace with apainful past that includes getting jilted at thealter by her son�s father, paying her fatherback the $15,000 she charged on his creditcard to pay for the wedding and making sureher car designs become a reality.

A tragic accident brings Winona and Portertogether, but with so much pain and so manysecrets between the two of them, how canthey have a future together?

Robinson does an outstanding job of takingwhat could be a common place story and mak-ing it fresh and unique. She originally pub-lished the book herself under the title of

�Memories of Yesterday.�In an industry that is so focused on shoving

�urban� - aka ghetto novels down black folks'throats - it is good to see a story with charac-ters that aren�t perfect, but don�t have thestreet mentality many popular books arefilled with. The book is definitely a page-turn-er and quite possibly a tear-jerker. As Robin-son peels away the layers of pain, she revealstwo scarred people who need one another toheal.

The book will leave you wanting more andluckily there is a sequel planned for later thisyear.

If It Ain�t One ThingCheryl RobinsonISBN: 0-451-21405-6$13.95

SOUNDSSOUNDS

From music and arts to listings,

we cover what’s

happening in Charlotte every week.

‘Are We There Yet?’But the script from a team

of writers veers into territorythat�s not just unfunny, it�sdangerous, when the kidsaccuse Nick of being a kid-napper just to escape, andtruckers gang up on him inan attempt to stop him.

�Are We There Yet?� fromdirector Levant (who previ-ously directed the similarlymadcap �Snow Dogs� and

�Jingle All the Way�) seemsnumbingly one-note until itshifts abruptly into a secondnote that clangs even worse.It tries to be sentimental,with Nick predictably findinghimself functioning as afather figure, and all thecharacters experiencingimpossibly well-timedchanges of heart.

(Cube even allows himselfto crack his trademark scowlfor a smile or two while flirt-

ing with Long. It fits himworse than his wardrobe ofoversized throwback jer-seys.)

Kids will laugh at thebroad slapstick here, butthey deserve better-as dotheir parents.

�Are We There Yet?� aColumbia Pictures release, israted PG for language andrude humor. Running time:94 minutes. One star out offour.

Motown’s lost sounds a treat

not to be confused withthe Supremes� hit �But-tered Popcorn,� which isalso included.

Little Eva, Nick & TheJaguars, Satintones,Chico Leverett, EugeneRemus, Sammy Ward,Henry Lumpkin, Herman

Griffin, Twister Kings,Ron & Bill and MableJohn have songs on thiscollection. These namesare not the stuff thatmade Motown, but each isimportant. These are theartists who tested thewaters and helped get theMotown name to the pub-lic.

At more than a hundredbucks, this piece of historyisn�t cheap, but for some itmay be well worth themoney. Now let�s see ifthis company can moveup to this century and getthose new releases by Ste-vie Wonder, India Arieand Brian McKnight instores.

NEW YORK � A treasuretrove of jazz memorabilia-including saxophones thatbelonged to Charlie Parkerand John Coltrane, DizzyGillespie�s trumpet and agown that Peggy Lee worewhen she sang �Fever�-willgo on the auction block nextmonth.

�It�s the first truly majorauction focusing on jazz,�said Arlan Ettinger, presi-dent of Guernsey�s, which isholding the Feb. 20 auction.

Most of the nearly 400 lotswere consigned by the fami-

lies of the jazz legends towhom they belonged,Ettinger said. Several of thefamily members will donateproceeds to foundations thatpromote jazz and providescholarships to young musi-cians, he said.

Among the items to be soldare a 27-page letter hand-written by Louis Armstrong,a smoking jacket worn byThelonious Monk, an unre-leased tape of a 1951 perfor-mance by Parker and origi-nal Al Hirschfeld caricatures.

Most of the lots will be soldwith no reserve price.

Charlie Parker’s saxophone,Dizzy Gillespie’s trumpet for sale at jazz-only auction

Ettinger estimated thatParker�s sax and Coltrane�stenor sax each could sell foras much as $1 million.

�It has his name engravedin it,� he said of Parker�sinstrument. �He�s pictured inhundreds of photographswith it.�

The auction will take placeat the Time Warner Centerin Manhattan, the new homeof Jazz at Lincoln Center,and buyers can bid by tele-phone, through the onlineauction site eBay or in per-son.