David Heron and Karen 'Tiny Winey' Harriott are caught in a moment of high conflict during a staging of the drama 'Love and Marriage and New York City'. - File DAVID HERON may get the chance to join the ranks of Denzel Washington, Ossie Davis, James Earl Jones, Ruby Dee and Morgan Freeman if his production Love and Marriage and New York City wins an Audelco (Audience Development Committee) Recognition Award for 'Excellence in Black Theatre' in November.
The awards, also known as 'The Viv', celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and will be staged on November 16, at Manhattan's Aaron Davis Hall.
The awards were created by Vivian Robinson in 1973 to celebrate excellence in black theatre. Since then, it has earned the reputation of being the most prestigious award for black theatre off Broadway. Love and Marriage and New York City has been nominated for 'Outstanding Ensemble Performance'.
American Menu; Miss Evers' Boys; The Blacks... A Clown Show; and Trapped are its rivals in that category. This nomination of the David Heron play marks the first time for an all-Jamaican cast. As a result, it is expected that the Audelco nomination, and even better - a win, will be more than a small step for both Heron's career and Jamaican theatre.
This nomination marks another level of achievement for the play, which has enjoyed a lot of success since its local premiere at the Little Little Theatre, September 1999. The romantic-dramatic comedy received eight International Theatre Institute Actor Boy Awards nominations from its local staging.
Love and Marriage and New York City deals with two Jamaican couples in New York City, who marry for the business of procuring a green card, then find out that marriage is never only about business. Its Jamaican run featured Karen Harriott, Douglas Prout, Bertina Macaulay and Heron, among others.
It premiered off Broadway in May this year at the prestigious Paul Robeson Theatre with an altered all-Jamaican cast. Along with Heron, the play's United States' run featured Christine Campbell (who has also made an appearance on HBO's Sex and the City), and former Miss Jamaica runner-up Sandra Oakley. Pulse model Lincoln Wynter made his debut in the production. All the members of the cast are based in New York.
Love and Marriage and New York City then followed up with a two-month tour of Great Britain, playing in London, Sheffield, Birmingham, and Huddersfield, where it met with critics' acclaim and box office success. In fact, the limited run at the Peggy Ashcroft Theatre set box office records for that location when it played there earlier this year.
The play's success seems to be quite in line with what Heron hoped to achieve when he wrote it. Earlier this year, after its success in Britain, he pointed out, in an article published in The Gleaner, that he had wanted this play to aid his crossover into mainstream theatre. The three-year-old play seems to be well on its way to achieving this goal.
The Audelco nomination has brought with it renewed interest in Love and Marriage and New York City. As a result, it will engage in another limited run at the Paul Robeson Theatre from October 31 to November 10.
