PRI.ORG: In April of 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave an eerily prescient speech. "I just want to do God's will," he said. "And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!"
Saturday, October 01, 2011
Broadway play imagines Martin Luther King's last moments
PRI.ORG: In April of 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave an eerily prescient speech. "I just want to do God's will," he said. "And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!"
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2 comments:
This idea of making a play out of the last moments of MLK's life sounds inspiring and I think that it will do well on Broadway. Such a momentous time in history should be touched on and celebrated because of the fame and the way that it changed so many people at once. Not having been alive myself, it is one of the things that one wishes of seeing and experiencing. When the show comes out, if it is successful, there will be a way for the newer generations to experience, if we are so lucky, just a tiny hint of what it was like to be there at that time. Dealing with issues, such as race, are not completely uncommon even today. It is good that there are some big names in the show as well. That will hopefully bring in a good crowd, even some people who didn't mean to see it. I hope that the show does well and has a long lifespan on Broadway.
There are so many unknowns about the day before Dr. King died. Many say that he knew he was going to be assassinated. That theory opens up the possibilites for how to play that character. Does he know? Does he not? Which would be worse? I like that Samuel L. Jackson recognizes that our generation only know him through pictures, statues, museums, and videos and I am conforted that he wants to bring to light the fact that all we are the living legacy of what he sought to accomplish. The freedoms that African Americans have today are directly descendant of his struggles and he wants to hilight that in his performance. That being said I worry about having a big screen actor play this role and I'll be interested to see how Mr. Jackson handles this role on stage.
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