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BONNIE LEE MOSS RATTNER |
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Nationality: USA Email: Click here to contact Website: n/a |
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Literary Agent: Don Buchwald and Associates represented by Richard Basch |
Bonnie Lee Moss Rattner earned a B.A. in English Education from Michigan's Wayne State University in 1962, then studied briefly at The Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Michigan before beginning a career as a secondary school English teacher and mother. She returned to Wayne State University in 1965 to undertake graduate studies, which culminated in 1979 with her earning a Master of Arts degree in English. It was at Wayne State in 1978 that Rattner discovered Their Eyes Were Watching God, an encounter that she has described as life-changing. She decided to adapt the novel for the stage as her Master's thesis under the guidance of Professor L. Todd Duncan - a play initially titled Eatonville. She then spent the next several years in a long, involved, and arduous quest to obtain the stage rights from Hurston's estate and longtime publishers. The piece, now retitled To Gleam It Around, To Show My Shine, had its first performance at Wayne State's Hilberry Graduate Theatre in 1983. Rattner devoted herself to convincing producers across the country to stage the play, which she referred to as her second child. Readings followed at many leading regional theaters. Then the play received an award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays in 1987, followed by its professional premiere in a production at New Jersey's Crossroads Theater in 1988. Under the direction of Crossroads' Artistic Director Rick Kahn, and featuring Denise Nicholas and Novella Nelson, the play won universal plaudits - including from Alvin Klein of The New York Times, who wrote of its stage worthy dialogue that is so pure and lyrical, it positively stings and pierces the heart. Subsequently, another series of readings and workshops followed through the late '80s and on through the '90s, as several theaters and producers pursued the play. Over the years, a host of luminaries - including Samuel L. Jackson, Morgan Freeman, Leslie Uggams, Alfre Woodward, and others - were drawn to the play as it continued to evolve. Wynton Marsalis composed a score, and a series of almost-weres and near-misses had it just missing financing or suffering from cutbacks at various venues. Meanwhile, Rattner co-wrote an adaptation of Langston Hughes' Not Without Laughter. She also became co-producer of Asinamali, a musical that opened on Broadway in 1987; and she sought wider recognition for the work of Phillip Hayes Dean, whose plays Robeson and Freedman obtained international success. In the '90s, Rattner and Duncan joined forces again for a book on the life of former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Otis M. Smith, the state's first Black Supreme Court Justice. All the while, she continued to work on and believe in her adaptation. Finally, fast forward to August 2011, when CENTERSTAGE came calling. Now, today, the play will enjoy its third production and first revival in nearly 25 years.
http://www.centerstage.org/gleam/Dramaturgy/BonnieLeeMossRattnertheLongStrangeSaga.aspx
Plays by Bonnie Lee Moss Rattner
Eatonville | ||
| 1st Produced: | Hilberry Graduate Theatre Wayne State University, Detroit MI | 1983 | ||||
Company: | Crossroads Theater NJ (1988); Center Stage, Baltimore MD (2012) | |||||
| 1st Published: | 1979 (Wayne State University Master's thesis) | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #135844 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | African-American history | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 12 | Female | 6 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | .a.k.a. To Gleam It Around, To Show My Shine a.k.a. Gleam | |||||
Synopsis: | stage adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God". At 16, Janie faces a marriage of convenience and a life of quiet drudgery. Instead, she embarks on a journey that brings successes and losses enough for several lifetimesa passage to fulfillment so singular that it manages to speak for all of our dreams. This soaring saga brings to life the vivid characters of Zora Neale Hurstons beloved novel, a shining jewel of the Harlem Renaissance by one of Americas literary giants. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Gleam | ||
| 1st Produced: | CenterStage, 700 North Calvert Street Baltimore, MD | 04 Jan 2012 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #135865 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | adaptation | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Based on the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston | |||||
Synopsis: | At 16, Janie faces a marriage of convenience and a life of quiet drudgery. Instead, she embarks on a journey that brings successes and losses enough for several lifetimesa passage to fulfillment so singular that it manages to speak for all of our dreams. This soaring saga brings to life the vivid characters of Zora Neale Hurston's beloved novel, a shining jewel of the Harlem Renaissance by one of America's literary giants. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Not Without laughter | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #135845 | |||
To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||||
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Genre: | n/a | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Rattner co-wrote an adaptation of Langston Hughes Not Without Laughter | |||||
Synopsis: | n/a | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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