A Show That Came In From the Cold

“When I first came to California, I was taken aback by the gang violence,” said actress/writer Delilah Williams. “It made me want to push for something positive. So this piece not only educates and informs, but represents some very good role models.”

The piece is “Black Folk in Song,” now playing at the Westwood Playhouse, a gospel-flavored words-and-music history of American blacks, from the slave ships through the present.

Williams launched her show in 1985 in Alaska, of all places. “My sole purpose in going there was to open a singing telegram company,” said Williams, who used her earnings from a local TV quiz show to finance the 1979 move. “It started as a small business out of my home but in eight years it expanded into a balloon shop and really took off.”

At first, audiences for “Black Folk” were primarily white, but they later became more integrated. Williams took excerpts from her show on a monthlong tour of the Soviet Union, as part of the Alaska Performing Arts for Peace program.

Besides serving as writer, director and co-producer, “I sing every now and then,” said Williams (who credits the original idea for the show to pal Shirley Staton). “In the star scene, I’m Mahalia Jackson. Others do Sammy Davis, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong . . . “

The material (nine scenes, 15 songs and nine excerpts), is divided into two parts--each very different in tone. “The first half is more a tear-jerker, about history; the second half is more lighthearted, where we dress up and do our church singing.” Either way, she says, there’s a story worth hearing here. “It’s important to let people know where they stand--so they know where they’re going.”

THEATER BUZZ: It’s an embarrassment of stage riches for actress Gina Elten, who’s appearing in two plays at once at Los Angeles Theatre Center. She starts out in “Dance of Death,” playing the saucy maid Jenny, then changes into the role of an old woman. Then it’s over to “Death of a Salesman” (where she’s secretary Jenny), back to “Dance” for her curtain call as the maid--and finally to “Salesman” for her curtain call as the secretary.

“We timed it out in rehearsal to make sure it would work,” said the actress, who auditioned and was cast in the roles jointly. “There’s only one real quick-change: my curtain call for ‘Salesman.’ I basically run off the stage, tear off my clothes, the dresser holds up my costume, and I dive into it.” For Elton, the artistic/physical feat has more to do with concentration than stamina. “My biggest fear is that I’m going to walk on the wrong stage in the wrong costume . . . and say the wrong lines.”