All-Star Broadway Panel On Art and Educational Justice

By Christopher Moore, Broadway Magazine

It was the closing symposium of the Stella Adler Studio's Harold Clurman Festival of the Arts. The theme of the all-star panel discussion was Art and Educational Justice, but the dialogue touched many topics. Featuring one of the most dynamic panels of accomplished female theater artists assembled, the event took place at the historic Cooper Union Hall in New York. The panel consisted of Whoopi Goldberg, Phylicia Rashad, Rosie Perez and Anna Deavere Smith, and the discussion was moderated by WNYC's Leonard Lopate. Only Broadway.tv was there to capture this extraordinary gathering. Alternately serious and amusing, it was a provocative evening, bringing focus to an important subject for an important cause.

"I was educated by people who educated my father and his siblings. I grew up in a family of educators," recalls the remarkable Phylicia Rashad, "I had teachers who insisted 'you're going to learn this, and you're going learn it well. You're going to master this. You're going to master this because you can, because I say so, and because...I know where you live."

"When you're not an attractive child, you travel in your mind in different circles," offers Whoopi Goldberg in a candid moment, "In my mind as a child I could go live in any country, I could be a queen, I could be a king, I could be a dog, I could be anything I wanted to be."

"Especially in black schools and black churches, Art was a form of expression which was used as a major part of bringing us out of what we were in and into integrated schools. It was just as serious as math or anything else," says Anna Deavere Smith.

"They took us to Broadway, and I saw The Wiz," remembers Rosie Perez. " I'm up there and I'm seeing a story that is similar to my situation...and I was so tough. I was so tough, and it was just such a front, because inside I was just a mess. I remember sitting there in the darkened theater in my seat... and that's what great about Broadway, it so dark, you know... I was quivering, I'm trying not to cry, my lips were quivering. The tears start coming down. One of my classmates looked at me and they're are like 'Rosie's crying'...I was so engrossed in that moment, that they kind of just disappeared...the nuns were asking me what was wrong with me, my mother, everyone and I would just go 'I saw The Wiz'" Rosie says, imitating her younger self weeping.

"I had the same thing with West Side Story when I saw the movie and cried for three days," adds Anne Deavere Smith, "I'd always thought that I wanted to be a psychiatrist. My mother said 'that's it, that's it, you can't be a psychiatrist, you're too sensitive.' Little did she know that I would become an actress."

In one particularly compelling panel exchange, Rosie Perez and Whoopi Goldberg talk about the importance of art and theatre in the schools. Benefits from this panel discussion went to the Stella Adler Outreach Division which provides free theater education to New York City public school children. The exchange begins with Rosie talking about holding elected officials accountable for making arts in the schools a priority

"How do we galvanize people to force the people that we're paying," began Rosie, " you know what I'm saying, because all politicians...they are on my dime, they are on your dime...how do we get them to"

"Well maybe it's not them," injects Whoopi Goldberg, "maybe it's actually not them, maybe the commitment has to come from artists. You know, we adopt highways."

There was a moment of silence as Whoopi's message resonated. Tony Winner Phylicia Rashad nods in recognition of the truth in what Whoopi's comment, and then the audience awkwardly acknowledges both the importance and the impact of Whoopi's idea with a muted laugh. That's just a few of the highlights from an evening that was filled with great discussion and stories. Check out a full slate of highlights right here on www.Broadway.tv.