Mabel Robinson was right in the middle of rehearsing the gospel play Black Nativity, which will open Friday, when the spirit of love arrived on the scene.
Dancers and actors swirled in circles while Robinson, the show's director stretched her arms in wide arcs above her head. "Wider," she called out. Behind her, a small voice called out, "Grandma!"
Robinson turned, and her two grandsons, Joseph and Cameron, 5 and 3, ran up to her. They had just arrived from Atlanta to be with her for Thanksgiving. "Oh, Lord," Robinson said, beaming in their direction. "Just look who is here!"
Earlier, Robinson had reflected on the play's enduring appeal to Triad theatergoers and families in particular. This will be the ninth year for staging Black Nativity, and Robinson has been its guiding force each year. Audiences number in the hundreds for each of its shows.
Written by Langston Hughes, Black Nativity retells the nativity story with an entirely black cast. Carols, traditional and modern gospel songs, and African drumming comprise the show's music.
"It is the story of the birth of Christ," Robinson said. "When it first started, the music was written by Alex Bradford with Langston Hughes's poetry and concept." First presented in 1961, performers were the Alex Bradford Singers, along with Marion Williams, who was the star of the gospel group Stars of Faith.
Robinson, at the time, was a four-year-scholarship dance student at the Juilliard School in New York. She saw Black Nativity the year it opened. "I never forgot it," she said.
Today, after performing in New York, then teaching at UNC School of the Arts from 1984 to 1995, Robinson is the arrtistic director of the N.C. Black Repertory Company and the National Black Theatre Festival, assuming leadership after the death of the festival's founder, Larry Hamlin, in 2007.
On this particular afternoon, a cast of 23 singers, dancers and actors and another five interns from Black Repertory's Teen Theatre Ensemble are rehearsing. The teenage interns are new, but some of the lead performers will be familiar to audiences.
Among those returning is Georjean Moore, a lead dancer who has been playing Mary since 2003. Her daughter, Brianna Moore, is a teen dancer in this year's show.
And, for the first time in the local history of Black Nativity, there will be three generations appearing on stage. Georjean Moore's mother, Jean Rohr, who teaches at Elon College's School of Education, will also be in the production.
"We've had two generations of performers for most years," Robinson said, "but we've never had three generations."
Live music includes a piano, bass, guitar, African drums and wind instruments, and the narration is Hughes' poetry, known for its vibrancy.
"He wrote it for Black Nativity based on Luke and Matthew," Robinson said, referring to two books of the Bible's New Testament.
Even Hughes's humor is evident: One of the shepherds is admonished for being lazy.
"The first act is narrating the story of the Christ, with the narrator and an angel," Robinson said. "We have Mary and Joseph, who are dancers, and the nativity is presented in an African environment. The second act is a celebration of his life. It begins with a medley of Christmas carols."
Tony Gillion, a pianist from Salisbury, returns as music director, his role for the past eight years. New to the music in this year's show is "Let Us Worship Him," a gospel song recently recorded by Yolanda Adams.
"It's a wonderful show," Robinson said.
Her grandsons are now running around the edges of the rehearsal space with two other small children, the youngest granddaughters of Rohr. They've come to see their grandmother, too.
The N.C. Black Repertory Company will present
Black Nativity
at 8 p.m. Friday and Dec. 11, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday and Dec. 12, and 3 p.m. next Sunday and Dec. 13 at the Arts Council Theatre, 610 Coliseum Drive. Tickets are $22, $18 for seniors and children. Call 723-2266.
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