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Appearing at the Greenich House Theatre in
the off-Broadway production of "Mother Divine" are Asheville
blues musician Kat Williams in the title role and Steve Ayers
of Cullowhee as Lester Tooley, a federal fraud investigator. The
show received good reviews during New York's Fringe Festival despite
the Aug. 14 blackout, the largest in U.S. history.
By Rose Hooper
Steve Ayers was shopping on the sixth floor of Saks 5th Avenue
in New York City with his 22-year-old daughter, Maribeth, when
she said, "Dad, why don't we buy me this pair of shoes?"
Then the power went out.
"I thought, 'How great was that!'" said Ayers, Western
Carolina University communications and theatre arts professor.
Cash registers unable to "ca-ching," subways disabled,
elevators stuck, planes stranded, no traffic lights or air conditioning
– all this and more was experienced throughout most of New
York, parts of New England, Ohio and Michigan, as well as Canada,
during the blackout Thursday, Aug. 14, affecting 50 million people.
At the same time, a little after 4 p.m., Betty Farmer, another
WCU communications and theatre arts professor, was putting her
4-year-old son, Quinn, down for a nap at the Marriott Courtyard
Hotel.
"We had just flown in to New York; it was Quinn's first flying
experience, and he was wiped out and ready for a nap," said
Farmer.
"When they announced at the hotel about the power failure,
my husband, Jim, and I immediately flew into action – I took
a shower because I didn't know how long it would be before we
had water again. Jim ran out and got us some food," Farmer
said.
Meanwhile, Laurel Vartabedian, another WCU communications and
theatre arts professor, was walking down the steps into the Times
Square subway.
"Suddenly people started running and I didn't know what was
happening," said Vartabedian. "I looked up at the electronic
signs and they had all stopped, so I knew something was wrong.
"Soon the streets were flooded with hoards of people coming
from the subway, from their offices, businesses, just everywhere,"
she said.
Ayers, Farmer and Vartabedian, along with a 20-plus member cast,
were in the Big Apple for Western's debut of "Mother Divine"
at FringeNYC, often called the largest multi-arts festival in
North America.
"Here it is the first time Western's taken a play to New
York, or at least it's the first time I know about, and this happens
– what a story to tell," said director Ayers.
Farmer said the first thing that came to her mind following the
blackout was the threat of terrorism. She could hear fearful remembrances
of Sept. 11 in the voices of New Yorkers who were saying, "Oh,
God, not us again!'"
"The pandemonium was kind of crazy with everyone on the streets.
A lot of people were stranded and couldn't get home. You'd see
women walking with their high heels slung across their back, people
packed into buses like sardines, no traffic lights at the start
of New York City rush hour – imagine that," said Farmer.
As well as a wake-up call, Sept. 11 may have been a bonding experience
for New Yorkers, the Western group discovered.
People took it upon themselves to act as volunteers and began
helping with traffic control and crowd control, according to Vartabedian.
"There could have been a lot more disorder had it not been
for all the volunteers – people were so nice," said
Vartabedian, who wrote "Mother Divine" along with Texas
composer Bill Evans. "I asked one lady where she got her
cup of hot coffee, and she offered to share her bag breakfast
with me."
The WCU crew experienced some price jacking – $6 for a beer
and $3.50 for a cup of orange juice – but, at the same time,
a serving of Haagen Das ice cream, melting quickly in the sweltering
August heat, was reduced to $1.
Farmer found hiking up and down 15 floors at the Marriott a bit
inconvenient, but a great workout for her calves.
"The alternative could have been worse – we could have
been stuck in the elevator or not been able to key access our
rooms – that happened at some hotels, but the Marriott management
was wonderful. They continually made announcements to keep us
updated, and they had flip charts in the lobby with the latest
information.
"They had backup generators so we had lights in the hallway,
they gave us complimentary breakfast and free bottled water, and
they let us rehearse in the 12th-floor lobby," said Farmer.
As the WCU students came back in Thursday night, they joined a
crowd of hotel guests in that lobby. Not missing a PR opportunity,
the "Mother Divine" cast began singing songs from the
musical comedy and passing out flyers.
"When you get lemons, you make lemonade," said Farmer,
advisor for the campus public relations association.
"Everybody can be proud of those Western students,"
said Ayers. "Despite the inconvenience they kept rehearsing,
kept working and did a wonderful job."
Although the blackout canceled Friday's performance, the play
had "a really good house Saturday night. We didn't know if
people would be gun shy about getting back out, back on the subway,"
said Farmer.
"Even with all the glitches, this was a tremendous opportunity
for the students, and the reviews were good... one said 'Mother
Divine' needed more exposure and to be seen in a larger venue."
Playwright Vartabedian said she was pleased with the reviews,
the performances and abundance of positive response.
Since "Mother Divine" is based loosely on the real-life
exploits of an African-American Harlem evangelist named Father
Divine, the group toured Harlem and the School of the Arts there
as part of their Big Apple experience.
"One newspaper referred to the blackout experience as the
Big ZZZapple. The odd thing was it was really easy to sleep because
the city that never sleeps was actually quiet – no neon,
no lights, no phones, no noise," said Ayers.
Most think of going to New York City to see the bright lights,
not experience the biggest blackout in U.S. history, he said.
"The students took it in stride," said Ayers. "I
think they realized they were part of something historic."
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