Page 11 - 3-20-15 Friday's Edition

Local
Bay Area Brotherhood Gearing
‘Motown The Musical’ Opens To Huge Crowd; Considered As One Of The Best Ever
Above is Patrice Covington as Martha Reeves and cast fea- turing Joan Marcus, Krisha Marcano (Florence Ballard), Al- lison Semmes (Diana Ross), and Trish Jeffrey (Mary Wilson).
Do Not Miss This Show!!!
Up For Another Busy Year
From left, Curtis Wilson, BAB President; honoree, Re- tired SMSgt. Odie Jones, Member of the Year award recipi- ent; Dr. Barbara F. Wright, keynote speaker; Col. USAF Retired Irvin Lee, VP, Michael Lee International.
Frank Bell was the recipi- ent of the Civilian MLK Hu- manitarian Award.
Mr. and Mrs. Mark (Kay, BAB Project Officer) Terrell attended the banquet.
On Tuesday, March 17th,
“Motown The Musical”
opened at the Carol Morsani Hall at the Straz Center, and already it is getting rave re- views.
One person who attended the Musical described it as flawless, and others have simply said it was a great re- minder of the music that transformed America.
“This musical has to be the best ever. The singers and music sound just like the Mo- town greats.”
The Musical is a look back at the country’s most loved genre. What began as one man’s story has become everyone’s music, and a true American dream story of Mo- town founder Berry Gordy’s journey from feath-
erweight boxer to the heavy- weight music mogul who launched the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robin- son, and many others.
The Musical also follows writing impresario Gordy as he fights against the odds to turn his improbable dream into all singing, all dancing reality.
The Tampa cast of “Mo- town The Musical” fea- tures Clifton Oliver as Berry Gordy; Allison Semmes as Diana Ross; Jesse Nager as Smokey Robinson, and Jarran Muse as Marvin Gaye.
The Musical will run through March 22nd before it leaves Tampa for the next stop on its national tour.
Having recently com- pleted one of its best events to date, the Bay Area Broth- erhood (BAB) is preparing for another busy year.
The popular non-profit organization of military vet- erans held its 42nd Martin Luther King, Jr. Banquet in January at the Surf’’s Edge Club at MacDill Air Force Base. Having been labeled as one of its best, conversation is ongoing about the event. Dr. Barbara Wright, Pres- ident of the National Baptist Convention of America Sen- ior Women’s Auxiliary, was the guest speaker.
Including young people in all of its events, young people who participated during the banquet were: Junior Buffalo Soldiers; Spencer Williams, Serena Grant, Everett P. Terrell and Loyalty Ross.
Awards were presented to: Frank Bell, Defensive Coordinator, South Tampa Forty-Niners Football Organ- ization, who received the Civilian Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award; MSgt. Nicol Roldan, Diagnostic Imaging Support Chief, received the Military Dr. Luther King, Jr. Award; Retired SMSgt. Odie Jones was named BAB Member of the Year for 2014. He retired from the U. S. Air Force in 1984. Project
MSgt. Nicol Roldan re- ceived the Military Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitar- ian Award.
This group of young ladies performed before more than 250 people at the Martin Luther King. Jr. Complex.
Officer Kay Terrell coordi- nated the banquet.
Currently the organiza- tion is preparing for the An- nual Easter event that is geared to youngsters in the Port Tampa community. “Helping Disadvantaged Children” is the club’s slogan. Their programs throughout
the year include Tampa’s young community.
In December, the group hosted a holiday event for young people in West Tampa at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Complex. The young people received gifts and gift cards from the Bay Area Brother- hood.
FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 11-A