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New Life at Duke Ellington

A new principal and a bevy of theater pros are trying to help the Duke Ellington School of the Arts revive its reputation. First hurdle? An ambitious production of "The Wiz."

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Johnson, 50, has inhabited the world of theater for many years. In college, Johnson, who intended to become a lawyer, took an acting class and fell in love with the theater, finding a place and a focus that would allow him to explore a variety of interests. "Theater allowed me to encompass history, politics, music -- anything that I was interested in, the theater called upon," he says.

Since then, Johnson has worked on plays all around the world, including at the Kennedy Center and the Royal Court Theatre of London. He's spent much of his career at the renowned Crossroads Theatre Company in New Brunswick, N.J., which has showcased stars Ruby

Dee, Ossie Davis and Avery Brooks. That's where he met Lynda Gravátt.

At Duke Ellington, Johnson immediately started breaking down the barrier between the school and professional worlds, Johnson says. "The Wiz" is a continuation of that idea. "The best place to learn something is where people do it -- this merging of professional craftsman, artists, directors . . . with the students creates an opportunity for the student to be an apprentice inside an environment that is no longer theoretical."

His own desire to move from the theoretical has Johnson contemplating his future at Ellington. "I don't know how much longer I'll be here," he says. "A light has come on, and I think I'm nearing the end of what I have to give, what I could get, and now I think other journeys are calling."

RORY PULLENS IS LATE FOR THE MARKETING MEETING. With three weeks to go, the group is gathering to hash out practical details. Pullens arrives with nothing except his in-house radio. He sits down at the table and listens to the discussion in progress. It seems the box office team is struggling with maintaining ticket sales records. It is unsure how many $20-a-seat tickets have been sold and how many tickets have been put on hold for parents who are planning to pay later. "We are three weeks out, people!" Pullens interjects, sitting up in his chair. "Forgive me if I'm barking orders -- pay Pullens no mind -- but we need some answers. We need answers this week."

Pullens knows that everyone is feeling the anxiety of the approaching show. "We've raised the stress level for everyone," he says. "We're pushing, but that's what you have to do to make progress. You should feel stressed."

There is construction taking place all over Duke Ellington. Outside the theater, in the lobby that serves as the school's art gallery, a demolition crew is hard at work. Thanks to some generous local companies, the school is able to renovate this voluminous worn-down space. With not much time to re-carpet and repaint, the two-story gallery, which sits as a main junction in the building, has become something of an obstacle course for students and staff on their way to class.

Construction is happening inside the theater as well. The cast and the crew of "The Wiz" have finally moved in and are beginning the last leg of their journey toward opening night. The theater is stately; its deep crimson walls and red, cushioned seats have been well maintained and, were it not for the occasional glimpse of peeling paint visible just beyond the exit doors, one could forget that it sits in the heart of a beleaguered building.

There are clusters of activity all around the house. Gravátt and her team are sitting behind large boardlike tables that are covered with notes, snacks and Starbucks cups. On the other side of the center aisle, the stage managers are studying their plans, and the lighting director and his assistant have set up shop. Onstage, the opening scene is about to begin, and the student performers stand in their street clothes waiting for a voice from the darkness to tell them to begin.

"Let's take it from the top and see where it goes," Gravátt says, her voice resonating throughout the house even without a mike.

As they begin, the students are scurrying around in fear of an oncoming storm; the teens playing Uncle Henry and Auntie Em take clothes off of an imaginary line as they call Dorothy for help. Imani Bowden, a young woman with wide eyes and shoulder-length hair, runs out to the edge of the stage and calls, "Toto!" She runs to and fro asking for help from passing townspeople, many of whom will return as principal characters later in the show. The young man playing the Tin Man hobbles by with a cane. The Lion goes by as a vagrant. And all the while Dorothy is running and calling out into the dark theater for Toto.