The headline on the New York Post of November 17 [1980] forewarned readers that it would "SNOW!" that night. And the snow came. So did the rain and the cold night air that nipped at noses and fingertips. But November 17 was a special night for the black theater community. It was the night of the 8th Annual AUDELCO Black Theatre Awards ceremony in which recognition awards would be given in 16 different categories. And it would take something stronger and more devastating than a cold snap to keep people away.
These were theater people, a dauntless lot. Elegantly dressed in fur coats, evening gowns, and tuxedos, they filled the 750-seat ultra-modern Aaron Davis Hall/Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts at City College in Harlem to honor their own. The love and respect they felt was evident in the abundance of smiles, kisses, embraces, and handshakes bestowed on their colleagues before they entered the theater. It was also evident by the thunderous applause and cheers that greeted the announcement of each nominee's name.
The audience may also have been applauding and cheering the fact that November 17, 1980 marked the return to Harlem of AUDELCO (Audience Development Committee)*, after an absence of two years for lack of adequate space. After all, Harlem has long been the entertainment capital of black America. Many of our most significant black artists grew up and/or launched their careers in this world-famous community. So the awards were more than just a celebration of contemporary black achievement in theater. They were a tribute to Harlem's glorious past, a past which has given us people such as Earle Hyman, one of four recipients of the AUDELCO Outstanding Pioneer Award for 1980.
Fellow actor Frederick O'Neal worked with Hyman in the American Negro Theatre in the 1940s when Hyman became a member at age 17. Here is what O'Neal said about this remarkable actor who studied the plays of Ibsen and the Norwegian language and has played Othello more times than any other actor, living or dead:
"Earle spent four or five years playing with the Norwegian State Theatre. ...[O]ne of those years Earle won the award for the best artist of the season. ...[O]nly two performers have won it since its inception. And the only other person...was Charlie Chaplin.
"There is bust of Earle," continued O'Neal, "in the State Theatre in Oslo today."
Earle Hyman was not present at the awards ceremony because he was in Norway directing a play. His award was accepted by Owen Dodson, the director, playwright, and poet.
While Debbie Allen and Gregory Hines, the co-hosts, kept the audience in stitches with sight gags and witty comments, the basketball player Earl Monroe, the actress Josephine Premice, and the dancer Judith Jamison were among those presenting the awards to overjoyed recipients.
Amidst all this glitter and gaiety were a few serious moments. Most notably Ossie Davis's short and eloquent speech upon accepting the AUDELCO Board of Directors Award for his wife, Ruby Dee, and himself. This award honored their lifelong contribution to the black theater.
"If we are ever to become Africans again," remarked Davis, "we must do it first through our art."
It was past midnight when the 8th Annual AUDELCO Awards presentation ended. The audience streamed out of the theater and into the lobby where drinks and hors d'oeuvres awaited them. Many people moved through the crowd, eating, drinking, and chatting at the same time. They were having a good time and it seemed as if they didn't want it to end.
*Note: AUDELCO was founded in 1973 by Vivian Robinson (1926-1996). It's aim, says its website, was "to stimulate interest in and support of performing arts in black communities."
The manuscript for this article was recently found in a folder and was written on November 26, 1980. It was presumably written for the New York Amsterdam News. This article has been slightly edited.
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