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Film star Bassett helping hometown theater company

The Associated Press

In 2006, Angela Bassett appeared in August Wilson‘s “Fences” alongside longtime collaborator Laurence Fishburne at the Pasadena Playhouse in California.

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By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 28, 2009

Film star and St. Petersburg native Angela Bassett is helping out her hometown theater company by accepting an honorary chair at the American Stage Theatre Company for the August Wilson Century Cycle Consortium.

The consortium will be helping promote the American Stage's effort to produce the 10 plays written by Wilson over a 10-year period, according to Todd Olson, American Stage's producing artistic director.

"We are very excited to have someone of Angela Bassett's stature help us to educate our area about this exciting journey we are taking," said Olson in a statement released by American Stage.

He says the Century Cycle Consortium is a group of influential members in our community that will be spreading the word about the commitment to producing all 10 of the late, great African-American playwright, August Wilson's, plays.

Bassett, an Academy and Emmy Award nominated actress, won the Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of Tina Turner in the 1993 movie "What's Love Got to Do with It."

A graduate of Boca Ciega High School, Bassett went to Yale University, were she earned her Masters of Fine Arts degree.

She worked under the direction of her longtime instructor Lloyd Richards on the world premieres of Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" (1984) and "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" (1986).

In 2006, she was in Wilson's "Fences" alongside longtime collaborator Laurence Fishburne at the Pasadena Playhouse in California.

"Fences" is currently under way at American Stage running through Oct. 18.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for "Best Play," it is set in 1957 and follows Troy Maxon, a former Negro League baseball star whose prime came before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. After Troy's rapid rise ends, he is forced to let go of his dreams and deal with his headstrong football playing son who has a chance to go so much further than he did.

Bassett has also appeared in films such as "Waiting to Exhale," "How Stella Got Her Groove Back", "Boyz 'N the Hood", and more recently in "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns" and "Notorious."

"American Stage does things other theaters don't dare. They are the only theater of their size in the country to commit to producing all 10 plays of the Century Cycle, chronicling the African-American experience in America throughout the 20th century," said Bassett is a prepared statement.

Wilson, who died in 2005, received two Pulitzer Prizes for drama for his 10-play series, "The Pittsburgh Cycle." Each is set in a different decade, depicting the comic and tragic aspects of the black experience in the 20th century.

Performances and ticket prices for "Fences" are: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets prices are $26-$45 depending on date and time of performance. Call the American Stage Box Office at (727) 823-7529 for more information.

Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (813) 259-7654.

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