What Audiences are Saying About
"At Last: Celebrating the Lives of Black Women" *
By Dr. Mary E. Weems, Director Ashley Aquilla

* Excerpted from Post-Show Surveys

Survey question: What was your favorite scene or moment?

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• “Too many – I’ll go for the whole show. Absolutely excellent.”

• “Please take this show everywhere. Colleges and Universities certainly. Please also include high school…These voices need to be heard right now.”

• “Billie Holiday – great approach & nuances, strong non-verbal cues among cast members.”

• “The scene with June Jordan. I learned a lot about her. I also liked the people in between, the bartender and the young lady, they added to the whole play.”

• “When activist June Jordan had her part.”

• “So many but the monologue [June Jordan] on love and peace was breathtaking.”

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Survey question: Who was your favorite character and why?

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• •I loved them all for different reasons. Each has an important voice to share.”

• “Billie, Mahalia, Josephine, hard to choose.”

• “Zora Neal Hurston. Loved the dialogue between her and Langston.”

• “Etta James and Billie Holiday – I think Billie Holiday stands out to me – she really captured the essence – I really liked the story telling of Etta James and Zora Neale.”

General Comments:

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• “Each scene and each character were written to convey a lesson to the audience. Personally, I hold knowledge and understanding in high regard, so picking one scene or character as favorite undermines the lesson to be taken from this piece. All were influential and important to the overarching theme.”

• “All of the roles were played excellent. If they never said there name, you would know who they are for their acting. Michelle Obama was my favorite.”

• “1. I thought the lighting was great during the transition. 2. Costumes were great 3. Vocalizations were great!”

• “Loved them all. I brought my sixteen-year-old granddaughter so she could learn of women I knew she would not have learned about in school.”

• I can’t pinpoint a favorite scene. I am stuck on how well the actresses sing and capture the essences of each character in such a way that I knew who they were. I really like how the scenes segue. I liked the bartender and the other character in-between.