‘Fly’ Opens at The Pasadena Playhouse

Angela Bassett was on hand for the celebration and opening Sunday night. – Photo by Terry Miller

By Terry Miller

With a focus on hope, endurance, and accomplishment, Fly tells the story of the first African-American Army Air Corp fighters known as the Tuskegee Airmen who flew over the skies of Europe and North Africa during World War II. Featuring a cast of eight men, including “Tap Griot,” a dancer who uses tap dance steps to set a mood that is part sublimated anger, part empowerment. Fly was hailed by The New York Times as “a superior piece of theatrical synergy.” Co-author and director Ricardo Khan is Tony Award-winning co-founder and former artistic director of the Crossroads Theatre Company, known as one of the nation’s foremost African-American theater companies. In honor of Black History month, The Pasadena Playhouse and Crossroads Theatre Company’s production of Fly dramatizes the historic contributions made by the Tuskegee Airmen to the desegregation of the American military and the furthering of civil rights. The play runs through Feb. 21 at Pasadena Playhouse.

Opening night guests included the Original Tuskegee Airmen: Lt. Col Theodore Lumpkin, Jerry Hodges, Levi Thornhill, Reginald Ballard, Dr. Isaac Walker, Harlan Leonard, Franklin Henderson (who served as a Buffalo Soldier). -Photos by Terry Miller

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