Canfield actor is in the Oscar race
Christopher Mele’s appearance in “Fences” is very brief, maybe 10 seconds, but it puts him in the credits for a film that was nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture.
The Canfield man has one line in the film. It comes when the main character, Troy Maxson (played by Denzel Washington), visits the union headquarters to ask for a job as a garbage truck driver. An unnamed character hurriedly walks down a corridor and right up to Troy and says, “the commissioner will see you now.”
That unnamed character is Mele.
“Fences” is adapted from the powerful play by the late August Wilson. It is set in 1950s Pittsburgh, and was filmed there.
Mele’s scene was actually filmed in the county courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh. He remembers that day vividly.
“The sun was hot and I was wearing a suit that was wool, from the ’50s,” he said. “They had called me to rush to the set and I was out of breath when I got there, after two blocks of running. And the scene was a long walking scene. We did it four or five times with me walking past the extras. Then I did my lines. We only did three takes.”
Washington is also the director of the film, and because he was in the scene, he didn’t give much direction to Mele.
“[Washington] was depending on his first assistant director for that scene,” he said. “They were rushing me around that day, but Denzel did come up to me and say ‘hey, Chris, take your time, whenever you’re ready to do it, we will do it.’”
In addition to Best Picture, “Fences” also garnered Oscar nominations for Best Actor (Washington), Best Supporting Actress (Viola Davis) and Adaptation of a Screenplay.
“Fences” is a dialog-heavy play with almost all of the lines and screen time handled by Washington and a handful of other actors.
Mele, a retired GM employee who has been doing bit parts in major films shot in the region for several years, said he doubts he will be going to Los Angeles for the Oscar ceremony on Feb. 26. But he wouldn’t rule it out if the opportunity arises.
FRIEDA’S JAZZ CLUB WILL REOPEN AFTER SIX MONTHS
Frieda’s is back.
The small but venerable jazz club on the corner of West Rayen and Belmont avenues in Youngstown has been closed since July, when owner Alfreda “Frieda” Anderson Martin had triple bypass surgery.
But it will reopen tonight to celebrate. Then, on Friday and Saturday, Howard Howell and the Point Five Band will perform from 6 to 10 p.m., with DJ EZ D going on afterward.
Those two acts have been mainstays at the club in recent years, so it’s only fitting they perform for the reopening.
Martin, 81, has owned the bar that bears her name since 1979. The tiny stage there has played host to just about every regional jazz great over the decades, including Sean Jones, Barbara Morrison, Shedrick Hobbs, Harold “Stage” Hardrick, Teddy Pantelas, Willie Mitchell, Clifford Barnes, Alfred Clarett, Rick Ward and Billy Beck.
Martin still calls The Vindicator every Tuesday to relay her band schedule, and it was good to hear her voice again.
After a long recuperation, and a restocking of the bar’s libations, she is feeling better and ready to resume. She’s also thankful.
“I appreciated everyone’s prayers and cards while I was down,” she said. “I got a slew of cards and phone calls. I’m glad to be back and to get people back to what they’re used to getting here, a place for jazz lovers.”
ALL-AMERICON COMICS SHOW MOVES TO THE THICK OF THINGS
All-Americon, the comic book and pop culture show put on by All-American Comics and Cards of Warren, keeps growing.
The event had been at Packard Music Hall in Warren, but announced last summer that it would be moving to Covelli Centre in 2017 to accommodate bigger crowds. It will be July 8 and 9.
There is another advantage to moving it to Youngstown that Greg Bartholomew, owner of the comics shop, didn’t realize at the time. Those dates coincide with the Summer Festival of the Arts at Youngstown State University.
The SFA is at the center of several events that weekend in the center city, including jazz and gospel music festivals downtown, and the Greek Fest at St. Nicholas Church on Walnut Street.
Bartholomew said his family-friendly event will add to the synergy that weekend, and should attract some guests who don’t usually go to comics conventions.
JOKI RETURNS TO PLAYHOUSE TO STAR IN ‘HAIRSPRAY’
Robert Dennick Joki will be in his first show at the Youngstown Playhouse in almost 20 years this spring when he plays the lead role of Edna Turnblad in “Hairspray” May 12-21.
“I’m ridiculously excited about it,” said the founder and director of Rust Belt Theater Company. “It’s a beautiful show, with an excellent and very timely message, and I’m thrilled that they asked me to do it.”
The role was written for a man to play. Divine played Edna in the original John Waters film, as did Harvey Fierstein on Broadway and in the recent live TV adaptation. John Travolta even handled the role in a later film version.
GETTING READY FOR GILBERT
Brantley Gilbert’s new album, “The Devil Don’t Sleep,” will be released tomorrow. Exactly three weeks later — Feb. 17 — the country music star will bring his tour to Covelli Centre.
The album has 16 songs, but a deluxe version will also be offered that includes an additional five songs recorded live at a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado last year, plus five exclusive demos.
SING-ALONG ‘MOANA’ FILM
A new sing-along version of the animated Disney film “Moana” will open in theaters nationwide, including in the Mahoning Valley, on Friday.
Fans of the hit movie and publicly sing along to the soundtrack, including the song “How Far I’ll Go.”
Check the movie page for times and locations.