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The Arts and Science Center’s sold-out production of the Broadway musical “Hairspray” could have extended its run for at least a week. The talented ensemble nailed their roles and proved far more entertaining than the issues of the police chief leaving town and a verbal donnybrook at the Chester Hynes Community Center.
A musical is impressive when the performers have the talent to carry it off, and the talent was present for this production. From Bethany Gere’s performance as Tracy Turnblad, and Carla Martin in her role as feisty Motormouth Maybelle, the audience could not help but get involved.
It didn’t hurt that the musical’s TV dance program, “The Corny Collins Show,” was based on “The Buddy Deane Show,” a teen dance program that aired on Baltimore television from 1957-1964. Deane’s roots run deep in Pine Bluff.
On a scale of 1-100, the cast’s singing, dancing and acting talents, period costumes and hairstyles, and talented orchestra, rated 105.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
There was a ton of talent visible on the “Hairspray” stage.
She is staying
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The down thumb is for Pine Bluff Police Chief Brenda Davis-Jones’ communication skills, not her decision to remain as the city’s top law enforcement officer.
We know she has the tools to communicate – a $747 pink iPhone with pink accessories, a $797.51 iPad 2 with Wi-Fi capability and a $37.99 monthly data plan paid for by the taxpayers – but she won’t return phone calls or emails to clarify botched press releases that leave more questions unanswered than answered.
We learned years ago that police officers may be good investigators, but most were simply not trained to write excuses for some appointed and elected officials who can’t answer questions with a simple “yes” or “no.”
The Bibb County, Ga., School District has retreated from hiring Davis-Jones as the district’s police chief. Her name has been removed from a list on the district’s website of “New Administrators for the 2012-2013 School Year.”
The director of public relations for the district quoted the district superintendent as saying Davis-Jones is “no longer a candidate for police chief for the school district.” We were told earlier the superintendent had recommended Davis-Jones for the position and that recommendation was approved by the district’s board of directors last month.
The district operates 45 schools and has an enrollment of 24,968 students and according to its website. Fourteen candidates applied for the police position and the selection process included reviews of applications, screenings and interviews with a panel of district personnel, public safety supervisors and officials.
Last Saturday, Capt. Greg Shapiro, the Pine Bluff Police Department spokesman, quoted Davis-Jones as saying she had not been offered or accepted a job with the school district “and continues to serve as the chief of police for the Pine Bluff Police Department.”
However, the folks in Georgia sure left the impression she had the job by leaving her name on the district website for several days after the first inquiry.
Davis-Jones could have resolved the matter simply by returning calls to several reporters who tried repeatedly during the past week to get her side of the story. We called her again Thursday for a clarification.
We were not surprised that she didn’t return the latest call.