Dinah: A Musical Revue program

Dinah: A Musical Revue

By Ernest McCarty
Directed by Mark Clayton Southers
At Madison Arts Center, 3401 Milwaukee Street
April 5th – April 28th 2024

Set during the last year of the short life of the remarkable woman called the Queen of the Blues. Dinah includes a riveting array of musical numbers and biographical vignettes. This show provides a powerful insight into the tragic and often controversial life of Dinah Washington, one of the most popular African-American singers of the 1950s.

Dinah Washington	Delana Flowers
Reporter Bob Hunter	Royce Jones
Dick “Night Train” Lane	Sam Lothard
Dick “Night Train” Lane (alt.) / Husband 1	Richard Dickson
Mama / “Dinah-mite”	Willa ‘Katy’ Cotton
LaRue / “Dinah-mite”	Cheryl El-Walker
Radio Announcer / Husband 2	Chris Olshefski
Brook Benton / Husband 3	Les Howard
Husband 4	Chuck Timbers
Husband 5	James Howard
Husband 6	Charlie Gray
Husband 7	Marcus Carl Southers
Husband 8	Matthew Southers
Husband (understudy)	Melvin Colbert
Student	Adjoa Opoku-Dakwa

The Band

Dwayne Fulton on piano/keys
Tony Campbell on saxophone
Dwayne Dolphin on upright bass
Roger Humphries on drums

Musical Numbers

Playwright’s Note

I moved to Pittsburgh from New York with my wife in 1993. My passion for writing and performing music moved here with me. I’ve learned that the life of a musician can be fun, but it’s never easy. It’s hard work: late night rehearsals, long tours and traveling. In my lifetime, I have played with many well-known jazz artists including Homewood’s famous jazz pianist Erroll Garner and singer/songwriter Oscar Brown, Jr. One thing I really enjoy is listening to all the stories that musician share with us. You can learn a lot about people through their stories. Although I have never performed with the beautiful and legendary Dinah Washington I love her distinctive voice and sultry style. Some people called Dinah “Queen of the Jukebox”. She called herself “The Queen of The Blues”. To me she’s an outstanding jazz artist who sings an interesting story. I hope you like it.

About the Cast

Willa “Katy” Cotten (Mama & “Dinah-mite”), affectionately called “Katy”, is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From 2003 to 2008/2015 she was cast in several small roles in the Langston Hughes play entitled Black Nativity, directed by Oronde Sharif, and in 2006 was nominated by the AACTA (African American Council for The Arts) Onyx Awards as best supporting actress in a musical or revue. As a part of the Kuntu Repertory Theatre under the direction of Dr. Vernell Lillie, Katy was cast as Sarah Vaughn in a Rob Penny production entitled Clean Drums (2009), and was also cast as the wife of the great Negro Baseball League pitcher Satchel Paige in Among the Best (2009). Katy was cast in several roles in Raisin, the musical based on Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (2010); her roles included an understudy for Beneatha, Althea the bar proprietor, and several dance numbers. She was cast as an ex-wife in the play entitled I Gotcha, The Story of Joe Tex and the Soul Clan (2010), a New Horizon Theatre production. Katy also experienced her first Pittsburgh Playwrights Black and White Festival in a lead role in 2014. In 2018, as a part of the Washington Community Theater production Hairspray, she was cast as Motormouth Maybelle. And in 2024 she was cast as Grandma Sadie in The Awakening by Lorenzo Boone, a Gold Pyramid Screen and Stage production.

Rich Dickson (Dick “Night Train” Lane at certain performances) is thrilled to join Pittsburgh Playwrights for the performance of Dinah. He is a graduate of Carlow University, holding an MBA in Project Management, and is a proud member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. Currently, he is enrolled in classes at the Professional Actor’s Studio under the guidance of Nick Conti and Matt Skollar. Some of his previous theatre credits include The Green Book and Our Song. Additionally, he has appeared in various television shows, such as Netflix’s Rustin, Starz’s BMF, as well as Sistas, Mayor of Kingstown, Justified: City Primeval, and Lee Daniels’ The Deliverance. Rich attributes his success to his supporters, and extends heartfelt thanks to his family, friends, and fraternity brothers for their unwavering support. Rich is represented by Docherty Talent Agency.

Cheryl El-Walker (LaRue & “Dinah-mite”; Costumes, Makeup & Hair) is an award-winning costume designer and makeup artist who is also a veteran stage actor from Pittsburgh. She is the resident costume/makeup artist for the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company. Her creative work in various venues has earned her several Onyx awards from the African American Council of the Arts (AACTA): Best Make-up Artist (2007); Best Costume for a Musical for Christmas Is Coming Uptown (2008); Best Leading Actress for Freeman (New Horizon Theatre, 2008); Best Costume Design for a Play (Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012) and the PPTCO 2012 Legacy Award. In 2013, Cheryl debuted another one of her skills and received PPTCO’s Theater Festival in Black and White Award for Best Director. Most recently, Cheryl provided costume/makeup for Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Cheryl is an alumna of Point Park University and is pleased to announce that she has done costume, makeup and special effects for all ten August Wilson plays.

Delana Flowers (Dinah Washington) is thrilled to find out what a difference 9 years makes. It was 2015 when she first “met” Dinah and what an honor to be revisiting Mrs. Washington and this show. Miss Flowers is a dynamic vocalist with a unique sound. Her energy and eclecticism fill every space of any room as she sings from her heart and soul to yours. Music and Miss Flowers have been inseparable from the start and this has been evident since her church choir debut at age 2. Like childhood friends that can’t bear to part ways she and music have been growing together, playing out the composition that is her life. The oldest of 2 on her mother’s side and the middle child on her father’s, she’s got it honest. As if being the daughter of a musician/preacher weren’t enough, her paternal side is full of musicians and singers in addition to a maternal side that has been singing together in churches for years. Delana has graced stages all over this city and in her hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania in musicals like Dreamgirls, Ain’t Misbehavin, Merrily We Roll Along, Queens of the Blues, Black Nativity, The Wiz, Mahalia Jackson: Standing on Holy Ground, Little Shop of Horrors and Chelsea Arms. For the past 12 years Delana has been part of a trio known as the BGVS, singing lead and background for RnB, Jazz, Pop, gospel, Rock, Soul and Motown shows local and abroad. She has been a featured artist on several recordings and played with multiple bands. Miss Flowers has been part of top-notch choirs, worship teams and small ensembles all over the city. Whether leading worship at church or singing leads and/or background for tributes to Prince, Chaka Khan, Steely Dan, Stevie Nicks, Aretha Franklin, Teena Marie, or Stevie Wonder, she’s hopelessly in love with music. Acting and singing are not her only gifts. She is also a prolific writer with an English degree, a spoken word artist, model, teaching artist and song writer. This vocalist and thespian, among so many other things, shows no sign of slowing down.

Les Howard (Brook Benton / Husband 3) is an accomplished actor, beginning his acting career as a member of the former and prestigious D.C. Black Repertory Company, founded by actor Robert Hooks, in Washington, D.C. Les has had many fine performances, here in Pittsburgh, for such theaters as Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater Co., New Horizon Theater, Gargaro Productions, the former Kuntu Repertory Theater, et.al. Les may be best remembered previously as “Turnbo” in PPTCO’s past highly successful productions of August Wilson’s Jitney and as “The Great Father” in Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s critically acclaimed, and award-winning production of an original opera, A Gathering of Sons, all directed by Mark Clayton Southers. Les also produced and hosted his own local public access variety television show entitled The Howard Entertainment Showcase. Les is also an accomplished jazz singer and can be seen performing at many of the jazz venues here in Pittsburgh. Les was assistant director and also performed in the recent production of Lorenzo Boone’s The Awakening, performed on the campus of CCAC. Les is pleased to be reprising his role as Mr. Benton in this recent production of Ernest McCarty’s Dinah.

Royce Jones (Reporter Bob Hunter) Born and raised in New Kensington, PA, Royce Jones is a multitalented artist, activist and journalist. He graduated from Valley High School before earning his bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism at Point Park University. Prior to pursuing a career in acting, Royce honed his storytelling skills as a seasoned and accomplished reporter for several years. His dedication and advocacy for the community, especially the BPOC and LGBTQ+ communities through his journalism work, helped earn him both a Golden Quill Award and Vann Award as well as an Emmy nomination. Royce has also made a name for himself in the underground and mainstream music scene in Pittsburgh as a DJ and nightlife promoter. Whether on stage, screen, or behind the DJ booth, Royce believes in the healing power of music and storytelling, and hopes everyone who experiences a performance of his leaves feeling refreshed, enlightened and inspired.

Sam Lothard (Dick “Night Train” Lane) aka Big Sam: Born in Youngstown/Campbell Ohio, made his way to the bright lights of Pittsburgh some thirty years ago. Joining the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater family over ten years ago, Sam is proud to be a constant staple in such an innovative and historical theater company. Those familiar with PPTC may have seen the “Wilsonian” actor in some August Wilson plays such as Joe Turner’s Come and Gone as Seth Holly, Slow Drag in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Mister in King Hedley II. Sam also took part in the productions of Jitney and Seven Guitars. His other works include classics such as William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Lorraine Hansbury’s A Raisin in the Sun. Always blessed and grateful to share the stage with such awesome performers, Sam is extremely appreciative for another chance to dive into his passion and his love for theater. Put God First. Shoot your shot. Chase your Dreams. (Cedar Point)

Chris Olshefski (Radio Announcer) This is Chris’s debut acting role. A member of the acting fraternity Alpha Psi Omega since 2006, Chris has acted in several roles at the collegiate level: Bluntschli in Arms and the Man, Mortimer in Arsenic and Old Lace, Benjamin Backbite in School for Scandal, Matthew Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables, Menteith in Macbeth and Lelio in Androcles and the Lion. In Moscow, Russia, Chris co-directed the high school theater program at Hinkson Christian Academy for five years. As a directing team, he and his spouse staged The Diary of Anne Frank, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Importance of Being Earnest, Harvey, and The Merchant of Venice. Chris earned his PhD in English Education at the University of Pittsburgh in 2021. In addition to teaching English literature at Winchester Thurston School, he also co-facilitates the school’s Comedy Club, supporting aspiring stand-up and sketch comics.

Adjoa Opoku-Dakwa (Student) is thrilled to join the cast of Dinah.  She is an 8th grade theater major at Pittsburgh CAPA and has been in several productions at her school.  Outside of CAPA, Adjoa’s other roles include being a dancer in Hill Dance Academy Theater’s Black Nativity, Pittsburgh Public Theater’s A Christmas Story, and several productions with Hope Academy.  In 2022 and 2023, Adjoa also won 1st place in the youth monologue and scene divisions, respectively, of the Pittsburgh Public’s Shakespeare competition.  She loves playing piano, singing, acting and dancing.

Charles E. Timbers Jr. (Husband 4) is a member in good standing in the SAG-AFTRA union. He has been performing for more than 3 decades in many stage productions here in Pittsburgh and across the country. He was recently seen in Shantytown (2023) and Jitney (2022) with PPTCO. He is best known for his role as Cutler in the August Wilson play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom in which he received the Theater RoundTable Excellence in Acting award in Columbus Ohio (2016) and mentioned in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for best supporting actor. Charles has performed with the Pittsburgh Opera in The Summer King, the Josh Gibson story, and with the Mendelssohn Choir as Narrator in Let My People Go: A Spiritual Journey, the Harriet Tubman story. He has appeared in several movies including the made-for-TV movie ABC’s The Jacksons: An American Dream as Dr. Hayes. He has appeared in multiple short films and student films with Point Park University and CCAC. He is a voiceover artist and a producer and director with PCTV in Pittsburgh. He is a member of the Demaskus Theater Collective and Arts Renaissance Collective.

About The Band

Dwayne Fulton (Music Director & Piano/Keys) has over 30 years experience in theatre and musical performance. He is the founder and Chief Executive of Kingdom People Productions (1999) and the SouLyfe Cafe (2003). He has produced and coproduced more than seven musical projects in genres from country to hip hop to pop. He is also an accomplished pianist, and has had the honor of accompanying such great musicians as Grover Washington, Jr., Roger Humphries, Sean Jones, and Nathan Davis. In 2011 he was hired as the Musical Director for the opera Gospel at Colonus (Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh), and in 2012 he composed his first short opera for their Summer Festival, entitled Bridal Suite. In 2017, Fulton composed his first full-length opera, A Gathering of Sons, which met with such success that it was filmed to be aired nationally on PBS. He was the musical director and composer for Ray Warner’s Shantytown produced by Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre. He currently serves as the Minister of Music/Director of Fine Arts at the Mt. Ararat Baptist Church, the largest church in the Pittsburgh area, serving over 8000 members. Fulton continues to mentor young musicians, song writers, and actors in the Pittsburgh area. He says the world is longing for music and creative arts that speak to the total man: body, soul, and spirit. Music that matters! He and his wife of 30 years are the proud parents of Brennon (33), Zachary (19), and Zoe’ (16).

Roger Humphries (Drums) is pleased to make his debut with the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company. Mr. Humphries is one of the most exciting percussionists in the business. He has provided the rhythmic beat for such greats as Ray Charles, Horace Silver, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Stanley Turrentine, James Moody, Lee Morgan, Dr. Billy Taylor, Benny Green, Lionel Hampton, Coleman Hawkins, Clark Terry, J.J. Johnson, Dizzy Gillespie, George Benson, Jon Faddis, Slide Hampton, Randy Brecker, Joe Williams, Milton Jackson, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy Witherspoon, Nathan Davis, Pete Henderson, Don Patterson, Gene Harris, Grant Green, George Harris, Freddie Hubbard, Bill Dogget, Jack McDuff, and a list of great musicians that goes on and on and on. Humphries has performed with various groups at Carnegie Music Hall, the Village Gate, and the Apollo Theatre in New York. He has also played at the Bohemian Caverns and Shelly Manne’s Manhole in Los Angeles; the Penthouse in Seattle, Washington; Pep’s Lounge and Showboat, Philadelphia; the Jazz Workshop, Boston; Ronny Scott’s in London, and many other places.

Dwayne Dolphin (Bass) is a mainstay in the jazz scene, working with Pittsburgh greats such as Roger Humphries, Pete Henderson and Carl Arter. Throughout his career, Dolphin has had the opportunity to play and record with the “Who’s Who” of music, such as Nancy Wilson, Melba Moore, Fred Wesley and Abby Lincoln, among others. Dwayne Dolphin’s vast and diverse experience has afforded him the opportunity to lend his musical expertise in many areas, including the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in their production of Indigo In Motion. He currently serves as an adjunct professor of Jazz at Duquesne University.

Tony Campbell (Saxophone) is the youngest saxophone player inducted to the Pittsburgh Jazz Society’s Hall of Fame in 2010. His musical journey began in the hill district in 1973. At the age of 13, Tony joined a band called The Deltones. He attended Berklee College of Music, came back to Pittsburgh in 1982 and enrolled in The University of Pittsburgh under Dr. Nathan Davis. At the age of 22 he recorded and toured with Roy Ayers. Later that year he joined Roger Humphries and RH Factor. Tony moved to New York City in 1990 and landed a 16 week U.S. tour with Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies as lead alto player in a 10-piece orchestra. Tony is regularly performing, recording, producing, teaching and holding Jazz Jam sessions that feature some the best young up-and-coming talent in the Pittsburgh region. His mission is to keep the great American music of jazz going on forever for all to enjoy and experience as he does.

Creative Team & Staff

Playwright	Ernest McCarty
Director	Mark Clayton Southers
Music Director	Dwayne Fulton
Production Manager	Michele Lee Betts
Stage Manager	Ashley Southers
Assistant Stage Manager	Sarah Gracie Jackson
Set Designer	Brooke Bettis
Lighting Designer	Jason Kmetic
Lighting Tech	Michele Lee Betts
Costume Designer	Cheryl El-Walker
Choreographer	Tomé Cousin
Makeup & Hair	Cheryl El-Walker
Sound Designer	Ashley Southers
Sound Tech	Marcus C. Southers
Scenic Construction & Painting	Herb Newsome
Props	Austin Sills, Ashley Southers, Andre Southers
Crew	Marcus C. Southers, Matthew Southers

About the Creative Team

Ernest McCarty (Playwright/Composer/Lyricist) is a native of Chicago who has authored and co-authored more than 27 produced plays and musicals. He has been associated with ETA in Chicago and Quaigh Theatre in New York City, New Horizon Theater and Kuntu Repertory Theatre. His first production I Dreamt I Dwelt In Bloomingdales was presented at the Provincetown Playhouse in New York City in 1970. Other theatrical works produced in New York City include Dinah! Queen of the Blues, presented at the Westside Arts Theatre starring Sasha Dalton, When The Spirit Moves starring Tony Award-winner Trazana Beverly, The Exchange and The Separate Vacation. Amongst his plays and musicals produced in Chicago: Madame Hortense, the tone poem A Cosmic Night, Recollection Rag, Love Spirit! and Brazilian Rendezvous. Eleven of his plays and musicals have been produced in Pittsburgh, including The Chelsea Arms, Madame Hortense, The Exchange, A Window To Home, Closing Notice, The Hex, A Cosmic Night, Life After Coma, Give Us Another Tune, The Region (An American Opera), Outrun The Rain, Journey of the Spirits as well as his musical revue Love Spirit! His play Recollection Rag aired on WQED-TV and his score The Martin Luther King Suite, which aired on NBCTV, received an Emmy.

Ernest’s directing credits include The Chelsea Arms, Humbug Man, Brazilian Rendezvous, A Cosmic Night, The Separate Vacation, Madame Hortense, Recollection Rag, The Exchange, Samm-Art Williams’ Home, Life After Coma, A Window to Home, The Tap Dance Kid, Give Us Another Tune, The Region, Rain and Rivers, Outrun The Rain, Kim El and KL’s The Poet’s Corner, Deadwood Dick, Cheryl West’s Jar The Floor and Ossie Davis’ Purlie Victorious.

Ernest is a member of The Dramatists Guild. Pittsburgh Magazine named him Prolific Playwright of 1998. His play Recollection Rag (The Exchange) received the Hoyt W. Fuller One-Act Play Festival Award and his play Madame Hortense received a Joseph Jefferson Award.

Composer, lyricist, arranger, orchestrator, musical director, record producer and musician, Ernest McCarty has written and arranged scores for stage, screen, television, commercials and recordings. All of McCarty’s musicals have been produced and performed in theaters in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Pittsburgh as well as other cities across the country. His impressive career in the music business includes musical director for the legendary blues, folk and gospel singer Odetta, for the Queen of the Disco, Gloria Gaynor, for Janet DuBois of Good Times, for actor, director, singer, composer, musician and screenwriter, Noel Harrison, and for singer, pianist arranger Buddy Greg. As musical director and musician (bassist and pianist), he has performed all over Europe, the United States, Asia, Africa, Australia and South America.

Mark Clayton Southers (Director, Producing Artistic Director) and his family reside in Pittsburgh’s historic Hill District. He is an award-winning playwright, stage director, scenic designer, photographer and theatrical producer. He is the founder and producing artistic director of the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company where he has produced well over 175 full-length and one-act plays, including August Wilson’s complete 10 play Pittsburgh Century Cycle. Favorite directing credits include Paul Robeson for the Griot Ensemble Theatre Company, Pill Hill for New Horizon Theatre, Dutchman for Bricolage Theater Company, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Piano Lesson for American Stage Theatre, Gem of the Ocean for Human Race Theatre, Angry Black Man Poetry for Theatre Śląski, Passing Strange for Short North Theatre, Papa Doc for Trilogy Opera Company, Sty of The Blind Pig for The Banyan Theatre Company, A Soldier’s Play for Phoenix Black Theatre Troupe, and Dorothy Six, Seven Guitars, VALU-MART, The Battle of Homestead and Jitney for The Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company. He’s also the resident August Wilson Cycle director at Pittsburgh’s CAPA. For more info please visit www.markclaytonsouthers.com

Brooke Bettis (Scenic Designer) is a recent resident of Pittsburgh pursuing how to bring a playwright’s vision to life. She has loved the theater since childhood and is looking forward to learning more about the industry she has grown to love. She graduated with a bachelor of science in Interior Design from Drexel University in 2023.

Michele Lee Betts (Production Manager) is known as the People’s Stage Manager. She has stage managed over 200 theatrical, musical, contemporary and African dance performances. Michele has worked with national, international and local companies, such as Legacy Arts Project, Balafon West African Dance Company, Kelly Strayhorn Theatre and Pittsburgh Playwrights. Her favorite saying : “WE ARE AT PLACES.”

Tomé Cousin (Choreographer) An “interdisciplinary artist”, heavily influenced by his eclectic range of creative mentors: Susan Stroman, Martha Clarke, George C. Wolfe, Ruth Maleczeh, Wendell Harrington, Luigi, Fred Rogers, John Weidman, Bertrum Ross, Miquel Goudrou, Hector Mercado, Judith Leifer, Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane, Hope Clarke, Charles Mee, Pina Bausch, Theo Bleckmann, Blondell Cummings and Meredith Monk, Tomé views the divisions of the performing arts to be artificial. As a result he has molded an award-winning international career that includes collaborations in dance, theatre, music, film, photography, television and literature. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Dance History and Choreography from Point Park University and a Masters of Fine Art in New Media Art and Performance from Long Island University. Additionally he studied at the Museum of Fine Arts (Baltimore), The Bauhaus School (Dessau, Germany), The Alvin Ailey School of American Dance, and The Martha Graham School.

Jason Kmetic (Lighting Designer) has been working in theater for 20 years. He has worked for Disney, and other production companies in California. Jason has recently returned to Pittsburgh to go back to his passion of theater! Some of Jason’s credits include: The Long Road Today/ El Largo Camino Del Hoy (Lighting Technician/First Assistant Stage Manager), Apsis Requiem (Lighting Designer/Stage Manager), Gypsy (Lighting Designer), Jack and Rochelle: A Holocaust Love Story (Lighting Designer), Of Mice and Men (Assistant Stage Manager), 15 Min of Fame (Assistant Director/Stage Manager), 1984 (Assistant Stage Manager), Animal Farm (Assistant Stage Manager/Master Electrician), The Mousetrap (Assistant Stage Manager/Master Electrician), The Boxcar Children (Stage Manager), The Miracle Worker (Stage Manager), Fifth Feeling: A Performance Ritual (Lighting Designer/Stage Manager), Westfield Mall Holiday Show 2014 (Lighting Designer/Stage Manager), and most recently Prime Stage Theatre’s High School Drama Awards (Production Stage Manager).

Ashley Southers (Stage Manager, Sound Designer) has always had a passion to pursue the arts. She loves working alongside her family at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater Company. She considers herself a D-I-A-P (Do-It-All-Person). She graduated from Point Park University in 2018, with a Bachelor’s Degree in English/Creative Writing. In her free time, she loves writing, watching movies, and hanging out with family, friends, and her dogs Cocoa and Bentley. She would like to thank her father Mark Southers for being an inspiration for her upbringing. She always enjoys challenging herself, and expanding her creativity through the arts.

PPTCO Staff and Board

See our staff and board members here.

Special Thanks

Momar Milliones
James Howard
Marcus Carl Southers
Charlie Gray
Melverse Colbert
Ashley Renee Southers
Sam Lothard
Rich Dickson
Steven Doerfler
KDC Printing
Jackie Shirriel
Zach Biden
Rick Southers
Matthew Southers
Brother Ash
Delores Southers
Neicy Readie Southers
Andre Joseph Clayton Southers

Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company thanks the following for supporting our season of plays and special projects:

We also thank our donors! Click for a complete list, and learn how to become a PPTCO donor.

Printed program design and editing by Michelle Belan.
Online program design and editing by Steven Doerfler.