On Saturday, Smile Politely & The Panatgraph co-sponsored Bloomington’s Center for the Performing Arts‘ production of Walk On: The Story of Rosa Parks. The play integrated music and drama to portray the complex story of Rosa Parks and her ascension to becoming renown civil rights leader. Our photographer Eric Frahm went to the show to capture some of the performance’s highlights.
Image: Four actors are on a stage with a black curtain black drop. In front of the backdrop left to right is: A sepia tone sketch of Rosa Park’s mugshot, a yellow advertisement that reads “Ice Cold Nehi; 17 cents,” a yellow advertisement with large letters reading, “Atltanic Ale and Beer” with a man holding a tray with a glass of beer, and a sepia tone sketch of Rosa Parks sitting on a city bus seat, looking out the window. The stage setting is the same in all of the following images. Three actors are seated with two of them speaking to each other while another man in a dark gray suit and hat stands nearby listening.
Image: A woman in a maroon dress claps hands with a man in a burnt orange dress shirt and a gray hat. In the background is a man seted on a chair with a purple dress shirt.
Image: A woman wearing a loose white apron and holding some rope looks downward in a distraugh manner as a woman to the right wearing an oversized blue jacket scolds her with her arms crossed.
Image: A man in overalls and a blue flannel plays an acoustic guitar as a woman in a white apron sings. Two men, each with guitars, are seated in the background looking at the performers.
Image: A smiling man in a hat and dark gray suit walks behind a wooden bench where a woman in a lace apron sits with her eye closed.
Image: A man in a blue dress shirt stands behind a smiling woman in a gray and white dress, grabbing her arms in an encouraging manner.
Image: The black silhouette of audience members partially blocks a wide view of the stage with four people in the foreground clapping and two men in the backround playing guitar.
Top Image: A woman in a dress holds out her arms and a man in a blue dress shirt lifting his right arm upard both sing as their eyes are closed. In the background are two seated men, each with electric guitars who are also singing.
All photos by Eric Frahm