January 12, 2005: Headlines: COS - Mauritania: Theatre: Musicals: Hollywood: Backstage: RPCV Matt Gould writes and performs musical about the time he spent living in Mauritania: "The Time When I was Mamadou"
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January 12, 2005: Headlines: COS - Mauritania: Theatre: Musicals: Hollywood: Backstage: RPCV Matt Gould writes and performs musical about the time he spent living in Mauritania: "The Time When I was Mamadou"
- January 17, 2005: Headlines: COS - Mauritania: Theatre: Musicals: Hollywood: Los Angeles Daily News: "The Time When I Was Mamadou" tells the story of, as Mauretania RPCV Matt Gould puts it, "a redheaded, gay, Jewish boy, which is basically me and three backup singers Friday, January 21, 2005 - 10:28 pm [1]
- January 13, 2005: RPCV Matt Gould writes and performs "The Time When I Was Mamadou," a hilarious and touching one-man musical play about the ill-guided misadventures of a red-headed, black, Jewish, gay boy who wants to help the "poor souls of the world to see life through [his] eyes." Thursday, August 04, 2005 - 10:34 am [2]
- April 19, 1963: "The Time When I was Mamadou" is not first musical about the Peace Corps - Read about "Hot Spot" that appeared on Broadway in 1963 Saturday, January 15, 2005 - 7:07 pm [1]
RPCV Matt Gould writes and performs musical about the time he spent living in Mauritania: "The Time When I was Mamadou"
RPCV Matt Gould writes and performs musical about the time he spent living in Mauritania: "The Time When I was Mamadou"
The Time When I was Mamadou
Reviewed By Paul Birchall
Writer-performer Matt Gould's musical about the time he spent living in Mauritania while working for the Peace Corps is the sort of earnest effort that leaves us wishing that a kind heart and good intentions were enough to create compelling art. Unfortunately, while the simple fact that Gould spent time performing generous, decent toil with the ostensible purpose of helping others, is itself extraordinarily commendable, it doesn't make for merit-worthy stagecraft. Gould's unexceptional dramatized travelogue of his adventures in Mauritania never manages to make the jump to delighting the audience.
In 2001, Gould joined the Peace Corps and was stationed in Mauritania, where he spent two years teaching English and providing general health training in the tiny village of Bababe. He lived with a local family, and the play fondly milks his initial discomfort at having to adjust to a new level of existence, which included having to wipe his bottom with his left hand and to eat food from a bucket in which others have sneezed. During these scenes, Gould, fondly named "Mamadou" by his host family, comes across as more of a sweet and unworldly "Mamadoo-fus" than as anything else. His anecdotes are punctuated by musical numbers, which are backed by a trio of chorines dressed in African garb.
Director Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter allows the show to unfold at a crisp pace, which goes a long way to spicing up the generally lackluster vignettes. The show also boasts nicely ambitious choreography, credited to Cisco Drayton, and offers engaging performances by the trio of gospel-y back up singers (Gina Malfatti, Sabrina "Bri" Johnson, and Steven Saffold Jr.). However, the show ultimately rests on Gould's shoulders, and it's regrettable that the performer is unable to carry the production. His intermittently tuneful songs occasionally show flashes of promise, but are undermined by his banal, easy-rhyme lyrics. And his performance itself is more often broad and clumsy, seemingly more focused on showcasing himself than in providing an understanding of an extraordinarily different culture.
When this story was posted in January 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
| Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help? |
| The World's Broken Promise to our Children Former Director Carol Bellamy, now head of Unicef, says that the appalling conditions endured today by half the world's children speak to a broken promise. Too many governments are doing worse than neglecting children -- they are making deliberate, informed choices that hurt children. Read her op-ed and Unicef's report on the State of the World's Children 2005. |
| Our debt to Bill Moyers Former Peace Corps Deputy Director Bill Moyers leaves PBS next week to begin writing his memoir of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Read what Moyers says about journalism under fire, the value of a free press, and the yearning for democracy. "We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism in this country," he warns, "or we'll not save capitalism from its own excesses, and we'll not save democracy from its own inertia." |
| Is Gaddi Leaving? Rumors are swirling that Peace Corps Director Vasquez may be leaving the administration. We think Director Vasquez has been doing a good job and if he decides to stay to the end of the administration, he could possibly have the same sort of impact as a Loret Ruppe Miller. If Vasquez has decided to leave, then Bob Taft, Peter McPherson, Chris Shays, or Jody Olsen would be good candidates to run the agency. Latest: For the record, Peace Corps has no comment on the rumors. |
| The Birth of the Peace Corps UMBC's Shriver Center and the Maryland Returned Volunteers hosted Scott Stossel, biographer of Sargent Shriver, who spoke on the Birth of the Peace Corps. This is the second annual Peace Corps History series - last year's speaker was Peace Corps Director Jack Vaughn. |
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Story Source: Backstage
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Mauritania; Theatre; Musicals; Hollywood
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