Fences Opening

As promised a few days ago, here's what/who you might have seen if you attended Friday night's opening performance of FENCES by August Wilson, directed by Sheldon Epps and starring Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Kadeem Hardison, Orlando Jones, Wendell Pierce and Victoria Matthews.

1. A phenomenal (often monumental) night of theatre.
2. An ensemble that seemed like they'd been together for years.
3. Paparazzi
4. A sold out house
5. An extremely long standby tickets line
6. Autograph Hounds
7. Dennis Hopper
8. Eric La Salle
9. Harold Perrineau
10. Tyra Banks
11. A curtain speech by Mr. Fishburne in which he and the cast paid tribute to the late August Wilson, the late Ben Mordecai, and the late Lloyd Richards for their contributions to the American theatre and to their impact on the careers of the cast. He then handed out white roses to each cast member which they crushed and spread on the edge of the stage.

In general, the evening had the quality and energy of theatre as EVENT, something you rarely experience outside of New York or London.