Page 8 January 22, 2015 TORRANCE TRIBUNE TerriAnn in Torrance Remembering Martin Luther King By TerriAnn Ferren Every year on the third Monday in January, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States. Signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on September 2, 1983, the holiday was first celebrated on January 20, 1986. As time passed, February was designated as Black History Month. The other evening I met with Torrance resident Ted Lange -- actor, writer, producer director, and playwright -- who played Isaac on the popular 1970s hit television show The Loveboat, and he gave me his thoughts on the holiday: “I have had the good fortune to meet Mrs. King and act on the stage with their daughter, Yolonda King. I am always reminded of his great sacrifice…and the fact that he did it for his children and my children. I am blessed that one of his daughters became a friend of mine.” I was surprised Ted had not only known Mrs. King, but had worked on stage with Yolonda King, Martin Luther King’s eldest daughter, who died in 2007. As I sat across the table from Ted, he told me, “Yolonda was a wonderful actress. She used to do a one-person show about her dad.” Then Ted proceeded to tell me the story of how both he and Yolonda ended up doing the play Willie and Esther in North Carolina. As the story goes, a friend who was slated to do the play was booked for a film at the same time and asked Ted to step in and open in the play – in ten days. Flabbergasted, Ted told me he said no at first, but in the end he memorized his lines in ten days, using every memory trick he had, and was on stage in Willie and Esther before he knew it. “I read the play, and it is a wonderful play. Yolonda and I hit it off. We just had a chemistry that was just fantastic. We loved each other she was just a great gal.” The two had a connection, so it was no surprise that a couple of years later, Yolonda decided to produce the new play Ted had written after being invited to the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, where Yolonda first saw the production of Soul Survivor. Ted began, “This is a three character play, and it is a love story… my play is a cautionary tale about a guy trying to sell his soul to the devil - but he can’t get a good deal. Yolonda wanted to produce the play here in Los Angeles, but there was one catch. Although the play is a comedy there is a ‘bedroom scene’ [in Soul Survivor] done with comedic overtones. It has jokes flying left and right. Now, Coretta King saw the play opening night… and we have the opening night party… Mrs. King comes up to me at the party at the Martin Luther King Center - at the theatre and Mrs. King says, ‘Ted, I loved your play.’ And I said, Thank you very much. And she said, ‘However, I have a question, you have a scene in the play where there is a man and woman in the bed…’. I said, yes, I know Mrs. King, but it is comedy. ‘Ted, you know this is the Martin Luther King Center for non-violence. You know that people come here from all over the world…’ I said, Mrs. King, do you want me to cut that scene? And she said, ‘Yes,’” said Ted, finishing the story. Needless to say, Ted Lange cut the scene. Somehow I can see that particular exchange taking place in a reception following a big opening night. Ted told me he has lots of memories that swim around his head on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I can fully understand that statement after this brief gem of a story. Listening to Ted tell me what a wonderfully comedic actress Yolonda was, made me wish someone had filmed their performances. Ted starred with Yolonda King in Willie and Esther and in the play Ted wrote, Soul Survivor. We continued to talk about Ted’s memories of Martin Luther King and he told me how surprised he was that I knew that Santa Barbara Street in Los Angeles was renamed Martin Luther King Blvd. “I used to live not far from there when I started out in the 70s acting,” added Ted. Ted Lange, a gifted historical playwright wrote and directed a play that will be dramatically read in the South Bay during “I am always reminded of his great sacrifice… and the fact that he did it for his children and my children. I am blessed that one of his daughters became a friend of mine.” Black History Month. Let Freedom Ring tells the story of a group of black men who conspire to steal the Liberty Bell prior to the traditional ringing of the big bell on George Washington’s birthday, February 22, 1846. Will the mystery of the famous bell’s crack be solved? We will all get the chance to find out. Kathy Hagee, history chair at Rolling Hills Preparatory School, invited Ted Lange to bring the dramatic reading of Let Freedom Ring to the school on Saturday, February 7, at 3 p.m. Let Freedom Ring will be read by a brilliant cast that includes Monique Wildee, Adam Clark, J.D. Hall, Christine Kludjian, Carl Weathers, Garrett Morris, Chrystee Pharris, and William Christopher Stephens. The very next evening, Sunday, February 8, at 7:30 p.m., the reading will be presented at the George Nakano Theatre as Ted Lange brings his cast of Let Freedom Ring to Torrance. Want to attend one of these special performances? Contact Kathy Hagee at Rolling Hills Preparatory at 310.547.7212 or khagee@rollinghillsprep.org for the Saturday afternoon performance, or call 310.781.7171 for the performance at the George Nakano Theatre on Sunday evening. The dramatic reading at the George Nakano Theatre is produced by the South Bay Conservatory and Mercury Theatre. As we enter February, Black History Month, right after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, let us remember this great American who inspired us all, and the world, through peace and non-violence. • Ted Lange Photo by Kevin Major Howard.
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