Page D8 TheVindicator • www.vindy.com THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2007

Robert ‘Kool’ Bellremembers learning toplay bongos with paintcans.

By JOHN BENSONVINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

When Kool & The Gang co-founderRobert “Kool” Bell and his brother Ronaldwere growing up in 1950s Youngstown, theLincoln Elementary School pupils weretypical boys.

Living on Prospect Street, swimming inlocal pools and riding around on home-made motorbikes that Robert himself builtunder the watchful eye of his grandfather,the Bells on occasion showed hints of theirmusical future.

“By listening to different albums and mygrandmother played piano, music wasaround the family,” said Robert, callingfrom his New Jersey home. “That’s when Istarted to get more interested in the musicbusiness. My brother and I used to takethese old paint cans down to ImmaculateConception [Church] off of Oak Street inYoungstown.

“There’s a place called The Pit, and weused to take these paint cans and use themas bongos. Each can, depending on howmuch paint was left in it, had a differenttone. So when I first moved to Jersey City[in 1960], the first instrument I played wasbongos.”

After the family moved to the GardenState so father Bobby, a top-10 rankedfeatherweight boxer who was good friendsof Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk(Robert’s godfather), could pursue his ca-reer, the Bell boys’ interest in music sky-rocketed.

Formation of bandEventually, Robert flourished on the bass

while Ronald enjoyed the saxophone. Bythe end of the decade, the brothers wereleading their new band Kool & The Gang,which combined a mixture of dance, R&B,pop, funk and jazz. It proved to be a naturalfit for the times.

“I think there were two high points tothe Kool & The Gang career,” Robert said.“In the mid-’70s, when we had the hits onthe ‘Wild and Peaceful’ album. There was‘Jungle Boogie,’ ‘Hollywood Swinging,’‘Funky Stuff.’ Those were top-10 hits. Andthen of course in the ’80s came singles‘Ladies Night,’ ‘Celebration,’ ‘Joanna’ and‘Cherish.’”

Hoping to prove Kool & The Gang’s best

days aren’t behind them, the outfit re-cently released its first new album in overa decade, “Still Kool.” Once again Robertand his band mates have combined soulfulR&B, pop and Urban AC, with the occa-sional dalliance into hip-hop, into its trade-mark blend of catchy grooves, expressivehorn lines and infectious chorus hooks.

“It’s a typical Kool & The Gang album,but with more of a little take on the rockside,” Robert said. “We have more guitarsolos and riffs on this album than we’vehad in the last 20 years. So maybe it’s lean-

ing towards what we do, funk and a littletaste of rock.”

To support the effort, Kool & The Gangis touring this summer, including a returnto the Bells’ roots with a show Friday at theChevrolet Centre in Youngstown.

When asked if the show will be a home-coming for the Bells, Robert laughed,“Yeah, I still got Buckeye in me. I’ve gotgreat memories of Youngstown growingup. But we don’t play my hometown toomuch. So I hope that Youngstown is a par-ty town, because we come to party.”

C H E V Y C E N T R E

KOOL & THE GANG

alive & well

I F Y O U G OWho: Kool & The Gang with KC & The SunshineBandWhen: 7 p.m. FridayWhere: Chevrolet Centre, Youngstown.Tickets: $35 and $45 and $55, at the box of-fice.

READY TO PLAY: Kool and the Gang is, from left, Dennis Thomas, George Brown, Robert Bell and Ronald Bell.

GENERATINGEXCITEMENT:Kool and theGang per-formed liveon the plazaon NBC News’“Today”show.

Though the play has aChristian theme, the playwright says it doesn’tpreach.

By LORRAINE SPENCERVINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

Youngstown area native David Anthonywill make his debut as a playwright thisweekend.

Anthony’s play, “Unfaithful,” which he’salso directing, will beperformed Saturday atStambaugh Auditorium.“I’m both excited andnervous,” he said.

“Unfaithful” is actual-ly a play about faithful-ness. Its message is oneof fidelity in all relation-ships — with friends,lovers and God. It tellsthe story of a man whoovercomes obstacles togrow spiritually and findwhat he has been missing and needing inhis life.

Though the play has an underlying Chris-tian theme, Anthony says it is not meant topreach. He stresses that he does not want tooffend anyone and believes that everyonewill find relevance in the play, whetherthey are Christian or not.

According to Anthony, “Unfaithful” is amixture of ministry, comedy and drama.And although he does not consider it a mu-sical, it is also full of original music. “Thereis something for everyone,” he said.

Although this is Anthony’s first attemptat playwriting, he has been active in his re-ligious community’s theater productions inthe past. At the Spanish Evangelical Church,Anthony played the lead role in the musi-cal “Bow the Knee” and was an understudyin the play “Murder on the Mount.”

When he decided to write the play, An-

thony took it upon himself to learn thecraft, and spent many hours at the library,researching and studying the arts of writ-ing and directing. He aspires to take hisplays on tour and pursue drama as a full-time career.

InspirationAnthony found inspiration for his play all

around him. Many of the situations in theplay were inspired by events in his own lifeand those of his friends. And, he says, hewas truly inspired by God.

The cast of “Unfaithful” comprises localtalent. The actors are all active in their com-munities, in theater and other venues, andmany are also members of the SpanishEvangelical Church.

The main character is played by Jason D.Rosendary, a Wilson High graduate. He wasa member of the Youngstown Connectionand Woodrow Wilson’s Vocal Ensemble.Rosendary is also the church keyboardistat Manifested Promises, a Living WordChurch on the East Side of Youngstown.

The female lead is played by TiffanyMcMillan, herself a playwright and actress.McMillan has been involved in theatersince childhood, appearing in productions

of “The Sound of Music,”“The Wizard of Oz,”“Oliver” and many others.She has also been in-volved in 34 West TheatreCo., performing in variouscities in Ohio.

Anthony also acts in hisplay, in a small role.

“Unfaithful” was firstperformed at the SpanishEvangelical Church. It re-ceived so much praise andsupport from the communitythat the church encouraged An-thony to present it on a larger scale.

The church offered to produce theplay, a major undertaking, andarranged to rent Stambaugh Auditori-um to bring the play, and its message,to a larger audience.

Anthony says the public has alreadyshown a great interest in the play, andhe is looking forward to playing to a largeaudience.

Along with “Unfaithful,” there will be aperformance by Youngstown based gospelhip-hop group Carnival.

I F Y O U G OWhat: “Unfaithful”When: 8 p.m. Saturday;gospel hip-hop act Carnivalperforms at 7:30.Where: Stambaugh Audi-toriumTickets: $5 in advance atthe Stambaugh box officeor online at Stambaughon-line.com; $10 at the door.Information:Unfaithful.weebly.com; orcall (330) 330-1474

AT STAMBAUGH: Cast members in David Anthony’s “Un-Faithful” are (rear, from left) Radhika Cruz, Sherry Grayer, Luis A. Rodriguez and A.J. Figueroa; (fore-ground, from left) John Cruz, Tiffany McMillan, Jason Rosendary and Misty Cruz.

Anthony

Written by local man,‘Unfaithful’ to debut