The core story is of Yolanda (MONICA PATRICK QUINTANILLA), a teenage girl whose brother was gunned down on the streets of Brooklyn and is sent to live with her grandmother. Known to all as Mother Shaw (BARBARA D. MILLS), her grandmother lives in Darlington, South Carolina. Crowns is her tutorial on life in the South. Yolanda's education flows into vignettes of church life in a small Southern town, African history, jazz nightlife and finally her realization of her own strength as part of a long line of Black women. The time is now, after the Civil Rights movement but before local color gets homogenized away by mass culture.

In the opening scene, sirens and drums highlight the murder in New York City where Yolanda is caught up in grief and confusion. In the second scene the brilliantly colored, elaborate hats are suspended in mid-air against a black scrim. As characters come to claim them, the set opens to become a church with pews and rather unattractive arched free-standing stained-glass panels on each side and the suggestion of an altar in the rear. On this set, an elaborate history of the role of hats and dressing up is played out - as self-expression and its connection to self-esteem.

The live music, including one scene of drumming on the floor with a walking staff, was played by drummer ANTHONY HAILEY and musical director E'MARCUS HARPER on electronic piano. The musicians are on stage (drums on the right front and piano on the left) and interact with the actors. From the opening of sirens and drums to the jazz, blues and glorious gospel, these talented players were terrific.

Costume designer JENI SCHAEFER planned hats, shoes, pocketbooks, dresses and even umbrellas (in a late scene of lost romance) to match in primary red, gold, blues, white and green - a virtual rainbow on stage. The only male cast member, ADRIAN BAILEY, like the other actors played many roles. As Preacher Man he wears a red shirt, black robe and red spats!

An interesting touch that says so much about the Black woman's experience was the fans with pictures of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy furnished by local funeral homes to cool the ladies in hats when things heated up. APRIL NIXON, KELLIE TURNER, JOILET F. HARRIS and NORMA BASS were the other players in this ensemble cast. Each added mightily to the experience. The choreography was by TIMIKA STEELEY, with addtional choreography and staging by APRIL NIXON.

There were many rules for hats and we learned them all. Big hats block the view and inhibit the spirit in church. Your hats are your legacy to the next generation. You don't wear a hat in a picket line: "It took the Civil Rights Movement to get the hats off our heads." A wearer must have the right attitude to go along with the hat. There were demonstrations of various denominations; Penecostal Holiness and more sedate congregations were all represented. A revival meeting morphs into an African tribal ceremony. With this connection Yolanda joins in, belting out a song of her own.

Trying to capture in words the kinetic, electric energy of this fine performance directed by JOSE ZAYAS, is a challenge. Once you see it you will understand better what I mean. And for all you folks who love hats and coordinated outfits, you may mistake the experience as a glimpse of heaven. For the rest of us there is the choir singing Old Ship of Zion, Marching to Zion, His eye is on the sparrow, I know he watching me and I Got a Crown, Ain't that Good News!. Even those stained glass panels make sense as they are lighted at the end of the show, adding a golden glow to the set.