by Alex Arcone

Ask Alton B. Rison what makes a great show, and he'll give you one word: class. And class is exactly what Rison hopes to bring to Austin's theater scene on April 29th and 30th when he opens his original drama and musical Billy at the Victory Grill in East Austin.

Don't expect any Michael Crawford or standards from Cats, because not only has Rison written the entire show himself, but he composed nearly all the music as well. The show, aptly entitled Billy, follows the life of the late great singer Billy Eckstine through the eyes of a fictional group touring with the singer in the '40s. But the show is not as much about Eckstine as it is about black music and arts culture during the time period.

The classy performance location at the Victory Grill is only one of the indications of what Rison has set out to do with the show.

"Many African American people here in Austin don't know their own history," says Ernestine Fuller, one of the four singers and actors in the show. "We're giving a history of Billy Eckstine, yes, but we're also instituting dialogue among the African Americans here in the Austin community to make our people more aware of their culture."

The Victory Grill is a fitting location for the performance because of its rich history. "The Victory Grill is where many great stars sang years ago," Rison notes. "Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Hines. A lot of big guys still play there -- Charnett Moffett, Leo Wright. I played there in the '40s and '50s doing scat singing." In addition to his work as a musician, Rison was a member of the original Harlem Writers Guild and a participant in the Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop in Manhattan, New York; thus, his writing brings a unique historical perspective to the subject matter of black history.

But the thing that will really set this show apart from so many other theater projects going on in Austin, Rison says, is that it has long term potential. "I've got my core of four actors and singers, and that means that the show is seasonable -- I can do it at nightclubs, small theaters, large theaters, auditoriums. All you need is a reliable group to work with and you're off."

Rison speaks from experience. Having come from New York City, he specializes in commercial, musical and play writing and has directed, produced, and composed for many highly successful community and school shows in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York, and more recently in Houston and Austin.

"You have to build a structure, you don't just go out there and perform. Everybody wants to jump out there and say 'See me sing? See me dance?' I've seen singers here in Austin who are good, but they're competing against five million other singers. See, I take a guy who's a good singer and give him a character. Then all of a sudden the guy is acting, or he's dancing, or maybe he's even doing acrobatics. When you can do all that, see, that's when you start moving."

Rison's upcoming production may not involve acrobatics, but it will definitely involve dancing and some serious singing, including styles from ragtime, jazz, blues, and swing. The play is done on stage by four singers who double as actors and dancers simultaneously. The costumes are, to say the least, very authentic. Costumes change often, sometimes from scene to scene. Actors have zoot suits, authentic cabaret dresses from the '30s and '40s, and dazzling feather style hats. The costumes came to be in the show through very simple means, according to Fuller: "We bought them." Nearly all of the show is financed by Rison himself. "I don't wait for the city to give me money to do something," Rison says, "I do it myself. Some people drive Cadillacs, I put my money into my work."

Aside from the acting and singing of Fuller and Rison's direction, production, and composing work, the show's other cast members include Beverly Johnson, Tommie Pernell, and Teneka Bazemore, with choreography by Rison's daughter, Deirdra. The show also includes a full piece band.

This weekend's performance at the Victory Grill will hardly be the first public showing of the play: the four cast members have been rehearsing the piece and performing it at various venues for months, including most recently the Baker Theater in Lockhart, where the production was so well received that the town's tiny local newspaper wrote columns raving about it for weeks afterward.

"The mayor's wife was even there," jokes Rison. "She loved it." Billy will be showing at the Victory Grill Club and Theater on East 12th Street in Austin. Shows begin at 8pm. Tickets are $10 adults, $8 seniors, and $7 students.