Entertainment

Highwayman painter comes for visit

By Barbara Fredricksen
Published November 6, 2004

Fans of the Florida Highwaymen will get a chance to meet one in person and watch him create one of his remarkable paintings when the Pasco Arts Center hosts R.L. Lewis at a show and sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 20.

Lewis is one of the 27 east Florida African-Americans who painted colorful landscapes of natural Florida in the 1950s and '60s and sold them for $15 to $20 from the trunks of their cars. For the past two years, he has drawn large crowds to his annual visits to Waterfront Park in Port Richey, where he set up his easel and talked with people as he painted.

The young artists were dubbed "Highwaymen" (even though one is a woman) by art lover Jim Fitch because they sometimes sold their work alongside the highways. Writer Gary Monroe later wrote a book about them ($18.87 on Amazon.com) by the same name.

The book has prints of typical works by all 27, but the muted photos of the seashore and palm tree paintings look very little like the stark, bright colors in the originals. The first time I went to a Highwaymen exhibit, I was shocked at the almost garish look of the paintings. I quickly learned to loved them, both the subject matter and for the story itself. The spontaneity in their creations is amazing. And the stories are, too.

Lewis didn't sell by the roadside; he had a good banker friend who let him sell in the bank's lobby. He went on to be a teacher. Other Highwaymen became ministers, engineers and business owners. A couple met unhappy fates.

The paintings no longer sell for $15 or $20. The older ones painted on Upsom board go for $6,000 to $12,000; a small new one might fetch $50, the larger ones $300 to $1,500 and up.

Pasco Arts Center is at 5744 Moog Road, Holiday. Turn east off U.S. 19 about 2.5 miles north of the Pinellas County line. Go 1.2 miles; it's behind Centennial Library.

If I were the kind of person who said, "I told you so," I'd be saying, "I told you so."

But since my mama taught me better, I'll just say that the Jackie Mason fans who didn't buy tickets to see him in January at the Palace Grand before all three shows quickly sold out (which I predicted they would) have gotten a reprieve.

When Mason found out that Palace owners Nick and Sal Sessa had a waiting list for his shows on Jan. 19, 29 and 21, he graciously offered to do three more, these on Jan. 25, 26 and 27. For some reason, he seems to like all those Sessas and is eager to help them out.

Need I say that if you're a Jackie Mason fan, you might want to consider buying a ticket before they're all gone? Okay, I won't say it.

Mason is the master of the put-down, and he's only gotten more brash and outrageous over the years. Clive Barnes of the New York Post once described him as a "chubby Jewish leprechaun spilling over with the bile of human kindness." That bile got him long-running, one-man, Tony Award-winning Broadway shows, movie contracts, book deals, television appearances and one TV show all his own.

Mason's bile is just soooo funny.

One of my favorite Masonisms: "Eighty percent of married men cheat in America. The rest cheat in Europe."

One of my least favorite - well, it's not suitable for a family newspaper. Mason is very R-rated.

I went to see Mason at the grand opening of the Palace Grand in January, 2002. He's been back a couple of times since then and says he loves performing there because he can try out new material without fear of offending the $100-a-ticket patrons who attend his Broadway shows.

At the Palace Grand, people get dinner and show for $40, plus tax and tip. If Mason lays a few eggs, people still feel as though they got their money's worth.

What's terrific is hearing a new Mason joke before anyone else does and, maybe even better, hearing his riffs on local landmarks and current events based on stuff he's heard or spotted on the way to the show.

Mason writes every single line he uses in his shows and swears he has never bought a joke. That's easy to believe; his routines sound just like his conversations: blunt, to the point, unflinching in their frankness and totally, hysterically funny.

He prefers theaters to nightclubs, saying people in nightclubs are there to drink and talk to each other, while theater patrons are there to listen to him.

Two of his biggest fans: Chris Rock and Dame Edna.

You can't get any better than that.

People who missed the last presentation of Guys and Dolls on Sept. 26 at Richey Suncoast Theatre because of Hurricane Jeanne missed a terrific show, but they're getting some nice consolation prizes.

The goody bag includes a ticket to Ticket to Broadway, the high school musical revue on Feb. 4, 5 and 6 that raises college scholarship money for kids interested in performing arts careers; a surprise from Karen's gifts; and a $5 gift certificate toward dinner for two at Cafe Grand.

To get your goodies, take your unused ticket or unpunched season ticket card for the Sept. 26 show to the Richey Suncoast box office between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. today, or trade them in before the show or during intermission at tonight's or Sunday's performance of Wife Begins at 40.

You can also trade them in any time the box office is open, said Charlie Skelton, president of the Richey Suncoast board.

[Last modified November 6, 2004, 00:56:27]