33

They are the pillars of Polite Society in Little Rock: The COLORED ELITE.

On the Bandstand, as the full ORCHESTRA comes in, backing up JIMMIE who is working up the CROWD to a fever pitch.

ETTA, seated in a chair between DOTTIE and VIVIAN, marvels as a wave of MIDDLE-AGED COUPLES flood the dance floor and cut loose with style, grace, and joyous animation.

ETTA
Now I’ve seen everything.  I would’ve
pegged Little Rock, Arkansas as the
last place on the map that you’d find
Colored folks living high on the hog.
 
VIVIAN
Dorothy Jean and I thought the very  
same thing the first time we appeared  
here as the Wonder Kids.
(to DOTTIE)
Remember?
 
DOTTIE
Mother said that some of the Colored  
families prospered after the Civil War  
during Reconstruction.  They bought  
property, established businesses, and  
even sent their children to be educated  
at the finest schools in the North.
Those are their descendants out there…  
having a ball.

STAY TUNED