'Delta's' flood of emotion
Singleton, thesps talk up Angelou debut
Such was the case Tuesday when the Miramax pic screened at the Fine Arts theater and afterward 40 guests scooted over to Il Cielo for a dinner John Singleton hosted.
Singleton said he thought Maya Angelou's first directorial effort "brought a multiplicity of emotions to the work. For anyone who's heard her speak, or read her work, this is right along the lines of her oeuvre."
Samuel L. Jackson said that "though the language is rich and fluid" he was most impressed by "how real and accessible the story was to an audience." Natalie Cole said having a poet direct might have made it "a little more artsy, than say, a James Cameron film. It had a delicate touch. It had fragility. And she wasn't afraid to really get into the actors' faces."
Among the film's actors on hand were Alfre Woodard, Loretta Devine and Anne-Marie Johnson; also present were producers Reuben Cannon, Rick Rosenberg and Bob Christiansen; and guests only at the screening were Morgan Freeman, state Sen. Tom Hayden and Marla Gibbs.
