Remembering Poet, Friend, Brother, CP

Years ago lovely wife (Priscilla) and i, and my good friend since high school Rodney Creech were working hard to consistently bring quality theatrical experiences to our community, working the mainstage productions and school shows at Savannah Theater, writing, and performing Musical Revues at Community Centers, Art in the Park summer camps with the City, MiniRep shows at schools, Shakespeare in the Park with City Lights etc...then we did numerous shows located at City Lights with Jim Holt and the lovely JinHi.
I was aware of the awesomely talented CP for about a year before we actually met and he became an integral part of our Eastside Players family and infused it with his great talent and energy in shows like Piano Lesson, Spunk, Ma Rainey , and others.. well life happened and our focus shifted to other matters, like having children, mortgage, and car payments...Eastside Players continued to do some work but not as much consistent concentrated work together for several years after Rodney moved to another state...Clinton's focus moved primarily to Poetry wherein he excelled exponentially from that time to now...fast forward to 2008 where Clinton directs Rasin in the Sun and gives Priscilla a call to lead the cast...then fast forward to mid 2009, when several people contact me about being Musical Director for The Wiz Summer Musical with City of Sav., I wasnt going to do it because my schedule was already crazy and i knew the time commitment would be insane... Then comes the phone call from Clinton...-
CP: Hey G.. wzup man!!!
Me: Skinny! How you doin man!
CP: Imma be good in a minute...but its on you
Me: What you talkin bout?
Cp: You gonna do the Wiz or not? Nobody's done it here since you and Rodney. You gotta do it.
Me: Man you know what my schedule is like...homey got bills!
CP: Make the time man.. if you aint doin the Music its not gonna be right..Kids need to see it done right...
Clinton's lecture continued until i agreed to accept the show.. and we were working together again after several years of .not ..

Well after lots of hard work and some controversy concerning casting, the show turned out to be a great success, due greatly to our fabulous choreographer Muriel Miller and the fact that Director Ellie Pyle was open to me updating the musical arrangements. Our goal was met in that many young people were inspired and underwent huge growth in developing their potential.. Muriel , Clinton, and I decided we will have to do more shows together..>
Fast forward again... Wiz is done! Abeni's Muriel, Stephanie, & Darowe, Clinton and I start meeting over spaghetti and salad to decide what we can do to keep the momentum going.. Black Nativity came about...as well as our desire to formalize our association by creating a Collective of our various groups... so we formed Performing Arts Collective of Savannah each entity supporting the individual endeavors of the other and working on several projects as one group.

Right away Clinton got to work on adapting Langston Hughes script, i started writing new music and arrangements, Muriel & Stephanie got to work on choreography, and Darowe got started with his organizational, logistical, web and graphic design amazing magic and Black Nativity was in the works..Then a couple months into planning right after auditions and casting Clinton got really sick and we wondered if we were able to pull off the show without his amazing staging and direction...he basically said we HAD TO!!!! Our faith went into action concerning Clinton;s health and recovery...and as we were rehearsing we expected CP to get better and take his place in the group or at the very least come and see what we were doing... I gave him frequent updates on the music...when i got the rehearsal cd done with the new songs and arrangements i made a beeline to CP to get his input...he was encouraged and loved everysong....after that visit his health took an ugly turn and he had to go on a breathing machine...i was in warfare mode and recorded some worship music to play in his room and Tanesha did so!!! She called me the next morning and he was off the respirator!!!
Fast forward....we did the show!!!!! Great success!! except CP was not well enough to attend!!! Soooooo with H. Oglesby's help we took the show to him at the hospital!!!!! CP though weak and frail sat thru the entire show.....and gave us an enthusiastic thumbs up!!! Slight fast forward...Dr. said he did not think CP would live to see Christmas....well he did !!! But the loan of a good freind had to be returned to the Creator on New Years 2011... We were heartbroken over the loss of our dear freind but happy that we knew him and that his life and creative force continues...Performing Arts Collective and friends and Community honored the memory of CP with an open mic event at Sentient Bean, and then a large Tribute event at Savannah Theater.

Clinton's dear friend, Pastor Raphael Warnock did the Eulogy at CP's homegoing celebration, and chose a very poignant quote that encapsulated what everyone in the room was feeling,
from the biblical story of Johnathan and David where Johnathan says:
"Tomorrow is the new moon. You will be missed, for your place will be empty."
Clinton D. Powell will surely be missed, the place of his physical presence will be empty.
But his unique place in our hearts, lives and mission to serve, mentor, and inspire young people
will never be empty

.

It will always be filled with love.