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First-time playwright Carol Teegardin, a former Detroit Free Press columnist and reporter, rolls out a hot-button drama this weekend in downtown Detroit.
"Strawberry -- What Party?" is about now-imprisoned Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, his wife and a dancer named Tamara Greene ("Strawberry"), who ended up dead in a drive-by shooting several months after allegedly attending a bachelor party at Manoogian Mansion in September of 2002. Lots of people say the party never happened.
And there are those like Teegardin who suspect it did and insist there was a cover-up. Unsubstantiated rumors are that one of the mayor's bodyguards killed Strawberry, but there's never been any evidence to suggest it's true. Kilpatrick is serving 28 years in prison for corruption.
Teegardin adapted her two-hour play from her self-published book in 2011: "Strawberry: How an Exotic Dancer Toppled Detroit's Hip-Hop Mayor." It's being directed by Mary Bremer-Beer, who directs plays at Henry Ford College in Dearborn and at the Jewish Ensemble Theatre.
Deadline Detroit sat down with Teegardin to discuss the play and the controversial "party."
How to attend:
- Jan 20-22 and Jan. 27-29 at the YMCA's Boll Theater, 1401 Broadway.
- Curtain time is 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays
- Tickets can be reserved here.
Earlier coverage:
True Life Drama: 'Strawberry' Saga from Kilpatrick Era Comes to Detroit Stage, Jan. 7
