Howdy, Carolyn!
Halle Berry was indeed in a TV miniseries called "The Wedding," about
the Martha's Vineyard community of Oak Bluffs. "The Wedding" was based
upon a novel by the same name which was written by longtime Oak Bluffs
resident Dorothy West.
Here's the Internet Movie Database listing for "The Wedding":
Internet Movie Database: The Wedding (1998) (TV)
http://imdb.com/title/tt0143076/
A bit more about the miniseries:
"The scene is Martha's Vineyard in 1953. And while the elegant summer
homes on this Massachusetts island may look familiar to mainstream TV
audiences, the neighborhood known as 'The Oval' probably won't be. The
exclusive circle of doctors, lawyers and business owners are not
Boston Brahmin or even white nouveau riche. They're professional
blacks from long-established, upper-class families. And they fiercely
guard the gates to their insular country-club community, where
membership, as in other high-society circles, is earned through
'proper' background and breeding.
Inspired by the Vineyard town of Oak Bluffs, a resort community still
frequented by black professionals, The Oval serves as the backdrop for
'The Wedding.' This is a Dorothy West novel that Oprah Winfrey fell in
love with and made into a miniseries to be shown Sunday and Monday at
9 p.m. on ABC. West, 90, the last survivor of black artists in the
1920s and '30s who belonged to the Harlem Renaissance, has lived in
Oak Bluffs since 1943. 'The Wedding,' published in 1995, was her first
novel in 47 years, and the last book Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis edited
at Doubleday."
Winfrey 's 'The Wedding' presents conflicts of class, color
http://www.s-t.com/daily/02-98/02-21-98/b01ae095.htm
"The Wedding" is not easy to find in a version that can be viewed in
the United States. However, I did find it on eBay:
eBay: The Wedding
http://cgi.ebay.com/Oprah-Winfrey-presents-THE-WEDDING-HALLE-BERRY-Rare_W0QQitemZ9111217275QQcategoryZ309QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
eBay: The Wedding
http://cgi.ebay.com/OPRAH-WINFREY-PRESENTS-THE-WEDDING-HALLE-BERRY-TV-Movie_W0QQitemZ9112087217QQcategoryZ309QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Dorothy West's original novel "The Wedding":
Amazon: The Wedding: A Novel
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385471440
More on Oak Bluffs:
"Martha's Vineyard is one of the traditional resorts of U.S.'s
African-American upper class. Due to a long history of racial harmony
on the island, many black families started vacationing there a century
ago. The center of black culture on Martha's Vineyard is the town of
Oak Bluffs, where many African American celebrities own houses. Its
main beach has been dubbed 'The Inkwell' by African-American
residents."
Wikipedia: Martha's Vineyard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha's_Vineyard
"Oak Bluffs originally began as the center for tourism on the
Vineyard. While the other towns were more focused on industry, Oak
Bluffs became a Mecca for travelers from around the world as early as
the beginning of the 1800?s. It also became a center of the thriving
19th Century Methodist movement.
In the area known now as the Camp Meeting Association or 'The
Campground', members of the Methodist church would come each summer to
pitch tents and have open air meetings. As these meetings became more
and more popular, returning visitors began replacing the tents with
small wooden buildings generally known now as Gingerbread Cottages.
This name originated from the ornate molding and bright colors that
these summer homes were painted and because of their quaint, almost
storybook look. With the Methodist camp meetings taking place in the
center, the campground expanded in a circular pattern around the
meeting area until hundreds of the small cottages sprang up. Later a
more permanent structure was built, called the Tabernacle. This
covered open sided structure allowed speakers and meeting attendees to
weather the elements and gave rise to a community center which is
still in use today.
The campground Gingerbread cottages are cherished historic landmarks
as well as very expensive real estate. Many are still family owned and
passed on generation to generation."
Wikipedia: Oak Bluffs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Bluffs
"Oak Bluffs is a diverse community and home to much African American
history, as well as dignitaries, politicians, artists, and writers.
Oak Bluffs has a large African American community particularly in the
summer season when many families vacation along the clean sandy shores
of Nantucket Sound. In July and August one of the most popular spots
for this vibrant, diverse community is The Inkwell Beach along Beach
Road at the bottom of Waban Park. A beautiful swimming spot, the
Inkwell has traditionally been a meeting place for African American
families and visitors. There is a dawn swimming group and activities
continue throughout the day until dark."
The African American Heritage Trail of Martha's Vineyard
http://www.mvheritagetrail.org/oakbluffs.html
"From the 1880s, it was 'improper and illegal' in the community 'to
make distinction among our tenants on the ground of color.' In the
1890s, a college-educated African American visited the island and
stayed to open an inn catering to black guests. Soon Oak Bluffs had a
number of such establishments. When the island went into an economic
decline with the demise of the whaling industry, blacks saw an
opportunity to buy summer residences. By the turn of the century, Oak
Bluffs had become an exclusive retreat for well-to-do blacks from
Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. (In fact, until the
1960s, Oak Bluffs had the only accommodations on the island that
welcomed black guests.) The picturesque town became the summer home of
many of the nation's leading black businessmen, academics,
politicians, dignitaries, writers, and artists."
Mass Moments: Oak Bluff Writer Dorothy West Dies
http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=238
Some photos of bright pink "gingerbread" houses:
Leo Cloutier: Pink Gingerbread House
http://www.pbase.com/traderboynh/image/4868120
Sri Chinmoy Centre galleries: Oak Bluffs Gingerbread House
http://www.srichinmoycentre.org/gallery/members/sharani/4th+of+July/Oak+Bluffs+Gingerbread+House1.jpg.html
Trip to Martha's Vineyard 2003: Gingerbread Houses
http://carrot.mcb.uconn.edu/~olgazh/MV/gingerbread_houses1.jpg
Lots more photos:
Google Images: oak bluffs gingerbread
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=oak%20bluffs%20gingerbread
A book that sounds interesting:
Finding Martha's Vineyard: African Americans at Home on an Island
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385505663
My Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "halle berry" "martha's vineyard"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22the+wedding%22+%22halle+berry%22+%22martha%27s+vineyard%22
Google Web Search: "martha's vineyard" "oak bluffs"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22martha%27s+vineyard%22+%22oak+bluffs%22
I'm delighted to have be able to help you with this. It was a pleasure
to look at photos of so many houses that are painted my favorite
color! Please let me know if there's anything further I can do for
you.
Best wishes,
Pink |
