JOHN ISAACS
1960-2000
MARKED WITH TALENT
By Pat Ganase
Express
February 14, 2000
Pages 14 & 15
John Isaacs had star quality.
He attracted people. His
presence commanded a room.
His
first sortie into performing was as a singer.
His
professional voice set the tone for the place where he spent all his working
life, BWIA Reservations.
Although
he had a full-time job, his passion and commitment to performance never
wavered. He did nothing by half
measure.
When
he was angry or impassioned, his nostrils flared. He vented his feelings and didn't brood. He had an equal capacity for good humour,
and could turn out puns and jokes in search of good ideas.
Those
who knew him as a child saw him marked with talent, destined for a brilliant
stage career.
Later,
whatever disappointment or frustration he suffered could be detected in the
harsh sarcasm of his ready wit, and his flaring nostrils.
His
mother, Una Isaacs, said he was very loving and kind as a child. Born April 28, 1960, John was the eldest of
her three boys. His father died when he
was six. As an adult, she saw him
"striving for excellence," and "wanting to do something for
children."
His
other strong desire, she said, was to work with BWIA, the national airline,
which he joined right after leaving Fatima College. The only time he left BWIA was on study leave to New York
University where he pursued and grounded his love for the theatre arts.
This
period spent in New York also saw an awakening of identity and consciousness.
John's
"flowing ras", impeccably groomed to complement the uniform of an
international airline, was his trademark from this era.
His
Woodbrook upbringing, with a stern guardian - Tantie Vie - on Rosalino Street,
through his Fatima College years, took place in the politically turbulent
seventies and among a group of energetic youths. There was living friendship and much singing, a "ministry of
music" with the group Singers Plus Six.
Everybody
looked out for John, remembers Rosemary Perkins, leader of singers Plus
Six. "He was this thin boy, with a
wonderful voice, and flaring nostrils.
Singing was his great gift," she said.
Through
the seventies, Rosemary's group of mainly Fatima boys, including Wayne James,
Bennie Gomes, Calvin Bijou, Nigel Augustus and Peter Samuel, sang "all
over the place."
John
sang at Rosemary and Michael Perkins' wedding in 1975. And though she had lost touch with him when
the group disbanded in the early eighties, "he came back when Mummy died,
and we sang together, just spontaneously after the funeral."
He
started dancing with Noble Douglas' dance company, performing for the first
time in their 1979 season.
He
danced with Heather Henderson, in a teen competition at Queen's Hall, and they
won.
He
acted in the Banyan television soap opera, Who the Cap Fits, and starred
in Christopher Pinheiro's Caribaret (take off on Carbaret) that was a hit at
the Roxy.
He
even tried making batik and tie-dyed fabric to raise money for a plan to
"go to France and be discovered."
When Paris did not grab him, he found at BWIA the means to indulge his
love of travel, engaging other cultures, immersing himself in strange customs -
complete with native costume - in Turkey or India or Africa.
After
New York, he linked up with Noble Douglas' Lilliput theater company, sharing
with children the techniques and understanding of drama.
John's
strength and force of character were not for the faint hearted, Noble says.
"The
stronger personalities were challenged by him.
But kids like Elisha Bartels and Nicolai LaBarrie learned tremendously
from John."
John
may have had incisive insights to share but Noble feels, not everyone was
willing to accept them.
She
remembers his conception and production of Ai Ai Ai with Lilliput.
John
had a dream about street children, which he wrote and brought to the company to
produce. "He wanted to let parents
of teenagers know what was out there," said Noble. "A lot of kids don't realise all the
things that happen in Trinidad. Right
on the streets of Woodbrook, young girls selling themselves."
For
the young actors, it was an awakening.
The public generally did not appreciate the performance, although more
enlightened adults felt that it needed to be done.
"John
was disappointed in the public response," Noble said, "and he never
came back to teach. He was tires of
fairy tales, and wanted to take the risk to do something more gutsy."
He
acted with the Trinidad Theatre workshop and directed a performance of
Walcott's Ti-Jean.
When
Peter Minshall's Callaloo Company was formed in late 1992 after the Barcelona
Olympics, John Isaacs was one of its first members.
It
was out of this cross-fertilisation of Callaloo Company Theater, the 3 Canal
J'Ouvert band and "rapping" that the 3 Canal performing group - John,
Wendell Manwarren, Roger Roberts, Stanton Kewley - was formed.
John
Isaacs' "ability to harmonize", his singing talent, and his
choreography were core qualities. Since
Blue, in which 'they turned the world upside down," the group has
gained international recognition.
They
signed with Rituals Music for the production of CDs.
Last
year, when john was diagnosed with a kidney condition, he committed to take
care of his diet, his "stress" and to exercise more discipline over a
hectic performing and working schedule.
But the agreement to perform with Spektakula Forum for the Carnival
season, night after night, meant an accelerated performing schedule.
The
only member of the group with a full-time day job, John Isaacs wanted
"centre stage" as much as ever.
Without
missing a beat, he seemed to have chosen to do both.
If
he was in pain, or weak, or insecure, it was always well masked by the
self-assurance and control he exuded.
He
didn't want to not be part of the group, performing.
For
most people, to hear that he was ill or "critical" mere hours before
he passed was a shock.
Those
who stood, or prayed, or sang at his bedside, "looked out for' John, as he
assertively forced the oxygen into his lungs to give him the day in which to
see all his friends with eyes grown larger than ever, and nostrils flared to
catch life.
***************************************
JOHN ISAACS
FUNERAL TODAY
By Wayne Bowman
Trinidad Guardian
February 5, 2000
Page 15
The funeral of rapso performer, John Isaacs, who on Wednesday
night succumbed to renal failure, will take place today from 11 a.m., at the
African Methodist Church, Woodford Street, New Town.
Isaacs
was a member of the rapso quartet 3 Canal, the beginnings of which goes as far
back as his school days at Fatima College, when he first became friends with 3
Canal founding members Wendel Manwarren, Roger Roberts, Trevor Jadunath and
Steve Oudit.
However,
Isaacs' involvement in the performing arts goes back much further than his
college days. He literally grew up on
stage and had been performing since he was a child.
He
is a graduate of the Auntie Kay talent series, Twelve & Under
and Teen Talent.
He
danced under the direction of Helen Camps, Astor Johnson and Noble Douglas, in
whose Lilliput Theatre he eventually served as director.
Isaacs'
efforts at the Lilliput Theatre soon led to him working with Derek Walcott on
projects as "The Odyssey", on which he played the roles of King
Alcinous as well as a Shango high priest.
In 1995 Isaacs directed a Trinidad Theatre Workshop production of
Walcott's Ti-Jean.
He
had proved his worth to the local drama scene through his work with Banyan
Productions, which included a stellar performance in the TV series Going
Foreign.
He
also is remembered by his friends as an accomplished singer.
He could
sing a sacred aria just as easily as he could belt out some profane kaiso ditty
that would turn one's face red.
He was
a part of the popular Singers Plus Six as well as a member of he Belvedere and
Bel Canto Choirs led by Richard Tan Yuk, who was also a close friend.
Isaacs'
multi-faceted talent earned him acceptance to Julliard in New York, but he
turned it down because he believed that his place was at New York University,
where his spirit was most refreshed.
Isaac's
fascination with visual arts and Carnival then led him to Peter Minshall and the
beginnings of the Callaloo Company, where drama, music, dance and mas melted
one into the other.
Out
of that was spawned the 3 Canal J'Ouvert mas band. Then in 1996 the many ideas behind the concept of 3 Canal finally
began to gel and Isaacs and company blended the mas of J'Ouvert with the music
and poetic expression of the mud experience.
Thus
was born "Blue", the runaway rapso hit that served to introduce 3
Canal and Isaacs to the greater community.