EDNA MANLEY COLLEGE FOUNDERS WEEK

               March 1 to 7, 2009

Sunday March 1 at 9am

- Thanksgiving Service to be held at St. Stephens United Church 22-26 Union
Square, Kingston 5 –*beside Hilo supermarket*
Sunday March 1, 2009 at 9:00 am Please join us in giving thanks to God for
His guidance and blessings over the past 30+ years   Tuesday March 3 at 6pm

- Opening of the 2009 SVA Faculty exhibition  in the CAGE, the exhibition
runs until March 20

Thursday March 5 at 2.30pm

-  Edna Manley Memorial Lecture with the theme *”**Reframing Slavery:
Photography, History, and Re(Memory)”*

Shebada celebrates milestone with friends and fans

 

P. Gavin James, Negril.com Writer

THE MOOD WAS jubilant at Green Gables Theatres on Tuesday, February 16, 2009  as patrons gathered enthusiastically to celebrate the birthday of  Jamaican theatre’s most controversial figure Keith “Shebada” Ramsay.  Even a month ahead of time ,Shebada’s  birthday bash , organized by the Stages Theatre family was organized to be as colourful as the character portrayed on the stage, in addition to his real-life persona. As Negil.com entered the venue a 8:00 p.m., we were greeted with an array of colours, from the deep purple to the bright yellows.

The ladies came out  came out in droves to celebrate and some were so  scantily clad in outfits leaving little or nothing to the imagination. The theatre fraternity turned out, some inconspicuously , while the  ‘high rollers’ among the patrons kept their Hennessey flowing all through the night.

The early vibes were good was good, as the selector kept the early patrons singing to tunes from the 1990’s such as Living Dangerously courtesy of Barrington Levy and Bashment Party, from Shaggy and Rayvon. This  trend lasted for about and hour and a half , but as sonn as most of the patrons files inside the main venue the selector reeled of the Monster Hit  Rampin’ Shop, this changed  the atmosphere immediately, with the selector stating  “Mi  haffi cater fi the girl dem tonight, look how dem come out plentiful” before sounding out Good H— e from Mr. Lexx.

The mixes were strictly for the ladies as the wheels of steel turned out hits such as and Beenie Man’s Back It Up and Wickedest Slam. The girls were asked to misbehave even more to Siddung Pon It before Vybz Kartel commanded the ladies to Fling It Up.

Prior to Matterhorn, Colin Hines dropped some pulsating mixing that nurtured the vibes already created by Stone Love. At this time, the pool seemed irresistible for some of the female patrons who yielded to the temptation and jumped in. This vibe preceded the “daggering” segment when RDX suggested that the ladies to Ben’ Over .

As the night went along, patrons grew uneasy at minutes to eleven not seeing any sign of the man of the moment, but their anxiety was allayed for a short time by Kingsley “Ragashanti” Stewart. After wishing Shebada a ‘Happy Birthday’, he took a swipe at the Broadcasting Commission and their “fighting against” the dancehall music, which was the music of the people. This elicited cheers from the patrons on hand, who shouted their approval. He also urged Shebada to be strong as many of his detractors were  “very  bad minded” and “corrupt”.

 After ‘Raga’ left the stage, the selector tried valiantly to keep the anxious audience entertained until Shebada’s arrival, but the audience grew restive and quite noisy upon realizing that he had not arrived at 11:00p.m. as was previously announced. After a wait that seemed almost like forever, the man of the moment walked out, bedecked in a Dolce and Gabbana t-shirt, a ripped leg jeans pants, and was warmly greeted by the patrons on hand screaming “Happy Birthday Shebada”, much to his pleasure and astonishment. He began to demonstrate his antics which he is popular for before the formalities had begun.

Tributes were given by Garfield ‘Bad Boy Trevor’ Reid, who commended Ramsay for his tremendous acting skills and resolute attitude despite the odds which were placed against him.  After this he was joined by his Stages fraternity, family and fellow contestants from The Comedy Buss series for the cake cutting. After the cake-cutting, he was joined on stage by Amelia ‘Milk’ Sewell   who also took time to wish him a happy birthday and posed in pictures with Shebada for some of the lucky fans.

In closing, Shebada thanked the patrons on hand for turning out for the special occasion , and also urged his ‘enemies’ to eat their ‘condemnation’ as despite whatever they did , he would still prosper. Before leaving he dance with a few lucky patrons on stage before exiting with his friends for a private celebration.  Patrons started to mill out of the venue feeling satisfied that they celebrated with Keith ‘Shebada’ Ramsay.

 P Gavin James is a graduate of the University of the West Indies where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communications.