‘Strawberry: What Party?’ returns to Dearborn’s Adray Theater
DEARBORN, MICH.–The word “allegedly” pops up a lot when discussing the killing of Tamara Greene, an exotic dancer in Detroit linked to former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Former Detroit Free Press reporter Carol Teegardin covered and followed an as-yet unproven story that Greene was entertaining Kilpatrick and his cohorts at the Manoogian mansion one night in the Fall of 2002. The alleged story goes that Kilpatrick’s wife, Carlita, showed up at the party and assaulted the dancer known as “Strawberry.” A year later, Greene was killed in a drive-by slaying. The theory, posited by Teegardin and others is that associates of Kikpatrick, now serving time in jail, put a hit on Greene to keep her quiet from possibly testifying against the Mayor in an investigation.
The play, Strawberry, What Party? premiered at the Boll Theatre earlier this year, and is being done again now at the Adray Auditorium in Dearborn through September 24th. Read EncoreMichigan’s review of that production here.
The play has been updated and features new cast members. It is directed by Mary Bremer-Beer.
The story has been a cause for Teegardin. “I am convinced now that the party did, in fact, take place, though the police consider her death still open and have never confirmed that it took place,” she says. “There are members of the police department who believe that the party took place and that she was killed because of what she knew about the Mayor, but it is still considered an open investigation.”
The play depicts a time that many Detroiters and those rooting for Detroit’s resurgence would rather forget. Kilpatrick served as mayor from 2002 to 2008. He resigned his office in 2008 after a felony conviction including perjury and obstruction of justice. Kilpatrick is doing time now, 28 years, for conviction in 2013 on 24 felony counts including racketeering and mail fraud.
Teegardin has conducted dozens of interviews with people close to Greene, police investigators and city officials. She turned her work into a book: Strawberry: How An Exotic Dancer Toppled Detroit’s Hip-Hop Mayor. That book, available on Amazon.com, was the basis for the play.
The new production runs through September 24th. Click here for show days, times and details.