Theater/Classical Music

For the 11th straight year, Deloris McDuffie wrote the script for Moreno Elementary School's Black History Month show, choreographed routines and coached the singers.

But her work is far from done before the curtain rises next Friday at 7 p.m. in the multi-purpose room. Target, Walmart and Payless, here she comes.

"How many have black pants? White shirts? White tennies? If you come busting out with yellow shoestrings, it's not happening," she bawled after a recent rehearsal. "Give me your sizes. Your mommy can't afford to buy you all this, so we're gonna make do."

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Silvia Flores / The Press-Enterprise

Librarian Deloris McDuffie oversees rehearsal for "The Dream Lives" show, which will be presented by Moreno Elementary School pupils on Feb. 19 in honor of Black History Month.

This is what it means to "make do." The PTA pitched in $150. Through her military connections, Beale Air Force Base in Rosemead will donate half the clothing. McDuffie, the school librarian, digs deep into her own pockets every year to spend hundreds of dollars on clothes, costumes and food for the show's 100 to 150 participants.

"They're my babies," she said. "They're dear to me. I love them."

So much so that "she goes above and beyond the call of duty for these kids," said Principal Jeff Jones. "Miss McDuffie puts her heart and soul into everything."

A divorced mother of two grown sons and two grandsons, McDuffie won't divulge her age. "Almost a senior citizen," she chortles. That doesn't stop her from flying to Denver and Sacramento every other weekend to lead church ministries.

Nor does age stop her from orchestrating the annual Black History Month performance and intertwining herself in the children's lives. Some of her babies live in group homes, broken families or foster care. "You don't know what they go through," she said.

McDuffie freely passes out her cell phone number. She visits parents and guardians to stay close to the heartbeat of her babies' home life.

She brushes aside warnings about "behavior problems," the children whom she shouldn't count on to learn their parts. "I tell my babies they can be in whatever they want," she said. "If I can make a difference in one child's life, I'm successful."

One year McDuffie threatened to resign rather than transform her production into a multi-cultural pageant. Her show, she said, celebrates respect, education and motivation.

"I tried to quit, but they wouldn't let me," she chuckled.

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Arrina Brown, center left, catches a quick yawn as Jessie Alonzo, center right, hams it up during rehearsal.

The Black History event stayed and flourished, expanding every year.

The star for almost a decade is Shelby Bacon. He drives in from Las Vegas to pep talk the kids and show them a step or two. Bacon, 90, was a movie actor in the 1940s and 50s who danced with Fred Astaire. McDuffie met him nine years ago through his granddaughter, a former student.

The show weaves solos, choral numbers and dance routines with vignettes about famous blacks, including Barack and Michelle Obama, Tyra Banks, Condoleezza Rice, Gladys Knight and Will Smith.

"The best part is the dancing and singing," said Vanessa Adams, 10, who plays Toni Morrison.

"The best part is watching the girls' stomp," said Randy Stapleton, 11, who is cast as Booker T. Washington.

At a rehearsal, Destinee Taylor, 11, frustrated when she missed a few notes, choked up while singing "Amazing Grace" McDuffie comforted her with a bear hug and encouragement.

McDuffie is no one's pushover. "Stand up straight," she barked to slouchers. "Spit out that gum," she yelled at chewers. "Let's see some energy," she scolded slackers.

For the first time, McDuffie is staging a fundraiser to recover some costs. The school will sell 28-by-40-inch banners with the image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for $35 apiece from Ross Flags and Designs LLC in Chino Hills.

This is the first and only company that has been granted rights by Intellectual Properties Management, the licensor of the King estate, to manufacture and distribute a flag honoring the slain civil rights leader.

"Deloris is amazing," said Lori Ross, who helps run Ross Flags. She said she's letting McDuffie sell the banners at the company's cost, because "I want to support her in any way I can."

Those who want to pre-order a banner can contact McDuffie at jesusladydee@yahoo.com

Reach Laurie Lucas at 951-368-9569 or llucas@PE.com