<Li> In 1988, To Gleam It Around, To Show My Shine was produced by the Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey . The production was enhanced by an award from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' Fund for New American Plays . Denise Nicholas played Janie, Novella Nelson played Pheoby . Rick Khan directed . Writing in The New York Times on October 16, 1988, in a review entitled "Luminous' Drama On Black Woman's Struggle", Alvin Klein said, of "the dialogue that is so pure and lyrical, it positively sings and pierces the heart . Out of an unutterably beautiful book, a luminous play has evolved ." </Li> <Li> In 2003, To Gleam It Around, To Show My Shine a.k.a. Eatonville was to have opened at the ATA (American Theatre for Actors) in co-production with Amas Musical Theatre and Sage Hill Productions, with a score composed by Wynton Marsalis . (see "Wynton Marsalis Pens Music for Rattner's' Eatonville"', Playbill, August 21, 2003 .) </Li> <Li> In 2012, the new artistic director of the State Theater of Maryland, the Centerstage in Baltimore, chose to produce "Gleam" a.k.a. "To Gleam It Around, To Show My Shine" written by Bonnie Lee Moss Rattner . The play was directed by Marion McClinton . The production was enhanced by a grant of $55,000 from the National Endowment of the Arts . Writing in "DC Theatre Scene," Debbie Jackson says "Gleam hits a glorious stride at the Centerstage in Baltimore mainly because of the well - tuned script by Bonnie Lee Moss Rattner in the capable hands of director Marion McClinton ." (January 18, 2012) Andrea Appleton writing in the "Citypaper" on 1 / 20 / 2012, wrote a headline that states "Gleam: A classic novel comes to breathtaking life ." Donna Owen writing in Grio (1 / 18 / 2012) says GLEAM "practically leaps off the stage with power, witty dialect, and poignancy ." </Li> <Li> Oprah Winfrey served as executive producer of the made - for - TV adaptation Their Eyes Were Watching God in 2005 . Harpo Productions sponsored the film directed by Darnell Martin and with a screenplay written by Suzan - Lori Parks, Misan Sagay, and Bobby Smith, Jr . The show was broadcast on ABC on March 6, 2005, at 9 pm . Catering to its TV audience, the film largely avoided the more controversial themes of race, gender, and power . Karen Valby of Entertainment Weekly comments, "While the book chews on meaty questions of race and identity, the movie largely resigns itself to the realm of sudsy romance ." New York Times critic Virginia Heffernan writes, "the film is less a literary tribute than a visual fix of Harlequin Romance: Black Southern Series--all sensual soft - core scenes and contemporary, accessible language ." </Li>

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