Scheduled to Perform at Starlight : Ethiopian Troupe’s No-Show a Mystery

An estimated 2,000 concert-goers were turned away from the Starlight Amphitheatre in Burbank by police Friday and Saturday when a troupe of Ethiopian artists failed to appear for two scheduled performances.

The reason for the absence of Addie Ababa National Folk Ensemble and its whereabouts remained a mystery Saturday night.

Show producer Laurie Scott said she had not talked to representatives of the group for six days.

“I don’t know what happened, and I’m very distressed,” Scott said. “Why would they put me, and the other people who worked so hard to bring them here, in this humiliating position? Why would they dishonor their own country?”

Scott and other organizers said they had not been able to reach the Ethiopian consulates in New York and Washington for information on the group. The consulates were monitoring the tour, she said.

The troupe last month launched a tour with performances in the United States, Europe, Cuba and Mexico. The tour was designed as an “international gesture of gratitude for the humanitarian gestures of the American people” to victims of the Ethiopian famine.

The famine sparked several relief efforts by rock musicians, including USA for Africa and Band Aid.

Although about 2,000 people--some from as far as San Francisco and San Diego--showed up for the scheduled Friday performance, fewer than 50 went to the Starlight expecting a show Saturday. “I guess word got out” about the cancellation, Burbank Police Lt. Joe Valento said.

Among the 50 Ethiopian dancers and singers in the group is singer Tilahun Sessesse, who Scott said is known as the “Ethiopian Pavarotti.” The group was being accompanied by Kassa Kebede, the Ethiopian ambassador in Geneva, Scott said.

Scott said she had sporadic communication with the performers and their representatives in recent weeks.

“When I last talked to them, they were in Boston. They said they were going to be here,” Scott said. “I heard they operated in strange ways. They didn’t show up at their show in Canada until the last possible minute. But we always tried to keep them informed on the arrangements here.”

Saba H. Maskel, a native Ethiopian and the projects director of the Ethiopian Community Center in Los Angeles, was helping Scott coordinate details with the group. Maskel also helped raise $30,000 to sponsor the troupe’s Burbank shows.

“I spoke to Kebede six days ago, and he seemed to understand everything that was going on,” Maskel said. “He said he would send people ahead of the group’s arrival to work out arrangements.”

The troupe was supposed to arrive Thursday evening, Scott said, adding that “we had hotels set up and everything.” She said the Ethiopian government should reimburse Maskel and other Ethiopians for the $30,000.

Heavily Guarded

Ilene Proctor, another concert organizer, said she had heard and read accounts that the group had been heavily guarded at all their performances by officials of the Marxist Ethiopian government to prevent defections.

Several picketers marched outside the Starlight Friday, claiming that the tour was propaganda for the Ethiopian government.

The concerts were supposed to be the first shows of the year for the Starlight, a city-owned facility that has been beset in recent years by poor attendence, legal disputes and organizational difficulties.