Features

The Ru Report #135

Give My Regards…Raisin' Up
Acclaimed theater director Kenny Leon is riding high.

The Tallahassee born and St. Petersburg-bred dynamo is actually on an Amtrak train from the nation's capitol to the Big Apple during our talk time on this sunny spring afternoon. He has a hit on his hand with his big Broadway debut--the critically--acclaimed, star-studded revival of Lorraine Hansberry's classic play "A Raisin In The Sun," currently playing at the Royale Theatre.

"I've always loved this particular play and I've always loved the writing of Lorraine Hansberry so it was a heated decision," he shared about being approached to revive the 45-year-old play, a few years ago. "I just needed to make sure that I had full artistic control of the project and David Binder and the estate sort of guaranteed that so we went from there."

The 48-year-old Mr. Leon is an accomplished theater wizard in his own right. So that made it easy for his demands to be met. As a celebrated producer and director, he is the co-founder and Artistic Director of True Colors Theatre Company, dedicated to diversity and the preservation of African American classics. The company is based in the quite colorful city of Atlanta, and Mr. Leon has designs to shift the paradigm of how theater is executed, in regards to people of color. "Most of American theater is Anglo European at the center and then they diversify around the edges with one Black play and one Hispanic play. I want to turn that model inside out where the center is African American work," he confided.

He served as Artistic Director of the Alliance Theatre Company for thirteen years and has directed regionally at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Dallas Theater Center, San Jose Rep, Indiana Rep, Goodman, Huntington, Hartford Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Geva Theatre, Long Wharf, BAM, Georgia Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage and the Theatre of the Stars.

"My approach to directing is just to work off the instincts of the people that I cast in the roles, and to have them own choices that fit into my larger parameter of what I think the play is," he added. "It's about laying out creative vision about the play and then having each actor bring in personal contributions, having that fit and working off of their instinct. It's ensemble billing and having people rely on each other and telling their stories together."

While at the Alliance, the debonair graduate and honorary Ph.D. of Clark Atlanta University produced ten world premieres , including Elton John's "AIDA," Pearl Cleage's "Flyin' West" and "Blues for an Alabama Sky," and Alfred Uhry's "The Last Night of Ballyhoo". He made his Off-Broadway debut at The Public Theater directing Thulani Davis' "Everybody's Ruby."

"A Raisin In The Sun" has brought him into a bigger league, however. With its amazing casting (Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald and Sanaa Lathan), its sell-out audiences, its critical acclaim and multiple award nominations, it is no doubt that this play has exceeded expectations. "I never had any trepidation [about doing it on Broadway]. I wanted to do the play and I believed in this play and I always felt I could do a good job with it, so it was never that. I mean, who would run from an opportunity to do what I guess is the greatest American play ever written?"

And with a media blitz only worthy of a true Broadway event, "A Raisin In The Sun" has had its share of inner turmoil, too. "The hardest part of this was keeping the press out of what was really happening in the rehearsal hall and the excitement about Puffy coming to the show and doing that," Mr. Leon revealed. "We had five stars including Bill Nunn and people wanted to come at us. People are always telling you what you can't do, so it was a lot of activity outside of rehearsal hall which had nothing to do what was inside rehearsal hall. So I think it's just a matter of being under the spotlight more so for this production than other productions."

Some of the hype has helped, too. But Mr. Leon is no newcomer to acclaim, however. He is the recipient of the MIT Eugene McDermott Award and was chosen Top 20 To Watch by The Financial Times.

Just a few weeks ago, People magazine listed him in their annual buzz-heavy 50 Most Beautiful Issue, amongst the likes of camera-ready celebs like Halle Berry, Beyonce, Julia Roberts and Johnny Depp. He shrugs off the adulation, though. "I'm humble and grateful for the acknowledgment but I have to put that in the right place," he stated. "That's only the people of that magazine. It helps the show and it helps my career and makes people aware of who I am and what I'm doing. But in terms of the vain part of it, it doesn't mean very much, you know. It's just a subjective opinion."

He attributes his dashing good looks to his 'wonderful' momma's genes. A good old country boy, he is the eldest of five siblings and doesn't make a habit of telling too much of his personal business. "I try not to talk about personal stuff. I like to keep them separate," he added.

Everyone asks him about Puffy on Broadway. To the unknowing eye and ear, it does seem far-fetched for one of hip hop's most notorious personalities to have the discipline for the Great White Way. But like I've always said, 'If he can run a marathon, he can do just about anything.'

"He made it very easy because he's just a humble person who had tremendous respect for the art form and he was brutally honest in announcing that he hadn't done stage before but he totally respects it," Mr. Leon explained. "He was in a good place to work with. He didn't fight me but if he didn't understand something, he was able to tell me very strongly 'I don't understand what you're talking about' and I think I was sort of a country boy and I was raised to be very direct and to be very honest. So we hit if off from the beginning because I was just telling the truth and he would respond to me likewise."

The sometimes-actor has played the lead role of Walter Lee Younger, himself, in three previous productions of the play. So he is somewhat an authority in the role. "He's more Walter Lee," Mr. Leon divulged. "I think Walter Lee certainly has an arrogance and certainly has a vulnerability and what I wanted everyone to feel in him is sort of the struggle that many African American men go through to just try to be men in their own household and certainly trying to be a man in America. I think that Sean is hitting it right on in terms of what I see with that character."

More on Puffy: "He taught me that sometimes in America, we think we're giving 100 percent but as African American men that may not be enough. We don't need to spend time complaining about racism, we need to spend time doing something about it. And he's a man that has always done something about it. That was a great thing for me to be around."

Looking ahead, Mr. Leon will revisit Langston Hughes' "Tambourines to Glory" with True Colors. And then comes his biggest undertaking: directing opera for Nobel Prize winning novelist Toni Morrison. "She wrote an opera called 'Margaret Garner.' It's a prequel to 'Beloved' and it's my first attempt at directing opera and trying to deal with an issue we have not come to terms with in this country, which is that of slavery."

Toni Morrison. Slavery. Opera. In the new millennium?

Hmmmm.

"I think the opera is the only venue for us to do something effective about slavery. I think Black people don't want to see it and White folks don't want to see it because we have not dealt with it properly," he continued. "So I think in the world of opera where everything is supposed to be dramatic and bloody and grand scale, [it works]. It's like what Toni Morrison said to me, 'We're doing a story but if folks could look at those people as people and not as slaves, then we can do some healing.'

"So my approach to doing that story is 'What will it look like to tell that story without the straw hats and the bails of cotton and none of the baggage that reminds people that it's slavery?' I think I can do that in a way that has us look at these people as people. Once we do that, I think we will move forward and understand what slavery really was: an economic tool to help build this country. That's all it was, economics"

Three-time Grammy Award winning composer Richard Danielpour is on board. So is opera divas Jessye Norman and Denyce Graves. Next spring "Margaret Garner" will open and play in cities such as Detroit, Cincinnati and Philadelphia before coming to the Big Apple.

"My goal is set to higher standards," Mr. Leon concluded.

From his mouth to God's ears!

Showtime
With six Tony Award nominations under its belt, the most moving musical on the Great White Way is "Caroline, Or Change." Starring Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins ("Jelly's Last Jam"), the moving musical takes place in Louisiana in 1963, just around President Kennedy's assassination and during the Civil Rights movement. Caroline is the Black maid of a Southern Jewish family, who recently went through the loss of their matriarch, and inherited her best friend. In an attempt to bond with, and teach her erstwhile stepson some tough love, the frustrated step-mom makes a pact with Caroline regarding left-over change found in the laundry. The title has a double meaning, referring to the myriad social changes swirling around the family and that spare change. Directed by Tony Award winning theatrical wiz George C. Wolfe with music by Jeanine Tesori ( "Thoroughly Modern Millie") and Tony Kushner ("Angels In America"), "Caroline, Or Change" is the hardest show to beat during this year's award tour. Ms. Pinkins, who has been through hell and back in her personal life, gives her all with this heart-wrenching performance. The "chamber musical" began its life with a sold-out run at The Public Theater before opening on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theater on May 2.

Stages
First there was Mos Def in "Topdog/Underdog." Then Russell Simmons brought the pain with "Def Poetry On Broadway." And Sean "P. Diddy" Combs" has outdone himself with his striking debut in the critically-acclaimed "A Raisin In The Sun." Now comes news that Queen of hip-hop/soul Mary J. Blige may be on the Great White Way before we know it. Just so happens that since she got a thumbs up for her portrayal of Sunny Jacobs a few months back in Off-Broadway's "The Exonerated," tongues behind the scenes in the theater world were wagging. Hip hop culture has revitalized the marketplace of fashion, film, television and of course recorded music. And now it has taken its stake on Broadway. It has been well documented how the Kenny Leon-directed "Raisin…" is doing big numbers at the box office. That's why Creative Battery--producers of the forthcoming theatrical adaptation of "A Color Purple" --has set their sights on Ms. Blige. The Ru Report has learned that producers are eagerly pursuing the Grammy Award-winning music star to play the role of the sassy, sexually-liberated Shug Avery, replacing Adriane Lennox, who has done out of town workshops of the show and was prepared to make her long-overdue splash on Broadway. Apparently, it all boils down to the bottom line. And apparently, it may be well worth it. Ms. Blige was recently confirmed to appear on "The 58z^th Annual Tony Awards," scheduled to take place at Radio City Music Hall on June 6. The ceremony--hosted by Best Actor nominee Hugh Jackman--will air live on CBS in a special three-hour presentation.

The lovely and leggy Brenda Braxton returns to Broadway's "Chicago" this week, starring as Velma Kelly. We all remember the insatiable Miss Braxton, most popular from her long running stint in Broadway's"Smokey Joe's Cafe," for which she received a 1995 Tony Award nomination, the NAACP Theater Award, the city of Chicago's Jefferson Award and a Grammy Award for Best Cast Album. She also co-directed and choreographed the 2001 "Dreamgirls" Concert and most recently appeared in "House of Flowers" for the Encores! series at New York's City Center and in the Off-Broadway production of Langston Hughes' "Little Ham." Other Broadway credits include "Jelly's Last Jam," "Legs Diamond" and the original production of "Dreamgirls," which she hopes to be a part of the forthcoming Broadway revival. Miss Braxton is the recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Living the Dream Award given by New York Governor George Pataki and the Josephine Baker Award from the National Council of Negro Women for her work as founder of Leading Ladies Just for Teens, seminars geared to empowering teenage girls.

On June 7, at its annual gala benefit, The York Theatre Company will present Carol Channing with The Oscar Hammerstein Award for lifetime achievement in musical theatre. Co-hosted by gossip guru Liz Smith, the award is presented as the highlight of a gala concert evening, which begins with a cocktail reception and silent auction at the Citigroup Executive Auditorium. A star-studded concert performance featuring the cast of"Avenue Q," and "Wicked"'s Kristin Chenoweth, among others will lead into a festive champagne dinner with the cast, featuring a brief live auction and entertainment to follow. The evening benefits the York Theatre's Developmental Reading Series and education programs. The Oscar Hammerstein Award is named for the lyricist-librettist who helped to define the American musical theatre. The award was created by the late Janet Hayes Walker, and is administered by The York Theatre Company with the endorsement of the Hammerstein family and the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. For those who don't know, Ms. Channing is a superstar of the stage. Since her 1948 Broadway debut in Blitzstein's "No For An Answer," her Broadway appearances include "So Proudly We Hail," "Let's Face It, Lend An Ear," "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," "Show Girl," "Pygmalion," "The Millionairess," "The Vamp," "Four On A Garden," "Wonderful Town" and "Lorelei." She won the Tony Award in 1964 for her legendary portrayal of Dolly Levi in Jerry Herman's "Hello Dolly!". She has since played the role in over 5000 performances, including a smash London engagement at the Drury Lane Theatre. She received a Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 1995. The York Theatre Company, now beginning its 35^th season, is the only theatre in New York City--and one of very few in the world--dedicated to developing and fully producing new musicals, and preserving neglected, notable shows from the past. Ticket prices range from $150 to $1,000.

Acclaimed actress and director Regina Taylor may have been booted out of "The Color Purple" project, but she's still garnering praise and accolades for one of her most recent works of art. The "Drowning Crow" playwright's critically acclaimed musical "Crowns" garnered four Helen Hayes Awards last week at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Each year the Helen Hayes Awards, named for the first lady of American theater and Washington, D.C. native, Helen Hayes, honors the achievement in professional theater in the D.C. area. The four awards "Crowns" netted were in the following categories: Outstanding Resident Musical, Outstanding Director of a Resident Musical, Outstanding Musical Direction for a Resident Play or Musical and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Resident Musical for Lynda Grávatt. Ruben Santiago-Hudson also scored two awards (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Non-Resident Production, Outstanding Non-Resident Production) for his remarkable "Lackawanna Blues," which is being crafted into an HBO telefilm by George C. Wolfe.

The six-time Tony Award-winning musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie" is closing on June 20, after playing 32 previews and 904 regular performances at Broadway's Marquis Theatre. Based on the film of the same name, the musical features a book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan, music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics by Mr. Scanlan.

…Take the bitter with the sweet. Easy come, easy go.

Message Karu F Daniels or email him directly at therureport@aol.com

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