Are we going to be around this town? And let what I've been saying come true Do you get off of me? I can get up if you want to understand me I can get up if you really want to help me I can get up, but in Jesus' name I'm gonna get up if you get off of me I can get up if you want to understand me I can get up if you really want to help me I can get up, but in Jesus' name I'm gonna get up The people who are talking to me Are we going to be around this town? And let what I've been saying come true Good for nothing, baby I'm a figure Just a boyish girl My shit is a jigger Now we gonna stand for that? Or is that really what we're saying? I'm your brother As you stand in your glory I hope you're mine If I tell a whole story Pardon me, sister I know you think you've come a long way I know you think you've come a long way As I walk the street To see it roll You can see my hands ain't shaking And my legs ain't triggering I turn the corner and keep it the trash Look up at the street sign Says, says, Julian Look back down and make eye contact with his brother And now I'm feeling like I'm standing somewhere I shouldn't be He looks around a thousand of his friends That raised their crackpipes to the lips And lends them some botanism Telling me, yeah, I'm getting high I'm feeling good And sister, don't you know Darker than blue by Willis and Shante of Positive Light, I'm feeling like I'm in a dream I'm feeling like I'm in a dream Welcome to the Coombran Report. May the peace and blessings of the life-giving, creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. My name is Melvin Ishmael Johnson, coming at you live from Skid Row Studios. And I'm in the studio with my co-host, Earlene Anthony. Our call-in number is 1-800-893-9562. Now, this week on the Coombran Report, we were talking about the need for a national black... black theater company, with some of the cast members of the Robey Productions and the magnificent Dunbar Hotel playing at the Los Angeles Theater Center. I'm delighted to have with us in the studio Elizabeth June, Doug Jewel, Kim Sanders, and Kyle Connor McDuffie. Welcome to the Coombran Report. Hey, thank you. And also sitting over there as a guest was Miss Mello. Yeah. Miss Mello also have a show. Hey, what's the name of your show again? Kingdom Warriors Radio. Warriors Radio, coming up. Place and see, die. Now, first of all, can you... I want to go around the table. Can you tell our listening audience a little about your background and the role that you play in the magnificent Dunbar? You want to start with me? Okay. My name is Doug Jewel. I play Dr. John Somerville, in the magnificent Dunbar Hotel. Dr. John Somerville is the gentleman who built the hotel, who got it started, and it was his vision. And he sold it during the stock market crash in the 20s. And a little bit about me. I've been around a while. I lived in New York for 10 years. I'm originally from Cleveland, Ohio. I attended the Caramoo Performing Arts Theater in Cleveland. I did regional theater off-broadway, and I did Broadway tours and all that during the time of living in New York. I've been out here in Los Angeles now, going on 10 years now. And I'm very proud to be working with the Roby Theatre Company, the wonderful cast, Ben Guillory, as well as Levy Lee Simon. This is just a wonderful experience for me. I have to give a special thanks and shout out to Kim Saunders, who sort of recommended me to this project. And I've been knowing... I've been knowing her for a long time. I've been knowing her for a long time. I've been knowing her for a long time. I've been knowing her for a long time. I've been knowing Kim a few years. Yeah, just a few. Yeah. So... Hi, I'm Kim Saunders. I'm playing the role of Jack Johnson. I consider Jack Johnson to be probably one of the most courageous men I've ever heard of in my life. Because of the time period that he was actually, you know, living in and fighting as a champion in that world, his life was on the line. And I think that's what I'm proud of. I think that's what I'm proud of. I think that's what I'm proud of. I think I'd do any different if I didn't do any different if I didn't do any different. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I love it Hey I'm Kyle Connor McDuffie I play the part of Pee Wee In the magnificent Dunbar Hotel Pee Wee is a Very interesting character Because he's actually from the south So he Isn't really hip to a lot of the Things that are going on there He's seen racism before He's seen it in the south But he's He's kind of He has that Ignorant innocence To him where he Kind of understands where he is He understands how things are And he tries to look In my opinion to the positive In situations He's kind of That innocent Integrity about him And I stress the ignorance because he is ignorant To it quite a bit Aside from me I got into theater Once I was a football player Back in high school And a music teacher Because I was in the performance choir And the symphonic choir And they talked to me about possibly doing a play A musical And it was Godspell And I wasn't really ready to do anything like that I mean I can still remember The first time they put makeup on me That was an experience in itself But the first time I touched that stage The first time I was on that stage I felt like no matter how bad anything was When I'm on that stage I felt alive And I felt good And from that time on I just I enjoy I was a case manager before I was an American politics major in college And I graduated Got my bachelors And I got out there into the real world And I just thought to myself I was like I feel trapped I enjoy to create I enjoy creating I live for it And I came back and did a play in Cleveland A friend of mine was talking about doing this play And I came back and did it And from that point on I said You know what I love music I love entertaining I love being on the stage I love being in front of the camera You know for the film And from that point on It was like I could utilize What I've learned in college And as Kim was saying With the activist work And wanting to make a difference I could utilize my gifts of creativity To try to do just that I mean because in this play There's so much of a message in this play And that's kind of I met Ben And Mr. Guillory And it's been a pleasure I was in his scene study class And that's how I met June And from there it just It blossomed from there And it's been an absolutely wonderful experience Okay Ms. Mellor tell us a little about yourself I know you were I had a ticket for you But it got sold out So my ticket got lost It's all good Well My name is Mellor Desire I'm a filmmaker for inner city youths And I am so grateful to be amongst Talented African American Playwrights Actors Entertainers I'm glad that you shared your story Because on our show Warriors Radio We actually talk about the dangers of football In different different different different different Ulhas And you said something very key that a music teacher came to you and actually offered you something different. There are 100,000 youths alone in South L.A. that want the same experience. But the only thing that's offered to them is basketball, football, janitorial security. So if we're able to give these youths a chance to feel alive, just as you have, then that mission will be complete to reducing gang violence. And that's really the whole purpose of our nonprofit called the Kingdom Warriors Foundation. So what we're doing is pushing the 1% campaign where everyone donate 1% into building a state-of-the-art performing studio in the heart, starting with South Central. Talk about state-of-the-art recording studio, green screen set design, so we can create our own positive film, television, and theater. And I'm really glad to be with you guys tonight. Okay. We're going to talk a little about that when we talk about the National Theater Company. G. Yes. Peace and blessings. I'm so happy to be here. My name is Elizabeth June, and I play Dr. Vada Somerville. Hi, hubby. Hi, baby. And I also play the incomparable Ethel Waters, and I also play Councilwoman Jan Perry, who is very instrumental in getting things done in politics here in Los Angeles. Ethel Waters was amazing, and I'm learning so much. I'm learning so much about her each day because I'm reading so much on her. She was the first black woman to be nominated for an Emmy Award, the second black woman to be nominated for an Academy Award, record-breaking sales in song and being on Broadway and being in vaudeville. And Dr. Vada Somerville was the first black woman who was a dentist to graduate from the School of Dentistry at USC. So she was a force to be reckoned with. And she was also... She was a social activist along with her husband, Dr. John Somerville. So just to be able to play these three incredible women is humbling, and it is an honor, and I'm blessed. I'm blessed. As far as me, I'm from the boogie-down Bronx. And I did theater in New York, off-off-off Broadway theater and some regional theater. And also I have an MFA from the Actor Studio Drama School. So I was blessed to be able to do some... Performances. Say, no tapping on the table. Doing some of my performances at the Actor Studio, which was a blessing and an honor. So I'm just happy to be here. I also want to send a shout out to Levy Lee Simon for also recommending me to the Robey Theater and telling me, you gotta meet Ben. And Kelly Dantzler for telling me, you gotta meet Ben. So I'm glad that I met Ben. And I'm glad that I met these amazing actors that I'm sitting here with now because it's just been a wonderful ride. Thank you. Wonderful. Okay. Now I would like to read something before we get into our subject about the National Black Theater. I want to read something about Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, who's also one of the characters in the play, and Theophilus Lewis' view of a National Black Theater Company. And about when we had a National Black Theater Company, it was called the Negro Theater Company, under the Federal Theater Project. It lasted for about a year. It lasted for about five years. But here's what Dr. Du Bois, he founded a theater company called the Crick-Wa Players, 1925 to 1928. And he founded and co-founded with Regina Davis, I think it was. And they co-founded the theater company to create a theater that follows the belief of for us, by us, near us. And about us with black playwrights at the center point. And then you had Theophilus Lewis. He was a World War I veteran. He reviewed black plays for the Messner Magazine. And he believed that theater was an essential vehicle in which society could affect social change and cultural development. According to Theodore Cornwee Bell, Theophilus Lewis' primary theme was the need of blacks establishing their own cultural independence with a national black theater grounded in the works of black playwrights. And the Federal Theater Project, which was funded by the government, lasted from August 1927 to 1935. I mean, August 27, 1935 until June 30, 1939. And they had various unit. One of the unit was a Negro unit or the Black Theater, the Federal Theater Project. And over that period, they produced about 30 plays. Probably the most famous plays was one directed by Orson Welles dealing with Haiti. Yeah, it was the one that went to Broadway during that particular time. And the Federal Theater Project, they disbanded the Federal Theater Project in June 30, 1939 because they felt there was too much, too many communists involved in it. Now, I would like to get into our subject by playing a clip of an interview that I did with Karen Chappelle. At the time, she was the chairman of the board of directors of the Roe v. Theodore Company. And we talked about the 20 year anniversary of the film. And her thoughts on the National Black Theater Company. How can we make community theater more affordable to the community? Well, I think, to be honest with you, I think that community theater is kind of affordable to the community. As long as they know about it. I think that's the biggest thing. Because the tickets are $20. And when you think about $20, people spend $20 on their cell phones. On their cell phone bills. You know, just anything without even thinking about it. All kinds of discounts are available for senior citizens, for students. Different date discounts. I don't think it's so much the price of the ticket. I think it's the information process. Getting the information about the plays. That's what is necessary. Now, it's interesting that you mentioned a little earlier about for us and by us. Because during the time of the Harlem Renaissance period, Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois and the Theophilus Lewis, they advocated for the creation of a national African American, you know, black theater company. And they said that it should have four components. It should be about us, by us, for us, and near us. Now, what are your thoughts about the need for that? What about the need for a national African American theater company? I love it. I love it. I love it. Those are my thoughts. I would like to be involved. I would like to assist anyone in the creation of this project. You know, the Negro Theater Ensemble is still very strong and very much alive in New York. I mean, I think that there is a national black theater association. But it's different than, you know, a theater company of actors, so to speak, that would tour around. I think that's a great point. I think it would be amazing. And I think that there's a need for it, and I think there's an interest in it among the actors. Listen, I see the actors at Roby Theater Company, these guys, to use an expression that was in the, not the Reckoning, but one of the Roby shows that said, you've got to go. These actors, they've got to go. They like the theater. They have talent. And they want to be involved. I think it's a real possibility, to be honest with you. Mm-hmm. And I think it's a real opportunity because Dr. Du Bois and Theo Lewis, they was talking about this during the 20s. And here, it's almost 100 years later, and we still don't have a full-scale national African-American theater company. Mm-hmm. What can I say, Ishmael? Time flies. Time flies. I mean, you can't believe it's been 100 years. Yes. Yes. Now, also, let me ask you this. What are some of the upcoming projects at the Roby? I mean, I think it's a great question. What are some of the projects at the Roby have over there? Well, you know what? Ben is just taking kind of a hiatus this year to try and get ready for his big 20th anniversary. I know that he is working on doing something very special for the 20th anniversary. And it will be a world premiere play. But I don't think I'm at liberty to say what it is. But let me say this. It's going to be very exciting. And it's going to be very historical and relevant. Okay. That was Karen Chabelle talking about the play that we are going to see. And I think it's going to be a great show. I think it's going to be a great show. I think it's going to be a great show. I think it's going to be a great show. I think it's going to be a great show. I think it's going to be a great show. Let's go around and talk about some comments on what we heard and your thoughts on the National Black Theater Company. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. what we heard and your thoughts on the National Black Theater Company. I think it's a great idea. I like the idea she's speaking of touring and bringing it to the people. I like the four points that were made about us, for us, near us. All those things are very important. I think a key component that has to be considered when you're talking about developing something so significant is the buy-in. Do our people buy into the narrative of the need for this type of a system, this type of an organization? And I humbly suggest that they don't. There's a woeful lack of investment in the black community. Individualism. It's taking over the black community. When W.E.B. Du Bois was living, we saw the crisis. Today, I'm not so sure we see that we're in crisis. We tend to function better when we see that there's a need for a sense of urgency. I can't really convince myself that we as a people see that. Or see it. Because we've hit that stage. You know, people are dying every day. You know, there's injustices happening every day. And the theater community was a way to keep us informed of the pulse of our society and how it impacted African Americans. It doesn't seem to be as important to the community overall. And it may be due to all of the distractions. Television, music, commercialism, materialism. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. us together. I think one of the reasons the National Theater Company was so important is it was the center. People always talk about the black church, but they forget about two other major entities that we had. One of them was that National Theater Company. We had the Lafayette Theaters all over. They lasted for a long time. In the movies, we had the Lincoln Theaters. That was all over. But one of the things that really broke it down was when integration came. Brown versus the Board of Education, 1954, that decision that desegregated everything and started with Jackie Robinson in the sports really broke all of our sports team. We've been suffering ever since from that. What are your thoughts on that? I think that the theater, the need for black theater, I think it's necessary. I think it's necessary to show a! separate avenue for a lot of our young brothers growing up because for a lot of us, our choices in terms of what choices we're supposed to make socially are limited from our conception. You talk to a lot of kids nowadays. I asked some kids at my mother's school, what do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a rapper. I want to be a football player. I want to be a basketball player. I feel like the theater opens the door for it opens a narrative for more choices and it also I think that allowing more black theater will also show more of a positive reinforcement for the family structure because I think in my mind that is one of the largest problems that we face is that family structure and I sit downstairs sometimes before we go on the show and I'm talking and sometimes I'm listening to my older brothers that are talking to me you for example and I listen and we have an opportunity to talk. There's a narrative down there and we talk and I get to learn something from you and although it may not seem at the time that I'm learning, I am and I feel like allowing the theater to come in it gives two different opportunities for the kids. It gives them the opportunity to be educated but not be educated through the boring sense that they don't want to sit there for all day and look at a board. They want to be entertained. It allows it. I think the need for theater is it is important because a lot of, especially for young black men, one of the biggest problems that we face is we all know how to be strong or to be tough or to at least project strength but how many of us know how to be vulnerable? How many of us know how to be in tune with our emotions? That's difficult. That's beyond how well you speak. How well you can speak or how tough you are. That's different to actually be in tune with your emotions. I watch this young lady over here. She is a complete professional. I watch her in her preparation before she goes on stage. She'll sit there and she's soaking it in. Sometimes if she's doing a church person, she's sitting there reading her Bible going over some things. She's marvelous but those things that she's utilizing for her craft they bleed over I'm sure into her life. I feel like having that theater, having that opportunity and what you're proposing I think it's necessary. It's necessary for us as a people. Let me go to June and then I want to get your thoughts too, Ms. Mel. National Black Theater Company I think it's amazing it's an amazing idea but like Kem said, we've got to buy into it and the way to buy into it I think is to reach the kids when they're young. Going back to what Ms. Melo said, when I was in New York I worked with an agency called Healing Arts Initiative. It used to be called Hospital Audiences, Inc. We would go into schools, homeless shelters, correctional facilities and we would do improvisational theater on violence prevention, on leadership, on HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention. This was the most amazing thing I have ever been involved with. I was with HAI for 10 years and going into specifically the prisons and seeing the talent that is in prison. When we would give these guys, because we not only would perform for them, we would do a little breakout session and have them actually perform with us. Improvisational theater. All of a sudden you'll see one of them would get up and get this amazing character that he's just creating out of thin air. Do you understand what I'm saying? What if we would have gotten him before he got into prison? We go into the homeless shelters and we go into the women's shelters for the abused women and we would have these women and I'm in tears and they're thinking oh wow, June's a great actress. No, I'm in tears because I'm doing a performance with a woman who really is in this shelter and she's trying to comfort me in the scene. Do you understand what I'm saying? This is why this kind of thing is important. We've got to get to people before they get to the place where they're in the homeless shelter or in the women's shelter, abused women's shelter or in the at-risk schools. You understand what I'm saying? We've got to get to them so that when they're, even if they never ever think about becoming an actor as a career, it's beneficial for this type of work to happen in these schools and catching these kids when they're young because it helps you just to be able to make a presentation when you have to do a report in college. It helps you to make a presentation when you have to do it at your job in any business. It helps you when you're trying to do a business plan to get money for your own business and to communicate with the investors and the angel investors and so forth. Acting is something that you need just to be able to communicate, period. So this National Black Theatre, Theatre thing is something that is not just to be able to make sure we as professional actors have a place to work and constantly even though that is important. Lord Jesus, it is important. But it's also something just to survive. Many of the kids that I worked with when I taught drama in schools, I would say okay, let's just write a poem about whatever you're going through right now. It would blow me away what these kids would come up with. They just need a place to express themselves and to have an option other than rap. Rap is great. It's wonderful. But it starts with that poem. It starts with having the real lyrics to something that they're actually going through and a chance to do some improvisational theatre about whatever it is, teenage pregnancy, whatever it is. You know what I mean? Dealing with seeing their parents at home fighting. They have to be able to act that out just to get that out of their system so they don't kill themselves or kill other people. You know what I mean? This is the kind of reason why it is important for us to have this. Because the National Black Theatre, I'm hoping and praying once we get this kind of thing going, we can get government funding, especially with all the stuff that's happening in the news with our young black men. The government may, if we put together a wonderful grant proposal, if we put together a wonderful business plan on how to make this thing real and show them this is the kind of stuff that would keep our kids maybe off the street and stealing whatever foolishness they're stealing so that they won't die because of it. And we're going to, second half of our show, we're going to possibly look at how a National Black Theatre Company would look, what it would take. Ms. Mello, you want to make a comment on that? Yes. Well, I'm glad to hear exactly the needs in our community is very important. Turn it back on. Yes. On now? The fact that we are actually working on this, merging Hollywood with South Central is in an ongoing process. We're going to be working on this for the next six months going to happen. The Pan Andreas Theatre West abandoned for about 11 years on Vermont and 88th. We're trying to obtain that. There is a home that will be built for the National Black Theatre. But the thing is, are we able to work together to make that happen? That's the key. So what I would like to do is further on our movement and work with the people who feel the same way. It's not everyone. It's a handful of us, African-Americans who are sick and tired of being sick and tired and willing to do something. We're going to be working on this. We're going to work together. That's the key. Willing to work together, not giving any more excuses, not giving any more excuses on how we as black people operate. We don't want to hear that anymore. Right now, there is a plan in tow, ready to get funding. And are you willing to put your work into getting this funding? This is the next six months. So overall, South Central will be the new hub for Hollywood, where what you see in Hollywood and Universal Studios, the Music Center, all of these major funders. that fund these projects will be able to fund this with the proposal that we already have in tow. All we need is the workers. So I'm glad to be with you guys. I want to be a worker. Let me just make a compliment. Let's talk for a minute about some of the things that actually came into play to destroy the National Black Theater Company. Because what happened, when we had the Federal Theater Project, and the Federal Theater Project went out in 1939, the remnants of that, you have people like Rose McClinton, who became the mentors of Ozzie Davis, Ruby Dee, William Marsh, Harry Belafonte, Sidney, and all of them in the Negro Theater. But you had a conflict that emerged between the actors and the playwrights. See, because they forgot what W.E.B. Du Bois was doing. And Theophilus Lewis said, when they was dropping the theory, they thought that the starting point, both of them felt that the starting point was a black playwright. See, they felt that that was the starting point of building the National Theater Company. And then you had to split the actors. It was split between the playwrights and the actors. Actors went their way, playwrights went their way, and the movement has been going in circles ever since. And one of the things that we have in mind, and I think it's a great point, is that we have to do something. We have to do something. We have to do something. Now, especially in the black artistic community, is the actors that's out of work. So I think it's very important when they develop the National Theater Company, we begin to look at a model. We got to make sure that we look at the whole concept of living wages for actors. See, they talk about living wages for everybody else within the collaborative form of theater, your technicians, your directors, your playwrights, everybody. But the actors, and you know, sometimes I wonder, is this karma for what's happening, what happened in the 30s and 40s when they went in different directions now and that they are suffering? And I know Alcas Wilson, you know, he talked a lot about trying to develop a national theater. Anybody would like to comment on that, about how it affects actors now, and how can we, if a national theater come into play, how can we bring the concept of living wages for all of the elements of the collaborative, the actors, the playwrights? You said something about the actors went one way and the writers went another way. Yes. As far as not coming, the black actors and the black writers went different directions. The actors would not support the- The black writers. The concept of a national black theater company. Oh, okay, yeah. The playwrights. They thought it should have been based upon the actors, whereas I agree with Theophilus Lewis, and I agree with Dr. Du Bois, that the starting point was the writing, the playwrights. That's what brings all of the elements of the collaborative together. Right. I mean, this is why I think I honor Alcas Wilson so much, because he kept so strong to writing our stories, and that- That cycle that he did with the 20th century, you know, and a play for every 10 years, and he finished it, you know, which was just an amazing thing to me, and it was like his work here was done, and he left a wealth of work. I, myself, as probably some of the other actors in this room, have, and we're different ages, but we've had an opportunity to do Alcas Wilson's work, and if you haven't, you can do it. And if you haven't, you will be, you know, because he left a lot of work, and then particularly for men, as I think we had a discussion about that before, and particularly black men, we get left out. Some of the characters are somewhat demeaning if we left it to somebody else to write the story. He wrote the story, and he understood what we needed to express, and I think that that's why I like, and I honor Alcas Wilson and the work that he did. He left a wealth of work, and there's other good writers, I mean like Levy Lee Simon. Mm-hmm. I mean, really. All right, right. You know, I was introduced to Levy's work 10 years before I even met him, you know, and I was like, wow, okay, and then, and now I'm a part of a piece that he's doing, you know, this Pearl Cleek. I mean, there's a lot of, who are unsung, I would have to say, because there's a lot of people we know right off the top, you know. you know we know about August Wilson you know but there's a whole group of people don't know about a Pearl Cleg or leaving Lee Simon or Cornell Calhoun there's a lot of people who are out here writing and they're writing good stuff you know and I think that it gives us a platform in a place as actors directors producers to get that kind of work out yeah well at the core of the black experience mm-hmm is being able to think holistically at the core of the African experience is the ability to think holistically and even though Du Bois was saying at the starting point it was about the playwrights he still had a holistic agenda and actors wouldn't have been left out he was trying to put together a structure so that we could develop a systemic way of sustaining the culture mm-hmm when you are exposed it's very seductive you know it's very seductive and it's very seductive and it's very seductive when you're getting a lot of attention and I and I would assume that that probably had something to do with the split you know this desire to be seen as opposed to the desire to maintain the integrity of the mission and we still have to be mindful of that today because they'll still be those systemic seductive elements out there to try to split up agendas split up missions and if we don't have the discipline to recognize that then we won't have any more success than they did and we have to be you know mature enough to avoid infighting mm-hmm we have to be mature enough to avoid infighting it has nothing to do with us disrespecting your individualistic way of thinking but if you want to collaborate then there has to be some humility there has to be some listening teaching silence educating all happening at once and what we tend to do is we get lost in what is first as opposed to saying that's first in a particular perspective but that's not discounting second third fourth or fifth because they're all pieces to the puzzle I think along with grant writing you're gonna need to like appeal to the Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul because sometimes the older innkeepers don't want to sit down and let the youth be energetic and use that vibrancy and creativity. Sometimes the youth don't want to sit down and listen and establish their powers and their creativity and their discipline. And so they go out there and it's easy for them to be figured out and they become a casualty. And all of that talent is wasted. So there needs to be a lot of internal work on every person to understand the importance of buying into a collective agenda because that's who we are as a people. That's right. Beautiful. Yeah. You know, I share thoughts with these gentlemen who just spoke. When we talk about this, I'm kind of stuck and I think we've talked about it downstairs. Because when I look at some... You were speaking earlier. You were talking about can we get everyone to be on the same page. I think during those times with civil rights and everything that was occurring during those times, there were some people who had to make some concessions or compromise for a greater goal. Esa Waters, for example, she had to take some of those parts. Some parts she had to take were because of money and some parts because that was all that was there. But those... Those little small things, like I always want to make sure that I pay homage to some of those people like Miss Butterfly and so on. Those people that took those small parts that opened those doors, that opened those doors that were once closed. I... My biggest thing is I think it's just like you said. I think it's the need for us to be able to be Indians. And I don't... I don't mean it from a Native American standpoint. I mean, instead of being chiefs. Followers. Instead of everyone being a chief, be an Indian. And being able to work with someone and give your all, even if you don't share the same thought process. Even if you don't like them. But be able to accomplish your goal. I mean, because I've had to do that before. And I know everyone at this table has had to. You know, when we're working on a project and you just... Oh, my gosh. I just cannot tolerate that person. I just... I just cannot. I can't... When they breathe, it bothers me. But realistically, you have a goal. You have a job. And the job is bigger than your little problem. And I feel like... I feel like that may have been what happened. I think when, like you said, when the integration started, there were new avenues. Oh, I don't have to do this anymore. And it was... Some people may have forgotten about the goal. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. individual named Harold Cruz, and he wrote two excellent books. One is called A Crisis of the Negro Intellectual, and the other one is called Plural but Equal. And in it, he talked about the importance of having these ethnic communities. And when you look, and now Dr. Anderson is talking about the fact that everybody have ethnic communities, strong ethnic and control the life of their communities, but they're African Americans. But Harold Cruz, in his second book, I think he pointed out something that a lot of people miss. He pointed out that we live in a dual plural ethnic society, in which these ethnic communities, they exist on two levels. They exist in their own community, where they develop their own community, control themselves. And they live in a dual plural community, where they live in a dual plural life of their community. And they also exist in the mainstream plural community. But when you look at the African American, we only exist in the mainstream plural community. You know, our own community, I think that's one of the major reasons why we can't provide any jobs or better education or control the public school systems, which was developed for the ex-slaids and stuff like that. Now it's run down. But I think, this is why I think it's so important, what a national theater company. But I do feel that it have to be centralized. I visualize a national theater company being situated in 24 areas of the United States, with one central location. And I always look at Chicago as the best central location, because it's central. It's central in the United States. It's central in black culture. When you had the black mountains, you had the black mountains. You had the black mountains. You had the black mountains. That was one of the major stops there. And also, two other important elements. Not only do I think we should look closely at that concept of living wages for actors, but I also think that we should look at a young people's theater company. That should be part of the component. We need a dance company. That should be part of the, and all of these, they should be connected, like it was when we did have a national theater company. And, you know, you wanted to say something. Well, just going back to this thing of why some of the actors might have said, no, we want to be the ones kind of like the central part of it. But this is the problem with not realizing we are storytellers. African people are storytellers. So it has to be about the story. So we do need to make the playwrights the central focus of it because nothing starts without a story. And we have to be dedicated to telling that story. And no matter how big or small of a part, even if you have no lines, dedicated to staying in the pocket. I remember I was working at the New York Imposed Cafe. I even wore my T-shirt. The New York Imposed Cafe. Julius Caesar set in Africa. This is the first New York stage production I ever did. Shout out to Rome Neal. Shout out to Rome Neal because he put me on stage and he was a good friend of my brother's, good friend of Levy Lee Simon's. And he was the first one to put on. Put me on stage, but I had no lines. And I was young and I was just, oh, this is cool. And so I made sure that I'd stayed out of the way of the people who did have lines. I stayed out of the way of the people. You know what I'm saying? Because I wanted to learn and find out everything I could. And you see, I'm an animated person. So even that, I had to kind of pull it in because I wanted to make sure I didn't want to punch. It's a smidge, right? But I had to pull that in. I had to pull focus. You understand? Because I knew I was just honored to be there. I wanted to make sure that the story got told. Right. Not that I was anything, but you know what I'm saying? I wanted to just fit in to be the color and the painting. And the painting. As opposed to, you know what I'm saying? So these are the kind of things that have to be taught, though. The only reason I knew this, I didn't instinctively know this, my brother, Ed Seward III, may he rest in peace, was an actor who had worked with Ernie McClintock and was heavy into black theater. He taught me that. He was like, you don't have to do anything. Just be. You see what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. You're so used to being, doing, doing, doing. Just be a human being. Not a human doing. A human being. That's enough. So these are the things why, reasons why, as actors, we do have to defer to the playwright. Not to mention, a playwright can create 20 roles. Right. Yeah. And I mean, a playwright also, and I think it's very important to stick to the playwright's words. Yes. You know, because he had a thought process of putting this together. And one thing that I have a problem with, and a lot of us do it from time to time, is paraphrasing. Yeah. If the man wrote, talk about the cat, I'm going to say, talk about the cat. I'm not going to say, thinking about, or, you know, I'm not going to create something new. Because it's all important to the thought process. Well, let me ask you this. Yeah. Because, you know, I watch Levy and the rewrites and rehearsals. Mm-hmm. Ooh, I'd be afraid to change any of his words up there. But look, here's what I want to ask. We're going to skip our community calendar. I want to always ask actors their process, and then we're going to come back for some closing comments. Okay. For Learning Lines. And I want to play this clip by David McKnight when I had him in here, and I asked him that. Something else, David. What is your process for Learning Lines? Oh, boy, that's a good one. That's a good question. You know, I go to the bottom line. I go to the bottom line and say by rote, you know, and that is by doing the best that you can by any means necessary. Repetition? Repetition, absolutely, by rote. But also what it depends on is the individual. Some actors, individuals, have photographic memories. Some actors, individuals, don't have. They have a semi-photographic memory. Some actors, individuals, and they have talent, but they don't have good memory skills. So depending upon what your level is, depends upon what you're going to have to do in order to learn those lines. Now, if you have a photographic memory, they come to you as a snap. But if you recognize the fact, well, I'm a slow learner, it takes me a while, then that means you've got to woodshed. You've got to start early and dig deep. You know what I mean? And you do it by every means necessary. You could, you know, say them over and over and over and over and over, day and night and morning, noon and night. You can write them down, take them, write it in pencil over and over, because when you take a pencil and write something down, it does enhance your memory a little bit more than just speaking it out. With a pencil. With a pencil in your hand, you just write those lines out and you try to do it from memory. First, you can do it by just looking at the script and then writing it out verbatim as you're reading it from the script. And there's something about that hand, the pencil in your hand, mind, pencil, contact and writing will keep, will dig it a little bit deeper into your memory. You do that. Then you can put it on tape. You put it on tape and you can listen to it over and over and over. Then, like a lot of my actor friends and myself, what we do, we go to the park. We go out by the ocean or something. We get out there and speak out those lines. You know what I'm talking about. Speak those lines over and over and over. You whisper those lines. You sing those lines. You do everything you can take. When I was starting out as an actor, one of the things that I enjoyed doing, what I would take, try to find every aspect of how I could perform my lines. You know what I mean? I sing my lines. I laugh my lines. I get angry with all my lines, everything. I'm angry through every line in it. I laugh at every line. I sing every line. You know, I clown every line. I do everything because let me share this with you. And I do coach actors. One of the things that we do as actors, our bodies are our instrument. Every aspect of our body is our instrument. We don't play, you know, if you're a piano player, your piano is your instrument. If you're a horn player, a horn is your instrument. But see, our bodies are our instrument. So that means it's our ears, our eyes, our voice, you know, our energy, everything, you know, our mannerisms, movements, and everything else. So we have to train that instrument. And we have to work with that instrument. And so you take that instrument and put it in any, all kinds of technique and environments that you can in order to be able to use it when the time is necessary. But getting back to remembering those lines. You just do it over and over and over and over and over until you got it. Okay. Let's take about a minute a piece because we're winding down. But I'm interested in your process for learning lines. Well, he said it all for me. It's really, it's about rope for me. I go over and over and it's about different ways to do it, you know, because every time I repeat the line, I'll say it a different way or find out what the meaning of that line is. And that's with every single line that I have. And usually for me, I study with a line. I'm not a professional. I'm not a professional. I'm not a professional. I have a lot of activity around me. I'll turn on the radio. I'll turn on the TV. And I do this because it makes me focus and come into what I'm doing. And I mean, every time, when I was married, I had my children, they would be around. I wouldn't stop them from making noise. I would just do what I had to do. Yeah. And that helps the concentration. It helps the concentration because when you're doing live theater, anything can happen. Mm-hmm. You know, some things can happen. Yeah. Yeah. It's different every time. I won't waste a lot of time on it. It depends on the role. Some take me into a place of seclusion. Some take me into a place of, you know, being a little more open and free. So each role depends. Kyle? I try to keep it blank. I try to just learn the text first. Just learn the text, what I have to do. Because a lot of times you make the choices emotionally, and the other person doesn't make it because you have to listen anyway. After I learn it the first time, then I start going a little deeper into it. Why did I say this? Why am I responding this way? What happened before this scene that made this happen? And what's my thought process of the character at that moment? And then when you're with the other actor, then when you guys get together, then the emotions start to bounce back and forth, and you find things you never would have found by yourself. June? Everything everyone has already said, plus rehearsalapp.com. Seriously, I have the rehearsal app on my iPhone, and I just listen to it over and over and over whenever I'm doing anything. And it just helps me because I hear not only my lines, but I hear the other person's lines too because I say all of their lines, record it, and it's already on the little iPhone. It's awesome. Rehearsal app. Rehearsal app. Okay. We're winding down. We've got less than three minutes to go. I'd like to get a little, if I can get a 30-second comment or something like that, a final comment from each one of you. I know that's not a long time. That's not a long time. Go somewhere else. Well, I can go. I mean, I think it's really important for us to consider stepping up our game when it comes to developing institutions. Along with having this children's theater group, we have to have some brain power. We have to have some lawyers. We have to have some grant writers. We have to have some intellectual power so that we don't always have to go to the government for handouts. If we want to establish an institution, there are ways to do it because people have done it before. We have to have researchers. And those researchers need to be able to put together clear, concise agenda items so that we can move. Because, you know, just talking about it and thinking about it and going to the government, that is not going to work. We got to do some empowerment kind of interventions. Okay. Hey, I just want to say to the young girl, young boy that's out there, I want to tell you that no matter what obstacle, what things may appear like, you can do this. You can make it. You can use it. You can use all of your creative powers to get it done. And to the mother or the father that's out there taking care of them, embrace it. Push it. I'm telling you, when you look at them as a young man or as a young woman, you will be proud because they will be solidified and understand who they are. And once they understand who they are, nothing anyone can say will stop them or hold them back. You got almost the last word. You got about 30 seconds. Okay. I just want to say thank you to all of the people. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Just encourage anybody, if you want to make a difference, donate to the Robie Theater Company because we are doing things over there and we are telling stories over there about us, for us, by us, to us, and about us. Okay. All right, yeah. Absolutely. Okay, let me wind this down. I would like to extend a special thanks to Elizabeth June, Doug Dua, Kim Sanders, Kyle Connor McDuffie. Hello. Please listen to past shows of the Coombran Report by Googling in Coombran Report. Thank you for tuning in to the Coombran Report and from your host, Melvin Ishmael Johnson, my co-host, Earlene Anthony, Ms. Mellor sitting in with us today, and may the peace and blessings of the life-giving, creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. I leave you with the song, Meet Me at the Dunbar, by the cast of the magnificent Dunbar Hotel. Meet me at the Dunbar. Meet me at the Dunbar. Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Ul Meet me at the Dunbar, the Dunbar Hotel on Central Avenue. The air is filled with music from the minster himself, Duke Ellington. From the red blaster midnight, let us sing and jive, the drinks keep flowing. Meet me at the Dunbar, meet me at the Dunbar Hotel. Meet me at the Dunbar, the Dunbar Hotel on Central Avenue. Everybody's dressed so fine, every man is a slip of the shine. Ladies, raps, and kings and girls, the Dunbar Hotel is out of this world. Come on and meet me at the Dunbar, meet me at the Dunbar Hotel. Come on and meet me. Meet me at the Dunbar, the Dunbar Hotel on Central Avenue. Come on and meet me at the Dunbar, meet me at the Dunbar Hotel. Come on and meet me at the Dunbar, the Dunbar Hotel on Central Avenue. Where? The Dunbar Hotel on Central Avenue. The Dunbar Hotel on Central Avenue. Thank you.