Speaker 1: Coming to you from the dining room table at East
Speaker 1: Barbury Lane. Welcome to a special edition a Full Circle
Speaker 1: the podcast. Today we are interviewing the director and cast
Speaker 1: members from Ain't Misbehavior, the Fat Swaller musical show, being
Speaker 1: put on at Theater Horizon in Norristown, Pennsylvania until May seventeenth.
Speaker 1: With us today we have director Amina Robinson, cast members
Speaker 1: Chabrell Williams and Rogier Alford. Welcome to the Full Circle Table.
Speaker 2: Y'all, Hello, thanks for having us.
Speaker 1: We were going to do this the day that we
Speaker 1: came to see the show, and as happened, things went haywire.
Speaker 1: But I'm so glad y'all could make time to sit
Speaker 1: down with us today. I had so much fun.
Speaker 3: Oh my god.
Speaker 4: Well, first of all, sidebart, who are we?
Speaker 1: I'm your host Martha Magical.
Speaker 5: And I'm your host Charles Tyson Junior.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cool Circle Table.
Speaker 5: We switched chairs and everything just goes.
Speaker 1: I'm just I don't know how to talk anymore.
Speaker 5: Right, but but yeah, I what happens.
Speaker 1: When I don't break it all down, when I just
Speaker 1: try to go off a note.
Speaker 4: I was looking so forward to seeing the show because
Speaker 4: I realize and I brought this up on the night.
Speaker 4: Not only is Ain't Misbehaving my favorite musical, I believe
Speaker 4: it was my very.
Speaker 5: First one as a kid.
Speaker 4: When the original Broadway production was on PBS and I
Speaker 4: got to see it, and I believe that was my
Speaker 4: exposure to musical theater without even knowing that's what it was.
Speaker 2: Wow, Wow, that's awesome.
Speaker 1: I mean, what makes your truth fat misbehaving?
Speaker 2: I mean, quite to the contrary Charles's. I actually was
Speaker 2: not a huge fan of aint Misbehavior. Uh not not
Speaker 2: because I actually didn't have very much experience with it,
Speaker 2: and I think that that's what it was. Ultimately, I
Speaker 2: had sang a couple songs in grad school for voice lessons,
Speaker 2: and so when Matt Decker called, and you know, it
Speaker 2: was like, Hey, you want to direct a Misbehaving We'd
Speaker 2: love to have you back at Theater Horizon. I was
Speaker 2: excited to go back to Theater Horizon. I figured Ain't
Speaker 2: Misbehaving would be a you know, as good a show
Speaker 2: as any to go back to Theater Horizon with. But
Speaker 2: it wasn't my faith, you know. And it also presented
Speaker 2: an opportunity for one of my little darlings from Temple
Speaker 2: to make her professional choreographic debut, so that's what like,
Speaker 2: that's what excited me the most. You know, it was
Speaker 2: less about the actual show and more about the people
Speaker 2: that I get to work with, because then I also
Speaker 2: got to hand select this cast, so I.
Speaker 1: Loved And of course we always watch choreography. Charles, I
Speaker 1: mean choreograph for years.
Speaker 5: Got my BFA and in dancing choreography from Temple.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so he always looks for the Temple grads always.
Speaker 1: And Curtis Harris is a rubber band le chall. I
Speaker 1: loved the casting, so but he's just got the body
Speaker 1: for that part. And the choreography was wonderful. It lent
Speaker 1: the joy of the show came through the joy, the
Speaker 1: on rate. The fun was there in the choreography, So
Speaker 1: perfect choice. Did you do the casting?
Speaker 2: I did?
Speaker 1: I did?
Speaker 2: We didn't, you know. The fun part was that we didn't.
Speaker 2: We had like we had an audition call, but it
Speaker 2: was only for two roles. It was for Charlene and
Speaker 2: for Andre's part. But Curtis Harris was the only person
Speaker 2: that I called in to audition for Andrea's part because
Speaker 2: I had seen him play leading player in Pippin and
Speaker 2: I was like, I have a feeling that he's gonna
Speaker 2: come in here and be amazing, so I said, I'll
Speaker 2: just see him first and see what he does with
Speaker 2: it first. But aside from that, I hand picked everybody.
Speaker 2: Even though we had the call for Charlane, I ended
Speaker 2: up just going with my gut and asking Jessica Money
Speaker 2: to be in it, you know, but everybody else, Tierra,
Speaker 2: Schabrell and bridgier I. You know, I was like, if
Speaker 2: I'm doing this show, I need to think about the
Speaker 2: people that would really make it amazing because it sort
Speaker 2: of relies on the actor personalities and the artist personalities.
Speaker 2: You know. I thought of them, and you know, I
Speaker 2: was just like, Hey, you want to do this show please.
Speaker 1: It's one of those shows where you don't have a
Speaker 1: lot of dialogue to hide in and you're telling the story.
Speaker 1: You're telling about who your characters are right through, through
Speaker 1: the songs and through and so much as unspoken. Bro,
Speaker 1: I couldn't take my eyes off you. God, you were amazing.
Speaker 1: What did you How did how did you get ready
Speaker 1: for this? How did you did you have experienced with
Speaker 1: the with the show prior none at all?
Speaker 6: This is maybe my fifth or sixth musical I've done
Speaker 6: ever professionally.
Speaker 1: So and it was you know, okay.
Speaker 6: Because I've been stuck an opera for most of my life,
Speaker 6: That's why. But no, I've had no like I may have.
Speaker 6: I may have listened to the music and I didn't
Speaker 6: even see the recording until I got the role. I know,
Speaker 6: I got the call from Matthew Decker to be in it,
Speaker 6: and so I was like, okay, well let me look
Speaker 6: at this show and see what it is, and was
Speaker 6: blown away. It was really excited to sing with people
Speaker 6: and like just like have our voices come together? But
Speaker 6: zero experience with this show beforehand, and so prepping for
Speaker 6: it was lots of warm up. And then once we
Speaker 6: started doing choreo, I was I was mostly worried about
Speaker 6: the choreo and I was like, oh no, I'm not trained.
Speaker 6: I'm not trained and danced. I am a strong mover.
Speaker 6: I will move my body. But and I picked up choreo.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 5: Yes, she can't now.
Speaker 6: Know you I did, and now I know I can
Speaker 6: and think, Thank goodness, Eleanna was just absolutely fabulous and
Speaker 6: so patient and so clear and just.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what about you?
Speaker 7: What was your experience with the show.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so prior to getting the offer for it, I
Speaker 3: had not I had known of it, and in college
Speaker 3: my teacher kept trying to get me to sing Feats
Speaker 3: Too Big and I just never I.
Speaker 7: Never took to it. I was like, ah, I'm kind
Speaker 7: of good on this.
Speaker 3: So my experience was similar to a Minas, where like
Speaker 3: it it was kind of on.
Speaker 7: My radar, but it wasn't one that I was like,
Speaker 7: I must do that show.
Speaker 3: I love the music, and it was kind of like
Speaker 3: once I got the offer, I was working with a
Speaker 3: Mena on another project called One Pound, four Ounces, where
Speaker 3: I was not really an actor Lane. I was more
Speaker 3: a musician and composing producing Lane. But then I started
Speaker 3: listening to the music and then found the bootleg of
Speaker 3: the original Broadway cast and you know there's icons in
Speaker 3: that Ken Paige, Andre Deshields, Neil Carter, all of that.
Speaker 3: They're so incredible, and that's when I was like, oh,
Speaker 3: this is this is like this material is actually really
Speaker 3: good and there's gonna be a lot of to sink
Speaker 3: our sink our teeth into. But really like it came
Speaker 3: from like trusting are the people that were leading in
Speaker 3: the room and me and Eliana, this is my third
Speaker 3: show up this year that I've done with Eliana. The
Speaker 3: first two were as actors. We're both actors in the show,
Speaker 3: and this one, obviously she was on the creative team,
Speaker 3: and I was like, well, I trust these people and
Speaker 3: our music director Brigit Rockman, who I also adore and
Speaker 3: love working with, so like really like it. The prep
Speaker 3: was easy because I was like, I'm in good hands
Speaker 3: all across the board.
Speaker 7: Show up, do the work once we get there, and
Speaker 7: it was a lot of work to do.
Speaker 5: What we gotta know this right?
Speaker 7: That was really that was really it.
Speaker 3: It was really really like show up and get to work,
Speaker 3: and we put the show up fast, so fast it is.
Speaker 1: You know, the show is based on the Harlem Renaissance,
Speaker 1: so we're talking about the twenties and thirties. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: what is that process to go back to that time?
Speaker 1: It's a different time in a lot of ways, and
Speaker 1: this takes us there, so, you know, as actors, as
Speaker 1: a director, like, what was that process to kind of
Speaker 1: go back into that place?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think that that's actually what interested me the
Speaker 2: most about the piece was the Harlem Renaissance, Like I
Speaker 2: just imagined, you know, Langston Hughes and Saor and Neil
Speaker 2: Hurston sitting in a Harlem Brownstone, you know, reciting poetry
Speaker 2: or something. You know, I don't know, but I imagined that, like,
Speaker 2: the parties must have been amazing. I've heard podcasts about it.
Speaker 2: I've read books about it. You know what the Harlem
Speaker 2: Renaissance feel was like that resurgence and rebirth of black
Speaker 2: art and culture and intellectual thought, you know. And that's
Speaker 2: what intrigued me the most about the piece is that
Speaker 2: while we were honoring the legacy of Fats Waller, we're
Speaker 2: also in this time period where black people started being great,
Speaker 2: you know, I won't say started, let me rewind that
Speaker 2: you don't have to cut this, but not started being great,
Speaker 2: but they had a resurgence of the greatness, you know,
Speaker 2: which really which really intrigued me. So it became important
Speaker 2: to me to make sure that we were clear about
Speaker 2: the time period of this. You know, that this piece
Speaker 2: takes place in and I wanted it to feel like
Speaker 2: a Harlem Brownstone party, you know, in the Harlem Renaissance.
Speaker 2: That's what that's the vibe. So the scenic design took
Speaker 2: shape so that it looked like an apartment, but then
Speaker 2: it had potential for magic cabaret kind of stuff to happen.
Speaker 2: But yeah, that's what really juiced me up about it
Speaker 2: was the time period.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah.
Speaker 4: So growing up in my father's household, we were a
Speaker 4: very jazz centric house. My father loved jazz, which is
Speaker 4: why I grew up with an appreciation of Fat Swaller.
Speaker 4: And so that's why I was like, wait, there's a
Speaker 4: whole show with nothing but Fats Wallas music. Oh my goodness,
Speaker 4: I'm nine years old and I know what this is. Uh,
Speaker 4: And that's why I said it was my favorite and first,
Speaker 4: and I was thinking about this, like if I go
Speaker 4: see a production of dream Girl, you know, I immediately
Speaker 4: look to see who's playing Fie. I'm like, all right,
Speaker 4: that's that's the powerhouse of the show. If I'm going
Speaker 4: to see a chorus line, I look and see who's
Speaker 4: playing Cassie.
Speaker 5: That's the powerhouse of the show.
Speaker 4: So it's like, in this show if y'all are all
Speaker 4: e fies, like there's no like you.
Speaker 7: If if you ain't.
Speaker 5: Fierce, you can't be in this show. Like that's just real.
Speaker 4: And that's another reason why I love the show, because
Speaker 4: I know, like I'm going here and see some amazing performers,
Speaker 4: because that's just how that works.
Speaker 5: That's just how that works.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what we felt in the rehearsal room too.
Speaker 3: We were like, oh my god, people are going to
Speaker 3: be blown away. Number after number after number. It was
Speaker 3: just like, Yeah, I remember being in that room and
Speaker 3: I just all like jaws on the ground after right.
Speaker 7: Also, I want to speak to ohka, go ahead, go aheads, bro.
Speaker 6: No, I was just saying it was crazy.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I just also wanted to speak to the time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, like because I and you know, like I didn't
Speaker 3: do much research on that time period before getting the show,
Speaker 3: but once we got in it, I'm thinking of that
Speaker 3: time period and I'm like, this show is so joyful
Speaker 3: and like and the music is incredible.
Speaker 7: Like the fact that our people were making art.
Speaker 3: Like this and celebrating limb their lives and touching into
Speaker 3: joy and creativity like this at that time, to me,
Speaker 3: I'm just I'm like dumbfounded by that, Like that they
Speaker 3: were able to reach this level of joy and creativity,
Speaker 3: and like the it's genius the stuff that they made
Speaker 3: back then and under that oppression, I'm like, what would
Speaker 3: have happened if they didn't have those things to fight through,
Speaker 3: like you know, but yeah, so I'm just I'm always
Speaker 3: smacked by like how.
Speaker 7: Joyful it is. The whole thing is just.
Speaker 5: Like four well except for black and blue.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yeah, right right, but that's that comes as
Speaker 3: the second to last number right in the show, which
Speaker 3: is like it's just.
Speaker 7: Like yeah except for black and blue.
Speaker 4: And it's funny because like that has always been one
Speaker 4: of my favorite songs just because it's so poignant. But
Speaker 4: and I was saying this to Charrilla after the show,
Speaker 4: like it really hit different for me hearing it in
Speaker 4: twenty twenty six, like even with it placed in my
Speaker 4: mind like the time that it was written, you know,
Speaker 4: we've come so far.
Speaker 5: And yet.
Speaker 4: You know, but the only line that I was like,
Speaker 4: oof was the I'm white inside, Like I get it,
Speaker 4: I get it.
Speaker 5: But it's like hmmm, yeah.
Speaker 2: So the lore is because I struggled with that one
Speaker 2: as well, for a number of reasons. You know, as
Speaker 2: a director, I do a lot of research into things,
Speaker 2: and the lore is that Fats Waller and I can't
Speaker 2: remember the lyricist name right now just because I want to,
Speaker 2: and that's how my mind works sometimes. But the Fat
Speaker 2: Swaller and the lyricists wrote that song under extreme dress
Speaker 2: for a musical. They didn't the lords that they didn't
Speaker 2: want to write the song, but they were forced to
Speaker 2: write the song for this musical that dealt with issues
Speaker 2: surrounding colorism, but through a white lens. Yeah and so
Speaker 2: and then as the musical, you know, the writers of
Speaker 2: the musical. This is all my imagination. I do not
Speaker 2: have facts for this, but in my imagination, I think
Speaker 2: about the time period that the musical was put together
Speaker 2: in this review for Fats Waller, and I can see
Speaker 2: how at that time especially that song would have been
Speaker 2: considered a poignant look into blackness, whereas I don't necessarily
Speaker 2: know that it has ever been a poignant look into blackness, right,
Speaker 2: you know? And I also imagine, again this is just
Speaker 2: Amena and her imaginings based on research. I also imagine
Speaker 2: that had Fatz Waller lived and put together a review
Speaker 2: of his own music, he probably would not have included
Speaker 2: black and Blue with lyrics that are like I'm white
Speaker 2: inside and what did I do to be so black
Speaker 2: and blue? I don't want to live like you know.
Speaker 2: I just don't know that he would include that, especially
Speaker 2: when you look at the body of the work that
Speaker 2: he had control over and what was happening during the
Speaker 2: Harlem Renaissance.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for that bit of information. The
Speaker 4: fact that I know now that that was written under
Speaker 4: duress makes.
Speaker 3: Way more safe.
Speaker 1: Because I'm like that.
Speaker 4: I mean, granted, you know, you black in the thirties,
Speaker 4: so yeah, I get it, but now I get it.
Speaker 1: Get it?
Speaker 7: Okay, good, thank you for that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah for me, I mean that one is
Speaker 1: just a hard song lounging as the wall Dwarf speaks to.
Speaker 5: That is my favorite retag performing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a lot in that. It's a fun song.
Speaker 1: There's a lot there, yes, yep, yeah, And I mean
Speaker 1: I think it talks about that the smile, it does,
Speaker 1: the need for the smile, the need for you know what.
Speaker 1: It's the line about they like jazz, but but in
Speaker 1: small doves.
Speaker 7: Get the lyrics come on.
Speaker 6: Like the I guess the original twitch.
Speaker 4: Right that part and and and again. Like I said,
Speaker 4: that was my favorite number and always has been. I
Speaker 4: think it was my introduction to counterpoint in music. I mean,
Speaker 4: that's probably not true because again jazz household, but consciously,
Speaker 4: but I realize now it kind of gives like white
Speaker 4: people are watching, yeah.
Speaker 7: Which I never.
Speaker 2: And the thing that gets you is that it's so
Speaker 2: freaking beautiful gorgeous.
Speaker 3: So you're like, this is this is like this moment,
Speaker 3: this song is like Amina's genius all over all over it.
Speaker 7: You can speak to this too.
Speaker 3: But like we had in rehearsals we leading up, we
Speaker 3: like were directed by Amina to not not do it
Speaker 3: a certain way, but we were like kind.
Speaker 7: Of free to interpret it for ourselves.
Speaker 3: And I think for a lot of us it was
Speaker 3: more for me especially, it was more so thinking about
Speaker 3: our ancestors point of view, because I too did have
Speaker 3: a tough time like saying that in today's scope with
Speaker 3: how I feel about my blackness and now I feel
Speaker 3: in my own skin. But so it was more so
Speaker 3: like throwing it back to then, and I think it
Speaker 3: was this more broody and emotional thing. And then Amina
Speaker 3: actually stopped us and she was kind of like, y'all, she.
Speaker 7: Pulled it all all together and little circles. She's like,
Speaker 7: I don't know how this this doesn't.
Speaker 3: Really like laying for me if I'm being honest, Like
Speaker 3: she's like, it's nothing y'all are doing. I told I
Speaker 3: directed you a certain way, but like she's like, what
Speaker 3: like what if what if we peeled that off and
Speaker 3: just like singing the song and that that moment for me,
Speaker 3: let it come out of this like emotional deep place
Speaker 3: where I was trying to dig for stuff and just
Speaker 3: let it be and let the audience have the reaction,
Speaker 3: not be I don't know, living stuff that's not necessary
Speaker 3: for us to be.
Speaker 6: We're living right, absolutely, yeah, and this is for black
Speaker 6: and Blue, and I think wouldn't go ahead, no, please
Speaker 6: please go ahead.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 1: I was just gonna say, we're in terms of the
Speaker 1: Waldorf or we're back that Roger you were just saying,
Speaker 1: or no I was saying.
Speaker 3: I was saying for black and black, and I jumped
Speaker 3: back to black and blue, but is tied into that world.
Speaker 7: I loved it.
Speaker 1: Well right because performance would not have been able to
Speaker 1: be obvious what they I mean, what if been under
Speaker 1: the surface. I'm sorry.
Speaker 6: I was just gonna come like I think I talked
Speaker 6: to I talked to you both about Black and Blue afterwards,
Speaker 6: and how amda change that from being like a really
Speaker 6: emotional to like, no, we're gonna we're gonna sing it
Speaker 6: for you, We're gonna sing it, Well, you're gonna sit
Speaker 6: with those feelings, not us, because we've we're black enough.
Speaker 6: We we've we we've we have, we have sat with
Speaker 6: these feelings. We sit with these feelings every day.
Speaker 5: Right, you you figure out.
Speaker 6: What I'm white inside means for me, not not me.
Speaker 6: I think we could talk about it afterwards. Yeah, but
Speaker 6: in like the Waldorf song, though I also agree like
Speaker 6: making fun of white people at that time, it had
Speaker 6: to be subtle. They couldn't just do it blatantly, like
Speaker 6: and I think I don't. I don't think we're doing
Speaker 6: it blatantly either, but I think their strength and subtlety
Speaker 6: when talking about the underscoring of like we have to
Speaker 6: be different around a different demographic demographic of people. And
Speaker 6: is the Waldorf still still up and running?
Speaker 1: Do we know?
Speaker 7: I'm pretty sure it.
Speaker 6: Is it a new hotel.
Speaker 5: I don't know about that people, but probably still.
Speaker 7: Yeah. And that's the thing.
Speaker 4: It's like, well, because that song is like it's giving,
Speaker 4: it's giving a code switching, it's giving we're just like you.
Speaker 4: It's giving elitism, it's given I got mine, you got
Speaker 4: you gotta get yours.
Speaker 5: There's so many levels to that.
Speaker 1: It is still open on Park Avenue. By the way,
Speaker 1: it's a Hilton Hotel. I had a check, right, it's
Speaker 1: still there, that makes sense.
Speaker 4: And I'm like, I'm thinking about like now, I'm actually
Speaker 4: thinking about like the songs in a twenty twenty six lens,
Speaker 4: and you know, I can't help but look around at
Speaker 4: folks in the audience while I'm watching, and it's like
Speaker 4: part of me just can't help but think somebody in
Speaker 4: that room when you got to I'm white inside, was going.
Speaker 1: I knew it.
Speaker 5: You know, I did not did not tell you.
Speaker 2: I did not tell you.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I feel I understand the trepidation of one too.
Speaker 7: That's all, Oh my.
Speaker 2: God, that's not what I tected you. I know it.
Speaker 1: There there is. There was something healing too, sitting in
Speaker 1: that theater in twenty twenty six, just with everything that's happening,
Speaker 1: you know, every day every day, you know. And I
Speaker 1: work with a lot of trans people who are terrified,
Speaker 1: you know, who just are what And we're sitting over
Speaker 1: here in New Jersey where we're we have a different
Speaker 1: experience than a lot of the states in the Union
Speaker 1: and different in the same union. They're everywhere.
Speaker 5: What that's a union?
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, union, just kind of entering a space of
Speaker 1: joy without apology, without you know, with just friends that
Speaker 1: it felt refreshing. It just felt like, let's go away
Speaker 1: for a minute, you know. And there was a layer
Speaker 1: of bittersweet which comes out of that time, you know,
Speaker 1: because when you said, I thought it was the first
Speaker 1: time we could really document black greatness, you know, and
Speaker 1: the books came out and we still have them to
Speaker 1: look at. That's the way I, you know, from this
Speaker 1: lens view view the Renaissance, like we actually still have this.
Speaker 1: It wasn't as dangerous to produce and to stand in
Speaker 1: in intellect and intellectual debate. And that's what I picture
Speaker 1: in the Brownstones, is that the conversations that went on,
Speaker 1: and I just everything that's happening now it's too eerily
Speaker 1: similar to, yeah, everything that was going on back then.
Speaker 1: So it felt it's a wonderful escape. And yet it's
Speaker 1: the more things change, the more they stay the same,
Speaker 1: where folks would like them to that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, because I think when we saw the show, that
Speaker 4: was the day of this the Supreme Court case on
Speaker 4: the redistricting, and which is what was in my mind
Speaker 4: when I was talking about how it hit different black
Speaker 4: and blue.
Speaker 1: Well, right, and it's only been a few days and
Speaker 1: we're seeing that they did exactly We've got states doing
Speaker 1: exactly what they we knew they would do with that verdict.
Speaker 1: So where do we go? Boy? I took this down,
Speaker 1: didn't I? Can we just do one thing though? If
Speaker 1: you're you know, if you're paying attention right now, can
Speaker 1: we just you know, I don't know without thinking, because
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about everything most of the time.
Speaker 4: I mean, everything has a context, a historical context and
Speaker 4: social cond text. So even the happy songs had a
Speaker 4: layer of something behind.
Speaker 3: It, you know.
Speaker 1: Well that was the poem Maya's poem about the smile
Speaker 1: or the laugh, you know, and it's and how not
Speaker 1: real that is, and that that I kept thinking about that,
Speaker 1: you know, and then the context of the news that right,
Speaker 1: you decide what's.
Speaker 5: Real, which makes me think of like.
Speaker 1: Tangent.
Speaker 4: Someone was interviewing Lena Horne and like they were talking
Speaker 4: to her about like having been blackbald but still being
Speaker 4: this vibrant performer and how do you get on stage
Speaker 4: night after night and see the sea of white faces
Speaker 4: and still give them so much of yourself?
Speaker 5: And she said, I go out on stage.
Speaker 4: And I smile, and I look at each of them
Speaker 4: and and as I'm performing, I go fuck you. And
Speaker 4: there's got to be an element of that in in
Speaker 4: shows like well, not necessarily shows I am as behaving,
Speaker 4: but artists like Fats Waller who are performing for these
Speaker 4: different audiences, Like you can't unknow what you know, you
Speaker 4: can't like what happened that day, can't unhappen just because
Speaker 4: you know it's showtime. So yeah, I that's one of
Speaker 4: those things that I appreciate about us, our ability to be.
Speaker 7: Both you know.
Speaker 3: It's something I think I learned from Fats in doing
Speaker 3: my research on him, is that, like an other artist
Speaker 3: in that time, that joy is rebellion, Like it is
Speaker 3: a rebellious act to be intentionally joyful in times of strife,
Speaker 3: in these dark times, and like if they can do
Speaker 3: it in the twenties, we can do it today. And
Speaker 3: that's something that I feel like this show also has
Speaker 3: taught me that, Like I've had this thought as an
Speaker 3: actor on other shows, but this one especially, like I
Speaker 3: have to like tell myself I am and actively like
Speaker 3: doing an active service for the audience right now because
Speaker 3: of the times. Yes, but even if at the times
Speaker 3: we're all great. It's still it is an active service
Speaker 3: to give people something like this and to stand and
Speaker 3: joy and even even on the days when it's hard,
Speaker 3: when we get terrible verdicts like that, and yeah, I
Speaker 3: don't know, I feel it as an act of rebellion,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, I'm looking to ride that wave after
Speaker 3: this is over as well, and like keep doing that
Speaker 3: my own art, and like keep and share more stuff, and.
Speaker 7: Because I feel like people need they need we need
Speaker 7: this stuff. We need this. People left, like we might
Speaker 7: leave after the show and we're a little drained and tired,
Speaker 7: but when I come out to the house afterwards, like.
Speaker 3: People are so filled up by this show. Yeah, and
Speaker 3: I'm really grateful to be a part of it. And
Speaker 3: I think that, like, yeah, joy is rebellion, like it has.
Speaker 1: We have to.
Speaker 3: Enjoy and live our lives in a way that doesn't
Speaker 3: get stuck down by all of this stuff that's going
Speaker 3: on in our country.
Speaker 7: You know, it's as unfortunate.
Speaker 1: As it is, you know, absolutely, I've said one hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty times a week. You know, if you're going
Speaker 1: to fight for your life, make sure you have one
Speaker 1: that's worth living fighting for you, right, make sure that
Speaker 1: you make time for Joe and and and it is
Speaker 1: it is rebellion because it's like the more, these are
Speaker 1: a bunch of really miserable people that are making these decisions,
Speaker 1: and it's like just when you think they can't go
Speaker 1: any lower, they dig And it's almost this absurd comedy,
Speaker 1: just just like how did you even conceive of that?
Speaker 1: The layers of evil? Just evil? That part? I don't
Speaker 1: have a better word.
Speaker 6: Yeah, so I totally echo read your sentiments.
Speaker 1: Oh sorry, no, no, no listening.
Speaker 6: Uh, I was just I also like, as an artist,
Speaker 6: as a black artist, I agree that joy is rebellion.
Speaker 6: I also it is my activism, Like me continuing to
Speaker 6: do this work, this kind of work is me being
Speaker 6: an activist in today's age, Like yes I can go
Speaker 6: out and protest, Yes I can, but no, most people
Speaker 6: don't want me to do this. Most people that look
Speaker 6: like this don't want this for me. They don't want
Speaker 6: me to find joy in this. They don't want me
Speaker 6: to bring joy to other people. Okay, I'm going to
Speaker 6: continue doing that no matter what. My God and I've
Speaker 6: always I've always had this questions like oh I need
Speaker 6: to do more, I need to go out and into
Speaker 6: the streets and tell everybody this. Tell He's like, no,
Speaker 6: I'm literally doing that every day that I'm on stage
Speaker 6: with people, with Regie, with them, you know, with my castmates,
Speaker 6: to the audience, and especially with a show like this,
Speaker 6: showcasing nothing but black joy and love and excellence and
Speaker 6: laughter and excellence. We have to keep doing it. And
Speaker 6: I wish the people in the Supreme Court would come
Speaker 6: to see something like this, but people like that wouldn't
Speaker 6: because they are miserable that they don't want to see
Speaker 6: this kind of you know, they don't want to see
Speaker 6: this kind of joy because I think it would actually
Speaker 6: make something shift within them that they don't want to.
Speaker 6: Maybe it'll make them accountable to something that they have
Speaker 6: never been accountable to before.
Speaker 4: They'll feel a human emotion and then realize how much
Speaker 4: artifice is involved in everything that they are and have
Speaker 4: dedicated themselves to. And so you know, introspection is like
Speaker 4: the kryptonite to these people, which is why I never
Speaker 4: know they don't ever do any.
Speaker 1: You reminded me because I kept I kept watching you
Speaker 1: and I'm where do I know him from? And again
Speaker 1: embodied a character so well, and I was having such
Speaker 1: a good time and when you came out into the lobby,
Speaker 1: said Rent, and oh that there we go. There it
Speaker 1: is because we you know, we had taken so one
Speaker 1: of the groups that I co facilitate and co run
Speaker 1: is a transdiscussion slash support group. And we kind of
Speaker 1: gathered everyone up and I think we had twenty five
Speaker 1: people there that night, we did, and they put us
Speaker 1: in the sofas all around the stage, so we were
Speaker 1: kind of right there and there was so much connection
Speaker 1: and just watching the young people that we brought experiencing
Speaker 1: that show. And there was a young woman called Angel
Speaker 1: and she chose that name because of that character, and
Speaker 1: they got to have a moment afterwards, and I just
Speaker 1: these are important shows, these are important works that I'm
Speaker 1: glad we're still doing.
Speaker 7: Yeah, me too, Me too.
Speaker 3: I mean it's it's kind of the work that I
Speaker 3: think I like to seek out for myself, Like Sha Bro,
Speaker 3: I also feel like I'm an activist through my arts
Speaker 3: and like I really I feel hurt when my projects don't.
Speaker 7: Speak to and help push the needle on what's going
Speaker 7: on in our world.
Speaker 3: So yeah, right was another one, and we had so
Speaker 3: much fun with you all that and I remember.
Speaker 7: That's why I saw y'all in the audience and I
Speaker 7: was like, oh my god, I don't remember their names. Well,
Speaker 7: I know their faces.
Speaker 3: I remember y'all from the Rent Show because we even
Speaker 3: talked afterwards, and y'all were just really affirming and just
Speaker 3: generous with your words after that show and your experience
Speaker 3: on that.
Speaker 1: Y'all were generous on stage, and you embodied Jesse Martin
Speaker 1: and who I do you know him? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's one of my friends from back in the day.
Speaker 2: You can't meet him.
Speaker 1: I really knew him from Law and Order, Like I'm
Speaker 1: just a Law and Order junkie. It's that thing that
Speaker 1: I can put on and have in the background for
Speaker 1: hours because of the cadence. You know, each each one
Speaker 1: is a little show all to itself. I know what's
Speaker 1: going to happen. And I loved his character then, I
Speaker 1: mean I just and then when I saw him in Rent,
Speaker 1: that was a whole another level of this actor, and
Speaker 1: I went, oh that I didn't know. I didn't know.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Jesse, Jesse, if you're listening to the show, you
Speaker 5: can't beat.
Speaker 2: Me, man, I'm going to I'm going to send this.
Speaker 1: Please do He has a fan but rs you really did.
Speaker 1: You brought you brought your own energy, you know, put it.
Speaker 1: You got a little of Jesse going on, and you
Speaker 1: really did with the character in bringing the joy.
Speaker 7: And bringing the smile.
Speaker 5: How are you going to at the same time one
Speaker 5: who ain't even here.
Speaker 7: I'm just trying to get some of that. I'm trying
Speaker 7: to get some of that Jesse.
Speaker 1: I want you to have it.
Speaker 6: I want you to have it.
Speaker 1: Friend, I do work. That was That was one of
Speaker 1: the best productions I've seen at the Ardens. And again,
Speaker 1: you were just you were perfect for that role. So
Speaker 1: I immediately you said, I'm like, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1: And I watching Curtis, I felt like I know that
Speaker 1: young man from somewhere, and I cannot figure out where
Speaker 1: I saw that he was from New Jersey. Maybe that
Speaker 1: was it. Maybe we've just encountered one another at some point.
Speaker 3: Curtis was also in the Curtis was a off stage
Speaker 3: cover for as well. I don't think you saw Curtis
Speaker 3: go on, but it's possible that you could have seen
Speaker 3: Curtis going he went on.
Speaker 1: That was again, that was just a show that brought
Speaker 1: a lot of joy, a lot of feeling, and you know,
Speaker 1: being able to do that with a group. We did
Speaker 1: that with when Oklahoma was touring and that creepy version
Speaker 1: of Oklahoma that all they did was slow it down,
Speaker 1: really and I don't think they changed one word, and
Speaker 1: it was I never realized. I thought that was such
Speaker 1: a fun little show. It is. I like showing it
Speaker 1: this way. Yeah, yeah, I like this so much better.
Speaker 1: But there were two trans characters cast. One was Sis
Speaker 1: from Pose and uh the O there was henness Hennessy,
Speaker 1: Hennessy Winkler, I think yes, and they were just playing roles.
Speaker 1: They were not trans characters per se. They were just
Speaker 1: roles in the play. And we took about twenty five
Speaker 1: to that as well, to say, look what's possible, you
Speaker 1: know exactly, we need to.
Speaker 4: Celebrate that, which is why I was so glad to
Speaker 4: see some young people in the audience for this behavior,
Speaker 4: for the exact same thing, see see What's possible. I
Speaker 4: have a question for all of you, because you know,
Speaker 4: the original production was very much a vehicle for the
Speaker 4: talent of those actors, and I noticed, I mean in
Speaker 4: the program you put like Chelle as Armelia, you know,
Speaker 4: raj as Ken so like, but at the same time.
Speaker 7: You each are yourselves like.
Speaker 4: How like how what was what was that approach like
Speaker 4: and what was it like, you know, basically stepping into
Speaker 4: the shoes of these legendary people.
Speaker 5: You can start with a meaning.
Speaker 2: I guess I'll start Okay, I'll start by saying that
Speaker 2: for the for the program for licensing. Technically even technically,
Speaker 2: since those actors originated those roles, those are now the
Speaker 2: characters that the actors on stage play. So in productions
Speaker 2: of Ain't Misbehaving, they have to be credited as those characters. Thought,
Speaker 2: But we did have but that question was on the
Speaker 2: table very early because it felt strange with all of
Speaker 2: the ad limic and things that they do. It felt
Speaker 2: strange to refer to Chabrille as Armelia and Ragier as Ken.
Speaker 2: You know, it just felt strange. So we just we sow.
Speaker 2: The decision was made that on stage they can address
Speaker 2: one another by their names, and you know, let them
Speaker 2: become the icons and represent the icons that they are
Speaker 2: as opposed to resurrecting Nel and Armelia and Ken and
Speaker 2: Andre and Charlane. You know. So, yeah, that that's why
Speaker 2: that decision was made. Yeah, because they're iconic for real,
Speaker 2: you know, they're iconic Rogier, Chabrille, Jessica, the icons.
Speaker 1: And I didn't feel like, you know, while I felt
Speaker 1: like you brought some spirit, I didn't feel like you
Speaker 1: were portraying right Ken. I didn't feel like that that.
Speaker 1: I didn't feel that.
Speaker 3: No, yees, it would be hard for me to He's
Speaker 3: so unique and iconic in his own right that like, No,
Speaker 3: there might be like moments where that I watched from
Speaker 3: their their bootleg and I'm like, you know, I pay
Speaker 3: a nod to something he did vocally or things like that,
Speaker 3: but it's only that, just a nod and then digging
Speaker 3: deeper into living in fats world, through through me, through
Speaker 3: how that works, through me, what about you?
Speaker 6: Because I could That's what they all did. Yeah, I
Speaker 6: mean I think the original performers, that's what they all did.
Speaker 6: They channeled themselves through facts music and did what they
Speaker 6: did best. And I feel like, if you're going to
Speaker 6: hire people to do eight misbehave and you are hiring
Speaker 6: the best of the best in their field and what
Speaker 6: they're the best at and depending on what track they
Speaker 6: are on, that is that is what they do best.
Speaker 6: So like with Armelia McQueen, like she was classically trained
Speaker 6: she you know, did a lot of film work too.
Speaker 6: I'm classically trained. So instead of like I noticed in
Speaker 6: the original and I think in a lot of the
Speaker 6: original recordings, like a lot of like the higher stuff
Speaker 6: was like made as a joke as opposed to actually
Speaker 6: showing off what the voice could actually do. It's like, no,
Speaker 6: my voice can do this. I can do it just fine,
Speaker 6: So I'm just going to give it to you, like
Speaker 6: as Shebelle Williams paying homage to the grandiosity of that McQueen, you.
Speaker 2: Know that she brought to the role and to the
Speaker 2: character they sing.
Speaker 6: And like they were singing in that too, but we're
Speaker 6: singing it in a different way. Like I'm Chabrelle. I'm
Speaker 6: not Armelia, and I will never be Armelia Laqueen no
Speaker 6: matter how much I try to imitate her, because then
Speaker 6: it would just be an imitation, it wouldn't actually be me.
Speaker 5: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I feel like it.
Speaker 6: Trying to like taking inspiration from somebody's performance and like
Speaker 6: how they performed it, what they brought to it, like
Speaker 6: character wise, trait wise, I think is a totally better
Speaker 6: way to pay homage to somebody's performance than just trying
Speaker 6: to strictly imitate it, right.
Speaker 2: I remember Tiara early on asking with some of the
Speaker 2: Nell stuff, in particular because Nell Carter's voice is so
Speaker 2: very distinct, And I remember Tiera saying, do you want
Speaker 2: me to sing this like Nell sings it? And I
Speaker 2: was like no, I said, sing it like how Tiara
Speaker 2: Green sings it, honey, And she is singing down right
Speaker 2: that money because Jessica Money is not. She's typically not
Speaker 2: a belter, like that's not where her where her confidence lies.
Speaker 2: I won't say strength, because she can totally do it
Speaker 2: as we see, but you know, sometimes feel like I
Speaker 2: don't know about belting. But you know, I told her,
Speaker 2: I said, I want you to see the Charlotte material
Speaker 2: in a way that is Jessica Money, you know, in
Speaker 2: that beautiful and angelic voice you know. So yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: take it and make it your own that the icons.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, And that made it that much more authentic.
Speaker 1: It just did. It brought something that would not have
Speaker 1: been there if everyone was just trying to mimic right,
Speaker 1: so much more.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I always wonder that when I see people uh stepping
Speaker 4: into roles that were like made not only famous, but
Speaker 4: like iconic, Like how much do you take much do
Speaker 4: you leave out of what they did?
Speaker 5: And how much do you leave in?
Speaker 7: You know?
Speaker 5: So, yeah, I always find that interesting because at the
Speaker 5: end of the day.
Speaker 1: You ain't them so.
Speaker 5: And thank goodness because you know, we get to see you.
Speaker 1: So there are five more performances this week, so we're
Speaker 1: going to get this out as quickly as we can. Yes,
Speaker 1: just to make sure that folks have a little bit
Speaker 1: of time to get over there. I want to know
Speaker 1: what's next for each of you. Are you already working
Speaker 1: on something or yeah? Is there an answer to that question?
Speaker 6: Well, I will continue on the eight Misbehavior track and
Speaker 6: perform it in Arkansas at the Arkansas Repertory Theater. Yeah,
Speaker 6: doing the copro with People's Light as well. So I
Speaker 6: will be eight Misbehaving all summer.
Speaker 7: Okay, same role.
Speaker 4: Okay, you're going to have a nice little what I
Speaker 4: call a comfy ass groove in that part by the
Speaker 4: time you die.
Speaker 6: Right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So after this, once we close, I'm taking a
Speaker 3: little break this summer just because I've been pretty busy
Speaker 3: this year. So uh, I'm just gonna do some music gigs,
Speaker 3: some small stuff, like I'm doing a gig over in
Speaker 3: Delaware at a Farmer's Market.
Speaker 7: Uh, and then also working again on that one pound,
Speaker 7: four ounces play. We're doing it at a university, I
Speaker 7: think this summer once. But other than that, I'm gonna
Speaker 7: be taking care of dogs, run of my dog business.
Speaker 6: And chilling.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: I'm in pre production for two shows. I'm doing Top
Speaker 2: Dog Underdog in a co production with People's Light Theater
Speaker 2: Company and the Ardent Theater. And I'm also in pre
Speaker 2: production for Purpose, which is going to be at the
Speaker 2: Philadelphia Theater Company, right right, It's going to be at
Speaker 2: the Philadelphia Theater Company in a co production with Jiva
Speaker 2: Theater in Rochester, Syracuse, upstate.
Speaker 1: Up there where it's cold, right, Okay, Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1: I love that. That's exciting.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So if we wanted to learn more about each of
Speaker 5: you as individuals, where would we go to follow you?
Speaker 2: I have a website where people can communicate with me from.
Speaker 2: There's like a contact form if people want to meet
Speaker 2: me or meet up with me. I love having lunch
Speaker 2: with people. I've done that on several occasions, you know,
Speaker 2: artists in Philadelphia. That's just my name dot com, Amina
Speaker 2: Robinson dot com.
Speaker 1: Okay, I love that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I have just my my Instagram. It's my
Speaker 3: first and last name. I'm being honest. I deleted the
Speaker 3: Instagram and Facebook over the last year, just just re
Speaker 3: downloaded it so I will.
Speaker 1: Understandable tagging you. So I assume you came back. But
Speaker 1: a lot of folks did do that, you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't blame you on just.
Speaker 7: To get this, I just needed space. I needed space
Speaker 7: and a break from all of the scrolling and all
Speaker 7: the stuff. But yeah, I'm there. I'm there so you
Speaker 7: can reach me through there.
Speaker 1: For sure. We use it as a tool because I
Speaker 1: spend a lot of time saying Facebook isn't real, Instagram
Speaker 1: isn't real, social media isn't real. So you know, told
Speaker 1: to stay in touch right right and.
Speaker 3: Share, And that's that's what I'm going to work on
Speaker 3: that this summer, sharing more music and more of my
Speaker 3: own personal projects through that to reach people and to
Speaker 3: reach collaborators, because I'll.
Speaker 1: Have a get myself worked on. What a what are
Speaker 1: you doing? A stay out of the comments section? Big,
Speaker 1: just keep keep it pushing, right, So bro, what about you?
Speaker 1: How do we find out and stay in touch and
Speaker 1: follow you?
Speaker 6: Yeah? I do have an Instagram and a Facebook. I
Speaker 6: am rarely on either of them, but you can find platforms.
Speaker 6: But I also have a website chapro Williams dot Space.
Speaker 6: I have a I have a contact form there as
Speaker 6: well if people want to get in touch with me
Speaker 6: for gigs or even creative workshops. I'm a teaching artist,
Speaker 6: so I love that kind of work as well. Just
Speaker 6: getting people to express themselves creatively.
Speaker 1: Fabulous. So I meana about lunch. Does Jesse ever come
Speaker 1: along in Canada? I'm gonna Canada.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yea.
Speaker 5: Cold up.
Speaker 2: He's been in Canada for quite some time now, he
Speaker 2: left us.
Speaker 1: I just thought i'd throw it out there.
Speaker 5: Oh real quick, I wanted to ask, do each of
Speaker 5: you have your side step?
Speaker 7: And so real quick?
Speaker 4: Do you each of you have a favorite number that
Speaker 4: you can't wait to do? And what is it and
Speaker 4: amina that you can't wait to see them do?
Speaker 2: I will answer this question because remember how in the
Speaker 2: beginning I said a misbehaving was not my favor. I
Speaker 2: was like, man, I'm not really checking for this show.
Speaker 2: After this production and seeing these people, I'm all over
Speaker 2: this show and I don't have a favorite because I
Speaker 2: literally cannot choose. I love all of the numbers, So much,
Speaker 2: including Blackly because the music is beautiful. I just disregard
Speaker 2: the lyrics. I try my best to disregard the lyrics,
Speaker 2: but I just love them all so much that I
Speaker 2: all of them are my favorites.
Speaker 4: Now own diplomatic answer, I wish I was.
Speaker 1: I love all my children the.
Speaker 4: Thing, even the funny looking one.
Speaker 6: Bro. I feel like I have I have two favorites.
Speaker 6: I have jer Bug Waltz Yes, because it's so gorgeous
Speaker 6: and it's and I feel like we sound super baller
Speaker 6: at the end and that that ending harmony the just
Speaker 6: chefs Guss and then handful of keys. Even though it's
Speaker 6: the hardest one to sing, it's so fun. I get
Speaker 6: really excited doing it. I get really because like I
Speaker 6: just want to do the choreo and like almost suck
Speaker 6: it up more fun, but like I don't. But I
Speaker 6: also don't want to suck it up because I don't
Speaker 6: want to choreo.
Speaker 4: And I'm like, Okay, I love Jitterbug Walls, but that's
Speaker 4: the one song that, like, if they're going to cut
Speaker 4: cut a number, that's the one that gets caught.
Speaker 2: You are, I'm just gonna cut it until until I
Speaker 2: saw them do it and I was like, oh, it's
Speaker 2: so it's so sultry. I love it, so I kept
Speaker 2: it was going to cut that.
Speaker 7: He said that Charles, you got some special you are
Speaker 7: director or something.
Speaker 3: What do you do?
Speaker 1: What else?
Speaker 4: I have Warner director's hat from time to time choreographers
Speaker 4: had Yeah. In fact, like, this is the show that
Speaker 4: I have always wanted to be in, and you, sir,
Speaker 4: your role is the one that you know I always wanted.
Speaker 5: In fact, I do your feats too big for karaoke
Speaker 5: every now and again.
Speaker 1: It's true.
Speaker 7: I would love to see your version.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean how many years you taught dance? Yeah,
Speaker 1: with generations of children who are no longer children who
Speaker 1: credit Charles.
Speaker 4: You know, they've grown with families and careers and I
Speaker 4: hate it who told you to grow up?
Speaker 1: Right? But with their love of dance and so many
Speaker 1: of them still dancing, and you know, yeah, wow, that's
Speaker 1: a little about I think we're here. Yeah, favorite numbers.
Speaker 7: It is really hard to choose.
Speaker 3: So many of them are so much fun, But I
Speaker 3: think I think mine would be Probably it's between Feats
Speaker 3: Too Big and Honeysuckle Rose.
Speaker 7: Feets too Big is just like I just.
Speaker 3: Get to play with the audience in such a unique way,
Speaker 3: like I just get to mess with everyone, and it's
Speaker 3: I feel like it's surprising. Today during the matine I
Speaker 3: came out and I picked the lady that was sitting
Speaker 3: like dead center, and she I I started looking at her.
Speaker 7: She was just like a little surprised. And then as
Speaker 7: soon as I started saying the sir, she was like.
Speaker 3: Like, I don't know the way I get to mess
Speaker 3: with them. I'm so mischievous in shows anyway, so I
Speaker 3: feel like I get to just let it.
Speaker 4: Out of the show.
Speaker 7: Oh my god, but ya, My favorite to watch is
Speaker 7: probably Viper's drag.
Speaker 3: Curtis is, Like, I don't know, man, he's a special
Speaker 3: to everyone in this show, is a special talent. But
Speaker 3: like getting to see Curtis in his debut show be
Speaker 3: acting and singing and dancing this way, I just if you,
Speaker 3: if y'all remember you come back, I just have.
Speaker 7: A dopey grin on my face during that number.
Speaker 3: I'm like not even, I'm just like so like, look
Speaker 3: at this young black man like performing his ass off
Speaker 3: and just so yeah, it's just really special to see.
Speaker 3: I can't wait to see what else Curtis does in
Speaker 3: his career because it is like, yeah, I just I
Speaker 3: can't get enough of that number.
Speaker 4: And I love that you you uh use Martha as
Speaker 4: a focal point in in in lounging at the Waldorf,
Speaker 4: and I've been calling her Hemingway ever since.
Speaker 3: If I were if I remember your name, you would
Speaker 3: have got a personal shout out.
Speaker 7: I would have dropped work.
Speaker 4: It worked out the way it worked, And I do
Speaker 4: want to say that it's a testament to how good
Speaker 4: of a song.
Speaker 5: Spreading rhythm around us.
Speaker 4: Like every time I hear that song, pig Feet Beer
Speaker 4: Engine almost sounds good for that period of time, almost almost,
Speaker 4: and then I go, no, I'm good, right.
Speaker 5: Because it's got that.
Speaker 4: It's it's got that layer of, like you know, of
Speaker 4: the party and the celebration and the comfort and the
Speaker 4: joy of being with your people. So like that's that's
Speaker 4: what I tune into. And then I remember what pig
Speaker 4: Feet takes like, and then I'm like, yeah.
Speaker 5: Now I'm good, Like I'll pass, yeah, yeah, thank you.
Speaker 5: And Chitlin's no, no, no, no, no no no.
Speaker 4: Definitely when I was up until I was five and
Speaker 4: a half, because that's when I realized what they were
Speaker 4: pig Feet and potatoes out was my favoritest meal on
Speaker 4: the planet.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they set you up.
Speaker 1: They did well.
Speaker 4: Both both my prides are from the South, so my
Speaker 4: father would be like, I'll eat everything on the pig,
Speaker 4: but the oint because it's too hard to catch.
Speaker 2: Yes. My nanny used to say, I'll eat a pig
Speaker 2: from the root.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 5: And then I realized what what chiplins are, and I'm like.
Speaker 7: You eat that on purpose?
Speaker 6: Purpose?
Speaker 7: You know what?
Speaker 5: I do not understand vegan chitlins. Why are we doing this?
Speaker 6: What?
Speaker 4: What?
Speaker 2: What are they made out of?
Speaker 4: I'm not sure I want to know, but it is
Speaker 4: a thing because I saw a recipe and I'm like,
Speaker 4: I'm not going to look further because why are we
Speaker 4: doing this?
Speaker 2: Vegan chiplins? You just you just blew my mind today.
Speaker 7: I mean, there there is.
Speaker 1: Thank you, well, you know there's sense memory.
Speaker 6: Right.
Speaker 1: I've done a lot of plant based cooking and a
Speaker 1: lot of research because trying to there is something too
Speaker 1: and and and this goes beyond soul food to a
Speaker 1: lot of the food like I grew up with. My
Speaker 1: grandmother was Hungarian and and a lot of that Eastern
Speaker 1: European food, right, trying to recreate the sense memory without
Speaker 1: all of the fat and all of the you know
Speaker 1: the stuff. That's someone said, we we we uh have
Speaker 1: a repast, you know, after a funeral, and and we
Speaker 1: honor their lives by eating what killed them. And that
Speaker 1: that like stuck with me. So I get the notion
Speaker 1: right that I guess if Chittlen's is something you've really adored,
Speaker 1: and that's all I got. Yeah, yeah, thank you. I mean,
Speaker 1: like we figured out scrapple because I was loved scrapple
Speaker 1: when I was little, until I found out what was
Speaker 1: in that and then but there's a mushroom scrapple. That's incredible.
Speaker 5: That's actually good.
Speaker 1: It is incredible.
Speaker 2: There's this place ends well on Spruce I think it's
Speaker 2: Spruce Street.
Speaker 7: All gosh, it's nice breakfast bore.
Speaker 6: I can get on board with that, the mushroom scrabble, right,
Speaker 6: So I would eat mushroom scrapple.
Speaker 1: It's good, delicious.
Speaker 5: I don't like regular scrapple, but I can tear up
Speaker 5: some mushrooms.
Speaker 1: I would imagine you could. You could replicate chitlins with mushrooms.
Speaker 1: I would think maybe that would Maybe I'll.
Speaker 4: Just call it something completely different, so I could like dissociate.
Speaker 1: The Yeah, I mean we're off in a tangent. But
Speaker 1: there is that idea of like if you can taste it,
Speaker 1: you totally did that taste in texture of something and
Speaker 1: make it a little healthier or keep it plant based,
Speaker 1: you know, to keep us a little bit yeah, healthier.
Speaker 7: Not eating chitlins.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm a hypoprine anyway, talking about I'm not
Speaker 2: gonna eat chitlins, but I want some began scrapples, right.
Speaker 1: But but yeah, there it was delicious. You know, there's
Speaker 1: a there was a a sausage. My grandmother made a
Speaker 1: lot and it was it was called and it's rice
Speaker 1: and liver and blood delicious. But I found out what
Speaker 1: was inside. I can't do it anymore. And I realized
Speaker 1: that's a mind thing. But it was something I thought
Speaker 1: was wonderful when I was little.
Speaker 4: And then you stop and thinking about it when when
Speaker 4: you realize that's like part of your family and you're like,
Speaker 4: how poor were we?
Speaker 1: Like my god, damn, But does that have anything to
Speaker 1: do with it? I bet you anyway, we have run
Speaker 1: your time. I cannot thank you all enough for joining.
Speaker 7: Us for time.
Speaker 1: This is a lot of fun.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and you've really.
Speaker 1: Put together something special.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 1: The last performance is on Sunday, the seventeenth of May
Speaker 1: at two o'clock, but there are several chances in between
Speaker 1: now and then run don't walk, yeah, to catch an
Speaker 1: amazing show. Amina Chabrol roch here, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for joining us.
Speaker 2: Yes, thank you, thank you for having us.
Speaker 7: Thanks Shaw, this was awesome. This is really great.
Speaker 5: Full Circle is a Never Scured Productions podcast hosted by
Speaker 5: Charles Tyson Junior and Martha Madrigal, Produced and edited by
Speaker 5: Never Scurd Executive Produced by Charles Tyson Junior and Martha Madrigal.
Speaker 5: Our theme in music is by the jingle Berries. All names, pictures, music, audio,
Speaker 5: and video clips are registered trademarks and or copyrights of
Speaker 5: their respective copyright holders