6 Questions: Sheryl Lee Ralph

Sheryl Lee Ralph's D.I.V.A. Foundation is co-presenting Richard E. Waits' solo musical, MAMA ROSE, opening this week at The Club @ La MaMa and she was kind enough to take time out to answer 6 Questions for our blog:

1. How did you meet Richard E. Waits and get involved with his production of MAMA ROSE?
In many ways our meeting was the seed that began and grew into Mama Rose. We were working together in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre on a Musical version of the hit film First Wives Club and there was something about Richard and I said, "honey you are a show waiting to happen, write it. That show is being birthed as Mama Rose.

2. What is The D.I.V.A. Foundation?
The D.I.V.A. Foundation is Divinely Inspired Victoriously AIDS aware. I found the foundation as an original company member of "Dreamgirls" on Broadway when I stood witness to what I call an ugly time in America. I saw my friend suffer and die from a mysterious disease nobody wanted to talk about it much less do anything about it and so I created a living breathing memorial out of The D.I.V.A. Foundation called "Divas Simply Singing" and every year we raise up the memory of my friends who were good people, kind people somebody's father, sister, brother, but most of all my friends.

3. Your breakout role as Deena in Dreamgirls had a book by La MaMa veteran Tom Eyen. Were you very aware of his “downtown” work at the time?
There was no way I could not be aware of his connection to La MaMa! It was as if he wanted me to know everything about him, so his downtown connection was very much a part of what made him an uptown Broadway success and it was not easy.

4. You work in theater, film and TV - which do you prefer?
There is nothing like being on the stage, nothing like it, there is no safety net of an edit there, is no safety net of can we stop and take that again. It is your complete connection with your material with your art, with yourself and getting on the stage, that tight wire and performing without a net. When I perform my one-woman show, Sometimes I Cry, which is based on real women's real stories dealing with HIV and AIDS, I can stand on that stage and I fly.

5. What was the last good book you read?
I am constantly rereading my own book Redefining Diva because very often I do speaking engagements built around the book. I'm always becoming reacquainted with things I've said and wrote. When I connect with an audience at a speaking engagement and people are moved, and learn something to better themselves. I'm like wow! I've been of service.

6. Who inspires you?
I'm so inspired by my mother who is still kicking it and reinventing herself at 85 I'm so inspired by my children who take to learning with all of its ups and downs and have the good sense to look at their mother and say, "okay, so you were right again!" I'm inspired by my husband who loves me so wonderfully every chance he gets and is a good human being. I'm inspired by my mother-in-law who at 90 is still driving herself doing everything she can, handling three properties and making it all happen for her community.

La MaMa presents
MAMA 
ROSE
Book, Music & Lyrics by Richard E. Waits
Directed by Paul Stancato

January 30 - February 08, 2015

The Club @ La MaMa
74A East 4th Street
(between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003

Tickets: $18 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors. Ten tickets priced at $10 are available to the first buyers - in advance only, while they last - for every performance.

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE 

6 QUESTIONS: Richard E. Waits & Paul Stancato

 Richard E. Waits (left) & Paul Stancato (right)

Richard E. Waits brings his solo-performance-art / experimental-play-with-music, MAMA ROSE to the Club at La MaMa, January 30 - February 8, 2015. The titular character is the author's mother, Rose Waits, "a woman from Buffalo who could have ruled the world... If they had let her."  Richard, and director Paul Stancato, graciously took the time to answer our 6 Questions. 

1. What are the joys and challenges of creating/directing an autobiographical piece like this?

Richard: The joys are really too many to list, but they include freedom of expression, having my voice be heard, creating a piece of art that will be here long after I'm gone. Also, the chance to work with Paul Stancato as a director. To me he is the real deal...he lives his art, he is the perfect director for MAMA ROSE in its expanding form. Paul is a drummer, musician, a dancer, a classically trained actor, a true performance-artist and a bit twisted. Anywhere the piece has to go, he has it covered. He's fearless!

Having Sheryl Lee Ralph as my co-producer, my muse, having her already established legacy as an actor, activist and humanitarian connected to mine, and to La MaMa, can't be a coincidence. It has to be fate. Strong women, women holding their children up up up, telling them, teaching them simple affirmations like: you do matter, you are not alone, you can breath, you are accountable to yourself, accountable to your tribe, accountable to your world. For you are Divinely Inspired Victoriously Aware. You are D.I.V.A..

Most challenging, for me, is the producing aspect of presenting a solo show. OY! I want to only think like an artist, but this forces me to think as a business person as well. In the long run this is great for me. I strongly believe every artist needs to have a business sense. I'm grateful to my college program at Buffalo State because we had to work in every department of the theatre. This gave me a solid foundation. But it does spread me thin.

In the creation process, I have found my character, Mama Rose, to be so strong that she sometimes takes the process over. I have had many fights - yes fights - with her while in my creative zone. The fights happened very early in the process when everything was very literal. Now that we've expanded the stories, and they have a life of their own, we've made peace.

Paul: One of the joys for me is working with Richard and watching him create this character based on his mom. And I use the term 'based' loosely, because with Richard, you never really know what was real and what was fable. It's all very entertaining.

2. How would you describe this production's aesthetic?

Paul: I would say it's a play with music.

Richard: Brechtian! Stark, moody, joyous in the black.

3. What makes this an experimental play? How are you, personally, experimenting as an artist in this production?

Richard: I love this question. For this piece I'm using several of my favorite theatrical devices, or styles, or whatever you want to call it: Brechtian theatre, dark comedy, vaudeville, theatre of the absurd, song and dance, storytelling and improvisation.

Paul: What I love about this piece is how the main character, Mama Rose, keeps checking in with the audience throughout. Almost like a mother would with her family if she hasn't seen them in a while. 'How are you, Dion?' 'Are you eating good?' 'You look too skinny.' I think we all have that person in our family.

4. What do you hope the audience comes away from your show with?

Richard: I want them to know everybody has a Mama Rose, for we (the collective we) are a product of our people. We are more alike than different. I need to be reminded of this on a daily basis.

Paul: We all have a Mama Rose. And how does this mama compare to yours?

5. Have you been using any particular plays/performances/movies/images etc. as inspiration while working on this show?

Richard: Nothing in particular. There are glimpses of images, types, words in my mind's eye. For example; Black and white films and photography, a Bette Midler Concert from the 1980's called Art or Bust, a Mr. Bojangles type of image that seems to be on my shoulder watching over me, Redd Foxx, Rodney Dangerfield, La Wanda Page (ooo I love a good cuss word), John Waters, Jules Fisher, Whoopi Goldberg, Peggy Eisenhauer, Tom Pye, Bob Fosse, George C. Wolfe - Curmudgeonly, salt of the earth, working class people, and realness.

Paul: We've been sharing a lot of our own family stories with each other. That has not only helped Richard find nuance in his character, but also really brought us together to form a great bond of trust. Richard has some really great stories.

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you? 

Paul: For me, La MaMa has always represented a tradition of downtown theater. I was a Blue Man and used to hear great stories about when Blue Man used to perform there. I remember, years ago, I would walk by La MaMa and say to myself, someday I will play this house. So to have this opportunity is like a boyhood dream come true.

Richard: You don't know how proud I am to be able to be a part of this legacy. This run at La MaMa has far reaching implications of happiness, acceptance and self worth.

____________________________________________________________________________

La MaMa presents:

MAMA ROSE

January 30 - February 8, 2015 

Fridays & Saturdays at 10pm / Sundays at 6pm

The Club @ La MaMa

74a East 4th Street
(Between Bowery and Second Avenue)
New York, NY 10003
Tickets: $18 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors.

For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE

BroadwayWorld covers Richard E. Waits' MAMA ROSE

BroadwayWorld take a look at the upcoming production of Richard E. Waits' MAMA ROSE coming to The Club @ La MaMa, January 30 - February 8, 2015.  

"MAMA ROSE is part magic, part southern belle, part ghetto fabulous Zena warrior and part of all of our shared human experiences...The audience of MAMA ROSE will witness the work in progress; unapologetic, raw, darkly comedic, and very real, a show in its infant stage"

Read more about the show, Richard and Broadway star Sheryl Lee Ralph 

who is co-producing: HERE.

La MaMa presents

Mama Rose

Book, Music & Lyrics by Richard E. Waits
Directed by Paul Stancato

January 30 - February 8, 2015

The Club @ La MaMa

74 East 2nd Street

(between Bowery and Second Avenue)

New York, NY 10003

Tickets: $18 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors; ten tickets priced at $10 each are available, in advance only, for all performances - first come, first served.

For Tickets and Info: CLCIK HERE