Charles Randolph-Wright is no stranger to Los Angeles Theatre.  His play BLUE, starring Phylicia Rashad, broke box office records at Arena Stage, the Roundabout Theatre in New York City, and in the Pasadena Playhouse.  He also directed the smash revival of GUYS and DOLLS at the Arena Stage (Washington D.C.).  That award winning production was selected by the Loesser estate to become a national tour celebrating the musical's 50th anniversary, and its cast album was nominated for a 2003 Grammy. 

As he prepares to open his latest writing effort, Cuttin' Up, at the Pasadena Playhouse, (an adaptation of Craig Marberry's original book), we managed to entice him to the phone in the middle of rehearsal and he was generous enough to talk about his work, his new play and his outlook about theatre. 

We first asked about his directorial background.

CRW   My first film directed was “Preaching to the Choir”, which came out last year, but I’ve been directing theatre for years – actually it’s about twenty years.

RP       What was your first directorial job in theatre?

CRW   Actually, I was in the original cast of Dreamgirls on Broadway and I used to direct everybody’s nightclub acts – (laughing) and that’s how I started directing.  I would just put together people’s shows and after I did one, then the next person would say, “Oh you have to do my show!” because we would all do each other’s night club acts.  That’s how it began, and from there I started working theatres all over the country as well as in New York and all types of shows.  But that’s where it all began actually.

RP       And now you’re working on Cuttin’ Up, a story written by Craig Marberry and you have adapted it for theatre.

CRW   Yes.

RP       I understand that at first you were a little reluctant about the book, but there was one story in it that made you reconsider?

CRW   Absolutely!  When I first heard about the book I thought, “it’s an evening of monologues” and as much as it would be fun, I didn’t really want to do that, but Molly Smith from Arena Stages, one of my theatre soul mates, called me and said – “You have to do this play – you just have to do this!” 

It was about a woman who had five kids, three sons in Atlanta and she went to this barber, who is profiled in the book, and said to him, “I see how you dress and how you run your business and how you wear a suit and tie every day.  I was wondering if I could bring my boys to watch you.”  So he asked why and she replied, “I want to expose my boys to a Black man doing something positive.”  

It floored me and I knew right then that I wanted to do this, that I wanted to put African American men on stage wearing suits, which you don’t see too often.  I’m tired of us wearing burlap and overalls.- you know the image the contemporary African American men?  You don’t typically see otherwise on the American stage.  I really thought this in an opportunity to do this and to tell stories.   Ultimately, it is a play about telling various stories, so that was one of my difficulties – trying to figure out, is it monologue or is it a play; are these stories?  How do you do that?  So ultimately it became an amalgam of all of it, I think.

RP       So you have some characters wearing suits in the play?

CRW   At one point, yes I get to see a stage full of men wearing suits, which makes me very happy.

RP       I bet – and you have cast Iona Morris as the woman who had the sons?

CRW   Yes.  She plays all the women in the play.  There are ten different women.  Each character is so distinct that she’s incredible in this – absolutely incredible.

RP       That’s quite a role –

CRW   And the guys play different men too.  There are three men who play Howard, Andre and Rudy, and then the other four men play about 35 to 40 people in total.

RP       Wow – that’s a whole bunch of people!

CRW   Yes, and every one said that at the end of the show the audience may be expecting the stage to be filled by all these people and they will realize – “My goodness – all these characters were done by only eight people”.  There are a lot of characters – probably too many, but that’s what I love, that I’m able to pay tribute to all these incredible men that were in this book.

RP       That’s amazing – and the play opens next week?

CRW   Oh yes.

RP       This has to be an exciting time for you.

CRW   I’m excited, and I’m never satisfied until the very end. Right now I’m sure the actors are happy because you are preventing me from changing things every few minutes! (laughter).

RP       Are you one of these hard directors that keeps after the actors to do it again – do it again and again?

CRW   Well no, not really, but I’m just writing this one. There is a director (Israel Hicks) who is running that aspect, so as the writer I’m trying to step back, which is great because I get another perspective from him.  And also, with Sheldon (Epps) being Artistic Director, I like to get his perspective, so we each have a very similar perspective of this world because we all get our hair cut, but we each also have our own views about it.  That’s been great – to get these two incredible African American men to work with me on this.

RP       You’ve worked with Sheldon before.

CRW   Yes – Sheldon directed my play Blue.   And also, last year I did my newest play in the Hothouse Series here.  There are several projects that we’re doing together.  We have some projects in television and film, as well as theatre.

RP       And one of your future projects is a film, Mama I Want to Sing?

CRW   Yes

RP       You were with the Dreamgirls original cast – is this new project anything like that?

CRW   Mama I Want to Sing is a musical that was off-Broadway in the ‘80’s and then went on to become one of  the most, probably the most successful Black musical in history and then it toured all over the country and twenty countries, so it’s a brand name – especially in the African American community.  It’s never been made into a film, and they’ve talked about it but we’re finally doing that.  So we’re in the midst of that. It’s a different musical from Dreamgirls – although there’s a lot of music in it, but it’s a different kind of story telling than what Dreamgirls as a film was.  I’ve changed it some, because the original Mama took place in the ‘60’s and this one is contemporary so I’ve changed characters and added people, but we’ve kept the spirit of the original musical – it’s just a different take on it.

RP       Have you cast that show yet?

CRW   That’s what I’m doing right now – that’s why it’s madness.  I’m in the middle of casting now.

RP       So that means that you’re pretty much all finished with Cuttin’ Up.  You’re all set and ready to go with it?

CRW   Of course not! (laughing) I’m changing it right now!

RP       You are?

CRW   Definitely!

RP       Does this mean that you might be making changes even an hour before showtime?

CRW   Oh, absolutely!  I will work on this until they kick me out of the theatre! (laughter)

RP       Really?  That’s called dedication!

CRW   Well, I love this and I’m very fortunate because I get to work in theatre and film and television and they each inform the next. Each one has a different main aspect, I guess, and each medium has taught me something different.

RP       What inspired you to be a writer?  Were you always writing stories as a little kid?

CRW   I was always writing stories – I always wanted to be a storyteller.  It’s also part of my family; I come from a great family with great stories.  My play Blue was based on my family, because we have a funeral home in our family that’s been there almost a hundred years now and I just  started a foundation with my cousins called The Wright Family Foundation – (it’s in my website).  There have always been great stories around me – from people in my family –  people in my hometown and I always wanted to tell them.  The older I got I realized that the stories I wanted to read or hear or see were not there.  Nobody was telling those types of stories so I felt it was my obligation to do it.

RP       That’s wonderful.  Now tell me this - - - as a young man, how did you break into this business, which is so tough for most people to break into?

CRW   I was completely naïve (laughing) and I went to New York after finishing school.  I was supposed to go to medical school, but I didn’t, but when I was in New York I started auditioning.  I did the “chorus boy” routine and was very fortunate. I was in a disco singing group, which will remain nameless, but I got to tour the world with that.  I ended up doing several off-Broadway shows and then I got in this workshop called Big Dreams, which eventually turned into Dreamgirls.  I’ve had a very varied background! 

After Dreamgirls I came out to LA and I was in a couple of TV series, and I’ve been able to work in every aspect of the business.  I’ve worked in front of the camera, behind the camera, on top of the camera – you name it!  I think that makes you a better artist, because you really understand.   I understand actors – I understand the crew – I can understand the producers because I’ve been in all those aspects.  Now, because I’m older, I realize how fantastic it is that I do have that background.  I’m really thrilled I started the way I did.  If I were twenty one now and coming out of school, I’d probably try to go right into directing or right into writing trying to make a career of that, whereas then, when I got out of school I felt like – no, no I want to be a performer first. In those days I had this image that you couldn’t be a director until you were older.  But now I’m glad I did it the way I did, because of the experience I have – because of all I’ve learned.

RP       What advice would you have for young people just out of school with aspirations for this business, either as actors, writers or directors?

CRW   I think ultimately to do your homework.  The thing that I see so much is that people are not prepared, and preparation comes in so many different ways.  Life, obviously is a preparation, but to really become a student of the world, if you want to tell stories.  You have to get yourself out there and you have to be fearless enough and brave enough to go for things that you may not get.  And the ultimate thing is this: The goal really is unimportant – it’s the pursuit of the goal that is everything.

RP       The journey is the reward?

CRW   As I said, I’ve been very fortunate that I have attained so many things that I never dreamt were possible, but those were not the things that guided me.  What guided me was the feeling of “I have to try this!” When I was a little kid and going to school my mother would say to me, “Bring an ‘A’ home or bring an ‘F’.  A ‘C’ is average . . . make a statement!”  So that’s what happened.  Ultimately, you may like what I do or you may not like it, but at least there is something happening – something that you feel for whatever reason.  I believe that you have to do what you believe in because that’s all that matters.  It’s about finding your voice.  I know it all sounds cliché, but it is very, very true.  Whatever is uniquely yours, that’s what you must do and  you have to discover what that is.

RP       The Pasadena Playhouse is one of the most respected theatres in the country, as we all know.  So, where do you go from here?

CRW   Well I have established great relationships throughout.  Obviously I love the Pasadena Playhouse and I consider it my LA home, but I have other great theatres in other cities – in San Francisco, Arena Stage in DC, the Roundabout in New York where I’m on the Board (of Directors).  I’m fortunate to be involved with incredible theatrical institutions and that’s where I get to do what I do.  It’s an amazing feeling. When the film Dreamgirls came out I thought, How could that have been twenty five years ago – That’s impossible!”  But I look back, and I realize how grateful I am for everything that I’ve been able to do.

RP       I can imagine.  If we were to look ahead 25 years or so and there is an award show with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Charles Randolph-Wright, the award would be for - - - what would you like it be?

CRW   Hmm -  - - -.   Story telling!  For giving us images that perhaps we’ve not seen – images from a different perspective.  I think that’s what I’m always doing now – I love stories that have a journey, so it would be - - for Achievement in Showing Journeys!  That’s what’s always been interesting for me.  It seems that no matter what I do everything seems to wind up as some kind of a journey. 

In this case, with Cuttin’ Up, I see these men who seem to be ordinary men, but they become extraordinary when you see them on stage.  If you look at their lives on paper, you may think they are just ordinary, but they’re not!  What they do, how they live their lives with dignity – with elegance - - - these are the people I applaud - I celebrate.  If I can give voice to them, that would be my greatest achievement.

RP       Well, I look forward to seeing the play, and I want to thank you for your time.  As a closing thought, perhaps you’d like to help me finish this sentence.  Charles Randolph-Wright is . . .

CRW   Charles Randolph-Wright is - Charles Randolph-Wright is very grateful to get to do what he loves to do!