Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Spirited Actor Podcast with me
Speaker 1: Tracy Moore. I was a casting director for film and
Speaker 1: TV and commercials for over thirty years. I transitioned to
Speaker 1: a celebrity acting coach after I cast a film New
Speaker 1: Jersey Drive with executive producers Spike Lee and director Nick Domez.
Speaker 1: I auditioned every rapper from biggiees Balls to Tupac, and
Speaker 1: I realized that rappers and musical artists they needed help
Speaker 1: transitioning to acting. My clients consist of musical artists from
Speaker 1: Buster Rhymes to Eve, Missy Elliott, Angela Yee from The
Speaker 1: Breakfast Club, and Vanessa Simmons to name a few. I
Speaker 1: also coach sports stars and host as well. I feel
Speaker 1: I have the best of both worlds. As a casting director,
Speaker 1: I know exactly what they're looking for, and as an
Speaker 1: acting coach, I can coach you to be remembered in
Speaker 1: that room. Now I know, I know actors want to
Speaker 1: get the job. I get that, but being remembered by
Speaker 1: casting director that is powerful. And now it's time for
Speaker 1: meditation of the day. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it rains. Ron Shelton, I love that every day
Speaker 1: is a surprise, expect the unexpected.
Speaker 2: Nothing says the same.
Speaker 1: Like a basketball player that pivots through their moves, we
Speaker 1: need to learn how to pivot through life, Pivot through
Speaker 1: the obstacles, pivot through the hurdles, and the most important.
Speaker 2: Thing is to know that this too shall pass.
Speaker 1: And this is a teachable lesson, a teachable moment today,
Speaker 1: I will continue lifing in good spirits. Before we get started,
Speaker 1: I like to remind everyone to go to Krackical Network
Speaker 1: to view seasons one and two of my show Inside
Speaker 1: the Black Box that I co host with the great
Speaker 1: Emmy Award winning Joe Morton. Look out for news on
Speaker 1: season three soon. Welcome to the Spirited Actor Podcast with
Speaker 1: me Tracy Moore.
Speaker 2: I am always excited to.
Speaker 1: Meet legends, living legends, people that I am standing on
Speaker 1: their shoulders proudly and prayerfully and a good light because
Speaker 1: they paved the way. And these are people that you
Speaker 1: need to know and honor in this industry. And this woman,
Speaker 1: all I can say is that she is multi hyphenated
Speaker 1: and we it's a blessing that we'll be able to
Speaker 1: get all of us in but radio and television personality
Speaker 1: celebrity media coach and so so so many more. Oh
Speaker 1: my god, ladies and gentlemen, I want you to put
Speaker 1: your hands together, stand up for Deanna William.
Speaker 2: No, that's you, that's you. You. No, you sit down comfortably.
Speaker 2: We stand it up for you. Good day. Unbelievable. When
Speaker 2: I first read everything about you, it's.
Speaker 1: Not enough to squeeze into twenty eight minutes, And nor
Speaker 1: would I want to, because I would want to honor
Speaker 1: every step of your career.
Speaker 2: There's so many.
Speaker 1: Things that are important that especially this younger generation needs
Speaker 1: to know. And the first question that spirit said Tracy
Speaker 1: asked her is what type of work ethic do you
Speaker 1: need to accomplish.
Speaker 2: What you have and continue to accomplish in this industry? Well,
Speaker 2: according to my children, my grown children.
Speaker 3: And you need to have more time because my children
Speaker 3: are now telling me, and they're in their forties, Mama,
Speaker 3: you know you aren't there.
Speaker 2: All the time.
Speaker 3: I'm like, excuse you, young people, grown up? When I
Speaker 3: was seeing a concert, where were you? I asked my
Speaker 3: daughter this the other day? She said in the wings? Mommy,
Speaker 3: I said, and how long was I on stage?
Speaker 2: Only a few minutes?
Speaker 3: Or we were in your dressing room, or we were
Speaker 3: in the studio or we were home with Daddy.
Speaker 2: But I'm getting adult complaints that.
Speaker 3: Diligence, hard work and more time and learning of balance
Speaker 3: because if I had.
Speaker 2: To do it all over again, which you don't get.
Speaker 3: Dueovers, right, Just a very strong work ethic, diligence to
Speaker 3: accomplish whatever the mission is that.
Speaker 2: You have set out for yourself and your team.
Speaker 1: I just want to talk because you've accomplished in one
Speaker 1: lifetime at least. And I know people have said this
Speaker 1: like ten lifetimes, maybe more careers.
Speaker 2: You know, like what is and work ethic is so important.
Speaker 1: But to hold that vision of yourself in every aspect,
Speaker 1: how do.
Speaker 2: You do that well?
Speaker 3: I've been inspired by my achieving parents. My mother, a
Speaker 3: college professor, taught nursing. Public health was her area of specialty.
Speaker 3: She also was part of the team that contributed to
Speaker 3: writing the hippo laws when we go to the hospital
Speaker 3: of the doctor's office, our privacy. My mother was part
Speaker 3: of that team and she herself was a very very
Speaker 3: hard worker. So from observation of my parents of setting
Speaker 3: goals and achieving, my parents had goals very early and
Speaker 3: they married as teenagers. Home they bought a car, you know,
Speaker 3: the American dream, things that most of us pursue. So
Speaker 3: I learned from my mother's mother, who helped to raise me,
Speaker 3: was a homemaker.
Speaker 2: But what a profession.
Speaker 3: What a great cook and homemaker and attent to her
Speaker 3: family's needs, A righteous profession that we downplay in the
Speaker 3: different times. I come from a family of achievers, of
Speaker 3: of thinkers and doers, and they instilled in me the
Speaker 3: values and principles of dream.
Speaker 2: And you can achieve and do the work, and you
Speaker 2: can make it happen. And you've done the work.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about your love for music, because just in
Speaker 1: reading about you and your bio, I could feel your
Speaker 1: love and passion about music, Tracy that.
Speaker 2: Comes from my father.
Speaker 3: My father grew up and called Pepper Virginia in the South,
Speaker 3: and he was the music lover. Not to say my
Speaker 3: mother did not like music, because she does. I caught
Speaker 3: her singing the other day. But my father listened to
Speaker 3: the radio all the time and was in tune to
Speaker 3: the music of the times. So I heard Motown, I
Speaker 3: heard you name it. I heard it because my daddy
Speaker 3: was playing it in the house on the radio and
Speaker 3: in our car. So that instilled and planted the seeds
Speaker 3: and me for an appreciation, I might add more than
Speaker 3: an appreciation because it's it's a higher level than that.
Speaker 3: It's a passion, It's an obsession and a passion to
Speaker 3: get the majesty of black music, the culture that we
Speaker 3: have elevated, first of all created here in America, and
Speaker 3: that we've been all over the planet.
Speaker 2: And I might add tracy to other galaxies.
Speaker 3: Black music and soul is a yes, yes where throughout
Speaker 3: wherever there is life, black music is present and culture
Speaker 3: the culture that goes, which is the language, the fashion.
Speaker 3: I mean, you name it TikTok is on black dance
Speaker 3: and black people.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I didn't.
Speaker 3: Talk about that enough, But that's the truth I have
Speaker 3: to say.
Speaker 1: And especially with I don't know if it's because of
Speaker 1: Chris Brown with sensation.
Speaker 2: But this viral effect of.
Speaker 1: African beats and the movement of African authentic African movement, Everybody,
Speaker 1: I mean everybody is embracing that movement right now.
Speaker 2: It's unbelievable how and I understand.
Speaker 3: But African music at the core, it is at the
Speaker 3: root when you consider that our ancestors were brought from
Speaker 3: the motherland in France, Africa. So the beat the presence
Speaker 3: the DNA, I should say of Africa is it is,
Speaker 3: It's and it's inside of all the genres gospel, R
Speaker 3: and B, jazz, hip hop. Black is African rooted?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: Your voice is so trusting and cuity tell us how
Speaker 1: your radio career took off the beginnings, and because there's
Speaker 1: this thing about radio right and we don't have it
Speaker 1: as much as we used to in a sense of
Speaker 1: you know, I miss so many.
Speaker 2: Of my radio personalities.
Speaker 1: And you were from WBLS to kiss When I first
Speaker 1: came here, I was in eighty three.
Speaker 2: I was introduced to Franky Cracker and.
Speaker 1: So what because there's a different relationship that an audience
Speaker 1: has with a radio personality and we don't see you
Speaker 1: and we don't.
Speaker 2: Really kind of interact. What is that?
Speaker 1: And how can if we have future you know, VJs
Speaker 1: on right now, how do they how do they train?
Speaker 2: What is the protocol for that?
Speaker 3: Well, I would say so for me, I've been doing
Speaker 3: radio since nineteen seventy two.
Speaker 2: I've been doing it for a minute.
Speaker 3: And when I first started, there were very few black
Speaker 3: women in the in radio and broadcasting. There were two
Speaker 3: however that I got to listen to frequently. I grew
Speaker 3: up in Harlem in New York. I'm a name of
Speaker 3: New Yorker, although I've been in Philadelphia, which is.
Speaker 2: Well Philly too. Philly love Philly as well.
Speaker 3: But Kricky Crocker, when you mentioned him, he hired two women,
Speaker 3: Lamar Renee and Vy Higginson. And those were the two
Speaker 3: that I listened to first on w l IB FM
Speaker 3: before it became WBLS one oh seven point five, where
Speaker 3: I work when I turned twenty one. But I started
Speaker 3: at my broadcast career in Washington, DC. When I'm talking
Speaker 3: about when I got a check on the regular with.
Speaker 2: Help, that's important, yes it is.
Speaker 3: But the two women that I heard, and the woman
Speaker 3: that inspired me and motivated me the most tracy was
Speaker 3: by Higginson, who, from her theater background with directing and producing,
Speaker 3: Mama I want to sing on her sister Doris Troy.
Speaker 3: Just One Look was her big hit record, and so
Speaker 3: By Higginson is my person. And then very early in
Speaker 3: my career at w h R, I met a woman
Speaker 3: who would become one of the biggest imprints on me
Speaker 3: character wise, personally and professionally.
Speaker 2: And her name is Kathy Hughes.
Speaker 3: Kathy Hughes is the owner of Radio one, Urban one,
Speaker 3: TV one, most things with the one in it, including
Speaker 3: the dollar bill.
Speaker 2: Okay, she's got lots of those.
Speaker 3: And she and I met in nineteen seventy three when
Speaker 3: I started a whur and she is still to this
Speaker 3: day one of my biggest inspirations and a best friend
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 2: Wow, Kathy Hughes.
Speaker 1: When you both actually you and Kathy hust But in
Speaker 1: navigating through this industry in nineteen seventy two, how challenging
Speaker 1: was it as a black woman and what changes do
Speaker 1: you see today?
Speaker 2: Well, it was very challenging, Tracy.
Speaker 3: When I started, there were, like I said, very few women,
Speaker 3: and we didn't have the internet, so I had to
Speaker 3: go to the library to do research when I was
Speaker 3: sending my audition tape to black oriented radio stations around
Speaker 3: the country, and women then were not given the same
Speaker 3: level of consideration that they are given now. Back in
Speaker 3: the seventies, you would never put two women back.
Speaker 2: To back on the station. That just was.
Speaker 3: It was almost like an unspoken over to taboo. But
Speaker 3: now there are stations where you'll hear women in the
Speaker 3: morning do a morning drive to women back to back
Speaker 3: on the air for instance, here in Philadelphia wdas Patty
Speaker 3: Jackson has been on the radio for over thirty five years,
Speaker 3: and following her is another veteran, Frankie Darcel, who was
Speaker 3: really big in Detroit but has been in Philadelphia for
Speaker 3: the last decade. They're on back to back. That would
Speaker 3: have never happened when I first started in radio. So
Speaker 3: things have changed enormously, and again I would have to
Speaker 3: say with technology and the Internet, it changed things radically
Speaker 3: in radio, as you well know, Tracy. Now people can
Speaker 3: get their music through streaming services from Amazon Music, title,
Speaker 3: Apple Music, Bob. You know, people have options and even
Speaker 3: radio stations that they can program themselves or create playlist.
Speaker 2: So the landscape and.
Speaker 3: Radio is very different now than it was when I
Speaker 3: first started five decades ago.
Speaker 2: So I wanted to ask.
Speaker 1: You, because of music, your music background, what happened to
Speaker 1: R and B. I feel like something happened in the
Speaker 1: early nineties.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're right, something did happen.
Speaker 3: It was called the hybrid and the merging of genres,
Speaker 3: and that merger was Mary J.
Speaker 2: Blige, R and B, hip hop soul.
Speaker 3: You know, at the beginning of more rap artists utilizing hooks,
Speaker 3: and R and B singers like Faith Evans. Even she
Speaker 3: was the first lady of bad Boy Records. She sang
Speaker 3: straight up R and B. But then her husband Biggie
Speaker 3: Small's hip hop and the elevation of artists like Tupac
Speaker 3: Nas jay Z. The list is long, and not very
Speaker 3: many women in that list, But the dominance of hip
Speaker 3: hop is what happened to R and B. And I
Speaker 3: might add that R and B has always continued. It
Speaker 3: continues to exist as artists in this generation like October London,
Speaker 3: Friday from Philadelphia, Jasmine Sullivan still exist. It's just the
Speaker 3: number one genre worldwide is hip hop music all over
Speaker 3: the planet and it's just such a strong, powerful genre
Speaker 3: that it even dominated rock music, which at one time
Speaker 3: was the prevailing genre. So that's what happened to R
Speaker 3: and B music. It got diminished, but it potent genre
Speaker 3: in my opinion. And listen, I listened to it all
Speaker 3: the time. I listened to everything I'm listening to day
Speaker 3: right and Andre Day has a beautiful new album called
Speaker 3: Cassandra Girl. I was in the shower the other day
Speaker 3: listening to the Kravitz album Okay, how is that? Highly recommended?
Speaker 3: Okay Okay?
Speaker 2: Long Eleve album.
Speaker 3: And he felt in my house play it for me
Speaker 3: anytime he wants.
Speaker 2: Okay, you and Gail King.
Speaker 3: I'm just saying because out the way, Gail go go on, No,
Speaker 3: Sherry Shepherd is the one we got to be concerned about.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah yeah on Lenny Kravins. Yeah yeah, y'all
Speaker 2: got this a bitty world.
Speaker 3: I got a third but whatever, the album is great.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I'm definitely gonna pick up because I
Speaker 1: was like, I got to get the new Lenny Kravins.
Speaker 1: You coming from a family, really it feels like so
Speaker 1: much at first or being a part of like monumental events.
Speaker 1: What how are you inspired to be a part of
Speaker 1: the black creating Black History Month? Because I feel like,
Speaker 1: you know, we have allegedly Black History.
Speaker 2: Month that just really flies by. I mean I.
Speaker 1: Don't feel I feel closer and more in tune with
Speaker 1: black music, yeah than I do Black Music Month than
Speaker 1: I do with Black History. So what was the inspiration?
Speaker 1: Because thank you so much, thank you for being a
Speaker 1: part and highlighting our music.
Speaker 3: Well, Black History Month is twenty eight days, that's why
Speaker 3: you might feel.
Speaker 2: So connected to it.
Speaker 3: And every year they recycled the same black Yeah, when
Speaker 3: the reality is there's so many more people living and
Speaker 3: who have transitioned that have made sizeable contributions to not.
Speaker 2: Just black history, American history.
Speaker 3: We know that American history and black history are one
Speaker 3: and the same, or although it's gotten diminished in our
Speaker 3: educational system teaching people about the contributions of black people.
Speaker 3: But to answer your question, Tracy, that it first must
Speaker 3: go to my ex Kenny Gamble, one of the architects
Speaker 3: of the Sound of Philadelphia with his partners.
Speaker 2: Leon Hot and Tom Bell.
Speaker 3: But it was Kenny Gamble who thought of the idea
Speaker 3: of having a month where we can highlight.
Speaker 2: It doesn't do that. After June we forget about black music. No,
Speaker 2: because we wake up to black music.
Speaker 3: We were driving in the car when we go to
Speaker 3: the dentist's office, the supermarket, you're hearing black music all
Speaker 3: day long, and it is used by major companies to
Speaker 3: sell us everything from toothpaste to beer, to cars and
Speaker 3: anything else that a consumer can purchase. So it was
Speaker 3: initially Kenny's idea. We were together at that time, we
Speaker 3: were a couple, we have three children, and he it
Speaker 3: was his idea and I ran with it even further
Speaker 3: to the point where many years after the establishment of
Speaker 3: Black Music I went to the White House as President
Speaker 3: Bill Clinton to host an event much like Presidentjimmy Carter
Speaker 3: had done June seventh, seventy nine on the south lawn
Speaker 3: of the White House. Jimmy Carter was the first American
Speaker 3: president to declare June Black Music Month, at the instigation
Speaker 3: of the Black Music Association, also established by my ex
Speaker 3: Kenny Gamble, and it's being re energized and reimagined right
Speaker 3: now by our oldest son, Khalif Gamble. He is revitalized
Speaker 3: Black Music Association. So that happened in nineteen seventy three. However,
Speaker 3: the White House encouraged me to get legislation saying you
Speaker 3: Black Music Month. I was able to do that after
Speaker 3: several years of knocking on doors, writing letters on Capitol Hill,
Speaker 3: walking into congressional and senatorial offices, the process of lobbying.
Speaker 3: But I will tell you this much, Tracy, I'm a
Speaker 3: pretty passionate sister when it comes to Black folk and
Speaker 3: our music in particular. And after several years of lobbying,
Speaker 3: I was successful, working with Congressman Shaka Fatav and Senator
Speaker 3: Arlen Spector, who by the way, was a Republican senator
Speaker 3: who gave his support to me, Wow, and we got
Speaker 3: it passed. And every American president since has issued a
Speaker 3: proclamation urging American citizens to show appreciation of our culture.
Speaker 2: And black music.
Speaker 3: And it's one of my proudest, most proud moments. So
Speaker 3: ed wright, Kenny Gamble, myself, his partner Leon Huff very
Speaker 3: supportive of the movement. And it is an opportunity for
Speaker 3: all of us. If you have a pulse, it's an
Speaker 3: opportunity for you to celebrate and recognize because you're a
Speaker 3: consumer and your part celebration of black music.
Speaker 1: Mom, I mean, I just honor you. I'm so grateful
Speaker 1: that you know, I know it wasn't easy, and I
Speaker 1: know it's something that you have to and especially government,
Speaker 1: you have to stay on and be persistent.
Speaker 2: So I appreciate love that.
Speaker 1: On your journey and they and just like you said
Speaker 1: at the appreciation, you know it's not when you think
Speaker 1: about the contributions of black people in America, you know,
Speaker 1: it's about being acknowledged, It's about being appreciated.
Speaker 2: It's about you.
Speaker 1: Know, you know, not taking the credit and you know,
Speaker 1: being greedy about sharing and wanting other people to prosper
Speaker 1: as well. So, and I have a homework assignment that
Speaker 1: you would love in my class, and I asked the
Speaker 1: actors to put together the soundtrack for their life. And yeah,
Speaker 1: and I do all the assignments I did in myself
Speaker 1: when I used to be on the road with my
Speaker 1: clients on films and traveling all the time. You know,
Speaker 1: I needed like this music at six o'clock, well four o'clock.
Speaker 2: In the morning to get me going and get my
Speaker 2: mind right.
Speaker 1: Brownstone, If you Love Me, that was my song that
Speaker 1: just got me, you know, in the car, out the house,
Speaker 1: and then you know, just sort of shaped it as that,
Speaker 1: you know, I have a go to that just guaranteed.
Speaker 2: So that's something that we do and I love doing that.
Speaker 1: Because I feel like music, especially in film and TV,
Speaker 1: is a character, you know, and what however we put
Speaker 1: it under the bed of the scene, it could drive
Speaker 1: the scene, scare you whatever. So I agree, music is
Speaker 1: just an amazing part of our life. It's every aspect.
Speaker 1: But I think about it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a universal language that's overstood by people.
Speaker 2: I have gone.
Speaker 3: I remember when I first traveled to Japan, I was
Speaker 3: producing a USO tour with Philip Bailey, the lead singer
Speaker 3: of earth Wind, and we were there with a fire.
Speaker 3: We were there to entertain the troops. We went to
Speaker 3: five military installations and Guam and when we landed. When
Speaker 3: I landed, immediately I saw Japanese people singing lyrics to
Speaker 3: black music. But these people didn't they couldn't speak the language,
Speaker 3: but they so the feeling, the thief and the energy
Speaker 3: of the music conveys same thing. When I went to Brazil,
Speaker 3: I landed in Rio, and what did I hear? I
Speaker 3: heard earth Wind and Fire as soon as I landed.
Speaker 3: When I got out of the airport, I was like
Speaker 3: I went to Senegal into Akra and Ghana that I
Speaker 3: hear I heard American hip hop music.
Speaker 2: It's mind blowing when.
Speaker 3: You travel and you ask our music and you see and.
Speaker 2: You feel our culture awful.
Speaker 3: So I know that being an actor of this for
Speaker 3: our music and our culture is the right God I
Speaker 3: got fitted. God fitted me in that position to be
Speaker 3: an advocate. Naturally, it's my skill set with desire and
Speaker 3: passion and biess to advocate for this incredible force that
Speaker 3: we call black music and culture.
Speaker 1: And you know, again, we're so grateful to you because
Speaker 1: it sets, you know, with with everyone specifically you know, uh,
Speaker 1: these governors who are going into schools and taking out
Speaker 1: books and languages and history. It's so important that we
Speaker 1: hold on to our music history because there was It's
Speaker 1: the pulse of who we are, you know.
Speaker 3: And Duke Ellington, It's the Lena Horns, it's the sound,
Speaker 3: and it's the Grover Washington's. It's all of these great
Speaker 3: people who give us literally what I would describe as
Speaker 3: the soundtrack to our lives. It's like you described waking
Speaker 3: up hearing Brownstone.
Speaker 2: I actually know who the person who wrote that song.
Speaker 2: Oh I love that song.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a great it's.
Speaker 2: A great motivating song.
Speaker 3: Yeah, all any think about it falling in love. When
Speaker 3: you fall in love, you and your partner usually have
Speaker 3: our song. Why have our song? And even when you
Speaker 3: break up with somebody, you have that that heartbreak song
Speaker 3: that you keeping to over again to try to get
Speaker 3: you through the heartbreak up. For big events, for sporting events,
Speaker 3: we have you know, black music, we have Cooling, the Gang, Celebrate, Celebration,
Speaker 3: cear sometimes come on, we have Frankie Beverly and May's Joy,
Speaker 3: My Sunshine and Rain, the speak to the reality of
Speaker 3: our existence as human beings in this time and place.
Speaker 1: This has been such a beautiful, soulful interview that it's
Speaker 1: just touched me in so many different ways. And again,
Speaker 1: when you are having challenging times, to you just that
Speaker 1: reminder of how you can tap into that song and
Speaker 1: then you know it makes everything okay. So you know
Speaker 1: that those good gospel songs. My god, it's crazy, Yolanda Adams.
Speaker 1: I was listening to Yolanda Adams in the car the
Speaker 1: other day a song that was produced and written by
Speaker 1: Jimmy Dam and Terry Lewis, and I was like, I
Speaker 1: open Up my Heart is the name of the song.
Speaker 3: Opened my Heart.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I love that song.
Speaker 3: There's a song for every occasion when you're going to
Speaker 3: bring you up, when you're up to take you even higher,
Speaker 3: like Sly and the Family Stone said I want to
Speaker 3: take you.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean music shaped me like Chaka Khan, Gladys to Night,
Speaker 1: all of them spoke to my spirit and my soul
Speaker 1: and continue, I am so grateful and so honored to
Speaker 1: have you on. This interview is going to touch and really,
Speaker 1: you know, there's so much pride in listening to your
Speaker 1: accomplishments and how you continue to represent and hold our
Speaker 1: history and revere you know how our music history culture
Speaker 1: affects the world. You have three minutes, whatever, Jules, do
Speaker 1: you want to drop for these listeners.
Speaker 2: I know, let me see.
Speaker 3: That's that's a rough one for me.
Speaker 2: I know, very verbos one.
Speaker 3: I want to thank you for an opportunity to share
Speaker 3: with your audience on your podcast. You are legendary in
Speaker 3: the theater world, and the assistance that you give to
Speaker 3: up and coming as well as established actors is so important.
Speaker 3: I want to mention that I'm on the board of
Speaker 3: the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 3: Website is n MAAM dot org, or you can as
Speaker 3: Black Music Museum, and I want to encourage people to visit.
Speaker 3: I'm actually taking my whole family on a family trip
Speaker 3: next week of Music Month. But I also want to
Speaker 3: encourage people to celebrate Black Music Month.
Speaker 2: And how do you do that? Support live music?
Speaker 3: Go check out a show, a concert, Support these musicians,
Speaker 3: these singers by buying their merch going to their shows,
Speaker 3: supporting them on their social media, reading to your children
Speaker 3: books about black musicians, black artists. I have a little
Speaker 3: section in my book library for my grandchildren with books
Speaker 3: about black music, and I'm reading it to them all
Speaker 3: the time. I'm also asking them, what are you listening to?
Speaker 3: Who do you like? Because it's not a one way thing.
Speaker 3: We have to take young people sometimes, you know, we're like, oh,
Speaker 3: I can't stand that music. Now what are they listening to?
Speaker 3: Try to get into it and listen with them and
Speaker 3: then exchange what you like to listen to Black This
Speaker 3: Month is an opportunity for us to elevate and celebrate
Speaker 3: our culture and join organizations like nay Ma'am, the organization
Speaker 3: the Music that I just mentioned, and other music organizations. Today,
Speaker 3: I donate it to an organization here in Philly call
Speaker 3: World Cafe Live. They have an educational program that teaches
Speaker 3: young people. I made a donation. Do what you can
Speaker 3: to sell music education in schools. Write your school board,
Speaker 3: tell them put music back in. When we were talking, Tracy,
Speaker 3: we have to take music, Yes we did. We had
Speaker 3: to take gym. These were standard things that everybody had.
Speaker 3: So I want to encourage people to celebrate and elevate
Speaker 3: Black music and our culture every chance you get, not
Speaker 3: just doing all month.
Speaker 2: Ben Well and We're gonna do it forever.
Speaker 1: But every time we think of we're in June, we're
Speaker 1: gonna think of you and continue to be grateful.
Speaker 2: I'm glad you're not going anywhere yet.
Speaker 1: Else is gonna come on and introduce two spirited actors
Speaker 1: who have questions for you.
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, thank you so much for coming on. Deana
Speaker 4: A welcome knowledge always always, So today we have two
Speaker 4: of our spirited actors. We have Miss Melissa Meyers. Welcome, Melissa,
Speaker 4: you can come on camera. And we have Miss Pretenda. Yes, hello, Latina, Melissa,
Speaker 4: you can ask you a question first.
Speaker 2: All right, awesome.
Speaker 5: My heart is smiling from inside out. Not only do
Speaker 5: I love Tracy, but Miss Williams you. It's such a
Speaker 5: pleasure to meet you.
Speaker 6: Like this is so awesome.
Speaker 4: I'm trying not the fangirl here.
Speaker 2: Girl, fanggirl, I do it all the time.
Speaker 3: I was fangirl Jareka Duncan the other day at Patty
Speaker 3: Labelle's birthday party.
Speaker 2: Girl, go ahead, it's all good.
Speaker 3: I received.
Speaker 6: I wanted to tell you I have two comments really quick.
Speaker 5: I went to the Nashville Museum of National Black Music,
Speaker 5: and it was not just a museum, but it was
Speaker 5: an experience, and I keep telling everybody you have to go.
Speaker 5: So when you said that, I just I just lit
Speaker 5: up because I just remember being in there and just
Speaker 5: seeing all the things, how they take you from the
Speaker 5: beginning to the end of music that keeps going. And
Speaker 5: it's just they have so many interactive things that you
Speaker 5: can do inside of that so you can feel like
Speaker 5: you're a part of the music.
Speaker 2: So it's it's actually awesome.
Speaker 3: I was real to hear that you go. I love
Speaker 3: meeting people and getting feedback. It's a fifty six thousand
Speaker 3: square foot seven gallery museum in the heart of downtown Nashville,
Speaker 3: Fifth and Broadway. On one side is the Bridgestone Arena
Speaker 3: and on the other side is the original Grande ol
Speaker 3: Lopry also known as the Ryman Order Tour. And we're
Speaker 3: in the heart of Nashville, and people ask me all
Speaker 3: the time why Nashville. Nashville a rich legacy. The first superstars,
Speaker 3: the Fi Jubilee Singers, were superstars in Europe and in
Speaker 3: the United States. Nashville gospel music a big community, and
Speaker 3: even people like.
Speaker 2: Jill Scott, my sister from North Philly, moved down to Nashville.
Speaker 3: So it is a thriving Jimmy Hendrix was down there
Speaker 3: playing in the late sixties, Nashville rich and country music
Speaker 3: we created. Can I just say it again, country music,
Speaker 3: It didn't start with Carter, Cowboy, Cowboy Carter. It didn't
Speaker 3: start there, It started a long time ago. Black people
Speaker 3: have been there. They just got suppressed. White people started
Speaker 3: calling it hillbilly and country music and just exed out
Speaker 3: the influence of black people on them and their version
Speaker 3: of country music. So I'll stop there because I get
Speaker 3: very passionate about the music in Nashville.
Speaker 5: Awesome, Thank you so much. So my question, what advice
Speaker 5: would you give someone who has set goals for themselves
Speaker 5: but are feeling stuck and does not know what to
Speaker 5: do or how to get over that?
Speaker 2: Home love your question.
Speaker 3: I am a big goal setter.
Speaker 2: I am.
Speaker 3: I'm a daily to do person. But more importantly, when
Speaker 3: I was way younger, when I was seventeen eighteen, I
Speaker 3: did my goals for the next five years of what
Speaker 3: I wanted to achieve, and girl, guess what, God is good.
Speaker 2: I accomplished everything.
Speaker 3: And it was a list that was a combination of
Speaker 3: professional as well as personal. That balance that I talked
Speaker 3: about when Tracy and I first started our conversation. And
Speaker 3: if you're stuck, you must find a mentor. He or
Speaker 3: she can help you navigate the currents of your disappointments
Speaker 3: or the closed doors or the consistent no. You know,
Speaker 3: I have great regard for actors because you put yourself
Speaker 3: out constantly for rejection or acceptance, and that's got to
Speaker 3: be daunting to go up for jobs and hope you
Speaker 3: get it and then have to wait.
Speaker 2: I've heard so many actors say I auditioned.
Speaker 3: Five six times, waited six months before they came back
Speaker 3: and said no or yes.
Speaker 2: That's got to be daunting.
Speaker 3: So I would say, believe in God, believe in yourself.
Speaker 3: If you don't believe in yourself, other people are not
Speaker 3: going to believe in you. And I will tell you this.
Speaker 3: In the beginning of my career.
Speaker 2: I was so confident.
Speaker 3: Again, it derived from God, because I'm a God fearing
Speaker 3: person and I was taught a lot about God. I
Speaker 3: grew up in a god spiritual family, and I also
Speaker 3: had parents that were like my father. His name was
Speaker 3: Papa George. We called him Papa George. He said, anything
Speaker 3: that the mind can conceive and believe, you can achieve it,
Speaker 3: and it remains my mantra, so self, a mantra that's
Speaker 3: going to pick you up when you feel down and
Speaker 3: you feel stuck, and you feel unheard and unseen, and girl,
Speaker 3: keep at it. Just you know, my best friend who
Speaker 3: I mentioned earlier, Kathy Hughes, was turned down for a
Speaker 3: bankload over a bank loan over thirty two times. The
Speaker 3: thirty third time.
Speaker 2: It was a Puerto Rican woman banker that gave her
Speaker 2: a loan.
Speaker 3: Now imagine most people would have gotten daunted after maybe
Speaker 3: three nos four, but thirty something and guess what she
Speaker 3: is now? Her company Urban One is the biggest urban
Speaker 3: broadcast company in the world.
Speaker 2: That you got Oprah Winfrey.
Speaker 3: And then you've got Kathy Hughes. But if she had
Speaker 3: been deterred by the nose, she would have never gotten
Speaker 3: to her. Yes, so be persistent. Net weave with people
Speaker 3: who are doing it, who are in the game, to
Speaker 3: give you encouragement and tell you their pathways. I'm also
Speaker 3: a bit biography and autobiography. I love reading about accomplished people.
Speaker 3: So you know, read read, Read somebody that's going to
Speaker 3: motivate you. Read Michelle Obama, read, you know, read the
Speaker 3: classics and that will help you get unstuck into the
Speaker 3: other side own claim your success.
Speaker 2: And your destiny.
Speaker 6: Thank you so much.
Speaker 3: So very welcome.
Speaker 4: Hi, thank you Retina. What's your question?
Speaker 6: Hi? Thank you guys so much for having me.
Speaker 7: And I loved when you were talking about Shaka Khan
Speaker 7: because it just reminded me of when I was a kid.
Speaker 7: My mom used to play that through the whole house
Speaker 7: whenever she was cleaning.
Speaker 6: We'd be singing to it.
Speaker 4: So wait a minute, here we go.
Speaker 2: Look at this.
Speaker 3: Okay, when you say Shaka God, I wrote this story.
Speaker 3: I did an interview with Shaka last year. She was
Speaker 3: turning seventy. I was turning seventy. She'd been in the
Speaker 3: business fifty years. I've been in fifty years. And when
Speaker 3: my editor told me that I had the cover story.
Speaker 3: This is my first magazine. This is a music industry publication.
Speaker 3: But when I learned that I had the cover story
Speaker 3: and girl, who's about seven eight pages, I was like, oh,
Speaker 3: and here's look, here's a picture of me and Shaka
Speaker 3: that from back in the day, because you can see
Speaker 3: different color back in the day.
Speaker 2: So I'm a big Chaka con fan.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, share that I love it.
Speaker 2: I love this.
Speaker 6: Oh my god, let just gave me goosebumps because I
Speaker 6: love Shaka Khan. This is awesome.
Speaker 7: My question is, so, I know you offer a lot
Speaker 7: of tailored programs to individuals based on their abilities, but
Speaker 7: I'm actually wondering if you have any general overall communications advice.
Speaker 6: I would kind of work for everyone, including actors as well.
Speaker 2: Great questions, wow, mind blowing questions. Yes, I say so.
Speaker 3: When I first started in radio, and I was going
Speaker 3: to mention this to Tracy when she was talking about
Speaker 3: my early days, I used to listen to by Higginson,
Speaker 3: who I mentioned, and word for word I would repeat,
Speaker 3: this is how I learned to get my cadence. I
Speaker 3: would repeat after her. And then I also watched newscasters
Speaker 3: and I would repeat after them to learn how to
Speaker 3: get the authoritative tone and approach in my voice. So
Speaker 3: that's one thing I would say. You know, thank goodness,
Speaker 3: y'all got the internet. I didn't have that, but you
Speaker 3: can do plenty of YouTube tutorials about public speaking, learning
Speaker 3: how to engage interact with people better read. Knowledge is power,
Speaker 3: and the more information that you have and that you
Speaker 3: can instill within yourself it's going to make you a
Speaker 3: stronger communicator. Recognize what your strengths and weaknesses are. For instance,
Speaker 3: one of my weaknesses, I'm not a concise person. I'm
Speaker 3: very verbose, and so I can keep girl. I can
Speaker 3: just keep it going. Even if you didn't ask me
Speaker 3: a question, I could just keep going. But learn, learn
Speaker 3: your strengths and your weaknesses.
Speaker 2: Are you strong?
Speaker 3: Are you strong in terms of eye contacting charisma? Are
Speaker 3: you strong in the messaging? Where are you strongest? Continue
Speaker 3: to develop those areas, and then when you know the
Speaker 3: things that you're weak, focus on how to improve upon
Speaker 3: those things.
Speaker 2: You can research it. If you know, for instance, that you're.
Speaker 3: Nervous, study techniques and strategies to help you overcome and
Speaker 3: which are useful for you as an actress. How do
Speaker 3: you the fear like, for instance, Barbara Streisand is one
Speaker 3: of the world's most incredible vocalist. Yeah, Barbara Streisand suffers
Speaker 3: from stage fright. How are you a container and a
Speaker 3: performer and you suffer from stage fright? Then also, I
Speaker 3: would suggest creating a mantra for yourself that is going
Speaker 3: to encourage you. Much like we were talking with Melissa earlier,
Speaker 3: something that's going to encourage you to be your best.
Speaker 2: Do your best.
Speaker 3: So whatever it is where you're weak, figure out how
Speaker 3: to work on it to get stronger. Talk to yourself
Speaker 3: in the mirror. Affirmations, Affirm yourself. Affirm that you can
Speaker 3: be a great public speaker. Affirm that you are going
Speaker 3: to connect with people in such a.
Speaker 2: Magnetic way that they're not going to forget you.
Speaker 3: They're going to remember you long after the physical interaction
Speaker 3: or even in this medium on a zoom. Decide what
Speaker 3: kind of JENESI qua that energy, that special magic that
Speaker 3: you want to convey to people and work at girl.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Wow, that is excellent, excellent, Jules.
Speaker 2: I hope you guys have your treasure chests open.
Speaker 3: First of all, are beautiful look at them?
Speaker 2: Yeah they are.
Speaker 1: And they're so talented and talented as in there, so
Speaker 1: I know we have a little Well, what we're going
Speaker 1: to do now is we're going to just take a
Speaker 1: quick break from the.
Speaker 2: Spirited Actor podcast with me Tracy Moore.
Speaker 1: We're going to come back with class and session and
Speaker 1: stay put you guys, because we are still so so
Speaker 1: blessed to have Deanna Williams is going to still be
Speaker 1: with us.
Speaker 2: Okay, so stay hiped.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Spirited Actor Podcast with me Tracy Moore,
Speaker 1: and you are still blessed to have Deanna Williams still
Speaker 1: here with us. Okay, so we're going to jump into
Speaker 1: this and you know how this works. We have a scene.
Speaker 1: We have two Spirited Actors and Elsa is going to
Speaker 1: come on and introduce and we'll just dive right in.
Speaker 4: Yes, So today in class in session, we have Miss
Speaker 4: Melissa Meyers. Welcome back to Melissa. And we have for
Speaker 4: the first time, Miss Britina Davis. Welcome Britina. So today's
Speaker 4: scene is grow Off Separate Ways, written by Lee and
Speaker 4: Mock Interior Larissa's play. Afternoon, Larissa and Taylor are having
Speaker 4: blunch in Larissa's edgy, ind esque Lower East Side apartment.
Speaker 4: It's been years, so Mitra, I made your favorite scrambled
Speaker 4: eggs with cream cheese, bacon, and.
Speaker 5: Stuffed French toast with maple sera.
Speaker 6: Oh man, I don't eat dairy anymore nor meat, but
Speaker 6: I didn't want you to feel bad, so I just
Speaker 6: packed my own lunch. Do you mind?
Speaker 2: Oh well, damn girl, you kind of told me.
Speaker 5: I even add I'm trying to watch my weight too,
Speaker 5: but I even added extra cream cheese for you.
Speaker 2: But you know what, It's fine, no worries. All good.
Speaker 6: That was really sweet though. Thanks.
Speaker 4: Taylor unloads her color organized label food containers.
Speaker 5: Of course, Well.
Speaker 2: That's okay.
Speaker 5: I'll pull out our other Sunday tradition, mimosas with mango juice,
Speaker 5: mungo mungo, mungo, mungo mango.
Speaker 6: I thought you'd never say it.
Speaker 2: Bring them out, girl, I can't wait.
Speaker 4: Taylor proceeds to pull out an eleven dollar bottle of
Speaker 4: freshly pressed mango juice, so only in Whole Foods, and
Speaker 4: places it next to Larissa's two dollar bottle from Trader Joeics.
Speaker 6: I'm only doing organic now, so I'm wondering if you
Speaker 6: could just use mine instead. Thanks.
Speaker 2: Let me see that.
Speaker 4: Larissa reads the bottle in almost frames.
Speaker 5: Taylor, Uh, does this come with anything else?
Speaker 2: I mean, like a.
Speaker 3: Glass, diamond ship, a man.
Speaker 6: Good health?
Speaker 3: Do you know what?
Speaker 4: Let's just eat, Haley. Taylor promptly gets up to wash
Speaker 4: her hands.
Speaker 5: Hey hey, I don't know what Upper west Side Bootie
Speaker 5: therapists you have been going to, but this is the
Speaker 5: third time that you got up to wash your hands?
Speaker 2: Is everything? Okay?
Speaker 6: This is the season of the five piece.
Speaker 2: Single decay.
Speaker 6: Proper preparation prevents poor performance.
Speaker 2: Baby. That doesn't have anything to do with the Anganians.
Speaker 6: Well, I'm applying it to all aspects of my life.
Speaker 4: Rissa takes her first bite, while Taylor pulls out an
Speaker 4: empty spray bottle and starts spraying.
Speaker 7: Are you doing just keeping the air fresh and circulating?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 4: All right, either you gotta go or tell me what
Speaker 4: the hell.
Speaker 2: Happened to you? Mm hmmm, mm hmm.
Speaker 6: Do you mind if I call my therapist so she
Speaker 6: can chime in.
Speaker 2: I just need the moral.
Speaker 5: Support, ideals, meals, you know what I'm done, and I'm
Speaker 5: taking this million dollar bottle with me.
Speaker 4: She proceeds to make her call scene.
Speaker 3: All right, wow, I love it. So whenever you want,
Speaker 3: I would have to put you out, Taylor, you would
Speaker 3: have been uninvited like.
Speaker 2: A few scenes ago. I understand. Whatever advice do you
Speaker 2: want to give them. You know, I love the energy.
Speaker 2: I loved you, know your expressions, Alyssa.
Speaker 3: I love your because you were like, okay, like sister girl,
Speaker 3: and I felt you. I felt like I wanted to
Speaker 3: interject and even be part of the conversation. So I
Speaker 3: was with y'all and I was very annoyed by Taylor
Speaker 3: and her bouginess and everything else. So I thought it
Speaker 3: was wonderful and I wanted more. I wanted to know
Speaker 3: what's going to happen. I was waiting for when you
Speaker 3: were going to ask her a little girl. I think
Speaker 3: you know what, well, you said it.
Speaker 2: What's happened to? Like?
Speaker 3: Time for you to leave?
Speaker 2: This is you know.
Speaker 3: I went through this energy, this expense, and then you
Speaker 3: come in here with all these rules. I thought you
Speaker 3: were very convincing, as were you excellent?
Speaker 1: Excellent, Oh my god, and you are excellent. Once again,
Speaker 1: everyone please put your hands together for Diana William. Such
Speaker 1: a pleasure, is such an honor, such a made your
Speaker 1: major contribution to American music, black music history, and so
Speaker 1: many other things.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 3: You are amazing, Ecy, and to you and your team,
Speaker 3: to Miss Elsa, to our fabulous actresses, and to Andy
Speaker 3: and Spruce.
Speaker 2: Behind the scenes.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much for having met on The Spirited Actor
Speaker 3: podcast with Tracy Moore on iHeart.
Speaker 2: Yay, I love it.
Speaker 1: You're gonna need to do our intros at outros So
Speaker 1: when we come back from the Spirited Actor Podcast with
Speaker 1: me Tracy Moore, I'm gonna give you some love. That's
Speaker 1: what I'm gonna give you. Welcome to Kudos Corner. Kudos
Speaker 1: Corner is where we celebrate our actors by supporting them,
Speaker 1: loving them, and introducing them to you. And this week's
Speaker 1: Kudos Corner puts the spotlight on Spirited Actor Gene Present.
Speaker 2: Dude.
Speaker 1: You've seen Gene across your TV screens in reoccurring roles
Speaker 1: on The Deuce and The Sinner, as well as co
Speaker 1: starring roles in Manifest, Blind Spot, Luke Cage, and The
Speaker 1: Unbreakable Kimmy Smith's Kimmy Versus the Reverend movie. In the
Speaker 1: theater world, Jane has led the plays String and Like
Speaker 1: Peeling an Onion from director Charles Curtis, and Black Wall
Speaker 1: Street from Shades of Truth. Kudos to Jean President du Junior,
Speaker 1: and now it's time to give love.
Speaker 2: This show is dedicated to a very very differend of mine,
Speaker 2: Morgan Spurlock. He passed away Thursday, May twenty third.
Speaker 1: I met him on a film called King Death in
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three. I feel blessed to have been on
Speaker 1: his journey for so many years. He came to our
Speaker 1: last show of Inside the Black Box and I was
Speaker 1: so proud to introduce him to everyone on the set
Speaker 1: because he knew the vision from day one. He believed
Speaker 1: in me from day one. Morgan left an impact on
Speaker 1: my soul. Every time I think of him, I will
Speaker 1: continue to spread the love and the joy that he did.
Speaker 1: Every single time that I talked to Morgan, he always
Speaker 1: had this life is great, don't sweat the small stuff
Speaker 1: and just enjoy life. Tracy, I am so happy that
Speaker 1: Morgan blessed all of you with his creative work, his
Speaker 1: amazing talent, and his angelic spirit. Rest in peace, my friend.
Speaker 2: Thank you forever.
Speaker 1: Hi everyone, The Spirited Actor Podcast with Tracy.
Speaker 2: Moore now has a YouTube channel.
Speaker 1: You'll get to see exclusive video footage from our podcast taping,
Speaker 1: as well as your favorite segments from the show. Make
Speaker 1: sure to like our videos, subscribe to our channel, and
Speaker 1: share with all your friends.
Speaker 2: Don't forget to also follow us on.
Speaker 1: Instagram at the Spirited Actor and at both Tracy Moore
Speaker 1: and at The Spirited Actor Podcast with Tracy Moore on.
Speaker 2: Facebook and x.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us on The Spirited Actor Podcast.
Speaker 1: With me, Tracy Moore. I look forward to our next
Speaker 1: Spirited podcast. Thank you,