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Speaker 1: Quests Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: Mm hmm.

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Speaker 3: Suprema Son Supremo role called Suprema Son Supremo. Roll call

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Speaker 3: Suprema So some supremo role called Suprema Son Sun Supremo roll.

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Speaker 1: Call MS Love Supreme. Yeah. The podcast Champ Yeah here

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Speaker 1: with Don Lewis.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not asking about Cramps.

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Speaker 4: Supremo role called Supreme So Supreme.

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Speaker 5: Role call.

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Speaker 6: My name is Sugar, Yeah, sweet as a muffin. Yeah,

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Speaker 6: but I ain't puffing around. Grandma is stuffing.

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Speaker 3: Suprema Supremo, roll Supreme Supremo.

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Speaker 7: Roll call, My name is Boss Bill, Yeah, keep keeping on. Yeah,

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Speaker 7: in the words such word is keeping there is in

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Speaker 7: this song.

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Speaker 1: Supreme So Supreme, So Supreme.

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Speaker 4: Roll call.

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Speaker 5: My name is Don. Yeah. You can call me Jalisa, Yeah,

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Speaker 5: you can call me Zelma. Yeah, just call me health there.

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Speaker 4: Right now, Supremo, Supreme, Supreme, Subpreme.

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Speaker 1: Supreme.

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Speaker 3: Wow.

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Speaker 7: And I'm flying your background vocals into every role called

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Speaker 7: we can you you out did Charlie Wilson Q TIP

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Speaker 7: trying to go rogue on the ladies and gentlemen. Welcome

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Speaker 7: to another soon to be classic episode of q LS.

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Speaker 7: I'm your host quest Love with Me today is the

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Speaker 7: legendary Sugar Steve.

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Speaker 1: Wow, Sugar, Hey, I upgraded you to legend appreciate that.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, I Figu're gonna update my resume right now my

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Speaker 6: bio and yeah, put legendary at the time.

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Speaker 1: You're the legendary Sugar Steve.

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Speaker 5: You know the songs for everything Sugar.

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Speaker 1: Already? Wait, do we have to pay for the archies?

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Speaker 5: Yeah? I don't know. Okay, anyway, they're all gone.

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Speaker 1: We got the boss the bosses, Boss Bill, that's me.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, it's a song for that too, William Marry Big.

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Speaker 5: I'm only kidding, don't you know?

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Speaker 2: All right, So, do we have a theme for two

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Speaker 2: negligend fathers who walk out on their kids going out

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Speaker 2: for cigarettes for a Yeah, unpaid and fante out in

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Speaker 2: the world smoking cigarettes. They promised they'd be back, but

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Speaker 2: you know, I don't know. If it's quiet again. Uh,

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Speaker 2: if it's rather quiet around here, it's because Layah has

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Speaker 2: also taken up smoking cigarettes, and she went out and

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Speaker 2: said she'll be back momentarily, so we'll trust that she'll

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Speaker 2: be back next episode. Ladies and Gentlemen, Today, as I

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Speaker 2: said earlier, should be a rather amazing episode.

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Speaker 1: Our guest is a renaissance woman.

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Speaker 2: You know, some we always hear the term like a

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Speaker 2: renaissance man or whatever, but I'd rarely hear women described

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Speaker 2: in the same sort of superlatives. If you will, I

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Speaker 2: will say she's multifaceted, multi talented, pretty much as a singer, songwriter,

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Speaker 2: as an actress, be it whatever medium of stage, television, movies.

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Speaker 2: With a gazillion impressive credit to boot, I will personally

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Speaker 2: say that she's probably part of the most life changing

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Speaker 2: ensemble for me personally. I'm speaking of her work on

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Speaker 2: a different world as Jalisa Vincent, which I could say

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Speaker 2: single handedly inspired me not even to go to college,

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Speaker 2: but to be more intelligent, Like that's how I can

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Speaker 2: you know That's and I'm saying in the most non

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Speaker 2: eloquent way possible because Steve is looking at me, like,

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Speaker 2: who are you right now? Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome

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Speaker 2: to Questlo Supreme Don Lewis, Hey, everybody.

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Speaker 5: Wow, I'm truly humbled. What a beautiful thing to say.

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Speaker 5: Thank you so much.

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Speaker 8: I wasn't looking at your funny I'm I'm taking it

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Speaker 8: in usually, no, you give me this.

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Speaker 6: I'm wondering how you know the last name of the

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Speaker 6: character on the show, like usually you remember the first.

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Speaker 1: Game Lisa Vincent Taylor.

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Speaker 5: Oh say there you go.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, that's okay. How many names did you have?

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Speaker 4: You know?

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Speaker 2: What you have to understand is, I know it's it's

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Speaker 2: weird that having binged it in probably a ten day

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Speaker 2: period the entire series.

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Speaker 1: Wow, I can't. Yeah, I have time on my hands.

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Speaker 2: When I'll know, you know, I want to get my

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Speaker 2: hair braided, traveling whatnot in the jacuzzi.

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Speaker 5: Yes, yes, it's conscious image.

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Speaker 2: At the local wire, not in my house because I

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Speaker 2: can't afford one yet. I will say that, Yeah, the

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Speaker 2: show was definitely way ahead of its time as far

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Speaker 2: as like subject matter and things that are still relevant

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Speaker 2: today and whatnot. But most importantly, I think that when

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Speaker 2: it first came on, I mean I don't think I

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Speaker 2: had aspirations or even new I was college material or

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Speaker 2: that sort of thing. So seeing that on television for

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Speaker 2: me probably more life changing than seeing The Cosby Show.

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Speaker 2: So and now I know that you guys don't get

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Speaker 2: enough praise for that.

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Speaker 5: Appreciate that.

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Speaker 1: That's my fan worship for the hour, So thank you

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Speaker 1: so much.

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Speaker 6: I did watch Different World, but in reading up on it,

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Speaker 6: it seems like that shows created almost specifically to talk

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Speaker 6: about issues that weren't being talked about on The Cosby Show.

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Speaker 6: More so than just like a vehicle for Lisa Bonet

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Speaker 6: or spin off.

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Speaker 4: It was.

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Speaker 5: It was not so much comparatively to The Cosby Show,

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Speaker 5: but just what wasn't being talked about today and what

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Speaker 5: particularly young people were dealing with and faced with. You know,

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Speaker 5: when you go from the shelter of your parents' home

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Speaker 5: out into the real world, all of a sudden, so

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Speaker 5: many things start smacking you in the face that nobody

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Speaker 5: necessarily taught you how to deal with. Yet it's there

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Speaker 5: and in your life, in your relationships, all of it.

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Speaker 5: And they wanted to keep it authentic to what we

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Speaker 5: were dealing with at the time. And like you, I

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Speaker 5: went to college and had just graduated just a couple

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Speaker 5: of years before. But it wasn't until I started doing

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Speaker 5: a Different World World that it clicked for me what

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Speaker 5: an HBCU was Because we had those commercials of mind

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Speaker 5: is a terrible thing to waste with a person of color,

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Speaker 5: and you think, well, that makes sense, everybody should get

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Speaker 5: into ed education. I didn't put two and two together

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Speaker 5: that that was talking about a specific grouping of schools

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Speaker 5: of higher learning for people of color, for af African Americans,

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Speaker 5: So even those of us who were in the show

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Speaker 5: were learning lessons while we were doing the show. And

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Speaker 5: my name, I had never heard the name Jalisa before,

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Speaker 5: but I was actually named after the wife of one

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Speaker 5: of mister Cosby's best friends, Jalisa Hazard. And my last name, Vincent,

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Speaker 5: was the last name of one of our stage managers,

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Speaker 5: Chuck Vincent.

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Speaker 1: I always wondered about that.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, Chuck, Chuck Vincent's. He was naming people after every everybody.

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Speaker 5: Sindbad was named after Walt Hazzard coach Walter Oaks. Yeah,

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Speaker 5: oh okay, we were all named after somebody after.

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Speaker 7: And there there's an episode where Ron mentions that month

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Speaker 7: for by name and he was like a producer on

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Speaker 7: the sho or something.

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Speaker 5: That was one of our executive producers first season, and

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Speaker 5: that was one of the first the pioneers of writing

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Speaker 5: for traditionally white shows when he wrote on Mash. He

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Speaker 5: wrote for several different shows and was executive producer. So

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Speaker 5: we missed him, miss him Dealer. Yeah, Dad was a trailblazer.

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Speaker 1: So where were you? Where were you?

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Speaker 9: Born.

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Speaker 1: Are you Let's Dyet.

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Speaker 5: Corner raised Bedstye. We moved six times, but always in Brooklyn.

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Speaker 5: So I went from Bedstide to Park Slope, back to

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Speaker 5: Bedstide to Crown Heights and ultimately Flat Push, about five

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Speaker 5: blocks from Brooklyn College.

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Speaker 2: What was your Brooklyn experience? I always ask whenever Brooklyn

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Speaker 2: mights come on the show, and I ask, are they

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Speaker 2: you know, surprised at how it's transformed since then?

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Speaker 1: Like?

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Speaker 5: Oh yeah, when I was coming up in Brooklyn, the

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Speaker 5: neighbors I had now are not the neighbors I had then.

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Speaker 5: Let's still that way. No. Right now, while I'm here working,

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Speaker 5: I'm up in Harlem and Harlem and what it used

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Speaker 5: to be either I went to high school and home

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Speaker 5: I went. That was when music and art was up

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Speaker 5: on one hundred and thirty fifth Street in Convent, So

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Speaker 5: that was where I went went to high school, from

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Speaker 5: the last stop the junction in Brooklyn, right all the

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Speaker 5: way to one hundred and thirty fifth Street in Harlem.

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Speaker 1: How many hours was that?

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Speaker 5: That's about an hour and twenty minutes for me to

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Speaker 5: get to school every day.

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Speaker 1: What time did you wake up?

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Speaker 5: I don't even remember. I don't know if I was

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Speaker 5: awake when I woke up, I just knew. I got

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Speaker 5: on the train.

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Speaker 1: No school busing, No.

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Speaker 5: No, I got on the number. Okay, they switched the

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Speaker 5: numbers cause the three and the four used to go

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Speaker 5: to Flatbush and the two and the five used to

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Speaker 5: go to New Lots and Utica. So it took me

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Speaker 5: like fourteen fifteen years to even be willing to ride

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Speaker 5: the subway again. Once I moved to California and I knew,

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Speaker 5: I knew where I was going, Childo's trains took me

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Speaker 5: in all kind of wrong directions. I was like, what

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Speaker 5: is happening right now? When did the two start going

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Speaker 5: to Flatbush? When did that happen? But no, so yeah,

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Speaker 5: by an hour twenty minutes every day to get up

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Speaker 5: to high school. So that was when music and art

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Speaker 5: and performing arts were in two separate, separate buildings. Music

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Speaker 5: and art was where you did vocal music, progressive instrumentals

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Speaker 5: like the jazz band. Photographic and portrait arts, you know,

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Speaker 5: visual arts and performing arts was down in Times Square,

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Speaker 5: and that was where you had traditional dance training. It

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Speaker 5: was on a thing around forty sixth Street or some

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Speaker 5: something like that. So is this the fable LaGuardia School

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Speaker 5: or LaGuardia School, a fame fame. So about two years

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Speaker 5: after my graduation, class was when they put everybody in

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Speaker 5: one building. And now that's the building that's in Lincoln Center. Okay,

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Speaker 5: so Brooklyn was very different, humble, honest, grounded, you know, challenging.

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Speaker 5: I was bullied a lot when I was a kid,

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Speaker 5: but I was also popular. Was I was bullied because

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Speaker 5: I was popular, if that makes sense.

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Speaker 1: So you never had the I'm gonna get my brother

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Speaker 1: to fuck you.

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Speaker 5: Oh yeah I did, and I have I'm the only girl,

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Speaker 5: and I have three brothers, and yeah, they they could

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Speaker 5: torment me all they wanted, but no one could mess

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Speaker 5: with their little little sis sister. So everybody, no, I'm third,

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Speaker 5: I'm third, two older and one younger who thinks he's older.

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Speaker 8: I'm sorry. I called your grandma mixed.

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Speaker 5: I'm not sorry, You're not sorry, You're not sorry.

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Speaker 1: So was it a creative household a musical house?

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Speaker 5: I'm the only one. I'm the only one. One of

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Speaker 5: my older brothers ultimately got into music, and then he

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Speaker 5: started a family. So he got a regular nine to

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Speaker 5: five job. He was a paralegal. Now he's in it

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Speaker 5: and now he recently retired, so now he plays bass

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Speaker 5: in a in a trio whenever they feel like it

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Speaker 5: on week weekends and clubs and stuff. But my oldest

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Speaker 5: brother grew to be a fireman, so he was a firefighter.

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Speaker 5: Now he works as a fire marshal and head security

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Speaker 5: for a building on Park Avenue. And my younger brother

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Speaker 5: went into loss. He has his own law firm. And

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Speaker 5: then there's me singing and dancing and stuff.

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Speaker 1: Okay, was it was it encouraged or.

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Speaker 5: Was it just it was encouraged because again, like I

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Speaker 5: like I said, I had three brothers and my family

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Speaker 5: is from South America, so very different traditional values of

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Speaker 5: what is appropriate for a young girl to do and

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Speaker 5: for a young boy to do. But at the same time,

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Speaker 5: I wasn't allowed to do anything unless my brothers took me.

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Speaker 1: Were you first generation born.

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Speaker 5: First generation American citizen? Yes, and your parents are Guyany

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Speaker 5: South South America, Guyana. So they came up and my

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Speaker 5: mom one day, I was seven, very tall, athletic because

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Speaker 5: I was playing handball. That's what you did in Brooklyn.

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Speaker 5: You played handball, stickball, skellies in the in the skelly Yes,

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Speaker 5: in the street. Kelly's is a street it's street pool,

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Speaker 5: but you play it with with bottle tops and you

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Speaker 5: pluck it.

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Speaker 2: And the amount of times I got in trouble for

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Speaker 2: stealing milk capsm's milk.

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Speaker 8: Throw a ball at or something, try and flip it.

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Speaker 1: Well, no, you would take the milk caps.

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Speaker 5: And then or a quarter to give us some more weight.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, I would go on the street first. I

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Speaker 2: would take her spoons, which is a no no. Go

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Speaker 2: out in the street, find a grease spot and then

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Speaker 2: dig for tar of the street and put it inside

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Speaker 2: the caps. And then we scrubbed the cap on sidewalks

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Speaker 2: and go smooth. Freeze it at night and you just dream.

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Speaker 2: You put in a freezer and then you dream. So

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Speaker 2: think of a milk cap with tar.

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Speaker 5: It's like a hockey puck.

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Speaker 8: This is why there's no black hockey players. They're all playing.

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Speaker 5: So what you do is you draw this big board

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Speaker 5: and there are numbers strategically placed around the board, and

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Speaker 5: you shoot your cap from number to number and sequential order. Okay,

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Speaker 5: you wait, this is a very cultural different. Marbles go

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Speaker 5: Marbles and Brooklyn. They kill small children, they swallow them

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Speaker 5: and die.

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Speaker 10: Okay, shot fire shots fire. Yes, you're right, I couldn't

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Speaker 10: afford mom, So you shoot.

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Speaker 5: Them around the board. And the thing was when it rained,

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Speaker 5: that's when parents got really pissed because we had parque

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Speaker 5: floors in our house. So we took that same chalk

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Speaker 5: and would draw Skelly's boards indoors, indoors and on my

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Speaker 5: mom's parquet floors. We would draw Skelly boards and well,

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Speaker 5: I'm here, Wow, I ran, I'm faster than my mama.

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Speaker 5: She caught.

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Speaker 1: Can I tell you it is my dream.

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Speaker 2: Man, just between nineteen seventy eight and like nineteen eighty one,

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Speaker 2: Like I mean, me and my cousin would dream at night,

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Speaker 2: like your ways to.

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Speaker 1: Get the Sean Riley family like to knock there.

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Speaker 2: They had the best caps ever, it like, and you

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Speaker 2: couldn't get the milk tops with the stickers on them

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Speaker 2: because then that would not give you tracks.

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Speaker 1: Yes, yo, man, it was an art to play.

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Speaker 5: It was fantastic, dude, it was fantastic.

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Speaker 2: Between were speaking of South America. There's there's a you

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Speaker 2: know there's a tag tournament in South America. Yes, like

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Speaker 2: for real, like think of those like what are those shows?

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Speaker 2: Were like Ultimate Warrior like that sort of thing Warrior. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: but they have it for tag.

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Speaker 5: For tag, they're pretty.

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Speaker 2: So imagine like a playground where literally like a guy's

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Speaker 2: chasing you and you gotta like jump over a monkey

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Speaker 2: bar and you know there's like obstacles there, like you

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Speaker 2: might get your head knocked off.

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Speaker 7: But so coming home from fifth grade, Okay, I want

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Speaker 7: that right running home in fifth grade.

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Speaker 2: I want that for Skelly, like you just played. All right,

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Speaker 2: So we played stickball. That's where you shave half.

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Speaker 4: The ball.

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Speaker 5: Is where you take your room and you use it

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Speaker 5: as a bat. And remember the pink spalding balls the balls.

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Speaker 5: That was the ball that you would use and you

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Speaker 5: would pop it or punch ball, because if you couldn't

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Speaker 5: afford a stick, you would take the ball it. You

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Speaker 5: would take the ball and punch it and you would

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Speaker 5: run run the bases. All right, So we were very

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Speaker 5: creative children, thank you.

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Speaker 1: We would take that.

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Speaker 5: We didn't need expensive things like marble.

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Speaker 2: So you would play with the pink pol See. We

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Speaker 2: would take a razor and then yeah, gets.

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Speaker 5: See little children in my neighborhood weren't allowed to play

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Speaker 5: with razors.

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Speaker 1: Well, we would have make it. We would cut it

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Speaker 1: in half. Uh, huh.

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Speaker 2: In Philadelphia, you played stickball with half I guess so

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Speaker 2: you wouldn't ring a window.

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Speaker 5: Oh we didn't care.

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Speaker 1: Wow, so you would have to you would throw half

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Speaker 1: of a tennis ball or half of a one of

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Speaker 1: those pink bouncy.

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Speaker 5: Yeah huh, and then play stickball that way.

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Speaker 2: Yeah damn, we just make it a street. We ain't

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Speaker 2: even getting the nineteen eighty seven.

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Speaker 1: Talk about the street. You ever play kingball?

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Speaker 6: No?

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Speaker 5: What's king kingball?

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Speaker 2: Kingball is like all right, if you have a sidewalk,

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Speaker 2: it's it's sort of like, uh, you need four people

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Speaker 2: to play it, and each person gets a designated square

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Speaker 2: of a sidewalk. Think of like tennis with a basketball,

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Speaker 2: So the goal is not to hit the boundary of

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Speaker 2: the sidewalk.

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Speaker 1: It's a long exploit.

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Speaker 5: It sounds like it.

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Speaker 1: I feel like I need to be eight years old

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Speaker 1: to understand what it is. It's a Philly thing.

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Speaker 5: Okay, wait, okay. Two more favorite games as a kid

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Speaker 5: high Water low Water? Did you play high water low Water?

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Speaker 1: I remember this.

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Speaker 5: You use a rope and you lay it on the

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Speaker 5: ground and you take your turn stepping over. Then still,

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Speaker 5: after everybody goes, you raise it a little high and

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Speaker 5: then and then you start then it becomes like the

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Speaker 5: high jump, and then one concrete not safe, and then the.

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Speaker 1: Other version of this.

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Speaker 8: Well, I was just that just sounds like the reverse

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Speaker 8: of limbo.

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Speaker 5: Limbo limbo exactly exactly because your caribbean hr catch a.

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Speaker 1: Girl, freaking girl. Anyone know.

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Speaker 5: Something else that's a child molestation? Now, all right, one

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Speaker 5: more game. How about hot peas and butter.

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Speaker 1: I've heard this referred to in every rap song, but

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Speaker 1: never knew what butter is.

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Speaker 5: You would take a belt and you would hide it somewhere, okay,

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Speaker 5: and you were the person who was it in control

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Speaker 5: of hiding it. Then everyone else had to go and

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Speaker 5: try to find the belt. And so if people were

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Speaker 5: anywhere near where you hit, you go hot, hot hot,

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Speaker 5: if they went away cold cold, cold, So you would

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Speaker 5: yell after the belt was hit, Hot Peas and butter,

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Speaker 5: come and get yourself, and the people would go looking

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Speaker 5: for it, and here yesterday, come and get yourself. And

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Speaker 5: then people would go and looking for the belt. And

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Speaker 5: whoever found the belt, you tried to keep it hidden

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Speaker 5: and you would run and hit everybody with Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I wasn't playing that. I was not playing that game.

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Speaker 5: And then you had to run and not get hit

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Speaker 5: with them.

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Speaker 1: That don't sound fun. It sounds like my child is

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Speaker 1: the worst way possible. It was hilarious, like me trying

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Speaker 1: to hide a belt from somebody.

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Speaker 5: I do that.

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Speaker 1: Three weeks before every report. So what do you all right?

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Speaker 5: So what do you do play anymore?

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Speaker 2: You're so multi faceted with your talent. What do you

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Speaker 2: consider yourself is at least at fourteen fifteen when you're

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Speaker 2: developing your talent?

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Speaker 1: Are you a singer? Are you a poet? Are you

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Speaker 1: an actress? Are you dancer?

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Speaker 5: Like? I was all of it? Quite frankly, I was.

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Speaker 5: I was singing. I started singing at four, I was

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Speaker 5: lead singer in a band at fourteen. I had my

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Speaker 5: about four or five poems published in a compilation book

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Speaker 5: of young writers. By the time I was fifteen, I

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Speaker 5: was dancing on the stage at Carnegie Hall and Brooklyn

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Speaker 5: Academy and music by the time I was nine.

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Speaker 8: So I was.

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Speaker 5: I was all of that. So I never considered that

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Speaker 5: I had to choose. What I believed in, what the

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Speaker 5: environment I was raised in was that you had to

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Speaker 5: maximize everything. It was called being a trip triple threat.

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Speaker 5: You had to sing, dance, and act in order to

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Speaker 5: be viable in the business. And you asked me, was

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Speaker 5: it encouraged? You know, going back to how we got

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Speaker 5: into childhood game was my mother looked at me. I

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Speaker 5: was seven years old, really tall, really fit, playing all

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Speaker 5: these games with all these boys and everybody in the street.

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Speaker 5: She realized, you know what, I have to get my

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Speaker 5: child out of the middle of all of these boys

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Speaker 5: and give her something that she can do on her own.

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Speaker 5: And my mom had a really great friend, missus Green,

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Speaker 5: who had a daughter who was about five six years

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Speaker 5: older than I was, who was dancing. So she took

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Speaker 5: me to a dance recital at the Academy of Music.

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Speaker 5: I said, ma, I want to do that. She said,

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Speaker 5: are you sure? I said yes. So she enrolled me

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Speaker 5: in dance class. And I was riding the bus from

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Speaker 5: my house which was in on mid Where were we

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Speaker 5: at that time. We were on Midwood Street in Crown

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Speaker 5: Heights at that time, and I had to walk three

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Speaker 5: blocks over to the bus on New York Avenue get

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Speaker 5: on the bus at a certain time so I could

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Speaker 5: ride to the next stop where this young lady would

403
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Speaker 5: get on the bus with me and we would ride

404
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Speaker 5: down to Pacific Street and Saratoga to Miss Elaine Christian's

405
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Speaker 5: dance studio, And I did that once a week until

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Speaker 5: I was fifteen years old.

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Speaker 1: Where's e Lane Christian's dance studio.

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Speaker 5: It was on Pacific right near Saratoga, So at that

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Speaker 5: young age, I was on the city bus going to

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Speaker 5: and from dance classes. So that was kind of how

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Speaker 5: that started for me was my mom wanted to encourage

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Speaker 5: me to have my own thing. That took me out

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Speaker 5: of the middle of being around all those boys all

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Speaker 5: of the time.

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Speaker 6: Do you find, sorry, Marin, do you find that that

416
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Speaker 6: whole way of thought is sort of gone? Where the

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Speaker 6: triple threat thing? Because it seems like so many of

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Speaker 6: our of the people in the past who have who

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Speaker 6: were in entertainment were triple threats.

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Speaker 8: Yes, and it's that. Is that still a prevalent way

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00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:30,040
Speaker 8: of looking at things?

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Speaker 5: You know? I don't know that it's a prevalent way

423
00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:33,960
Speaker 5: of looking at things. What I have learned is that

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00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:38,960
Speaker 5: the way the business continues to evolve, the powers that be,

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00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:42,560
Speaker 5: the them or the they are more comfortable putting you

426
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Speaker 5: into a box. So I know a lot of people

427
00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:48,960
Speaker 5: who you see starring on television as actors are really

428
00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:54,000
Speaker 5: incredible singers or dancers, and you you you learned when

429
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,800
Speaker 5: they get the opportunity that they have all these other gifts.

430
00:22:57,119 --> 00:22:59,119
Speaker 5: But because of the way the industry is now, they

431
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:01,320
Speaker 5: kind of say, well, if we want a dramatic lead,

432
00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:03,879
Speaker 5: we need to hire this person. If we want to comedically,

433
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,280
Speaker 5: we need to hire this person. So you don't necessarily

434
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,000
Speaker 5: get to know what other pe people do. But no,

435
00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:11,159
Speaker 5: I don't think it's a requirement like it used to be.

436
00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:16,359
Speaker 5: I don't think so. Oh you googling stuff.

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00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:21,120
Speaker 2: No, only because your story is very similar to prodigy

438
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:23,960
Speaker 2: mom deeps. I was trying to figure out if whether

439
00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:26,560
Speaker 2: or not that was his grandmother's dance studio.

440
00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:30,720
Speaker 1: Oh, okay, but it wasn't. Ok it wasn't. Well wait,

441
00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:34,680
Speaker 1: I still don't know, because now I almost feel like

442
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,359
Speaker 1: it is the stories to.

443
00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:40,800
Speaker 5: Who used to be a big dancer at the Cotton Club.

444
00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:45,639
Speaker 5: She danced with Bill rob Robinson, bo Jangles and you

445
00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,159
Speaker 5: know all of that. So that was her legacy and

446
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:49,800
Speaker 5: she passed it on us. And we were there all

447
00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:56,320
Speaker 5: day on Saturday doing jazz, tap, ballet, African dance, and

448
00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:59,440
Speaker 5: on Saturday mornings you could always count on at least

449
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,720
Speaker 5: two thirds of the students running into the kitchen where

450
00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:04,560
Speaker 5: the TV was to watch Soul Train.

451
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:12,320
Speaker 8: So that's the dance part. So how'd you start with

452
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:13,680
Speaker 8: the singing and the actor the singing?

453
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,360
Speaker 5: I started at four. I just sang what I used

454
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,399
Speaker 5: to love, musical movies. I still do music. And there

455
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,640
Speaker 5: were music There were movies that would come on every year,

456
00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:25,000
Speaker 5: like The Wizard of Oz, March of the Wooden Soldiers,

457
00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,160
Speaker 5: there was a you know, Stormy Weather. There were different

458
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:29,040
Speaker 5: movies that would come on. You could count on it

459
00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:31,800
Speaker 5: at certain times of the year. So I would sing along.

460
00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,040
Speaker 5: I knew all the songs, I knew all the dances.

461
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,600
Speaker 5: I knew all of it. There in my living room,

462
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:41,440
Speaker 5: and my mom used to teach. She was a subsubstitute

463
00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:43,880
Speaker 5: teacher at an elementary school not far from from the house.

464
00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:46,600
Speaker 5: So after kindergarten, I would go and sit at the

465
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:48,040
Speaker 5: school in a way for my mom to be done

466
00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:49,600
Speaker 5: before I could go home. And they were doing their

467
00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:53,240
Speaker 5: their spring concert pageant, and I asked if I could

468
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,360
Speaker 5: be in it, and all the teachers knew I could sing.

469
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:57,400
Speaker 5: I was young, I was cute. It was four going

470
00:24:57,440 --> 00:24:59,840
Speaker 5: on five, and they said, yes, you can be in

471
00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:02,600
Speaker 5: the concert, and I worked on the song getting to

472
00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:07,560
Speaker 5: Know You from the King, and I with hand gesture exactly,

473
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:17,600
Speaker 5: you sang it better than I did. But then we

474
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,159
Speaker 5: got to the concert and I was amazing. I have

475
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,000
Speaker 5: to admit. I was phenomenal in the rehearsals. And I

476
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,399
Speaker 5: got on stage and saw other people instill on stage

477
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,440
Speaker 5: air froze. It's like there are people here watching me.

478
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:30,600
Speaker 5: And I got the first few words out and I

479
00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:33,399
Speaker 5: stood there and the teacher was below me trying to

480
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,800
Speaker 5: remind me to move my I painfully got through it,

481
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,199
Speaker 5: and then they said okay, all right, great, and then

482
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,520
Speaker 5: I sat down and then I started crying and said

483
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:44,240
Speaker 5: I can do it better. Please look, just sit down,

484
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:47,200
Speaker 5: little girl, Just sit sit down. And so I taught

485
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,159
Speaker 5: myself to never be that frightened again. That was the

486
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,239
Speaker 5: first and last time I'd ever scared myself so much

487
00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:56,520
Speaker 5: that I couldn't do what I was really desiring to do.

488
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:57,320
Speaker 5: And their photos.

489
00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:02,560
Speaker 2: This is highly unusual because normally there's I guess the

490
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:07,960
Speaker 2: good word is uh light encouragement. The bad word is

491
00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:10,720
Speaker 2: sort of like Joe Jackson esque, like there's always a

492
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 2: drill sergeant no, but this is this is a highly

493
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:19,680
Speaker 2: unusual to hear that confidence coming from someone under the

494
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:20,280
Speaker 2: age of ten.

495
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:22,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, that it isn't enforced from.

496
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:27,520
Speaker 5: No my mom. That was not my mom. My mom

497
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:29,560
Speaker 5: was like, just stay out of trouble. Okay, I gotta

498
00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:31,440
Speaker 5: go to work. Stay out of trouble. I gotta go

499
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,239
Speaker 5: to work. And uh my brothers were like, yeah, you're

500
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:36,760
Speaker 5: real cute, but we need to need her now to

501
00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:38,920
Speaker 5: play handball doing We need you to run the fourth

502
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 5: leg in the relafe. So I was like, don okay,

503
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:44,560
Speaker 5: that's great, get off your toeto shoes and come on

504
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,480
Speaker 5: over here and run this race because this boy don't

505
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:48,040
Speaker 5: believe you. You can beat him. And I got five

506
00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:53,920
Speaker 5: dollars on you. That's pretty fast.

507
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:58,119
Speaker 1: Yeah, I ran track to So you graduated high school?

508
00:26:58,160 --> 00:26:59,880
Speaker 1: What what age? What year?

509
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,399
Speaker 5: I was sixteen when I graduated from high school.

510
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:03,439
Speaker 1: You got skipped.

511
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:06,280
Speaker 5: I got skipped twice. I was in the first grade

512
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,280
Speaker 5: for about six months and went right to second grade,

513
00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:12,040
Speaker 5: and then I never went to eighth grade. I went

514
00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 5: from seventh grade to ninth grade.

515
00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:18,080
Speaker 1: She's like the best of every artist we ever had, Lewis.

516
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:25,040
Speaker 5: So. Yeah, So I graduated high school at sixteen, like

517
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:28,439
Speaker 5: I said, going to school up in Harlem, and had

518
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,600
Speaker 5: already been singing in bands and clubs and such, and

519
00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:34,960
Speaker 5: you know, young and cute. But I knew I wanted

520
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:36,520
Speaker 5: to do this as a career, and I also knew

521
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:38,280
Speaker 5: I wanted to get out of New York. My mom

522
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:41,440
Speaker 5: and I had a really contententious relationship at the time.

523
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,159
Speaker 5: You know, she's from a different country with different values

524
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,280
Speaker 5: and understanding of how things are supposed to be done.

525
00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:48,320
Speaker 5: And again, like I said, there were beliefs of what

526
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,720
Speaker 5: was appropriate for a girl and what was appropriate for

527
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:55,240
Speaker 5: a boy, and boys rule in those South American cultures,

528
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:55,800
Speaker 5: and so.

529
00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:58,159
Speaker 1: In her eyes, you should have been getting ready for

530
00:27:58,240 --> 00:27:59,600
Speaker 1: her husband and a housewife.

531
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:03,600
Speaker 5: You know, I never got that speech. I never got religious. Yeah,

532
00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:06,160
Speaker 5: very very My family is said seven day adventist.

533
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:09,840
Speaker 1: Yikes. Yeah, wait a minute's not adding up.

534
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,480
Speaker 5: Well, there you go. So there's more to the story.

535
00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:14,880
Speaker 5: There's more to this, I am.

536
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:16,760
Speaker 1: There you go.

537
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:19,680
Speaker 5: No, Well, we had devotions at home every day. My

538
00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:23,840
Speaker 5: mom had us read the Bible, read scripture, Yeah, seeing

539
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:27,040
Speaker 5: hymns when when we could. Because okay, see you get

540
00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:28,960
Speaker 5: into a whole other part of the story. The reality

541
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,119
Speaker 5: is my going to dance class every Saturday was a

542
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:38,280
Speaker 5: real issue for the family. It caused real problems. My mom,

543
00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:40,280
Speaker 5: like I said, saw it as a way to help

544
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:44,560
Speaker 5: save and encourage and empower me. My family would tell

545
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,920
Speaker 5: my mom and tell me even when I was small,

546
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:53,480
Speaker 5: they're going to the extended family, not not my brother's not.

547
00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,520
Speaker 5: You know, the truth is is that you are sending

548
00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:00,880
Speaker 5: this child straight to hell by not having her in church, etcetera, etcetera,

549
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,480
Speaker 5: and sending her into the demon's pit. This entertainment stuff

550
00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:05,760
Speaker 5: is where the devil lives, etcetera, et cetera. How do

551
00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:07,400
Speaker 5: you tell that to a seven year old child? But

552
00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:11,760
Speaker 5: they managed along the way. Like I said, my mom

553
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,240
Speaker 5: really reinforced in us that we have what we have

554
00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,160
Speaker 5: by the grace of God, and that it is a blessing,

555
00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:19,640
Speaker 5: it is not a curse. I wouldn't be able to

556
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,560
Speaker 5: do what I do if it wasn't a gift from God.

557
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:24,400
Speaker 5: So look at it that way and please shut out

558
00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:30,600
Speaker 5: the other noise. And ultimately, as we grew, the family

559
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:35,040
Speaker 5: stopped saying certain things. But you know, you couldn't ignore

560
00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,200
Speaker 5: or forget really the rift that was the cause and

561
00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:40,560
Speaker 5: the pain that that was caused. But you know, everybody grows,

562
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,200
Speaker 5: you learn, you love, you forgive, and you realize that

563
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:45,959
Speaker 5: there were good things that come out of whatever, as

564
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:47,520
Speaker 5: long as that's what your intent is.

565
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:50,440
Speaker 2: I was going to say not even the harp on it,

566
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:52,479
Speaker 2: but I was just like, that's why I was so amazed.

567
00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:55,120
Speaker 2: I was like, wait a minute, I've never heard of

568
00:29:56,320 --> 00:30:02,120
Speaker 2: a situation in which, especially with a black household, in

569
00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:07,400
Speaker 2: which like religion or some sort of obstacle is sort

570
00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:10,560
Speaker 2: of thrown in your path of you finding your talent.

571
00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,720
Speaker 5: There were a few, okay, okay, so the guys in

572
00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:16,360
Speaker 5: Take six, who we ultimately became really great friends, we

573
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:18,680
Speaker 5: used to be able to share those kinds of stories

574
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:22,280
Speaker 5: because they're adventist. Also, what you didn't know that, Yes,

575
00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:24,160
Speaker 5: the guys in Take six were.

576
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,680
Speaker 1: Advant discipline with their.

577
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:30,320
Speaker 5: You know, so we were able to talk about that

578
00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:34,560
Speaker 5: because our upbringing stories were very, very similar. But you know,

579
00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:37,320
Speaker 5: but now that we are where we are, we use

580
00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:41,160
Speaker 5: our platform to inspire, empower to be a blessing at

581
00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:43,640
Speaker 5: least you hope so to others. You know, in a

582
00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:47,760
Speaker 5: way that I may not have been received had I

583
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:50,040
Speaker 5: not taken this journey. You know what I mean?

584
00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,160
Speaker 2: To be so young as a graduate of high school,

585
00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,280
Speaker 2: how hard was it to adjust to adult life?

586
00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:58,680
Speaker 5: Do you know what? I got thrown into the deep

587
00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:01,440
Speaker 5: end because I left New York and went to school

588
00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,960
Speaker 5: down at the University of Miami in Miami at sixteen,

589
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,360
Speaker 5: and the university almost did not accept me because I

590
00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:12,000
Speaker 5: was so young. Yeah, but I had a grandmother who

591
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:14,400
Speaker 5: helped raise us. Actually we lived with my grandmother for

592
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,600
Speaker 5: almost two years when we were younger. That's a whole

593
00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:21,240
Speaker 5: other story how we ended up there. But to go

594
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:25,160
Speaker 5: to college, my mom couldn't afford to send me. My

595
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:28,480
Speaker 5: dad would have been able to help, but he chose

596
00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,600
Speaker 5: not to. He's like, you're too young, You're going to

597
00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:34,000
Speaker 5: go get pregnant and do all of that. And I

598
00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,520
Speaker 5: was like, but you know, you haven't lived in our

599
00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:37,480
Speaker 5: house since I was seven.

600
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:37,800
Speaker 8: Man.

601
00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,440
Speaker 5: Whatever. So I got another aunt to co sign for

602
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,080
Speaker 5: a student loan for me, and I packed my stuff

603
00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:45,840
Speaker 5: and I left and they turned around and go, wait,

604
00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:47,720
Speaker 5: she really left. I said, yeah, I told you I

605
00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:50,320
Speaker 5: was leaving. I'm going. So I went to college. So

606
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:53,800
Speaker 5: between student loans, college work study was how I paid

607
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,560
Speaker 5: for school. And so I got there and now I'm

608
00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:00,520
Speaker 5: responsible to pay back a loan. I'm responsible to pay

609
00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,320
Speaker 5: for my tuition, my room and board, as well as

610
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,840
Speaker 5: you know, get through my classes. And as a performance major.

611
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:12,640
Speaker 5: I went as a voicemade major, so in music and art,

612
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:15,040
Speaker 5: I was singing opera, so I was classically trained for

613
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:18,560
Speaker 5: many years. I played cello for almost seven years. You

614
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:19,320
Speaker 5: didn't have that on.

615
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:21,440
Speaker 1: Good Yeah, what did you miss?

616
00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:26,760
Speaker 5: I played cello for about seven years and sang opera.

617
00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:29,440
Speaker 5: So when I went to u of M. When they

618
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,320
Speaker 5: advised you for your major, that was back in the

619
00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:32,840
Speaker 5: day when you had cards, and they would write and

620
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:34,360
Speaker 5: you have to take this classes, and you get a

621
00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:37,880
Speaker 5: signature from your departpartment head to authorize you to go

622
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,320
Speaker 5: and register for these classes. They wrote a bunch of

623
00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:42,760
Speaker 5: classes I had already taken in high school, like music

624
00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:45,120
Speaker 5: theory and sight singing and all those kinds of things.

625
00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:47,440
Speaker 5: So I refused to take them again. So when I

626
00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:54,760
Speaker 5: left her, don't judge me. Why no, man, Look, this

627
00:32:54,880 --> 00:33:00,160
Speaker 5: is money. College is expensive colleges. But this is this

628
00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:02,720
Speaker 5: is what I did. When I left her office, I

629
00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,320
Speaker 5: said thank you very much. And it wasn't my fault.

630
00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:07,360
Speaker 5: She wrote it in pencil. I just happened to have

631
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:12,520
Speaker 5: an racer in my bag. So because I'm a good student,

632
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:15,520
Speaker 5: I came to school prepared. So I took my ras.

633
00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:18,600
Speaker 5: She prepared, no, So I rased half of what she

634
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,440
Speaker 5: gave me, like music theory one oh one in sight ransom,

635
00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:23,560
Speaker 5: not taking that. I'm not taking that. And I wrote

636
00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:26,760
Speaker 5: in dance classes, I wrote in acting classes. And I

637
00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:28,040
Speaker 5: made my own curriculum.

638
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:30,320
Speaker 1: I brought my pencil.

639
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,920
Speaker 5: Wow, and I made my own curriculum. And I was like,

640
00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:38,280
Speaker 5: that's more like it, because that was what I was

641
00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:42,760
Speaker 5: already accustomed to doing, going to dance class regular well,

642
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:48,719
Speaker 5: well not entirely. About two and a half months into school,

643
00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:53,280
Speaker 5: I got called into the dean's office. Yeah, it was

644
00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:56,040
Speaker 5: like Clint Clinton like. I called into the dean's office

645
00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:58,600
Speaker 5: and she said, okay, we were concerned about admitting you

646
00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:00,560
Speaker 5: in the first place, and this is going to be

647
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:03,400
Speaker 5: your one and only warning. I said, what said we're

648
00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:05,680
Speaker 5: about to say and send you home? I said, well why,

649
00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:08,480
Speaker 5: They said, because you're not going to classes. We can't

650
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:10,680
Speaker 5: have that, young lady, Da da da da da. I said, well,

651
00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:12,359
Speaker 5: what of course, I'm going to my class, and I'm

652
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:14,880
Speaker 5: going to my classes. I'm pulling a four point o gpa.

653
00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:16,920
Speaker 5: I don't understand the problem. Well, you haven't been to

654
00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:19,480
Speaker 5: this class, this class discussing this sid I'm not in

655
00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:21,759
Speaker 5: that class. I'm in this class, this classic class, and

656
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 5: this class. And say, well, who told you to do that?

657
00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,000
Speaker 5: So well, nobody told me to do it. It's my money.

658
00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:26,840
Speaker 5: I'm gonna take the class.

659
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:27,560
Speaker 1: I want my friend.

660
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:33,800
Speaker 5: You know, I've built empowered at sixteen years old. So

661
00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:35,040
Speaker 5: she made me.

662
00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:35,719
Speaker 1: Sitting this hall.

663
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,760
Speaker 5: She is sure, so she may be sitting the hallway

664
00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:43,719
Speaker 5: for a minute, and then call me back in the

665
00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:45,759
Speaker 5: office and said, okay, young lady, you had no way

666
00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:47,640
Speaker 5: of knowing this, but the School of Music and the

667
00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:49,759
Speaker 5: School of Fine Arts had been in conversations for like

668
00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,560
Speaker 5: a couple of years about starting a new degree program

669
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:55,600
Speaker 5: for people like you. So would you be interested in

670
00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:58,160
Speaker 5: being the guinea pig for this new degree program? And

671
00:34:58,200 --> 00:34:59,640
Speaker 5: I said, well, what would I have to do? She

672
00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:01,960
Speaker 5: said basically what you already doing?

673
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:04,880
Speaker 1: Like oh, they had to respect it.

674
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,239
Speaker 5: And I said, well, okay, then all right, so what

675
00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:10,680
Speaker 5: happens now? Can I go? She goes, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.

676
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:13,840
Speaker 5: You need to prepare. You have four days to prepare

677
00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:18,040
Speaker 5: for an audition, I said, audition for what she said,

678
00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:21,520
Speaker 5: so we can officially start this degree program. So I

679
00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:24,000
Speaker 5: had to do a forty five minute jury for the

680
00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:26,600
Speaker 5: entire faculty of the School of Music and the School

681
00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:30,320
Speaker 5: of Fine Arts. I had to choreograph a dance. I

682
00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:33,080
Speaker 5: had to do a comedic and a dramatic monologue. I

683
00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:37,120
Speaker 5: had to do arias in French and Italian. I had

684
00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:39,680
Speaker 5: to do a Broadway show tune. I had to do

685
00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:44,319
Speaker 5: a jazz tune. There was one other thing. I can't

686
00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,520
Speaker 5: remember what I had to do. Yeah, took forty five minutes.

687
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:48,680
Speaker 5: How many days one day? All of that I had

688
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:50,000
Speaker 5: four days to prepare.

689
00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:55,200
Speaker 1: Were they stacking just to be like, well, I don't know.

690
00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:58,000
Speaker 5: But what ended up resulting out of that was after

691
00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:00,560
Speaker 5: the jury, they were now officially a to start this

692
00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:03,279
Speaker 5: degree program. So I'm the founder and first graduate of

693
00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:08,120
Speaker 5: the musical theater degree program at the university. They no, no,

694
00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:13,600
Speaker 5: even and after a few years they conveniently forget to

695
00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:16,759
Speaker 5: mention that I had anything to do with it. Man,

696
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:20,440
Speaker 5: you something every now and then it comes up or

697
00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:24,319
Speaker 5: you know whatever. But uh, yeah, so that year that's

698
00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:27,640
Speaker 5: been going thirty plus years strong, through the School of Music.

699
00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:32,239
Speaker 5: They've graduated Tony Winners, Grammy Winners, Oscar winners, and in

700
00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:34,319
Speaker 5: the last four or five years they've transferred it from

701
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:37,319
Speaker 5: the School of Music to the School of finn out

702
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:40,320
Speaker 5: Fine Arts now has the degree pro program.

703
00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,440
Speaker 1: I was going to ask in Brooklyn growing up?

704
00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:54,080
Speaker 2: Yes, were there any other notable Brooklyn nights that we

705
00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:57,160
Speaker 2: would know now that you went to school with?

706
00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:03,400
Speaker 5: Or like our next door neighbor Dwayne Well, we call

707
00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,960
Speaker 5: him Dwayne because his first name was Ralph ended up

708
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:11,360
Speaker 5: being young Michael on Good Times Ralph Carter Carter.

709
00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:15,680
Speaker 1: Wow, wow, l Carter. That's amazing. Yep. I saw him

710
00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:19,520
Speaker 1: three months ago. Yeah, yeah, three months ago.

711
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:22,880
Speaker 5: He was our next next tour neighbor. Other than that, no,

712
00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:26,200
Speaker 5: not not in my neighborhood, not not while I was there.

713
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:30,160
Speaker 1: So the neighborhood kids weren't even like, like mine died in't.

714
00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:35,440
Speaker 5: We're playing stickball and skellyesdan't care. They didn't care. Oh,

715
00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:38,239
Speaker 5: but you know what I recently found out. A year

716
00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:40,840
Speaker 5: or two ago, I was doing This is Us, like

717
00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:44,400
Speaker 5: one of my favorite shows on television, And when I

718
00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:46,120
Speaker 5: got there, I was so excited to be I was

719
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:48,000
Speaker 5: happy to be there, and the cast was like, oh

720
00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:49,800
Speaker 5: my god, Luk's on our show. Can you take preatures

721
00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:51,440
Speaker 5: with us? And I'm thinking, like, because I was going

722
00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:53,520
Speaker 5: to ask to take pictures with you guys. So we're

723
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:57,719
Speaker 5: taking pictures and Susan Kleecki Watson, who plays the sister

724
00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:01,600
Speaker 5: the wife on the show Ramblers White, isn't she fantastic?

725
00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:05,840
Speaker 5: She hangs around because she was actually finished before I

726
00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:08,360
Speaker 5: was called in to work, so she hung around to

727
00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:13,400
Speaker 5: meet me. So we're taking selfies and we're exchanging numbers

728
00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:15,160
Speaker 5: so we can send each other the pictures that we

729
00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:17,120
Speaker 5: take and we're sitting on my trailer like talking for

730
00:38:17,239 --> 00:38:19,560
Speaker 5: half an hour. So she finally leaves. I get called

731
00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:22,479
Speaker 5: to the set and I call a couple of friends

732
00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,279
Speaker 5: of mine. They say, and I told them what the

733
00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:26,640
Speaker 5: day was like, and they said, Susan's my great friend,

734
00:38:26,719 --> 00:38:29,200
Speaker 5: and Da da da, and Doulay Hill was like, that's

735
00:38:29,239 --> 00:38:32,640
Speaker 5: my great friend, etcetera, etcetera. And so I called her

736
00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:34,320
Speaker 5: back and said, I didn't know you knew Dulay and

737
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:36,879
Speaker 5: she says, yes, he's a great friend. And I said, okay, great.

738
00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:39,120
Speaker 5: She calls me back two minutes later she said, okay,

739
00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:41,200
Speaker 5: look I'm not trying to be weird or anything. But

740
00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:43,480
Speaker 5: I sent the picture that we took to my family,

741
00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:45,560
Speaker 5: and my brother text me back and said, you know

742
00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:49,120
Speaker 5: that's our cousin, right, What I said, I'm sorry what

743
00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:52,560
Speaker 5: she said? Yes, she said, do you have an aunt

744
00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,080
Speaker 5: so and so? I said, I don't know, I've never

745
00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:57,640
Speaker 5: heard that name before. She said, well, your aunt's so

746
00:38:57,680 --> 00:38:59,719
Speaker 5: and so married my uncle so and so and they

747
00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:02,920
Speaker 5: live Trinidad and this and that's what what that in

748
00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:04,600
Speaker 5: the world. So I called my mom, mad, we have

749
00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:07,440
Speaker 5: a lot of Yes, that's my first cousin. Shamarried a

750
00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:09,560
Speaker 5: mon from trinidashall, never call him back again. But this

751
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:11,600
Speaker 5: is not this and not this and that. So I

752
00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:14,440
Speaker 5: call her back and said, oh my gosh, we're like

753
00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:18,600
Speaker 5: second cousins. First. It's hilarious, and we keep talking. Come

754
00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:22,120
Speaker 5: to find out that she's from Brooklyn, grew up within

755
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:24,960
Speaker 5: a mile of where I grew up in Brooklyn, and

756
00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:27,200
Speaker 5: still has family in a place there.

757
00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:28,560
Speaker 1: Now, yeah, that's crazy.

758
00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:32,040
Speaker 2: And also, you just answered another question from me always

759
00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:36,080
Speaker 2: you know, you had a very convincing island accent that

760
00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:38,359
Speaker 2: you tried on a different world once.

761
00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:46,800
Speaker 1: And now I was like, yo, she's really good. I

762
00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:49,799
Speaker 1: didn't realize that, okay, because that's where my family see

763
00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:51,279
Speaker 1: and I time.

764
00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:54,600
Speaker 5: Yes. So, as I mentioned, I was first generation in America.

765
00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:57,040
Speaker 5: My mom was the oldest of eight, so one at

766
00:39:57,080 --> 00:39:59,239
Speaker 5: a time, she sponsored her siblings and her parents to

767
00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:02,320
Speaker 5: come up to this date. So now when all of

768
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:04,600
Speaker 5: our cousins, when all of the cousins get to get together,

769
00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:06,200
Speaker 5: all of a sudden, all of us have accents.

770
00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:06,800
Speaker 1: Your accents.

771
00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:10,000
Speaker 5: Oh man, all of a sudden, all of us have accents,

772
00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:12,839
Speaker 5: and we're talking like our parents and such. It's really

773
00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:13,560
Speaker 5: very very funny.

774
00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:14,200
Speaker 1: I see.

775
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:19,840
Speaker 2: So by at least by twenty did you have like focus? Okay,

776
00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:22,760
Speaker 2: I want to be a singer.

777
00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:24,160
Speaker 5: Yeah, I was already doing it.

778
00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:28,000
Speaker 1: But I mean it's like you did everything at once.

779
00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:28,279
Speaker 1: I was.

780
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:29,960
Speaker 2: I'm trying to figure out what has the edge? What

781
00:40:30,080 --> 00:40:32,319
Speaker 2: has the fifty one to forty nine percent edge?

782
00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:32,600
Speaker 4: Oh?

783
00:40:32,719 --> 00:40:36,200
Speaker 5: Probably music, singing more than a singing and writing more

784
00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:40,080
Speaker 5: than anything, because that's what I was booking jobs. As.

785
00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,680
Speaker 2: So, what was your first well you usually on the show,

786
00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:47,279
Speaker 2: I asked about your first Well, first of all, who

787
00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:51,280
Speaker 2: do you who's your hero, your idol, your your.

788
00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:53,640
Speaker 1: When as far as your craft is concerned. Who do

789
00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:54,200
Speaker 1: you look up to?

790
00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:58,600
Speaker 5: Wow? I actually had a few, Okay, actually had a few.

791
00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:02,480
Speaker 5: Judy Garland was one early on. It was amazing to

792
00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:05,160
Speaker 5: me the power and passion in her voice, and when

793
00:41:05,160 --> 00:41:07,320
Speaker 5: I would watch her movies. Again, Remember I used to

794
00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:09,719
Speaker 5: watch a lot of old movies like Take Me to

795
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:11,840
Speaker 5: Saint Louis and The Wizard of Oz and all that

796
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:14,600
Speaker 5: kind of stuff, and we weren't in a lot of

797
00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:17,879
Speaker 5: those movies. We often had little, small segments. So Lena

798
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:21,360
Speaker 5: Horne was a big influence to me. The Nicholas brothers

799
00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:24,280
Speaker 5: were a huge influence to me as I got older.

800
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:28,200
Speaker 5: It was people like Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder, Elton John.

801
00:41:29,160 --> 00:41:31,200
Speaker 1: You remember the first record you ever purchased?

802
00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:35,400
Speaker 5: No, I don't. I remember the first ones. One of

803
00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:37,719
Speaker 5: the first ones that my brothers purchased that I used

804
00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:39,640
Speaker 5: to like to play all the time. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

805
00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:42,880
Speaker 5: they bought them. I just played them. It was The

806
00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:48,520
Speaker 5: Rolling Stones, and I remember it. Time is on my side,

807
00:41:48,960 --> 00:41:51,319
Speaker 5: Yes it is. I had no idea what they were saying,

808
00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:52,440
Speaker 5: but it was just a funky.

809
00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:54,440
Speaker 1: Line to me that brothers were into the stones.

810
00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:57,800
Speaker 5: They were into the stones and Smokey Robinson. I remember

811
00:41:57,880 --> 00:42:00,000
Speaker 5: those two being the first record that I would pla

812
00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:02,600
Speaker 5: a lot, and Smokey's record that they had was if

813
00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:06,959
Speaker 5: there's a smile on my face, it's only that trying

814
00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:11,359
Speaker 5: to fool the public. But when it comes down, the tears.

815
00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:12,440
Speaker 4: Yeah.

816
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:17,279
Speaker 5: So yeah, those those songs and songs like Raising in

817
00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:20,200
Speaker 5: the Grass is a blass baby. Can you did all

818
00:42:20,200 --> 00:42:22,040
Speaker 5: those kinds of things you never knew what they really could.

819
00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:25,000
Speaker 2: Be?

820
00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:28,200
Speaker 5: Your first concert, uh, the one that I watched, Yeah,

821
00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:32,400
Speaker 5: and uh no, no, no, thank you for reminding me that,

822
00:42:34,760 --> 00:42:36,560
Speaker 5: like a moment of I want to do that, like

823
00:42:36,719 --> 00:42:40,719
Speaker 5: your first content, very first concert. No. I remember my

824
00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:43,759
Speaker 5: very first Broadway show. It was The Whiz and it

825
00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:47,320
Speaker 5: was Stephanie Mills, and by the time she got to

826
00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:52,160
Speaker 5: be a lion, I was a puddle. She was absolutely phenomenal.

827
00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:54,640
Speaker 5: I couldn't believe all of this sound and all of

828
00:42:54,719 --> 00:42:57,319
Speaker 5: this talent as a dancer, as an actress was coming

829
00:42:57,360 --> 00:43:00,239
Speaker 5: out of this little, tiny person. And I look at

830
00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:02,120
Speaker 5: my grandmother and I was like, that's what I want

831
00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:04,480
Speaker 5: to do that. I want to do that. And to

832
00:43:04,719 --> 00:43:06,600
Speaker 5: quite frankly, you know, over the years, some of your

833
00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:10,000
Speaker 5: idols become your friends and your colleagues, which to me

834
00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:12,400
Speaker 5: just kind of really blows my mind. The fact that

835
00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:15,520
Speaker 5: when I met Gladys Knight and Lina Horne, they knew

836
00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:19,200
Speaker 5: my name, right, you know, Lena. I just stood there crying,

837
00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:21,520
Speaker 5: and people there's pictures.

838
00:43:21,239 --> 00:43:23,359
Speaker 1: Like she was she on the show, when you were

839
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:25,239
Speaker 1: on the show. I remember when she was on the show.

840
00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:28,320
Speaker 5: She did a guest spot, but I met her a

841
00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:30,520
Speaker 5: few years before she got to do it. It was

842
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:33,760
Speaker 5: at the opening night of Fences, and everybody was crowding

843
00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:36,960
Speaker 5: her wanting to take her picture, wanting an autograph, and

844
00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:39,800
Speaker 5: I stood there like waiting my turn, like frozen. And

845
00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:42,840
Speaker 5: she looked and to everybody, wait, stop, excuse me, excuse me,

846
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:45,680
Speaker 5: you come here. And I walked over to her and

847
00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:47,880
Speaker 5: she grabbed me by the face and said, baby, you

848
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:52,000
Speaker 5: on that show, aren't you? I said, still show? And

849
00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:54,040
Speaker 5: she says that show. She says, y'all are doing such

850
00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:57,120
Speaker 5: a beautiful thing. Your name is Dawn, right, And tears

851
00:43:57,239 --> 00:43:59,800
Speaker 5: just started coming down my face and she said, you

852
00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:02,400
Speaker 5: keep doing what you were doing. I'm so proud of you.

853
00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:05,560
Speaker 5: And I could I really couldn't even speak, and uh,

854
00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:08,680
Speaker 5: fortunately somebody got a photo of us standing there with

855
00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:11,960
Speaker 5: this like huge grin on my face.

856
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:15,560
Speaker 2: And Yeah, that's crazy because you never think that they

857
00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:16,880
Speaker 2: know you're alive or anything.

858
00:44:17,440 --> 00:44:20,680
Speaker 5: Why would she? Yeah, but it's like you people her,

859
00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:24,160
Speaker 5: People like her just inspired me to do what it

860
00:44:24,320 --> 00:44:26,719
Speaker 5: is I do now. And when you get to know

861
00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:29,480
Speaker 5: them and learn what they survived through and what they

862
00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:33,080
Speaker 5: over over overcame, and what mattered to them and how

863
00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:35,160
Speaker 5: they used their voice and they did it with grace

864
00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:40,080
Speaker 5: and with power and with determination. It really I could

865
00:44:40,160 --> 00:44:42,560
Speaker 5: not have asked for better examples like her and Gladys

866
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:46,160
Speaker 5: who's like my auntie now, and Natalie Cole and Nancy

867
00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:50,480
Speaker 5: William Wilson and Stevie as well, and to teach you

868
00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:53,960
Speaker 5: how to do this thing with grace and with appreciation right,

869
00:44:54,120 --> 00:44:56,360
Speaker 5: because it could really take you in a whole other space.

870
00:44:56,480 --> 00:44:58,200
Speaker 5: If you're not careful, you start to think it's all

871
00:44:58,200 --> 00:44:58,560
Speaker 5: about you.

872
00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:01,520
Speaker 8: Welcome back to the Sugar Steve Show.

873
00:45:04,239 --> 00:45:08,560
Speaker 1: So, Steve, when you first met me, did you go

874
00:45:08,680 --> 00:45:11,080
Speaker 1: back to New York after you graduated? Yeah?

875
00:45:11,239 --> 00:45:15,640
Speaker 5: You know, it was my habit that going back and going.

876
00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:18,319
Speaker 5: Like I said, I was bullied a lot in elementary

877
00:45:18,360 --> 00:45:22,280
Speaker 5: school and my teachers were just such blessings and encouragement

878
00:45:22,640 --> 00:45:25,600
Speaker 5: to me that when I graduated from elementary school and

879
00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:27,920
Speaker 5: I got to give a shout out to Barbara Ames

880
00:45:28,239 --> 00:45:32,200
Speaker 5: and Karen Fogler, to the most amazing teachers anyone could

881
00:45:32,239 --> 00:45:34,440
Speaker 5: ever have. They still come to everything I do today

882
00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:39,000
Speaker 5: to this day, since elementary school, since first grade, and

883
00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:43,920
Speaker 5: Barbara Ames was actually one of the teachers. Barbara and

884
00:45:44,120 --> 00:45:47,320
Speaker 5: Karen were teachers of Lynn Manuel Miranda as well, and

885
00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:50,680
Speaker 5: he credits both of them as well as depositing into

886
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:52,600
Speaker 5: his life to inspire him to do what he does.

887
00:45:52,719 --> 00:45:56,399
Speaker 5: So all of you teachers out there, mad love, mad love,

888
00:45:56,800 --> 00:45:59,480
Speaker 5: mad love. I know you know situations are tense or

889
00:45:59,520 --> 00:46:02,680
Speaker 5: can be to some schools these days, but I so

890
00:46:03,360 --> 00:46:06,520
Speaker 5: appreciate you much love for all that you do for

891
00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:11,280
Speaker 5: inspiring and educating us and caring for us beyond beyond.

892
00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:14,080
Speaker 5: So anyway, so when I graduated and went to junior High,

893
00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:16,600
Speaker 5: I would come back to elementary school just to visit

894
00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:18,840
Speaker 5: them and say hi. I would do Christmas concerts in

895
00:46:18,880 --> 00:46:21,360
Speaker 5: the faculty lounge and then I would talk to the

896
00:46:21,440 --> 00:46:22,960
Speaker 5: kids and say I used to sit right there in

897
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:25,240
Speaker 5: this class, and don't be a bully, and if anything

898
00:46:25,280 --> 00:46:27,799
Speaker 5: happens to you tell your tea teacher because they really

899
00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:30,080
Speaker 5: want to help, and they go, okay, okay, what's junior

900
00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:32,520
Speaker 5: high school? Like okay, great. Then I went to high

901
00:46:32,560 --> 00:46:35,520
Speaker 5: school and go back to my junior high in elementary school,

902
00:46:35,560 --> 00:46:37,640
Speaker 5: and this became my habit. When I went to college,

903
00:46:37,920 --> 00:46:41,080
Speaker 5: I came back. That was my habit. Then after college,

904
00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:44,400
Speaker 5: now I'm releasing records, I'm doing shows off and on Broadway.

905
00:46:44,440 --> 00:46:47,200
Speaker 5: Then I book a TV show. Now I'm in California.

906
00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:49,480
Speaker 5: So when I get an opportunity, I come back home,

907
00:46:49,760 --> 00:46:52,000
Speaker 5: and so is my habit. I went back to my school.

908
00:46:52,360 --> 00:46:55,279
Speaker 5: I went back to music and art. The difference was

909
00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:57,160
Speaker 5: I used to do it because it made me feel

910
00:46:57,200 --> 00:47:00,279
Speaker 5: good and stay connected and grounded. This time, I in

911
00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:02,600
Speaker 5: the lobby of the school. It's like, oh my god,

912
00:47:02,680 --> 00:47:07,640
Speaker 5: it's Julisa and kids came from everywhere and they swarmed

913
00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:10,000
Speaker 5: me in the lobby. They had to get security and

914
00:47:10,080 --> 00:47:13,279
Speaker 5: the police to escort me to the principal's office. Then

915
00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:15,480
Speaker 5: they made an announcement, we need you to please get

916
00:47:15,520 --> 00:47:17,879
Speaker 5: out of the hallways, go back to your class. Miss

917
00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:20,520
Speaker 5: Lewis will come and see you, but you need to

918
00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:23,120
Speaker 5: go back to your classes. So they had an extended

919
00:47:23,200 --> 00:47:25,719
Speaker 5: day of school that day, and I literally live to

920
00:47:25,920 --> 00:47:30,560
Speaker 5: every class and answer questions because in a place like

921
00:47:30,719 --> 00:47:33,920
Speaker 5: music and art, I'm living the dream that everybody in

922
00:47:33,960 --> 00:47:37,280
Speaker 5: that school has. So that's what made a mental shift

923
00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:41,080
Speaker 5: for me that I actually had something to offer, that

924
00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:43,840
Speaker 5: it wasn't just about me, but that I could hopefully

925
00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:47,040
Speaker 5: answer some questions and be a support or an encouragement

926
00:47:47,080 --> 00:47:47,839
Speaker 5: to somebody else.

927
00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:52,279
Speaker 2: See, you've achieved something that I just recently got to

928
00:47:52,320 --> 00:47:56,800
Speaker 2: get a taste of. Because early in my career, like

929
00:47:57,120 --> 00:47:59,239
Speaker 2: they would have me come and speak to schools or whatever,

930
00:48:00,239 --> 00:48:02,319
Speaker 2: but I would get like questions, like.

931
00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:07,440
Speaker 1: You over there, Yeah, so do you know like real

932
00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:13,719
Speaker 1: famous people. Do you know Andre three thousand? Yeah? Do

933
00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:16,400
Speaker 1: you know Eric Abat? Yeah? I produced her first record?

934
00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:17,360
Speaker 4: You did what?

935
00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:21,200
Speaker 1: And literally so it's like kids are so cool. I

936
00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:21,640
Speaker 1: hate it.

937
00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:27,920
Speaker 2: I hate it until until my school. Well, first of all,

938
00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:31,319
Speaker 2: I had to raise money for them, Like I gave

939
00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:33,759
Speaker 2: him a whole grip. I raised money for them, and

940
00:48:33,880 --> 00:48:37,239
Speaker 2: then like they threw like me and Tarika, you know,

941
00:48:37,640 --> 00:48:39,719
Speaker 2: a roots day or whatever, and then I felt like

942
00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:42,279
Speaker 2: semi validated, like oh, welcome back.

943
00:48:42,400 --> 00:48:47,360
Speaker 1: But it came at a price. But I always that

944
00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:48,759
Speaker 1: whole like go back to school and.

945
00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:51,279
Speaker 2: Speech to this student, Yes they love you, and like

946
00:48:51,719 --> 00:48:54,279
Speaker 2: kids like nah, they just want to know if I

947
00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:55,040
Speaker 2: know Lil Wayne.

948
00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:58,319
Speaker 1: All the questions are hilarious.

949
00:48:58,960 --> 00:49:00,960
Speaker 5: Well, I just got re connected with a group of

950
00:49:01,080 --> 00:49:05,680
Speaker 5: U of M students recently, literally recent as yesterday on Monday,

951
00:49:05,760 --> 00:49:08,200
Speaker 5: the U of M. There's the seniors from the drama

952
00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:12,440
Speaker 5: department were up here doing a performance, a showcase you know,

953
00:49:12,560 --> 00:49:15,200
Speaker 5: for I guess casting directors and et cetera, cause they

954
00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:16,640
Speaker 5: were about to go into the world and want to

955
00:49:16,640 --> 00:49:20,400
Speaker 5: do this profession fessionally. So I got invited to go

956
00:49:20,600 --> 00:49:23,080
Speaker 5: to the showcase. So I went. And I've gone back

957
00:49:23,120 --> 00:49:24,920
Speaker 5: to the U a couple of times over the years

958
00:49:24,960 --> 00:49:26,960
Speaker 5: and done master classes and things like like that. So

959
00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:29,799
Speaker 5: I went and saw it. So I was asking while

960
00:49:29,840 --> 00:49:31,080
Speaker 5: they were in New York if they were gonna go

961
00:49:31,160 --> 00:49:33,080
Speaker 5: see any shows, and they said, well, you know, we're

962
00:49:33,080 --> 00:49:36,680
Speaker 5: gonna try. But I learned ultimately that the kids had

963
00:49:36,719 --> 00:49:39,319
Speaker 5: to buy their own tickets for whatever Broadway show they

964
00:49:39,360 --> 00:49:41,640
Speaker 5: wanted to see. And we all know these tickets are

965
00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:45,800
Speaker 5: not inexpensive. They are not. So I got together with

966
00:49:45,960 --> 00:49:50,000
Speaker 5: our company manager and since I got into this motivational

967
00:49:50,080 --> 00:49:52,439
Speaker 5: empowerment thing. I've been doing it now for what forty years.

968
00:49:52,480 --> 00:49:55,839
Speaker 5: When I learned it was called motivational speaking. But about

969
00:49:55,880 --> 00:49:59,320
Speaker 5: four years ago I started my own nonprofit organization, the

970
00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:07,080
Speaker 5: A New Day Foundation. Son, see toda, I see what

971
00:50:07,160 --> 00:50:09,840
Speaker 5: you did. I actually brought materials for you.

972
00:50:10,120 --> 00:50:12,400
Speaker 1: Thank you. So that's motiva speaking.

973
00:50:12,480 --> 00:50:15,399
Speaker 5: There you go. So that's what our found foundation does.

974
00:50:15,480 --> 00:50:19,399
Speaker 5: We do programs all year round for teen boys teen girls.

975
00:50:19,480 --> 00:50:21,200
Speaker 5: Sometimes we do events with them together.

976
00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:21,880
Speaker 2: Uh.

977
00:50:22,040 --> 00:50:26,399
Speaker 5: Annually we have a financial literacy and technology conference that's

978
00:50:26,560 --> 00:50:29,000
Speaker 5: about a whole day, seven hours long. We give out

979
00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:32,120
Speaker 5: scholarships and new computers. Well, what we did on behalf

980
00:50:32,160 --> 00:50:36,320
Speaker 5: of the foundation this time was we bought tickets for

981
00:50:36,560 --> 00:50:39,480
Speaker 5: all of the seniors to come and see Tina yesterday.

982
00:50:39,880 --> 00:50:40,160
Speaker 1: Nice.

983
00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:42,759
Speaker 5: So they came and saw Tina, and then after the

984
00:50:42,840 --> 00:50:45,080
Speaker 5: show I met with them and we had kind of

985
00:50:45,120 --> 00:50:47,279
Speaker 5: a talkback for about an hour and a half where

986
00:50:47,320 --> 00:50:50,440
Speaker 5: I was telling them about the journey and answering questions,

987
00:50:50,520 --> 00:50:50,919
Speaker 5: et cetera.

988
00:50:51,360 --> 00:50:54,840
Speaker 2: That's so cool incident, by the way, that was probably

989
00:50:54,880 --> 00:50:57,920
Speaker 2: one of the best surprises I had. I mean, I

990
00:50:58,040 --> 00:51:00,640
Speaker 2: was taking my mother to see teena just for like Chris, Yes,

991
00:51:00,800 --> 00:51:03,680
Speaker 2: but I didn't bother to even like look at the

992
00:51:03,680 --> 00:51:06,320
Speaker 2: playblevel to see if there's anybody I knew what. And

993
00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:08,680
Speaker 2: you came out and it was such a slow like

994
00:51:09,440 --> 00:51:13,960
Speaker 2: wait a minute, like it was a great thing to

995
00:51:14,040 --> 00:51:16,680
Speaker 2: see you once day's doing that. Wow, man, I want

996
00:51:16,719 --> 00:51:19,920
Speaker 2: I want to get to your professional career. But I

997
00:51:20,080 --> 00:51:22,160
Speaker 2: know that you know, you've made music in New York

998
00:51:22,280 --> 00:51:26,399
Speaker 2: before you started acting, and I know that you've had

999
00:51:26,440 --> 00:51:27,520
Speaker 2: to interact it with.

1000
00:51:29,280 --> 00:51:34,200
Speaker 1: I want to know what eighties? What pounding the pavement already?

1001
00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:35,600
Speaker 8: She was there?

1002
00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:38,840
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, I'm not asking about.

1003
00:51:39,239 --> 00:51:44,800
Speaker 2: This past her time, okay, but I'm saying that what

1004
00:51:45,280 --> 00:51:51,200
Speaker 2: was pursuing a music career in the first half of

1005
00:51:51,280 --> 00:51:52,480
Speaker 2: the eighties in New York?

1006
00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:54,560
Speaker 1: Like you know what it was?

1007
00:51:54,800 --> 00:51:58,120
Speaker 5: It was tricky. It was real tricky. You know we

1008
00:51:58,200 --> 00:52:00,200
Speaker 5: have the me Too movement and all that stuffing on

1009
00:52:00,320 --> 00:52:02,279
Speaker 5: now and you hear all kinds of things. Yeah, I know,

1010
00:52:02,400 --> 00:52:08,200
Speaker 5: I'm so a fuwie. You found that, you bastard? Where

1011
00:52:08,239 --> 00:52:08,960
Speaker 5: did you find it?

1012
00:52:09,520 --> 00:52:12,840
Speaker 1: I have I have my resources the government.

1013
00:52:13,000 --> 00:52:15,320
Speaker 5: What we are referring to is Bill has in his

1014
00:52:15,440 --> 00:52:20,440
Speaker 5: hot little hands a copy of my very first single

1015
00:52:20,640 --> 00:52:24,560
Speaker 5: and it's in LP and it was on Dalmatian Records,

1016
00:52:24,600 --> 00:52:26,880
Speaker 5: an independent Right Record Late label, and the song was

1017
00:52:26,960 --> 00:52:29,360
Speaker 5: called Funky Thing t n h n G.

1018
00:52:29,880 --> 00:52:32,359
Speaker 1: Did you name it or yeah?

1019
00:52:32,480 --> 00:52:33,000
Speaker 5: I wrote it?

1020
00:52:33,200 --> 00:52:35,080
Speaker 1: And no, no, no, I mean thing. I'm talking about

1021
00:52:35,120 --> 00:52:35,880
Speaker 1: Dalmatian Records.

1022
00:52:35,960 --> 00:52:37,760
Speaker 5: No, that was the name of the Right Record Late label.

1023
00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:51,279
Speaker 5: I was actually okay, oh gosh, So you gotta get

1024
00:52:51,280 --> 00:52:52,439
Speaker 5: down on me to come on now.

1025
00:52:52,400 --> 00:52:55,239
Speaker 9: Y'all know nothing about this and first name basis just

1026
00:52:56,080 --> 00:52:59,719
Speaker 9: just come on. D A w n N record w

1027
00:53:00,160 --> 00:53:02,920
Speaker 9: w w n N two end.

1028
00:53:09,960 --> 00:53:15,600
Speaker 1: Come on. So who produced this?

1029
00:53:16,840 --> 00:53:16,960
Speaker 2: Uh?

1030
00:53:17,280 --> 00:53:22,680
Speaker 5: Two guys Kenny and Charlie, Charlie Ernst. Kenny Pollock and

1031
00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:25,520
Speaker 5: Charlie Ernst Kenny I went to college with. And the

1032
00:53:25,640 --> 00:53:29,440
Speaker 5: story behind this is that we were called in to

1033
00:53:29,719 --> 00:53:33,200
Speaker 5: play for a jazz violinist. It was his session and

1034
00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:37,680
Speaker 5: he was having trouble setting up his violin, equing it,

1035
00:53:37,840 --> 00:53:40,680
Speaker 5: et cetera. So Kenny and Charlie just went into this

1036
00:53:40,840 --> 00:53:43,560
Speaker 5: groove and they just started playing and I just started

1037
00:53:43,600 --> 00:53:48,520
Speaker 5: singing all of that. Every single word was freestyle. It

1038
00:53:48,680 --> 00:53:52,960
Speaker 5: was just me singing. We were just singing. I was

1039
00:53:53,120 --> 00:53:57,600
Speaker 5: just singing, making up lyrics as I was flowing, and

1040
00:53:57,960 --> 00:54:00,960
Speaker 5: there we went and when the when the violinist was

1041
00:54:01,040 --> 00:54:03,839
Speaker 5: finally ready, the engineer said, before we start, I want

1042
00:54:03,880 --> 00:54:05,520
Speaker 5: you all to come in here in the booth and

1043
00:54:05,600 --> 00:54:07,680
Speaker 5: we're like, okay, so I want you to listen to something,

1044
00:54:07,920 --> 00:54:10,799
Speaker 5: and he pushed play and that was what you heard

1045
00:54:11,360 --> 00:54:13,799
Speaker 5: and we were like what we were in stud Yeah,

1046
00:54:13,960 --> 00:54:17,320
Speaker 5: that's fly, that's funky. That's funky. And he signed me

1047
00:54:17,440 --> 00:54:20,760
Speaker 5: right there. So we went back and then actually recorded.

1048
00:54:21,400 --> 00:54:22,160
Speaker 1: Never happened.

1049
00:54:23,040 --> 00:54:28,160
Speaker 2: You're like the walking uhshonification of stepping out on face.

1050
00:54:28,360 --> 00:54:31,239
Speaker 5: It was well, Praisett, it was. It was great and

1051
00:54:31,360 --> 00:54:33,600
Speaker 5: it was so much fun. It was I mean, I

1052
00:54:33,760 --> 00:54:35,319
Speaker 5: was just saying I didn't know what I was saying.

1053
00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:38,800
Speaker 5: We were just going the music that point. This was

1054
00:54:38,880 --> 00:54:41,800
Speaker 5: eighty four, so I was what twenty twenty three.

1055
00:54:42,800 --> 00:54:45,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, so were you pursuing a recording?

1056
00:54:46,200 --> 00:54:48,280
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, yeah yeah. So I would do the rounds

1057
00:54:48,320 --> 00:54:53,759
Speaker 5: with with my demo tapes and performing at different showcases

1058
00:54:53,840 --> 00:54:58,200
Speaker 5: like for Capitol Records and CBS, et cetera. And charted

1059
00:54:58,280 --> 00:55:01,960
Speaker 5: This song charted on Billboard at mister Nelson Nelson George

1060
00:55:02,719 --> 00:55:05,720
Speaker 5: Billboard Magazine. We came in at twenty there was another

1061
00:55:05,800 --> 00:55:08,239
Speaker 5: song that I did called from the Bottom Up, and

1062
00:55:08,320 --> 00:55:10,920
Speaker 5: I was a little I was a little feisty young lady,

1063
00:55:11,320 --> 00:55:13,239
Speaker 5: and you were not gonna find it because I tried

1064
00:55:13,239 --> 00:55:18,040
Speaker 5: to find it my brother. My brother. My brother played

1065
00:55:18,120 --> 00:55:20,120
Speaker 5: bass on it, and I was like, dude, do you

1066
00:55:20,320 --> 00:55:23,880
Speaker 5: have a copy of that song? And he hasn't responded,

1067
00:55:23,960 --> 00:55:27,400
Speaker 5: so I know I do it, but it's back on

1068
00:55:27,560 --> 00:55:32,400
Speaker 5: my computer and in my dat collection, back in trust.

1069
00:55:34,800 --> 00:55:37,240
Speaker 5: But from the Bottom Up I sang at the Apollo

1070
00:55:37,480 --> 00:55:41,440
Speaker 5: for Amateur Night and one Amateur Night that weekend had

1071
00:55:41,480 --> 00:55:43,880
Speaker 5: to come back the next week as a special special

1072
00:55:43,960 --> 00:55:46,960
Speaker 5: guest for Amateur Night. And from the Bottom Up was

1073
00:55:47,000 --> 00:55:51,160
Speaker 5: another song I sang when Shallamar was looking for someone

1074
00:55:51,239 --> 00:55:56,600
Speaker 5: to replace Jody Wattley and they had a competition at Leviticus.

1075
00:55:57,040 --> 00:55:59,840
Speaker 5: And I was an office temp in the World Trades

1076
00:56:00,280 --> 00:56:02,920
Speaker 5: at the time, and I heard it on w b

1077
00:56:03,280 --> 00:56:06,759
Speaker 5: LS that they were having a competition at Leviticus. So

1078
00:56:06,920 --> 00:56:08,560
Speaker 5: I called my job. I said, you're gonna have to

1079
00:56:08,600 --> 00:56:10,319
Speaker 5: get a temp for the temp because I ain't coming

1080
00:56:10,360 --> 00:56:13,360
Speaker 5: to day. And they knew what I wanted to aspire to,

1081
00:56:13,800 --> 00:56:15,520
Speaker 5: and they said, don go and go on and get

1082
00:56:15,600 --> 00:56:17,000
Speaker 5: them go and do you do your best? So I

1083
00:56:17,120 --> 00:56:19,600
Speaker 5: went and we were at Leviticus. I had my cassette,

1084
00:56:19,640 --> 00:56:22,160
Speaker 5: my little track in my hand, played it from the

1085
00:56:22,239 --> 00:56:26,719
Speaker 5: bottom up and I sang that and ultimately, long story short,

1086
00:56:26,800 --> 00:56:28,719
Speaker 5: that was when I met Howard Hewett and Mickey Free

1087
00:56:29,040 --> 00:56:31,520
Speaker 5: and we have been friends ever since. I won for

1088
00:56:31,640 --> 00:56:34,400
Speaker 5: New York. It was like an early version of Star Search.

1089
00:56:34,880 --> 00:56:39,560
Speaker 5: So women from all around the country, from La Chicago, Atlanta,

1090
00:56:39,880 --> 00:56:42,520
Speaker 5: we all met in La at Circus Circus and we

1091
00:56:42,640 --> 00:56:48,320
Speaker 5: had the competition there and we performed in Delisa Davies

1092
00:56:49,840 --> 00:56:52,959
Speaker 5: was noted as the winner, and the audience went wild,

1093
00:56:53,040 --> 00:56:57,120
Speaker 5: like no New York, New York, New York. So Dick Griffy,

1094
00:56:57,480 --> 00:57:00,000
Speaker 5: Dick Griffy says, okay, no, no, calm down, come down,

1095
00:57:00,120 --> 00:57:00,440
Speaker 5: We're going.

1096
00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:01,879
Speaker 1: To start again.

1097
00:57:02,200 --> 00:57:06,080
Speaker 5: Dick Grify, I'm sorry, why why wait?

1098
00:57:06,120 --> 00:57:15,080
Speaker 1: Where's my stories? I'm sorry. Anyway, the stories we've heard,

1099
00:57:15,360 --> 00:57:16,960
Speaker 1: we could do a whole.

1100
00:57:18,440 --> 00:57:20,200
Speaker 5: And that was sold our records. So they said, no,

1101
00:57:20,240 --> 00:57:22,080
Speaker 5: we're going to start a new girl group with the

1102
00:57:22,120 --> 00:57:24,440
Speaker 5: girl from New York, the girl from Texas and the

1103
00:57:24,520 --> 00:57:27,919
Speaker 5: girlfriend I want to say Chicago. And later we learned

1104
00:57:27,960 --> 00:57:30,000
Speaker 5: so we's like that's all right, I got my own deal.

1105
00:57:30,040 --> 00:57:31,919
Speaker 5: I don't have to be part of someone else's deal.

1106
00:57:32,320 --> 00:57:35,720
Speaker 5: And we so we started calling the label crickets Crickets.

1107
00:57:35,920 --> 00:57:38,280
Speaker 5: That's when you learned that it was just a publicity stuff.

1108
00:57:38,400 --> 00:57:39,440
Speaker 1: They were never going to do it.

1109
00:57:39,880 --> 00:57:41,560
Speaker 5: So yeah, no, that was what I wanted to do,

1110
00:57:43,200 --> 00:57:47,000
Speaker 5: was be a recording artist or star on Broadway, all

1111
00:57:47,080 --> 00:57:48,920
Speaker 5: of that. So TV was the one thing I was

1112
00:57:49,040 --> 00:57:50,440
Speaker 5: not pursuing.

1113
00:57:50,440 --> 00:57:52,640
Speaker 2: During that time period. I know, this is the time

1114
00:57:52,720 --> 00:57:56,880
Speaker 2: for like Leroy Burgess or Kashif or a friend.

1115
00:57:57,080 --> 00:58:00,720
Speaker 5: Yes, Kashiff is a friend. Luther I got, I got

1116
00:58:00,760 --> 00:58:03,040
Speaker 5: to know. I knew everybody in his band. I wanted

1117
00:58:03,080 --> 00:58:06,080
Speaker 5: to be a Luther girl so bad. Brenda White, who

1118
00:58:06,080 --> 00:58:09,760
Speaker 5: would always sing the bottom, was taking a leave for

1119
00:58:10,440 --> 00:58:12,200
Speaker 5: I forget what the reason was, but she's like, ding,

1120
00:58:12,320 --> 00:58:15,560
Speaker 5: Luther loves you. They're having auditions. You should come an audition.

1121
00:58:16,000 --> 00:58:21,000
Speaker 5: So it's me. Brenda was there, lethally so ficial, Paullette

1122
00:58:21,120 --> 00:58:24,040
Speaker 5: was there, and Luther was there, and so we're singing

1123
00:58:24,080 --> 00:58:27,000
Speaker 5: and I knew all the choreography. Stop, stop to Love,

1124
00:58:27,400 --> 00:58:31,120
Speaker 5: don't go on the road. I was crushing it. And

1125
00:58:31,200 --> 00:58:33,400
Speaker 5: then it was done. Luther came put his arm around me.

1126
00:58:33,400 --> 00:58:35,240
Speaker 5: It's baby. You know I love you, right, I said, yeah,

1127
00:58:35,400 --> 00:58:37,120
Speaker 5: he said, but I need a little more finesse and

1128
00:58:37,160 --> 00:58:41,480
Speaker 5: a little less soul trained. I was like mortified, mortified,

1129
00:58:41,560 --> 00:58:43,840
Speaker 5: And a month later I booked a different world. So

1130
00:58:43,920 --> 00:58:49,880
Speaker 5: I was like, bye bye Luther Girl bye.

1131
00:58:50,120 --> 00:58:50,560
Speaker 1: And but no.

1132
00:58:50,720 --> 00:58:52,120
Speaker 5: But then once I booked the show, he says, you

1133
00:58:52,160 --> 00:58:54,240
Speaker 5: know you're owe me money, right, I said what he said,

1134
00:58:54,240 --> 00:58:55,920
Speaker 5: because if I had hired you wouldn't have been able

1135
00:58:55,960 --> 00:58:58,080
Speaker 5: to do that show. So thank you very much, You're welcome.

1136
00:58:58,360 --> 00:59:00,640
Speaker 5: So he's cool people.

1137
00:59:00,880 --> 00:59:03,520
Speaker 1: So a different world. How does this wind up in

1138
00:59:03,600 --> 00:59:03,960
Speaker 1: your lap?

1139
00:59:04,880 --> 00:59:06,640
Speaker 5: I don't know that it wound up in my lap

1140
00:59:06,800 --> 00:59:07,960
Speaker 5: or I chased it down.

1141
00:59:08,920 --> 00:59:09,120
Speaker 1: Yeah.

1142
00:59:09,800 --> 00:59:12,439
Speaker 5: I was doing the national tour of a Broadway show

1143
00:59:12,520 --> 00:59:15,160
Speaker 5: called The Tap Dance Kid with one of my idols,

1144
00:59:15,240 --> 00:59:19,000
Speaker 5: Harold Nicholas of the Nicholas and Doulay Hill, who was

1145
00:59:19,120 --> 00:59:21,520
Speaker 5: ten at the time, who has now grown to be

1146
00:59:21,640 --> 00:59:28,560
Speaker 5: this incredible man and talented. Yes, he was our our kid. Well,

1147
00:59:28,600 --> 00:59:32,280
Speaker 5: Alfonso was on Broadway. Sebon stayed in New York on Broadway.

1148
00:59:32,360 --> 00:59:34,800
Speaker 5: Deulay came with us out on the road, so there

1149
00:59:34,880 --> 00:59:41,720
Speaker 5: was a whole Doulas was an amazing amazing, amazing tap dancer.

1150
00:59:43,200 --> 00:59:43,720
Speaker 9: He really is.

1151
00:59:43,840 --> 00:59:46,480
Speaker 5: He's phenomenal tap cancer. So we were all tap and

1152
00:59:46,560 --> 00:59:48,560
Speaker 5: sing and dancing. So I had a principal role in

1153
00:59:48,720 --> 00:59:51,440
Speaker 5: that show. Well, the people who cast that show, it

1154
00:59:51,520 --> 00:59:54,880
Speaker 5: was called Hughes Moss Casting also carry There You Go,

1155
00:59:55,120 --> 00:59:57,640
Speaker 5: There You Go. They also cast The Cosby Show. So

1156
00:59:57,840 --> 00:59:59,360
Speaker 5: while we were on the road, I heard they were

1157
00:59:59,400 --> 01:00:01,240
Speaker 5: going to be doing a spin off of The Cosby Show.

1158
01:00:02,120 --> 01:00:04,160
Speaker 5: So I started calling the office to ask if I

1159
01:00:04,200 --> 01:00:07,040
Speaker 5: could audition, and they were like, no, we want everyone

1160
01:00:07,080 --> 01:00:09,000
Speaker 5: to be Lisa's age. I said, well, everybody can't be

1161
01:00:09,080 --> 01:00:11,800
Speaker 5: a freshman. Somebody's gotta be a sophomore or a junior.

1162
01:00:12,120 --> 01:00:14,040
Speaker 5: And we're only just at like two three years apart

1163
01:00:14,560 --> 01:00:19,240
Speaker 5: in age. So begging, begging, begging, Okay, the tour ends,

1164
01:00:19,760 --> 01:00:22,840
Speaker 5: AM still begging and they say no, Dawn, No. So

1165
01:00:23,000 --> 01:00:25,320
Speaker 5: I beg for like three months like okay, fine, And

1166
01:00:25,480 --> 01:00:27,600
Speaker 5: now that we're off the road, I'm sending out my

1167
01:00:27,680 --> 01:00:30,240
Speaker 5: headshot and resumes. I've been doing a Broadway show, this

1168
01:00:30,400 --> 01:00:32,920
Speaker 5: show that I should be able to get an agent. Crickets.

1169
01:00:33,080 --> 01:00:36,320
Speaker 5: No one returned a call, no nothing, nothing, nothing. Out

1170
01:00:36,320 --> 01:00:38,640
Speaker 5: of the blue. One day Hughes Moss calls me back

1171
01:00:38,840 --> 01:00:41,960
Speaker 5: and says, Okay, are you still interested in auditioning? Can

1172
01:00:42,040 --> 01:00:45,760
Speaker 5: you come in tomorrow? It's like, yeah, absolutely. An hour

1173
01:00:45,920 --> 01:00:49,080
Speaker 5: after they call me, the musical director for the Cosby Show,

1174
01:00:49,560 --> 01:00:52,960
Speaker 5: Steve Gardner, he calls me and says, I got your

1175
01:00:53,040 --> 01:00:54,720
Speaker 5: number off of this cassette. It was one of my

1176
01:00:54,800 --> 01:00:57,840
Speaker 5: demo tapes of my singing and songwriting that a friend

1177
01:00:57,880 --> 01:01:01,000
Speaker 5: of mine, Robin Downs, had given him like a year before.

1178
01:01:01,680 --> 01:01:03,440
Speaker 5: So he says, would you be interested in working with

1179
01:01:03,520 --> 01:01:05,520
Speaker 5: me on the theme song for this new show? And

1180
01:01:05,640 --> 01:01:09,240
Speaker 5: I said, okay, yeah, sure, what is it? So he

1181
01:01:09,360 --> 01:01:12,280
Speaker 5: told me this is what the content is, totally unconnected.

1182
01:01:12,600 --> 01:01:15,120
Speaker 5: He said, this is this is the concept of the

1183
01:01:15,200 --> 01:01:17,400
Speaker 5: show Lee, Lisa Bone is going off to college. We

1184
01:01:17,480 --> 01:01:20,040
Speaker 5: want the song to say something along the lines of,

1185
01:01:20,160 --> 01:01:23,240
Speaker 5: you know, experiencing life. The show was called Stepping Up

1186
01:01:23,280 --> 01:01:25,560
Speaker 5: to Step Out. That was the original That was the

1187
01:01:25,640 --> 01:01:27,600
Speaker 5: original title. Okay, and we're gonna this was on a

1188
01:01:27,640 --> 01:01:29,760
Speaker 5: Wednesday and we're going to be in the studio on

1189
01:01:29,920 --> 01:01:32,640
Speaker 5: Friday recording it. I said, okay, so do you want

1190
01:01:32,680 --> 01:01:35,720
Speaker 5: to meet tomorrow, you know, to hear what I come

1191
01:01:35,800 --> 01:01:37,240
Speaker 5: up and says no, if you're the person that wrote

1192
01:01:37,280 --> 01:01:39,120
Speaker 5: these things. And if you you're singing, you can do

1193
01:01:39,200 --> 01:01:42,280
Speaker 5: what I need done. So I'll see you Friday. Okay.

1194
01:01:42,680 --> 01:01:44,440
Speaker 5: So now I thought people were messing with me.

1195
01:01:44,560 --> 01:01:45,040
Speaker 4: No I did.

1196
01:01:45,400 --> 01:01:48,040
Speaker 5: I thought my friends were messing with me at this point.

1197
01:01:48,080 --> 01:01:50,360
Speaker 5: So I called Hughes Moss back and say did you

1198
01:01:50,520 --> 01:01:52,479
Speaker 5: just call me? They said yes, is there a problem?

1199
01:01:52,520 --> 01:01:54,240
Speaker 5: Can you? I say no, no, no, no, I'll be there,

1200
01:01:54,560 --> 01:01:57,040
Speaker 5: And sure enough, a couple of hours later, a messenger

1201
01:01:57,160 --> 01:01:59,680
Speaker 5: came to my door with a cassette of this is

1202
01:01:59,760 --> 01:02:04,920
Speaker 5: the music that we're thinking of using. Go right. So

1203
01:02:05,800 --> 01:02:09,160
Speaker 5: I was tripping, to say the least. So I'm thinking, okay,

1204
01:02:09,240 --> 01:02:11,720
Speaker 5: this this is big. This is really big. And one

1205
01:02:11,760 --> 01:02:13,760
Speaker 5: of the classes I had to take as a musical

1206
01:02:13,800 --> 01:02:17,240
Speaker 5: theater degree major was this Business of Music. It was

1207
01:02:17,320 --> 01:02:20,560
Speaker 5: that big, thick textbook. It was written by Bill Fimon

1208
01:02:20,600 --> 01:02:23,440
Speaker 5: and Andy Kraslosophy. There you go, There you go. So

1209
01:02:23,600 --> 01:02:27,200
Speaker 5: I'm like, okay, I need I need somebody to help

1210
01:02:27,280 --> 01:02:30,200
Speaker 5: me with this. So again just out of college. So

1211
01:02:30,280 --> 01:02:33,440
Speaker 5: I opened the book and noticed that they had an

1212
01:02:33,520 --> 01:02:36,240
Speaker 5: office here in New York. So I got the Yellow Pages.

1213
01:02:36,600 --> 01:02:36,880
Speaker 2: Yellow?

1214
01:02:37,520 --> 01:02:40,800
Speaker 5: What is that? I got the Yellow Pages?

1215
01:02:40,920 --> 01:02:41,480
Speaker 1: Look them up.

1216
01:02:42,120 --> 01:02:44,040
Speaker 5: Yes, and they get delivered to the house, and you go,

1217
01:02:44,240 --> 01:02:48,520
Speaker 5: why are you sending me this? So I look them up,

1218
01:02:48,560 --> 01:02:51,120
Speaker 5: I call them and I say, Hi, you don't know me,

1219
01:02:51,360 --> 01:02:54,800
Speaker 5: but I just got this amazing opportunity placed in my lap,

1220
01:02:54,920 --> 01:02:57,440
Speaker 5: and I'm sure I'm supposed to be doing something that

1221
01:02:57,520 --> 01:02:59,440
Speaker 5: I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Do you

1222
01:02:59,520 --> 01:03:02,520
Speaker 5: have parallel legals? Do you have free legal service? Because

1223
01:03:02,560 --> 01:03:04,400
Speaker 5: I don't have any money? And they said, well, please

1224
01:03:04,440 --> 01:03:06,480
Speaker 5: come into our office tomorrow and we'll talk about it.

1225
01:03:06,800 --> 01:03:09,240
Speaker 5: It's okay. So I went to my audition. They said,

1226
01:03:09,280 --> 01:03:12,320
Speaker 5: thank you for coming, goodbye. Okay. So I leave and

1227
01:03:12,400 --> 01:03:14,680
Speaker 5: I go to the lawyer's office and I explained to

1228
01:03:14,720 --> 01:03:16,479
Speaker 5: them what happened. They said, okay, we would be happy

1229
01:03:16,520 --> 01:03:18,959
Speaker 5: to help you. I said, okay, no, stop, you missed

1230
01:03:18,960 --> 01:03:20,240
Speaker 5: the part right. I said, I don't have any money

1231
01:03:20,840 --> 01:03:22,960
Speaker 5: I need. I can't afford you guys. They said, no,

1232
01:03:23,080 --> 01:03:25,280
Speaker 5: we're very impressed that you want to do this and

1233
01:03:25,400 --> 01:03:28,400
Speaker 5: do it the right way, so we are offering to

1234
01:03:28,520 --> 01:03:30,800
Speaker 5: help you free of charge. All we want to see

1235
01:03:30,920 --> 01:03:33,800
Speaker 5: is you be protected and when the opportunity comes, you

1236
01:03:33,880 --> 01:03:35,880
Speaker 5: be willing to help somebody else. I sat in their

1237
01:03:35,920 --> 01:03:39,760
Speaker 5: office and I cried, wow, I'm trying enough. So they

1238
01:03:39,920 --> 01:03:44,040
Speaker 5: negotiated my whole contract. They negotiated that I get fifty

1239
01:03:44,080 --> 01:03:48,360
Speaker 5: percent writers royalties, which was unheard of for me as

1240
01:03:48,480 --> 01:03:52,680
Speaker 5: basically an unknown writer at the time. Fifty percent royalties

1241
01:03:52,840 --> 01:03:56,200
Speaker 5: and screen credit. So when we were negotiating, when they

1242
01:03:56,240 --> 01:03:59,840
Speaker 5: were negotiating with Carcy Warner, that's when we learned that, well,

1243
01:04:00,000 --> 01:04:02,600
Speaker 5: mister Gardner has a deal with mister Cosby, that mister

1244
01:04:02,640 --> 01:04:04,960
Speaker 5: Cosby gets fifty percent of whatever he does. And my

1245
01:04:05,080 --> 01:04:07,120
Speaker 5: lawyers said that, well, that's fine, mister Kasay can have

1246
01:04:07,160 --> 01:04:10,240
Speaker 5: fifty percent of mister Gardener's fifty percent. Dunts fifty percent

1247
01:04:11,520 --> 01:04:14,880
Speaker 5: and this never happens, and they signed off for a

1248
01:04:15,280 --> 01:04:19,440
Speaker 5: new thing, I can imagine. So I went in the

1249
01:04:19,480 --> 01:04:22,120
Speaker 5: studio the next day. I record the song. The song

1250
01:04:22,200 --> 01:04:24,440
Speaker 5: had a rap in the middle of it. I was flowing,

1251
01:04:24,520 --> 01:04:26,520
Speaker 5: I was singing, I was doing all the background vocals,

1252
01:04:26,560 --> 01:04:26,959
Speaker 5: et cetera.

1253
01:04:27,120 --> 01:04:29,240
Speaker 1: Oh it wasn't the back porch bluesy.

1254
01:04:29,640 --> 01:04:34,280
Speaker 5: No, that arrangement came later, But the song, the lyrics,

1255
01:04:34,320 --> 01:04:35,880
Speaker 5: the melody, everything stayed.

1256
01:04:35,720 --> 01:04:38,160
Speaker 1: And the show was still called No Stepping Up.

1257
01:04:38,120 --> 01:04:41,240
Speaker 5: Up, Stepping Up to Step out was the original title, right.

1258
01:04:41,760 --> 01:04:47,360
Speaker 5: So then I get a call on Monday. No, I

1259
01:04:47,440 --> 01:04:50,440
Speaker 5: get a call on Friday while I'm in the studio

1260
01:04:50,760 --> 01:04:52,880
Speaker 5: that they want me to have a callback for this

1261
01:04:53,080 --> 01:04:56,280
Speaker 5: role on Monday. So I'm like, okay. I mean, they

1262
01:04:56,280 --> 01:04:58,880
Speaker 5: were so dismissive in the audition. I wasn't expecting to

1263
01:04:58,920 --> 01:05:01,440
Speaker 5: ever hear from them again. So I go in Monday,

1264
01:05:01,840 --> 01:05:03,600
Speaker 5: and I kid you not, I'm the only person in

1265
01:05:03,640 --> 01:05:06,360
Speaker 5: the room. I did not recognize Joi Lee was in

1266
01:05:06,440 --> 01:05:10,000
Speaker 5: the room. People I've seen in magazines and people's size

1267
01:05:10,040 --> 01:05:12,600
Speaker 5: two with light skin and green eyes and long hair,

1268
01:05:12,680 --> 01:05:14,640
Speaker 5: and me and I'm looking around the room. Okay, I

1269
01:05:14,760 --> 01:05:15,640
Speaker 5: know her her.

1270
01:05:17,280 --> 01:05:17,640
Speaker 4: Okay.

1271
01:05:18,000 --> 01:05:19,840
Speaker 5: So I was like, you know, and you count yourself

1272
01:05:19,920 --> 01:05:23,720
Speaker 5: out mentally, but I say, well, I'm here and they

1273
01:05:23,800 --> 01:05:25,160
Speaker 5: called me to come back. So I'm just going to

1274
01:05:25,240 --> 01:05:28,480
Speaker 5: go and do my thing and wherever it falls, that's

1275
01:05:28,480 --> 01:05:30,880
Speaker 5: where it falls. I went in, I did my thing again,

1276
01:05:30,960 --> 01:05:32,840
Speaker 5: and they said, okay, thank you very much for coming back.

1277
01:05:33,080 --> 01:05:35,400
Speaker 5: I said, no problem. So I left and went to

1278
01:05:35,520 --> 01:05:38,840
Speaker 5: dance class and I danced out for like another five hours.

1279
01:05:39,200 --> 01:05:41,280
Speaker 5: I came out of the dance studio. Someone screens my

1280
01:05:41,400 --> 01:05:43,200
Speaker 5: name from across the street. We have been looking for

1281
01:05:43,320 --> 01:05:46,280
Speaker 5: you all afternoon. Where's your agent? And I'm thinking, no

1282
01:05:46,360 --> 01:05:48,320
Speaker 5: one ever called me back? I never, I don't have

1283
01:05:48,480 --> 01:05:52,200
Speaker 5: an agent. You have to fly to La on Wednesday

1284
01:05:52,400 --> 01:05:57,320
Speaker 5: to meet with the studio, etc. So okay, So I

1285
01:05:57,440 --> 01:05:59,920
Speaker 5: called a friend who called a friend who has an

1286
01:06:00,080 --> 01:06:02,680
Speaker 5: agent that said she would negotiate my contract. And all

1287
01:06:02,720 --> 01:06:05,600
Speaker 5: I have to do is pay her salary. I just

1288
01:06:05,680 --> 01:06:07,880
Speaker 5: pay her a salary. She doesn't get commissioned, she doesn't

1289
01:06:07,880 --> 01:06:09,600
Speaker 5: get any of that because she didn't do my deal.

1290
01:06:10,080 --> 01:06:12,440
Speaker 5: So I paid her. She negotiated my contract. It was

1291
01:06:12,480 --> 01:06:14,360
Speaker 5: a suck sucky contract, but at least I had one

1292
01:06:14,560 --> 01:06:18,080
Speaker 5: right And I got on a plane. Never flown first

1293
01:06:18,160 --> 01:06:25,360
Speaker 5: class before. It was pan am flew first But I

1294
01:06:25,440 --> 01:06:29,400
Speaker 5: had a menu and a tablecloth and food and advertisers.

1295
01:06:29,480 --> 01:06:34,400
Speaker 5: It's like, this is the ball food to La. They

1296
01:06:34,480 --> 01:06:37,080
Speaker 5: put me up in like one of those top suites

1297
01:06:37,200 --> 01:06:41,040
Speaker 5: at the Sheridan Universal that had like almost a panoramic.

1298
01:06:40,640 --> 01:06:41,400
Speaker 1: View of the valley.

1299
01:06:41,880 --> 01:06:44,520
Speaker 5: And I'm like, what is this life that I am?

1300
01:06:44,640 --> 01:06:48,120
Speaker 5: What is happening right now? So I went to the audition.

1301
01:06:48,280 --> 01:06:50,040
Speaker 5: The car came and got me, took me to the

1302
01:06:50,080 --> 01:06:53,720
Speaker 5: studio and there were these young ladies there waiting to

1303
01:06:53,880 --> 01:06:55,680
Speaker 5: be seen, and so it was three of us and

1304
01:06:55,720 --> 01:06:58,040
Speaker 5: they're sitting there to well, this is my seventh callback,

1305
01:06:58,200 --> 01:07:00,400
Speaker 5: and my agent told me that by this time they

1306
01:07:00,480 --> 01:07:01,800
Speaker 5: have to offer it to me. And I know they

1307
01:07:01,920 --> 01:07:04,120
Speaker 5: calling in some girl friend from New York and dead

1308
01:07:04,120 --> 01:07:05,560
Speaker 5: and no I know she thinks she all of that.

1309
01:07:05,800 --> 01:07:07,800
Speaker 5: And I'm the only one sitting there. I'm saying, wow,

1310
01:07:07,920 --> 01:07:10,880
Speaker 5: are you trying? They were like trying to get in

1311
01:07:11,000 --> 01:07:12,360
Speaker 5: my head. They were not nice.

1312
01:07:12,400 --> 01:07:13,120
Speaker 1: So that's real.

1313
01:07:13,480 --> 01:07:14,000
Speaker 5: This is real.

1314
01:07:14,200 --> 01:07:15,920
Speaker 1: I see it portrayed on television.

1315
01:07:16,080 --> 01:07:19,800
Speaker 5: Yes, it was not nice. Try to get in my head.

1316
01:07:19,840 --> 01:07:22,240
Speaker 5: And it's like, wow, wow, you're not. I'm sitting right here,

1317
01:07:22,320 --> 01:07:25,120
Speaker 5: you know. Okay, fine, whatever whatever. So I go into

1318
01:07:25,400 --> 01:07:27,560
Speaker 5: the room and the producer's like, how is the flight?

1319
01:07:27,840 --> 01:07:30,360
Speaker 5: Are you okay? Did you see your contracts?

1320
01:07:31,240 --> 01:07:31,680
Speaker 1: And so?

1321
01:07:32,120 --> 01:07:34,760
Speaker 5: Fine? Fine. So I'm walking out after reading the sides,

1322
01:07:35,280 --> 01:07:37,760
Speaker 5: and I'm leaving and the girls are sitting there and

1323
01:07:37,840 --> 01:07:39,920
Speaker 5: the young lady that walks me and says, Okay, the

1324
01:07:40,000 --> 01:07:42,800
Speaker 5: car is downstairs waiting for you. Your contracts are there,

1325
01:07:42,920 --> 01:07:45,120
Speaker 5: everything should be in order. Just sign the paperwork and

1326
01:07:45,160 --> 01:07:48,200
Speaker 5: the car. I'll be back to pick you up this afternoon, okays,

1327
01:07:48,280 --> 01:07:51,760
Speaker 5: miss miss Lewis all right, you're good. You need anything else? No, no, no,

1328
01:07:51,880 --> 01:07:54,040
Speaker 5: I'm fine. I'm fine. And the girls were sitting there

1329
01:07:54,120 --> 01:07:58,000
Speaker 5: like so I looked over to them and said good

1330
01:07:58,080 --> 01:08:06,160
Speaker 5: luck and left and left. And then that afternoon this

1331
01:08:06,320 --> 01:08:08,440
Speaker 5: car comes and gets me. I now go to the studio.

1332
01:08:08,520 --> 01:08:11,640
Speaker 5: So now the room is full of people who decide

1333
01:08:11,680 --> 01:08:13,560
Speaker 5: whether or not you get hired. And if do you

1334
01:08:13,720 --> 01:08:17,800
Speaker 5: remember the actress Vernee Watson Johnsons okay, Renee was also

1335
01:08:17,840 --> 01:08:20,760
Speaker 5: auditioning to play the dorm mother. So Renee saw me

1336
01:08:20,800 --> 01:08:23,160
Speaker 5: sitting there like rolling my sides up in my hand,

1337
01:08:23,200 --> 01:08:25,479
Speaker 5: and I'm nervous. I'm like the lines. I'm like, doesn't

1338
01:08:25,520 --> 01:08:27,839
Speaker 5: know my lines. And then one of the exect producers

1339
01:08:27,880 --> 01:08:29,599
Speaker 5: comes out and says, take your hair out of your face.

1340
01:08:29,680 --> 01:08:32,120
Speaker 5: I say okay, So I pulled it back out of

1341
01:08:32,200 --> 01:08:34,559
Speaker 5: my face, and Renee says, are you okay? I said,

1342
01:08:34,560 --> 01:08:36,160
Speaker 5: I'm just you know, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine.

1343
01:08:36,200 --> 01:08:38,200
Speaker 5: She says, come with me. She took me in the hallway.

1344
01:08:38,960 --> 01:08:42,280
Speaker 5: She had me breathe and relax, and she said, if

1345
01:08:42,360 --> 01:08:44,360
Speaker 5: you want, I'll run lines with you. Come on, just

1346
01:08:44,479 --> 01:08:46,599
Speaker 5: let's let's go on. And she sat there and ran

1347
01:08:46,720 --> 01:08:50,120
Speaker 5: lines with me until I cooled out and chilled out,

1348
01:08:50,520 --> 01:08:52,800
Speaker 5: and then I went in the room, I did my thing,

1349
01:08:52,920 --> 01:08:54,640
Speaker 5: and I came out and I hugged her, and she

1350
01:08:54,760 --> 01:08:56,800
Speaker 5: and I have been friends ever since. When both of

1351
01:08:56,880 --> 01:08:59,040
Speaker 5: us booked a pilot, she let me stay at her

1352
01:08:59,120 --> 01:09:01,920
Speaker 5: house until I found an apartment. She's one of the

1353
01:09:01,960 --> 01:09:04,280
Speaker 5: most beautiful I will never I'm telling you, Lessons like

1354
01:09:04,360 --> 01:09:07,280
Speaker 5: that and opportunities teach you to be a decent human being.

1355
01:09:07,400 --> 01:09:10,240
Speaker 5: So Verne, God bless you. I love you forever. So

1356
01:09:10,520 --> 01:09:14,200
Speaker 5: they flew back to New York and they hues Man's

1357
01:09:14,240 --> 01:09:17,360
Speaker 5: coused me and said, mister Cosby, is the last interview

1358
01:09:17,880 --> 01:09:20,080
Speaker 5: that you have, and so we want you to book

1359
01:09:20,120 --> 01:09:23,120
Speaker 5: this job. So come into our office tomorrow morning and

1360
01:09:23,160 --> 01:09:26,160
Speaker 5: we're gonna put you in the right outfit and then

1361
01:09:26,200 --> 01:09:28,280
Speaker 5: we're gonna go. And that was when the Cosby Show

1362
01:09:28,360 --> 01:09:30,720
Speaker 5: was shooting in Brooklyn, like not even fifteen minutes from

1363
01:09:30,760 --> 01:09:33,160
Speaker 5: my house. So I stayed up all night trying to

1364
01:09:33,200 --> 01:09:37,519
Speaker 5: put outfits together, and got on the subway from last

1365
01:09:37,560 --> 01:09:41,400
Speaker 5: stopping flap Us to Midtown on forty six, wherever their

1366
01:09:41,439 --> 01:09:44,800
Speaker 5: office was, with this huge bundle of clothes that I

1367
01:09:44,960 --> 01:09:48,000
Speaker 5: carried on the subway. Okay, so I walk into their

1368
01:09:48,040 --> 01:09:50,800
Speaker 5: office and they go, perfect, what you're wearing is perfect.

1369
01:09:50,840 --> 01:09:57,120
Speaker 5: I say, for really, really really right now really, So

1370
01:09:57,240 --> 01:09:59,280
Speaker 5: then I had to take my big bundle of clothes

1371
01:09:59,360 --> 01:10:01,479
Speaker 5: that we got in to a car and drove back

1372
01:10:03,560 --> 01:10:07,080
Speaker 5: near my crib to go and meet with mister Cosby.

1373
01:10:07,360 --> 01:10:10,080
Speaker 5: So we're sitting in his dressing room. He's on the

1374
01:10:10,160 --> 01:10:15,000
Speaker 5: phone at his table over there, and myself and Tom Warner,

1375
01:10:15,120 --> 01:10:18,719
Speaker 5: Marcy Carcy and the Hughes, Moss, Julie Hughes and Barry

1376
01:10:18,760 --> 01:10:21,160
Speaker 5: are sitting there. And so he roddles over. He had

1377
01:10:21,200 --> 01:10:23,880
Speaker 5: a chair that had wheels. He waddles over, and so

1378
01:10:23,960 --> 01:10:26,760
Speaker 5: I'm ready. I got my side. I was nervous, wrong,

1379
01:10:26,840 --> 01:10:29,160
Speaker 5: So I'm gonna read from mister Cox. Okay, all right,

1380
01:10:29,400 --> 01:10:32,240
Speaker 5: all right, I'm gonna do this audition. And they said, well, Bill,

1381
01:10:32,280 --> 01:10:34,720
Speaker 5: before we get started, what did you think of the song? Now,

1382
01:10:34,800 --> 01:10:38,559
Speaker 5: mind this is all within the same week and a half, Bill,

1383
01:10:38,840 --> 01:10:40,000
Speaker 5: what did you think of the song? Oh?

1384
01:10:40,080 --> 01:10:40,800
Speaker 1: I love the song.

1385
01:10:40,880 --> 01:10:42,880
Speaker 5: The song is perfect in the girl's voice is the

1386
01:10:42,960 --> 01:10:45,880
Speaker 5: Oh that's perfect. She's gonna be amazing. The words are perfect.

1387
01:10:45,920 --> 01:10:48,720
Speaker 5: Everything is perfect. And I sat there like and I

1388
01:10:48,840 --> 01:10:50,760
Speaker 5: raised I literally raised my hand. I kid you not,

1389
01:10:50,840 --> 01:10:52,200
Speaker 5: and they said, yes, what I said, I just want

1390
01:10:52,240 --> 01:10:55,840
Speaker 5: to say thank you for the song. I'm glad you

1391
01:10:56,040 --> 01:10:58,760
Speaker 5: liked the song. What are you talking about? I said,

1392
01:10:58,800 --> 01:11:00,680
Speaker 5: I'm I'm the girl, I'm the one who wrote it.

1393
01:11:00,720 --> 01:11:03,439
Speaker 5: I'm the one you're listening to singing. And they look

1394
01:11:03,439 --> 01:11:07,160
Speaker 5: at me like what and Bill just started up. He

1395
01:11:07,360 --> 01:11:11,160
Speaker 5: just started laughing and they were like, he says, wait, stop,

1396
01:11:11,600 --> 01:11:14,760
Speaker 5: that's you singing. I said, yeah, that's that's Stu. And

1397
01:11:14,800 --> 01:11:17,160
Speaker 5: I did that last Friday and this was like Wednesday

1398
01:11:17,720 --> 01:11:21,760
Speaker 5: or Thursday of the next the next and he's like,

1399
01:11:21,880 --> 01:11:24,080
Speaker 5: all right, okay, And then they started talking about what

1400
01:11:24,080 --> 01:11:25,800
Speaker 5: they're gonna do to my hair. You see the way

1401
01:11:25,840 --> 01:11:28,280
Speaker 5: she's dressed right now. That's perfect. I love that we're

1402
01:11:28,280 --> 01:11:29,800
Speaker 5: gonna do this to her hair and this and that.

1403
01:11:30,120 --> 01:11:32,320
Speaker 5: So I'm sitting it like ten minutes goes by and

1404
01:11:32,439 --> 01:11:34,679
Speaker 5: I raised my hand again. They said yes. What I said,

1405
01:11:34,680 --> 01:11:40,080
Speaker 5: does this mean I have a job? Finally, does this

1406
01:11:40,320 --> 01:11:42,320
Speaker 5: mean I have a job? And they said yes. So

1407
01:11:43,160 --> 01:11:45,040
Speaker 5: they said just wait in the hallway for a minute.

1408
01:11:45,040 --> 01:11:48,360
Speaker 5: I'm like, what is happening right now? What is happening?

1409
01:11:48,960 --> 01:11:51,719
Speaker 5: So mister Werner comes out and I'm in the hallway

1410
01:11:51,760 --> 01:11:53,679
Speaker 5: like leaned up against the wall. My eyes are big,

1411
01:11:53,800 --> 01:11:56,160
Speaker 5: and how you scream and nothing comes out your mouth?

1412
01:11:56,560 --> 01:11:58,120
Speaker 5: And he says, do you need anything? I said, well,

1413
01:11:58,120 --> 01:11:59,000
Speaker 5: can I use your phone?

1414
01:11:59,200 --> 01:11:59,439
Speaker 1: Please?

1415
01:11:59,479 --> 01:12:03,600
Speaker 5: I have to call I got so he took me

1416
01:12:03,720 --> 01:12:05,680
Speaker 5: into his office and sat me down. That was when

1417
01:12:05,680 --> 01:12:09,160
Speaker 5: you had to push nine to get an outside line. Yes,

1418
01:12:09,600 --> 01:12:10,559
Speaker 5: so he let me.

1419
01:12:10,600 --> 01:12:12,000
Speaker 1: Call on long distance.

1420
01:12:12,080 --> 01:12:14,200
Speaker 5: Oh remember what was it? The WATS lines when you

1421
01:12:14,280 --> 01:12:17,080
Speaker 5: get a little cold to dialogue distance for free whatever. Yes,

1422
01:12:17,240 --> 01:12:19,479
Speaker 5: So I said, well, before you go this, I don't

1423
01:12:19,479 --> 01:12:21,120
Speaker 5: want to be crazy sound or anything, but would you

1424
01:12:21,200 --> 01:12:24,200
Speaker 5: pray with me? And he said I'd be happy to.

1425
01:12:24,360 --> 01:12:27,200
Speaker 5: So we prayed together in his office, gave God thanks,

1426
01:12:27,240 --> 01:12:28,720
Speaker 5: and he left. He said, just whatever you need to

1427
01:12:28,720 --> 01:12:30,840
Speaker 5: take as long as you want. So I called my mom.

1428
01:12:31,000 --> 01:12:33,839
Speaker 5: My mom was an OAR technician, which means she assisted

1429
01:12:34,000 --> 01:12:37,120
Speaker 5: surge surgeons in the operating room. So I called and said, well,

1430
01:12:37,160 --> 01:12:38,720
Speaker 5: your mom is in search surger. I said, you have

1431
01:12:38,840 --> 01:12:41,439
Speaker 5: to get her out now, you have to. I have

1432
01:12:41,600 --> 01:12:44,559
Speaker 5: to speak to her right now. So my mom comes

1433
01:12:44,560 --> 01:12:47,040
Speaker 5: to the phone, thinking I'm like bleeding or dying somewhere.

1434
01:12:47,240 --> 01:12:49,280
Speaker 5: He says, what is it? What I said, my got

1435
01:12:49,320 --> 01:12:52,960
Speaker 5: the job. She says what she's like, girl, I'm gonna

1436
01:12:53,040 --> 01:12:56,519
Speaker 5: kill you. What I was like? I said, I got

1437
01:12:56,640 --> 01:12:59,720
Speaker 5: the job. I went to She says, wit with with

1438
01:13:00,080 --> 01:13:02,880
Speaker 5: with missed mister Crosby. She could never say cosby with

1439
01:13:03,120 --> 01:13:06,320
Speaker 5: mister Crosby. I said, yeah, she's on talk ya Jesus,

1440
01:13:10,000 --> 01:13:15,680
Speaker 5: Jesus or lot of mercy, thank you, d D. She

1441
01:13:15,760 --> 01:13:19,200
Speaker 5: called me d D did yeah, tank your fada, And

1442
01:13:19,439 --> 01:13:20,960
Speaker 5: neither one of us were any good after that. We

1443
01:13:21,040 --> 01:13:23,439
Speaker 5: were just crying on the phone and it was it was,

1444
01:13:23,680 --> 01:13:25,599
Speaker 5: It was great. And two days later I was back

1445
01:13:25,680 --> 01:13:28,280
Speaker 5: on a plane in La shooting a pilot.

1446
01:13:29,160 --> 01:13:31,280
Speaker 1: Wait, so you had to move in forty eight hours?

1447
01:13:31,439 --> 01:13:33,120
Speaker 5: No, we shot to shoot the pilot.

1448
01:13:33,479 --> 01:13:34,439
Speaker 1: Okay, so I was there.

1449
01:13:35,960 --> 01:13:38,920
Speaker 5: We're still it's gonna get pickne or whatever. And at

1450
01:13:38,960 --> 01:13:42,240
Speaker 5: that point, after shooting the pilot and seeing the female

1451
01:13:42,439 --> 01:13:45,000
Speaker 5: influence and them deciding that since it wasn't my show,

1452
01:13:45,120 --> 01:13:47,160
Speaker 5: it was too much to have me sing the theme song, right,

1453
01:13:47,479 --> 01:13:49,240
Speaker 5: you know you can't write it, sing it, and this

1454
01:13:49,400 --> 01:13:52,040
Speaker 5: is somebody else's show. Okay, Fine, They had Al Green

1455
01:13:52,560 --> 01:13:54,080
Speaker 5: come in and sing it, and that was when they

1456
01:13:54,200 --> 01:13:56,320
Speaker 5: we flipped the name to a Different World. So I

1457
01:13:56,479 --> 01:13:59,240
Speaker 5: rewrote just that line instead of stepping up to step out.

1458
01:13:59,280 --> 01:14:01,719
Speaker 5: It was it's you, It's different world.

1459
01:14:02,240 --> 01:14:02,760
Speaker 1: You had the coach.

1460
01:14:04,200 --> 01:14:04,960
Speaker 5: What was that like?

1461
01:14:05,080 --> 01:14:09,360
Speaker 1: Because it was it was No, it was amazing.

1462
01:14:10,200 --> 01:14:12,920
Speaker 5: I couldn't believe it. I absolutely could not believe that.

1463
01:14:12,960 --> 01:14:17,080
Speaker 5: I was like, no, no, it goes like this. He

1464
01:14:17,200 --> 01:14:22,160
Speaker 5: was receptive. Not so much, he was reception. And that

1465
01:14:22,400 --> 01:14:26,640
Speaker 5: was where I met Rachelle Farrell and then fidmont So

1466
01:14:26,800 --> 01:14:30,080
Speaker 5: singing backgrounds on that version. It was me, Rochelle and

1467
01:14:30,240 --> 01:14:34,320
Speaker 5: Lynn music. Well, yes, it had more of that like

1468
01:14:34,439 --> 01:14:37,080
Speaker 5: honky Tonk feel to the so it's closer to what

1469
01:14:37,200 --> 01:14:40,240
Speaker 5: Phoebe ended up releasing. So once it became clear this

1470
01:14:40,400 --> 01:14:43,320
Speaker 5: was really female driven, they took out Al's vocal and

1471
01:14:43,439 --> 01:14:48,439
Speaker 5: Phoebe came in and recorded. I wasn't in that. I

1472
01:14:48,560 --> 01:14:50,639
Speaker 5: wasn't in that because I was I was filming by.

1473
01:14:50,600 --> 01:14:52,280
Speaker 1: Then Double Dutch.

1474
01:14:52,600 --> 01:14:54,720
Speaker 5: I was doing there you go, because we did that

1475
01:14:54,800 --> 01:14:55,559
Speaker 5: in Brooklyn too.

1476
01:14:56,439 --> 01:14:57,200
Speaker 1: Was shot in Brooklyn.

1477
01:14:57,520 --> 01:15:02,080
Speaker 5: No, no, no, no, no, that was Al. They didn't

1478
01:15:02,120 --> 01:15:03,880
Speaker 5: believe I knew how to jump double the just if

1479
01:15:03,880 --> 01:15:06,160
Speaker 5: you find somebody who can really turn, I can I

1480
01:15:06,240 --> 01:15:08,160
Speaker 5: can throw throw down. So I said, not only will

1481
01:15:08,160 --> 01:15:11,000
Speaker 5: I throw out, I'm gonna do it in pumps. Y'all

1482
01:15:11,000 --> 01:15:14,960
Speaker 5: ain't ready, y'all ain't ready. Y'all ain't ready, y'all ain't ready,

1483
01:15:15,080 --> 01:15:16,160
Speaker 5: y'all ain't ready.

1484
01:15:17,200 --> 01:15:19,040
Speaker 8: Is there a version? Is there a version of the

1485
01:15:19,080 --> 01:15:20,360
Speaker 8: Algreen version around?

1486
01:15:20,600 --> 01:15:20,960
Speaker 4: I have it.

1487
01:15:21,680 --> 01:15:23,479
Speaker 5: I have to stepping up to step out. Yes, I

1488
01:15:23,600 --> 01:15:27,800
Speaker 5: have stepping up to step out. I have the al

1489
01:15:27,880 --> 01:15:30,200
Speaker 5: Green version. And I wasn't there when I reap the

1490
01:15:30,240 --> 01:15:32,559
Speaker 5: did it? So? Their their concept was like The Cosby

1491
01:15:32,600 --> 01:15:35,639
Speaker 5: Show kind of revamped their music entry. They were going

1492
01:15:35,720 --> 01:15:38,360
Speaker 5: to revamp it every season, but once Aretha saying it,

1493
01:15:38,400 --> 01:15:39,760
Speaker 5: they were good.

1494
01:15:41,439 --> 01:15:43,679
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's such a frozen moment where I was waiting

1495
01:15:43,760 --> 01:15:46,280
Speaker 2: for the honky tong thing and yes, wait, what the

1496
01:15:46,360 --> 01:15:46,720
Speaker 2: hell is this?

1497
01:15:47,000 --> 01:15:47,160
Speaker 5: Yes?

1498
01:15:47,320 --> 01:15:50,360
Speaker 2: And man, and this is without a VCR back then.

1499
01:15:50,479 --> 01:15:54,000
Speaker 2: So yes, I had to wait seven days to record

1500
01:15:54,040 --> 01:15:54,639
Speaker 2: it next week.

1501
01:15:54,680 --> 01:15:57,840
Speaker 5: And then the final season boys to mend it right.

1502
01:15:58,080 --> 01:16:10,519
Speaker 2: Yeah, shooting that show, of course, with the level where

1503
01:16:10,560 --> 01:16:14,040
Speaker 2: The Cosby Show was, I mean, did you feel that

1504
01:16:14,200 --> 01:16:18,080
Speaker 2: you were doing something important or historical that was going

1505
01:16:18,160 --> 01:16:21,240
Speaker 2: to touch a bunch of kids lives that.

1506
01:16:22,800 --> 01:16:25,760
Speaker 5: You know, when I can only speak from myself when

1507
01:16:25,880 --> 01:16:30,400
Speaker 5: we started the show, like any actor, young actor, you're

1508
01:16:30,400 --> 01:16:33,120
Speaker 5: happy to have a job, and do you know the

1509
01:16:33,240 --> 01:16:36,439
Speaker 5: quality of the show that you're coming off of? Because

1510
01:16:36,960 --> 01:16:39,040
Speaker 5: The Cosby Show was just such a high quality show

1511
01:16:39,360 --> 01:16:42,280
Speaker 5: and so many people, regardless of what nationality you were

1512
01:16:42,760 --> 01:16:46,000
Speaker 5: or age group you were, you had and you had

1513
01:16:46,200 --> 01:16:49,920
Speaker 5: a special place in your heart for that show. So

1514
01:16:50,040 --> 01:16:51,679
Speaker 5: we knew some of that was going to be coming

1515
01:16:51,720 --> 01:16:55,760
Speaker 5: over as far as legacy building and changing lives and

1516
01:16:56,040 --> 01:17:00,760
Speaker 5: influencing generations. No, I didn't know. I knew that our

1517
01:17:00,880 --> 01:17:03,920
Speaker 5: first season was typical sitcom and that was because of

1518
01:17:03,960 --> 01:17:05,759
Speaker 5: the person that was the show.

1519
01:17:05,680 --> 01:17:08,960
Speaker 1: Who was the yeah who directed it, and well we had.

1520
01:17:08,880 --> 01:17:12,400
Speaker 5: Different directors first c season, but our ex executive producer

1521
01:17:12,520 --> 01:17:15,840
Speaker 5: was and and Beats, who had come off of Square

1522
01:17:15,880 --> 01:17:18,519
Speaker 5: Pegs and et cetera.

1523
01:17:18,600 --> 01:17:19,120
Speaker 1: So we were.

1524
01:17:21,560 --> 01:17:24,120
Speaker 5: There was no difference because we basically did square peg scripts.

1525
01:17:25,120 --> 01:17:27,679
Speaker 1: But did you feel like, I don't know this will

1526
01:17:27,720 --> 01:17:28,120
Speaker 1: fly away?

1527
01:17:28,280 --> 01:17:28,519
Speaker 4: We were.

1528
01:17:28,720 --> 01:17:31,599
Speaker 5: We thought it was ridiculous. Really, we thought the scripts

1529
01:17:31,640 --> 01:17:36,160
Speaker 5: were ridiculous and literally, I'm very serious. We did revamped

1530
01:17:36,400 --> 01:17:39,360
Speaker 5: square Pegs scripts, Like when we first started working the

1531
01:17:39,400 --> 01:17:44,280
Speaker 5: show was myself, Jasmine, myself, Lisa and Marissa to May.

1532
01:17:44,640 --> 01:17:47,960
Speaker 5: When the new management came in. That was when the

1533
01:17:48,000 --> 01:17:51,400
Speaker 5: Whitley Gilbert character was added, the Dwayne Wayne character.

1534
01:17:51,880 --> 01:17:52,160
Speaker 1: Pilot.

1535
01:17:52,600 --> 01:17:55,640
Speaker 5: Well, they we reshot the pilot, right, they weren't in

1536
01:17:55,680 --> 01:17:58,760
Speaker 5: the pilot, but we reshot stuff so that they would

1537
01:17:58,760 --> 01:18:00,920
Speaker 5: be included from beginning.

1538
01:18:00,560 --> 01:18:02,960
Speaker 1: Because he's the first person you see right on the Well,

1539
01:18:03,000 --> 01:18:04,479
Speaker 1: the pilot was like this was.

1540
01:18:05,120 --> 01:18:07,759
Speaker 5: It was eighty six. No, we shot shot the pilot

1541
01:18:07,800 --> 01:18:08,479
Speaker 5: in eighty five.

1542
01:18:08,760 --> 01:18:11,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it was eventually sorry, eight eighty six. It

1543
01:18:11,640 --> 01:18:13,360
Speaker 1: was eventually aired as a finale of the first season,

1544
01:18:13,439 --> 01:18:14,200
Speaker 1: right because no.

1545
01:18:14,320 --> 01:18:17,519
Speaker 5: It was eventually aired as the first episode was. It

1546
01:18:17,640 --> 01:18:19,080
Speaker 5: was eventually aired as the first.

1547
01:18:18,960 --> 01:18:23,840
Speaker 2: Episode where Dwayne talks to the camera fourth wall like, yeah,

1548
01:18:23,840 --> 01:18:26,479
Speaker 2: but there was another episode that came before that because

1549
01:18:26,760 --> 01:18:31,880
Speaker 2: like Verne is in it as the door correct and Witley.

1550
01:18:31,000 --> 01:18:35,599
Speaker 5: And they weren't so you remember butter than I do. Yeah,

1551
01:18:36,520 --> 01:18:39,439
Speaker 5: so that's what we were doing, and miss miss Beats

1552
01:18:39,560 --> 01:18:43,200
Speaker 5: brought in those other characters, so we reshot stuff to

1553
01:18:43,680 --> 01:18:48,200
Speaker 5: include them once for when the show actually began airing, was.

1554
01:18:48,200 --> 01:18:51,400
Speaker 2: There panic in the air once you realize that Lisa

1555
01:18:51,479 --> 01:18:53,800
Speaker 2: wasn't going to come back for season two.

1556
01:18:54,240 --> 01:18:56,840
Speaker 1: But how comfortable do you have to be before you're like,

1557
01:18:58,200 --> 01:18:59,080
Speaker 1: this job is real?

1558
01:19:01,320 --> 01:19:05,519
Speaker 5: Let me be you know, I never got that. No,

1559
01:19:06,439 --> 01:19:09,880
Speaker 5: I'm because I had already been working for so long.

1560
01:19:10,320 --> 01:19:13,880
Speaker 5: Shows start, shows end, Nothing is forever. So you know

1561
01:19:13,920 --> 01:19:16,080
Speaker 5: different people. You buy cars, you buy houses, like I

1562
01:19:16,160 --> 01:19:19,840
Speaker 5: ain't buying nothing because they could tell us tomorrow. And

1563
01:19:19,960 --> 01:19:22,920
Speaker 5: the way they fire folk around here. If Lisa can

1564
01:19:23,000 --> 01:19:26,080
Speaker 5: go guess what they can let you go to you

1565
01:19:26,160 --> 01:19:28,439
Speaker 5: know what I mean? You we would come to work

1566
01:19:28,800 --> 01:19:30,800
Speaker 5: some days and not know who was going to be

1567
01:19:31,560 --> 01:19:33,800
Speaker 5: at work. It was like that.

1568
01:19:34,240 --> 01:19:36,719
Speaker 8: But by this point you could probably afford your own marbles.

1569
01:19:36,960 --> 01:19:41,080
Speaker 5: Right, yes, but but but I was so far past

1570
01:19:44,280 --> 01:19:47,760
Speaker 5: I was so past marvels. But then yes, yes, but

1571
01:19:49,120 --> 01:19:49,879
Speaker 5: that was hilarious.

1572
01:19:49,960 --> 01:19:52,599
Speaker 2: You didn't You didn't have what is there a moment

1573
01:19:52,640 --> 01:19:58,439
Speaker 2: where it's sort of like, okay, uh I made it,

1574
01:19:58,600 --> 01:19:59,479
Speaker 2: or you're still.

1575
01:19:59,400 --> 01:20:00,599
Speaker 1: Like is the guilt?

1576
01:20:02,120 --> 01:20:07,639
Speaker 5: But yes, I'm telling you. I wouldn't say not comfort.

1577
01:20:08,000 --> 01:20:11,000
Speaker 5: You knew you had a job, and you were if

1578
01:20:11,040 --> 01:20:14,920
Speaker 5: you were wise, you would be aware that this could

1579
01:20:15,040 --> 01:20:18,040
Speaker 5: change at any moment, So you go to work and

1580
01:20:18,160 --> 01:20:21,439
Speaker 5: you do your gig. And I watched the show go

1581
01:20:21,680 --> 01:20:25,920
Speaker 5: from featuring three people to featuring fourteen people in just

1582
01:20:26,120 --> 01:20:30,040
Speaker 5: four years. You know, all these other characters got added,

1583
01:20:30,360 --> 01:20:33,519
Speaker 5: you know, from you know, to from Creed's character to

1584
01:20:33,680 --> 01:20:37,639
Speaker 5: Sean Chanelle's character, you know, everybody. All these people kept

1585
01:20:37,680 --> 01:20:41,680
Speaker 5: getting added, and they were Every storyline was pretty much

1586
01:20:41,720 --> 01:20:44,759
Speaker 5: focused on Dwayne, Wayne and Whitley. So you add more people,

1587
01:20:44,880 --> 01:20:48,040
Speaker 5: that means there's less and less for everyone else to do.

1588
01:20:48,560 --> 01:20:51,599
Speaker 5: So that was when I started digging deeper into Okay,

1589
01:20:51,840 --> 01:20:53,479
Speaker 5: what else am I going to do? And that was

1590
01:20:53,560 --> 01:20:56,360
Speaker 5: how I ended up working with Quincy Jones and the

1591
01:20:56,560 --> 01:20:59,920
Speaker 5: Handles Messiah Social Celebration. That was how I won the Grammy.

1592
01:21:00,400 --> 01:21:03,640
Speaker 5: And writing and producing for other people and doing my

1593
01:21:03,720 --> 01:21:06,560
Speaker 5: own stuff, I got into animation, you know, I know

1594
01:21:06,720 --> 01:21:09,599
Speaker 5: Korea is known a lot for animation, but I've been

1595
01:21:09,800 --> 01:21:13,200
Speaker 5: doing any Yeah, so right now I think I do

1596
01:21:13,320 --> 01:21:14,759
Speaker 5: like six seven different series.

1597
01:21:15,280 --> 01:21:18,600
Speaker 1: Now, how hard is it to navigate in that world because.

1598
01:21:18,479 --> 01:21:25,360
Speaker 5: Voiceover, Yeah, it really depends you. The directors and studios

1599
01:21:25,520 --> 01:21:28,080
Speaker 5: like to work with who they know can deliver. So

1600
01:21:28,240 --> 01:21:30,880
Speaker 5: once you're in the circle, you work a bit more

1601
01:21:30,960 --> 01:21:35,840
Speaker 5: and people just request you directly. It's a little harder

1602
01:21:35,920 --> 01:21:39,120
Speaker 5: to break into, but it's not impossible, especially because there

1603
01:21:39,120 --> 01:21:43,639
Speaker 5: were so many projects available now. When I first started,

1604
01:21:44,000 --> 01:21:48,479
Speaker 5: my first animated series was produced by Susanna Pass Wow

1605
01:21:48,840 --> 01:21:50,040
Speaker 5: Suzanna Pass project.

1606
01:21:50,120 --> 01:21:52,679
Speaker 1: It was Kidd and Play their cartoon.

1607
01:21:52,800 --> 01:21:56,840
Speaker 5: Kidding played card cartoon. I played the younger sister. I

1608
01:21:56,960 --> 01:22:00,599
Speaker 5: was the younger sister on the show. And I remember

1609
01:22:00,680 --> 01:22:03,080
Speaker 5: that there you go, Oh God. I was the younger

1610
01:22:03,160 --> 01:22:06,040
Speaker 5: sister on that show. And then Suzanne got the opportunity

1611
01:22:06,400 --> 01:22:10,200
Speaker 5: to produce a Christmas special with boys to men doing

1612
01:22:10,720 --> 01:22:15,080
Speaker 5: guest spot voices called cool like That. So I did

1613
01:22:15,160 --> 01:22:16,960
Speaker 5: voices for that and I played a seven year old

1614
01:22:17,040 --> 01:22:20,679
Speaker 5: boy in that that show. And again this was all freelance.

1615
01:22:20,760 --> 01:22:23,160
Speaker 5: Didn't have an agent, so I would get called to

1616
01:22:23,240 --> 01:22:25,280
Speaker 5: do things here and there because I was the new

1617
01:22:25,400 --> 01:22:28,240
Speaker 5: voice in town. I was on a TV show. People

1618
01:22:28,320 --> 01:22:30,840
Speaker 5: knew who I was. I was able to create different

1619
01:22:30,920 --> 01:22:34,160
Speaker 5: characters with my voice of different ages and male or female.

1620
01:22:34,640 --> 01:22:38,160
Speaker 5: And so I finally decided to get an agent. And

1621
01:22:38,360 --> 01:22:40,280
Speaker 5: that was when I got an agent, and they allowed

1622
01:22:40,320 --> 01:22:42,280
Speaker 5: me to freelance as well.

1623
01:22:42,880 --> 01:22:45,920
Speaker 1: I assume the term that can deliver means that you

1624
01:22:46,000 --> 01:22:47,840
Speaker 1: can knock it out with the well, you.

1625
01:22:47,880 --> 01:22:50,240
Speaker 5: Knock it out and you understand what what they're asking

1626
01:22:50,360 --> 01:22:53,880
Speaker 5: you to do. And because you're not on camera, you

1627
01:22:54,000 --> 01:22:56,000
Speaker 5: have to be able to sell and convince something just

1628
01:22:56,120 --> 01:22:57,360
Speaker 5: with your with your voice.

1629
01:22:57,479 --> 01:22:59,000
Speaker 1: So you have to turn into a seven year old

1630
01:22:59,080 --> 01:22:59,839
Speaker 1: turn into a seven.

1631
01:22:59,720 --> 01:23:01,680
Speaker 5: Year old boy and yeah, and it has to be

1632
01:23:01,760 --> 01:23:04,240
Speaker 5: believable when you listen back to it.

1633
01:23:04,720 --> 01:23:08,920
Speaker 2: So since then, you know, So what is your arrange

1634
01:23:09,040 --> 01:23:12,240
Speaker 2: like as far as your I know Cree has a

1635
01:23:12,400 --> 01:23:15,479
Speaker 2: range of Yeah, she could sound like a freakazoid or.

1636
01:23:15,640 --> 01:23:16,240
Speaker 1: You know whatever.

1637
01:23:16,320 --> 01:23:19,400
Speaker 5: Right, I do all of that. I do video games

1638
01:23:19,479 --> 01:23:22,960
Speaker 5: Mortal Kombat and I've done Yes Storm and the x

1639
01:23:23,320 --> 01:23:26,080
Speaker 5: X Men. I do lots of different video games. I

1640
01:23:26,280 --> 01:23:29,920
Speaker 5: do Simpsons, Simpsons calls me and to do all kinds

1641
01:23:29,960 --> 01:23:32,840
Speaker 5: of extraneous voices like the last three years I record

1642
01:23:32,880 --> 01:23:35,400
Speaker 5: to Simpsons last week. I have another one next week.

1643
01:23:35,479 --> 01:23:38,120
Speaker 5: I do the series Apple and Onion, where I played

1644
01:23:38,160 --> 01:23:40,000
Speaker 5: Patty the Meat, the Meat Patty Boss.

1645
01:23:40,520 --> 01:23:40,640
Speaker 2: Uh.

1646
01:23:40,840 --> 01:23:44,040
Speaker 5: Star CBS is coming out with a new animated series,

1647
01:23:44,439 --> 01:23:49,000
Speaker 5: Star Trek Lower Decks the Captain on Star Trek Lower.

1648
01:23:48,800 --> 01:23:52,920
Speaker 1: Decks, Don Lewis, I'm really not going to ask you

1649
01:23:52,960 --> 01:23:53,920
Speaker 1: about cramps now, No.

1650
01:23:54,320 --> 01:23:54,360
Speaker 4: No.

1651
01:23:56,120 --> 01:23:58,439
Speaker 5: I also do Where in the world is Carbon San Diego?

1652
01:23:58,600 --> 01:24:01,040
Speaker 5: For Netflix, I'm the voice of the Cheap And when

1653
01:24:01,080 --> 01:24:05,080
Speaker 5: we just released our interactive series games, I do the

1654
01:24:05,160 --> 01:24:09,320
Speaker 5: voice of the chief in that don't forget Futurama Now Futurama.

1655
01:24:09,400 --> 01:24:13,000
Speaker 5: I'm La Barbara In Futurama, I'm Granny mcstuffans and Doc

1656
01:24:13,439 --> 01:24:15,680
Speaker 5: mixed mic mcstuffans and who is.

1657
01:24:15,680 --> 01:24:19,960
Speaker 1: The voice of actual uh of Doc mcstuffans.

1658
01:24:20,000 --> 01:24:22,559
Speaker 5: To be honest with you, I don't know. I honestly

1659
01:24:22,640 --> 01:24:24,720
Speaker 5: don't know the young lad lady's name because usually when

1660
01:24:24,760 --> 01:24:26,880
Speaker 5: I get called in the studio, it's just me and

1661
01:24:27,400 --> 01:24:31,400
Speaker 5: you meet people, you don't meet people. So I apologize.

1662
01:24:31,439 --> 01:24:33,280
Speaker 2: I was stuck in an elevator with her once and

1663
01:24:33,560 --> 01:24:35,680
Speaker 2: when I told I had never heard of Doc mc

1664
01:24:35,760 --> 01:24:38,559
Speaker 2: stuffins in my life. Okay, So when I got out

1665
01:24:38,600 --> 01:24:41,000
Speaker 2: the elevator go to the airport, one of my managers

1666
01:24:41,040 --> 01:24:43,840
Speaker 2: she's like, I mean, even though she's of age, she's

1667
01:24:44,760 --> 01:24:47,960
Speaker 2: eternally thirteen years old. So I Cavli said that, Yeah,

1668
01:24:48,240 --> 01:24:50,680
Speaker 2: I was in the elevator with the whoever plays doc

1669
01:24:50,840 --> 01:24:53,559
Speaker 2: x stuffans, and she, like Zarah like lost their mind.

1670
01:24:53,800 --> 01:24:56,080
Speaker 5: Yeah, they do a lot of people do. Yeah, it's

1671
01:24:56,600 --> 01:25:00,120
Speaker 5: it's a trip shows like Spirit shows like Sophie of

1672
01:25:00,160 --> 01:25:03,800
Speaker 5: the First. Another one I did way back in the

1673
01:25:03,920 --> 01:25:06,920
Speaker 5: day was c Bear and Jamal with Tone Tone Lok.

1674
01:25:07,240 --> 01:25:07,439
Speaker 1: Yeah.

1675
01:25:07,520 --> 01:25:09,960
Speaker 5: I think I did like three or four voices in

1676
01:25:10,080 --> 01:25:13,920
Speaker 5: that show. I played the grandmother who kind of almost

1677
01:25:13,920 --> 01:25:16,519
Speaker 5: didn't have any teeth in her in her mouth and

1678
01:25:16,840 --> 01:25:19,040
Speaker 5: it was just so much fun and the and the

1679
01:25:19,600 --> 01:25:24,559
Speaker 5: kids teacher Miss Fine. Another one where the little bear

1680
01:25:24,680 --> 01:25:27,160
Speaker 5: wanted to get a job. I was an old, old

1681
01:25:27,240 --> 01:25:30,400
Speaker 5: Jewish man in the factory where he worked.

1682
01:25:30,800 --> 01:25:32,519
Speaker 8: So no, we had a lot of maybe I know

1683
01:25:32,680 --> 01:25:33,200
Speaker 8: wants his name.

1684
01:25:36,240 --> 01:25:39,960
Speaker 5: His name was Fingo. You're basing too much time? Time

1685
01:25:40,120 --> 01:25:42,040
Speaker 5: is money? Fuck fuck fasta.

1686
01:25:45,200 --> 01:25:48,680
Speaker 1: To hear it. Doors have never closed on you or

1687
01:25:49,000 --> 01:25:54,760
Speaker 1: always I wouldn't say. I gotta ask. Has one role

1688
01:25:54,880 --> 01:25:55,719
Speaker 1: ever gotten away?

1689
01:25:55,880 --> 01:25:58,679
Speaker 2: That like either to a to another commitment or something

1690
01:25:58,760 --> 01:26:02,200
Speaker 2: that you had a chance to go for that you

1691
01:26:02,280 --> 01:26:02,960
Speaker 2: weren't able to.

1692
01:26:03,960 --> 01:26:06,320
Speaker 5: Yeah. I wanted to do Tina Turner and What's Love

1693
01:26:06,400 --> 01:26:08,479
Speaker 5: God to Do with it? And they got some unknown

1694
01:26:08,560 --> 01:26:13,880
Speaker 5: chick named Angela Bassett to do it. She was she

1695
01:26:14,080 --> 01:26:14,800
Speaker 5: was phenomenal.

1696
01:26:14,920 --> 01:26:15,960
Speaker 1: The name like Angela Bassett.

1697
01:26:16,000 --> 01:26:19,680
Speaker 5: She'll never go anywhere, She'll never I mean, she's just

1698
01:26:20,040 --> 01:26:22,519
Speaker 5: the coolest people, one of my dear friends in a.

1699
01:26:23,200 --> 01:26:24,800
Speaker 1: You know, yeah, I got it well.

1700
01:26:24,960 --> 01:26:27,320
Speaker 2: Speaking of which, let me let me lead it to

1701
01:26:27,400 --> 01:26:32,600
Speaker 2: this where you are now at the Tina Turner play, the.

1702
01:26:34,520 --> 01:26:39,160
Speaker 1: Sort of the the why is I? A violatile relationship

1703
01:26:39,240 --> 01:26:45,320
Speaker 1: between her mother and her in that play? Was that

1704
01:26:45,640 --> 01:26:49,599
Speaker 1: that was intense? Is she executive producer of the play?

1705
01:26:49,720 --> 01:26:49,760
Speaker 5: Like?

1706
01:26:49,880 --> 01:26:51,160
Speaker 1: Is she a part of the production?

1707
01:26:51,280 --> 01:26:51,800
Speaker 5: Miss Turner?

1708
01:26:52,080 --> 01:26:52,240
Speaker 4: Yes?

1709
01:26:52,479 --> 01:26:56,560
Speaker 5: Yes, from the from the beginning, she handpicked all of

1710
01:26:56,600 --> 01:26:58,720
Speaker 5: the songs that are in the show. All of the

1711
01:26:58,800 --> 01:27:02,120
Speaker 5: songs are songs that she record at one time or another.

1712
01:27:03,040 --> 01:27:04,760
Speaker 5: The way that they're placed in the show is not

1713
01:27:04,880 --> 01:27:09,400
Speaker 5: necessarily chronolological or when they were released, but there they're

1714
01:27:09,439 --> 01:27:11,799
Speaker 5: placed strategically to help tell the story.

1715
01:27:11,960 --> 01:27:16,479
Speaker 2: Well only ask because this was way more intense than

1716
01:27:17,240 --> 01:27:18,880
Speaker 2: the what's love got to do with it?

1717
01:27:18,920 --> 01:27:22,000
Speaker 1: At least the relationship, yes, between the two and I wanted.

1718
01:27:21,840 --> 01:27:24,879
Speaker 5: To know, Well, it goes into a bit more detail

1719
01:27:25,400 --> 01:27:27,280
Speaker 5: of the life. You know, some people, you know, think

1720
01:27:27,360 --> 01:27:29,720
Speaker 5: that if you've seen that movie, then then you've seen

1721
01:27:29,760 --> 01:27:33,240
Speaker 5: the whole right, But that's that's not the case. At

1722
01:27:33,240 --> 01:27:37,679
Speaker 5: all and in playing Zelma. My mother's name is Zelma Bullock.

1723
01:27:38,040 --> 01:27:40,880
Speaker 5: Her name was originally Anime Bullock before it got changed

1724
01:27:40,880 --> 01:27:43,920
Speaker 5: to Tina Tina Turner. It was important to me to

1725
01:27:44,000 --> 01:27:45,720
Speaker 5: come and do this particular role just because it was

1726
01:27:45,760 --> 01:27:49,000
Speaker 5: so real for me in my life, because that was

1727
01:27:49,080 --> 01:27:51,360
Speaker 5: the life that I lived, I watched. I was raised

1728
01:27:51,400 --> 01:27:54,720
Speaker 5: in the house with domestic violence. My mom had to

1729
01:27:54,760 --> 01:27:57,120
Speaker 5: get out in order to save herself and put herself

1730
01:27:57,160 --> 01:28:01,880
Speaker 5: in a better position to save us. My dad was

1731
01:28:01,960 --> 01:28:04,040
Speaker 5: a policeman. He was head of the Department of Homicide

1732
01:28:04,040 --> 01:28:06,000
Speaker 5: in Brooklyn when I was small, and so when my

1733
01:28:06,120 --> 01:28:08,599
Speaker 5: mom would go to report the violence, the cops would

1734
01:28:08,600 --> 01:28:10,560
Speaker 5: basically tell her that novel, if you would just do

1735
01:28:10,680 --> 01:28:12,080
Speaker 5: what he told you, he wouldn't have to hit you.

1736
01:28:12,720 --> 01:28:13,200
Speaker 5: Kind of a thing.

1737
01:28:13,400 --> 01:28:15,800
Speaker 1: That's domestic situation, get involved.

1738
01:28:15,520 --> 01:28:18,680
Speaker 5: In, yeah, exactly, Jesus. So my mom left us and

1739
01:28:18,760 --> 01:28:20,720
Speaker 5: we ended up being taken by my grandmother that I

1740
01:28:20,840 --> 01:28:23,320
Speaker 5: mentioned for a cup couple of years until my mom

1741
01:28:23,439 --> 01:28:24,640
Speaker 5: was able to come back and get us. So that

1742
01:28:24,720 --> 01:28:27,000
Speaker 5: was how we went from Bedstide to Park Slope back

1743
01:28:27,080 --> 01:28:30,960
Speaker 5: to Bedstye when my mom came back and got us. Fortunately,

1744
01:28:31,080 --> 01:28:34,280
Speaker 5: my dad learned to make better choices in his life

1745
01:28:34,800 --> 01:28:37,800
Speaker 5: and grateful for that, especially you know, before he passed,

1746
01:28:37,920 --> 01:28:40,639
Speaker 5: passed us the way, so we were able to heal

1747
01:28:40,840 --> 01:28:46,439
Speaker 5: certain things. But again, my relationship with my mom, her mom,

1748
01:28:46,920 --> 01:28:50,519
Speaker 5: like Zelma tells Tina at one point, you need to

1749
01:28:50,600 --> 01:28:52,560
Speaker 5: go back to him, because who do you think he

1750
01:28:52,680 --> 01:28:55,200
Speaker 5: helped make you? And what my mom was told was,

1751
01:28:55,200 --> 01:28:56,320
Speaker 5: who do you think is going to take you? With

1752
01:28:56,439 --> 01:28:59,720
Speaker 5: four kids? What person's going to want you? Even though

1753
01:29:00,520 --> 01:29:04,120
Speaker 5: understanding what that violence says, situate mashit was. So it

1754
01:29:04,240 --> 01:29:07,519
Speaker 5: was a very different time. People didn't get divorced. You

1755
01:29:07,680 --> 01:29:10,080
Speaker 5: knew that there were other kids somewhere across the town,

1756
01:29:10,280 --> 01:29:13,519
Speaker 5: or other girlfriends or whatever, but you dealt with it.

1757
01:29:13,960 --> 01:29:16,879
Speaker 5: So people like Zelma, like my mother, like my grandmother,

1758
01:29:17,920 --> 01:29:21,280
Speaker 5: who were strong enough to love themselves enough to make

1759
01:29:21,320 --> 01:29:24,680
Speaker 5: a different choice, especially during that time. I just have

1760
01:29:24,800 --> 01:29:27,640
Speaker 5: nothing but love for it's not a popular choice and

1761
01:29:27,760 --> 01:29:29,880
Speaker 5: looking at it by today's standards, you can judge and

1762
01:29:29,920 --> 01:29:31,680
Speaker 5: point fingers, well, I would never leave my kids. And

1763
01:29:31,840 --> 01:29:34,559
Speaker 5: yet it was a very different time. And until you're

1764
01:29:34,640 --> 01:29:37,679
Speaker 5: in that position, I know some people who really should

1765
01:29:37,720 --> 01:29:42,200
Speaker 5: believe right, you know, domestic violence shouldn't be tolerated, whether

1766
01:29:42,640 --> 01:29:45,559
Speaker 5: it's male to female or female to male, because there's

1767
01:29:45,600 --> 01:29:49,320
Speaker 5: some violent women out there with you know, men being

1768
01:29:49,640 --> 01:29:55,360
Speaker 5: really physically and emotionally damaged in these relationships. So you know,

1769
01:29:55,479 --> 01:29:58,160
Speaker 5: you can't help up your kids unless you save yourself,

1770
01:29:58,640 --> 01:30:01,160
Speaker 5: and that was what happened in our family. So in

1771
01:30:01,320 --> 01:30:04,479
Speaker 5: my portrayal of Zelma, it was important to me that

1772
01:30:04,640 --> 01:30:06,439
Speaker 5: you see her as a human being who had to

1773
01:30:06,479 --> 01:30:08,639
Speaker 5: make different choices. You may or may not agree with them.

1774
01:30:09,160 --> 01:30:15,160
Speaker 5: Their relationship was always very cocomplicated and damaged, but hopefully

1775
01:30:16,160 --> 01:30:20,800
Speaker 5: you can see a human being there and both of them. Unfortunately,

1776
01:30:20,920 --> 01:30:25,400
Speaker 5: you sometimes repeat generational realities because in order to become

1777
01:30:25,439 --> 01:30:27,880
Speaker 5: the teen attorney that we knew, she ended up having

1778
01:30:27,880 --> 01:30:31,280
Speaker 5: to leave her kids to basically be raised by you know,

1779
01:30:31,720 --> 01:30:35,120
Speaker 5: her sis sister and her mother and you know, in

1780
01:30:35,280 --> 01:30:37,080
Speaker 5: order for her to be who she is. But it

1781
01:30:37,200 --> 01:30:40,839
Speaker 5: ultimately is a story of not just surviving, but thriving,

1782
01:30:41,720 --> 01:30:43,960
Speaker 5: you know what I mean, in spite of so I'm

1783
01:30:44,040 --> 01:30:46,720
Speaker 5: really honored to be part of that.

1784
01:30:47,160 --> 01:30:48,080
Speaker 1: Thank you, I enjoyed it.

1785
01:30:48,200 --> 01:30:51,600
Speaker 5: Thank you very much. I brought you a gift, Actually.

1786
01:30:51,600 --> 01:30:54,679
Speaker 1: Thank you, you brought me a g scroll.

1787
01:30:54,920 --> 01:30:57,400
Speaker 5: I'm unrolling a scroll. This was something that I made

1788
01:30:57,560 --> 01:31:02,200
Speaker 5: for the entire company for Opening Gift. So it is

1789
01:31:02,320 --> 01:31:06,560
Speaker 5: a playbill version of your cast. I made this for

1790
01:31:06,680 --> 01:31:11,160
Speaker 5: the professional man, and this is the entire company, each

1791
01:31:11,200 --> 01:31:13,880
Speaker 5: one of us. And so yeah, so that's that's the

1792
01:31:14,160 --> 01:31:19,519
Speaker 5: creative team. That's the Bullock family. Tina, that's our director.

1793
01:31:19,640 --> 01:31:22,439
Speaker 5: That's me, that's young the little girl that plays Anime Bullock.

1794
01:31:22,880 --> 01:31:26,639
Speaker 5: That's the young woman that was playing uh, the older

1795
01:31:26,760 --> 01:31:31,479
Speaker 5: version of our daughter alive. She's she's not there anymore.

1796
01:31:31,600 --> 01:31:34,640
Speaker 5: This is the woman my Luke lue Creekisha Taylor who

1797
01:31:34,720 --> 01:31:38,200
Speaker 5: plays Gg the grandmother. That's David Jennings who plays Richard Bullock.

1798
01:31:39,200 --> 01:31:41,640
Speaker 5: And then those are the guys in the ensemble. And

1799
01:31:41,720 --> 01:31:42,360
Speaker 5: that's everybody.

1800
01:31:42,439 --> 01:31:44,439
Speaker 1: Well, we thank you for this. I will cherish this,

1801
01:31:45,080 --> 01:31:45,400
Speaker 1: he says.

1802
01:31:45,439 --> 01:31:47,080
Speaker 5: Did you notice that I will cherish this?

1803
01:31:47,320 --> 01:31:47,600
Speaker 4: This is.

1804
01:31:49,840 --> 01:31:52,800
Speaker 1: This is really on good paper. This paper is like leather.

1805
01:31:55,240 --> 01:31:57,360
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's beautiful.

1806
01:31:59,560 --> 01:32:01,640
Speaker 1: So I would like to think that.

1807
01:32:03,680 --> 01:32:07,320
Speaker 2: At least hearing the narrative and sort of the linear

1808
01:32:07,360 --> 01:32:10,600
Speaker 2: emotion that your life has taken you stepping out in

1809
01:32:10,720 --> 01:32:13,280
Speaker 2: confidence and not saying that everything was done without you

1810
01:32:13,400 --> 01:32:16,639
Speaker 2: being nervous or I can't do this, but I kind

1811
01:32:16,680 --> 01:32:21,720
Speaker 2: of feel like the common denominator is like everything.

1812
01:32:23,080 --> 01:32:25,760
Speaker 1: That you've attempted to attempted to do.

1813
01:32:26,040 --> 01:32:28,680
Speaker 2: You did without a second thought or a voice in

1814
01:32:28,760 --> 01:32:32,920
Speaker 2: your head that says you can't do this and you know,

1815
01:32:33,200 --> 01:32:37,439
Speaker 2: so what But from you doing that at an early

1816
01:32:37,560 --> 01:32:41,680
Speaker 2: age till even now still working where no one has

1817
01:32:41,800 --> 01:32:46,120
Speaker 2: this narrative that I've heard and I've been doing the

1818
01:32:46,160 --> 01:32:49,680
Speaker 2: show for three years now practically, like what is that?

1819
01:32:49,840 --> 01:32:52,560
Speaker 2: Because I feel like that's what's it. I feel like

1820
01:32:52,720 --> 01:32:56,560
Speaker 2: you have a confidence or stepping out on faith in

1821
01:32:56,720 --> 01:32:57,400
Speaker 2: terms of just.

1822
01:32:59,360 --> 01:33:04,840
Speaker 5: Doors open for you, you know, yes and no, yes,

1823
01:33:05,000 --> 01:33:10,639
Speaker 5: doors open. When I saw you at mister bebela Fonte's

1824
01:33:10,680 --> 01:33:14,160
Speaker 5: birthday celebration and you told me that you wanted me

1825
01:33:14,240 --> 01:33:17,920
Speaker 5: to be on your show, that just really blessed my spirit.

1826
01:33:18,120 --> 01:33:19,880
Speaker 5: Because you don't know who sees you, you don't know

1827
01:33:20,040 --> 01:33:23,400
Speaker 5: who cares. You know who you pursue in life and

1828
01:33:23,439 --> 01:33:25,880
Speaker 5: they either respond or you don't. Like me trying to

1829
01:33:25,960 --> 01:33:28,200
Speaker 5: chase down an agent for months and nobody being willing

1830
01:33:28,280 --> 01:33:31,599
Speaker 5: to call back. There are still people that I try

1831
01:33:31,640 --> 01:33:35,480
Speaker 5: to approach now that you would hope would be supportive

1832
01:33:35,680 --> 01:33:38,559
Speaker 5: or encouraging who are not necessarily because they have other

1833
01:33:38,600 --> 01:33:41,920
Speaker 5: people to answer to the politics, the you know whatever,

1834
01:33:42,600 --> 01:33:44,160
Speaker 5: Like yeah, and I'm gonna say it. I want to

1835
01:33:44,200 --> 01:33:46,720
Speaker 5: come and do Jimmy Fallon, I want to do the show,

1836
01:33:46,840 --> 01:33:48,479
Speaker 5: I want to do the view, I want to do

1837
01:33:48,960 --> 01:33:51,519
Speaker 5: all these things, and for whatever reason it will, it

1838
01:33:51,520 --> 01:33:54,439
Speaker 5: won't happen, you know. But those are shows that I

1839
01:33:54,560 --> 01:33:56,680
Speaker 5: did back in the day when I was on Hang

1840
01:33:56,760 --> 01:33:59,000
Speaker 5: with Mister Cooper or some other TV show. But now

1841
01:33:59,080 --> 01:34:01,439
Speaker 5: that I'm here in New York, you know, my own

1842
01:34:01,640 --> 01:34:06,040
Speaker 5: home hometown. You know, I'm on Broadway big stage, doing

1843
01:34:06,560 --> 01:34:10,840
Speaker 5: good work with great peat people. You want to do things,

1844
01:34:10,960 --> 01:34:13,479
Speaker 5: and as you know, in our in our business, the

1845
01:34:13,600 --> 01:34:17,040
Speaker 5: next gig is almost predicated on the previous gig, like

1846
01:34:17,200 --> 01:34:19,439
Speaker 5: what did what did you do, how did you maximize it,

1847
01:34:19,520 --> 01:34:21,680
Speaker 5: did anybody care? Et cetera, et cetera, And then that's

1848
01:34:21,680 --> 01:34:26,360
Speaker 5: how the next gig happens. And things like staying relevant,

1849
01:34:26,439 --> 01:34:30,200
Speaker 5: staying present, staying marketable are what makes those kinds of

1850
01:34:30,280 --> 01:34:33,160
Speaker 5: things happen. So you do the best to do your

1851
01:34:33,240 --> 01:34:35,479
Speaker 5: best to do that. So I just want to tell

1852
01:34:35,479 --> 01:34:38,240
Speaker 5: you how much I appreciate being here, and you know,

1853
01:34:38,920 --> 01:34:42,280
Speaker 5: I had no idea that my journey meant, even what

1854
01:34:42,439 --> 01:34:44,679
Speaker 5: it means to you, but for us to be able

1855
01:34:44,720 --> 01:34:47,760
Speaker 5: to sit here and talk about it and exchange some

1856
01:34:47,880 --> 01:34:50,040
Speaker 5: of the things that we even have in common. Skellies,

1857
01:34:50,080 --> 01:34:52,360
Speaker 5: I mean you who knew, who knew.

1858
01:34:54,880 --> 01:34:55,920
Speaker 1: Tournament, Yes, you.

1859
01:34:55,920 --> 01:34:58,519
Speaker 5: Know what I'm saying. All those kinds of things matter,

1860
01:34:59,000 --> 01:35:03,520
Speaker 5: and it it sometimes gets frustrating when the journey feels stifled.

1861
01:35:04,000 --> 01:35:07,439
Speaker 5: But like you said, I'm walking on faith because I

1862
01:35:07,600 --> 01:35:11,439
Speaker 5: was told at seven that where I was pursuing was

1863
01:35:11,479 --> 01:35:13,560
Speaker 5: going to take me on a downward spiral, that was

1864
01:35:13,600 --> 01:35:16,800
Speaker 5: going to be my spiritual demise, my physical demise, all

1865
01:35:16,840 --> 01:35:19,519
Speaker 5: of that. And God has proven me that that is

1866
01:35:19,640 --> 01:35:22,640
Speaker 5: just not true, that that's just not his journey for me.

1867
01:35:23,120 --> 01:35:26,000
Speaker 5: So any step I want to take, if I feel

1868
01:35:26,040 --> 01:35:28,400
Speaker 5: empowered and if I feel like, Okay, He's given me

1869
01:35:28,439 --> 01:35:30,680
Speaker 5: everything I need to succeed here, that I'm going to

1870
01:35:30,720 --> 01:35:32,679
Speaker 5: give it a shot and let it be someone else's

1871
01:35:32,800 --> 01:35:35,080
Speaker 5: choice to say no, she's too tall, Because I'm as

1872
01:35:35,120 --> 01:35:37,080
Speaker 5: tall as I'm as I am, I'm as brown as

1873
01:35:37,120 --> 01:35:40,559
Speaker 5: I am, I'm as whatever as I am. But if

1874
01:35:40,720 --> 01:35:43,519
Speaker 5: I believe I have something to offer, then that's what

1875
01:35:43,600 --> 01:35:44,160
Speaker 5: I'm going to do.

1876
01:35:44,520 --> 01:35:45,639
Speaker 1: I wish you was here.

1877
01:35:48,320 --> 01:35:51,360
Speaker 8: She we should tell was very upset that she couldn't

1878
01:35:51,360 --> 01:35:53,040
Speaker 8: be here today. She really really wanted to.

1879
01:35:53,400 --> 01:35:55,599
Speaker 5: I was looking forward to meeting her. She's been very kind.

1880
01:35:55,720 --> 01:35:57,400
Speaker 1: Well, we thank you very much for doing this.

1881
01:35:57,800 --> 01:35:59,920
Speaker 7: You've got to come back and tell us some Latin

1882
01:36:00,000 --> 01:36:00,759
Speaker 7: record stories.

1883
01:36:00,880 --> 01:36:05,160
Speaker 5: You guess, there's always stories. There's plenty, plenty stories and

1884
01:36:05,320 --> 01:36:07,320
Speaker 5: tales to tell, so.

1885
01:36:07,560 --> 01:36:12,160
Speaker 2: On behalf of Boss Bill and Sugar Steve lay Fan, Tikolo,

1886
01:36:12,360 --> 01:36:13,280
Speaker 2: and Babe Bill.

1887
01:36:13,920 --> 01:36:14,599
Speaker 1: Thank you Don.

1888
01:36:14,520 --> 01:36:17,720
Speaker 2: Lewis for being here today and we will see you

1889
01:36:17,800 --> 01:36:19,719
Speaker 2: on the next go round of Quest Love Supreme.

1890
01:36:19,880 --> 01:36:20,760
Speaker 3: I love It, Love It.

1891
01:36:27,280 --> 01:36:29,680
Speaker 1: Quest Love Supreme. It's the production of iHeartRadio.

1892
01:36:32,920 --> 01:36:36,160
Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

1893
01:36:36,439 --> 01:36:39,439
Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.