Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

The Ensemble Theatre to be recognized by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the August Wilson Estate during run of
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”

HOUSTON (May 16, 2018) – The Ensemble Theatre celebrates its 30-year revival of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, directed by Eileen J. Morris with Opening Night and Media Reception, Thursday, May 10, 2018, 6:30 p.m. 3535 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002.

“We are celebrating the return of an August Wilson production on our main stage,” says Morris. “It has been 30 years since our founder George Hawkins last presented Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

The Ensemble celebrated its completion of the August Wilson 10-play series also known as his century cycle in 2012 during its 35th Anniversary Season. Morris is recognized as the only female director in the world to have directed eight of the ten plays. In memory and to honor Wilson’s 60th birthday the theatre completed the 10-play cycle in a stage play reading series that included local media talents KG Smooth (Majic 102.1), Melanie Lawson (ABC 13), Marcus Davis (owner of The Breakfast Klub), and other Houston artists as cast members.

“Not only are we celebrating the revival of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” we will be presented with an award for our dedication to August Wilson’s work right after the show opens,” says Morris. “It’s an award that was recently developed to honor theatres that have completed the 10-play series.”

August Wilson’s hometown newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, recently created the August Wilson American Century Cycle Award, co-sponsored by the August Wilson House, with advisory support from Wilson’s wife Constanza Romero Wilson and the August Wilson Estate. The Ensemble Theatre is one of the inaugural honorees scheduled to be presented with the award by visiting Pittsburgh Post-Gazette theatre critic Christopher Rawson on May 12, 2018.

“We want every artist and designer in Houston who has ever performed on or off stage for an August Wilson play to join us for the awards presentation on May 12, and during the run of Ma’ Rainey’s Black Bottom,” says Morris. “The Ensemble Theatre has the honor of receiving the award, but this recognition speaks to the work of theatres, artists, designers, patrons, sponsors, and volunteers who continue to support August Wilson’s works.”

Legendary Blues singer Ma Rainey and her band convene to record an album and hash out their own blues. As their conversation unfolds, their bantering, storytelling and arguing raise questions of race, art and the historic exploitation of black recording artists by white producers.

Featured Cast members include: Roenia Thompson (Ma Rainey), Callina Situka (Dussie Mae), Anthony August (Sylvester); Timothy Eric (Levee), Wilbert Williams (Cutler), Wayne DeHart (Toledo), Byron Jacquet (Slow Drag), Ed Muth (Irvin), John Stevens (Sturdyvant), and Kirk Bilanoski (Policeman).

Performance Days and Times: Thursdays: 7:30 p.m; Fridays: 8:00 p.m; Saturdays: 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m; and Sundays: 3:00 p.m.

The Ensemble Theatre's 2017-2018 Season is sponsored in part by grants from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, Texas Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. United Airlines is the official airline sponsor for The Ensemble Theatre. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is generously supported by The Humphreys Foundation.

The Ensemble Theatre was founded in 1976 by the late George Hawkins to preserve African American artistic expression and enlighten, entertain and enrich a diverse community. In addition to being the oldest and largest professional African American theatre in the Southwest, it also holds the distinction of being one of the nation's largest African American theatres that owns and operates its facility with an in-house production team.

The Ensemble Theatre produces a main stage season of six contemporary and classic works devoted to the portrayal of the African American experience by local and national playwrights and artists. The theatre’s Performing Arts Education program provides educational workshops, Artist-in-Residence experiences and live performances for students both off-site and at the theatre; and the Young Performers Program offers intensive summer training for children ages 6 to 17 encompassing instruction in all disciplines of the theatre arts.

Roenia Thompson plays the title role in the Ensemble Theatre’s 2018 production of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. She is a graduate of Prairie View A&M University with a B. A. Degree in Drama.

Roenia has been seen in various productions. Her national tour credits include If This Hat Could Talk (directed by George Faison) and Signed, Sealed and Delivered (directed by Fred Phillips). Some of her other credits are THE WIZ and Cinderella (directed by Patdro Harris), The Cotton Club (directed by C. Lee Turner), Constant Star and Dreamgirls (directed by Ron Jones). Her film credits are I Flunked Sunday School.

Roenia wrote and debuted her first commissioned play at HSPVA in 2017 entitled Soul of the 70’s. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. I interviewed her right before she was about to go onstage for the first time in the title role of Ma Rainey.

Roenia: Ma Rainey likes to be referred to as Madame Rainey. She’s a very strong, talented business woman who likes to have things her way. She’s a hard worker and is set in her ways. She provides opportunities for the members of the band. In doing research about her life, I was able to learn some awesome things. She was a “no-mess with me” type of woman. She didn’t want to succumb to being taken advantage of, by men or by women. She’s also progressive in her time, very daring. She’s a lesbian, which I thought was quite interesting when I first read the script a year a half ago. During that time period, she would get in trouble by having relations, which back in the 1920’s was unacceptable. It is really interesting portraying her character.

Theresa: Congratulations for getting the title role. What was it like when you found out?

Roenia: It was actually quite scary because when it deals with the person who actually lived and there are documents that tell you about how this person was, you know exactly how she looks. It can be quite intimidating. I know that there were a lot of women who auditioned for the role.

Roenia: I believe it was twice. I did the stage reading maybe a year and a half to two years prior to the auditions. At the time, I thought, this was just a stage reading, such a great opportunity to be even chosen to do the character. But then, they announced that they were going to do it for the 2017 – 2018 season.

Roenia: Absolutely not. In my head, I didn’t believe I had the voice of Ma Rainey. Because there’s a recording of her actual voice that you can listen to today. I personally I didn’t believe that I had the look of Ma Rainey, I didn’t have the stature of Ma Rainey. But there’s a wonderful thing that’s called acting to where you can morph into the character once you do your research. I never doubted that I could portray the role, but I did not automatically think that I was cast, at all. It was a surprise when I got the call.

Roenia: I tried to keep my composure, of course. It was Eileen Morris who called me with the news and I said, great! But at this moment, while I’m talking to you, it still doesn’t seem real. It’s probably going to hit me once I hit the stage tonight. I kinda have to keep myself cool headed, make sure that I am focused. Because you can easily get yourself up to a point to where the hype and the excitement can be overwhelming. Like “Oh my gosh, I’m Ma Rainey!”

Roenia: I’m a native Houstonian! I grew up here, I’m from Acres Homes the same area that the mayor of Houston is from. I’m excited to be home doing this show. I went to Eisenhower high school in Aldine ISD. And I also teach in Aldine ISD. I’m a theatre teacher at Benjamin O. Davis high school.

Theresa: Eileen Morris chooses an August Wilson play almost every year. Have you ever performed on an August Wilson play before?

Roenia: I have never done an August Wilson play here at the Ensemble Theatre. I have designed several of the shows. The last show that I designed was Fences. I did the hair and makeup design for that particular show. I also did the hair and makeup design for King Hedley and the last time this show was staged at the Ensemble Theatre was 30 years ago. I’m only 35 years old, so it’s a blessing to be able to portray a character that’s within my age range. You know because, Ma Rainey did die young. She didn’t make it to her 60th birthday. To be able to be able to portray one of August Wilson’s characters, that is truly priceless.

Roenia: First of all, you can’t have a filter and you cannot be afraid. And those are two attributes that I carry with me daily. Just as a person. She has a mouth on her. She does not allow anyone to take advantage of her, at any moment.

Roenia: Get your ass out of my face. And she’ll smile and laugh in the next second, you know?

Roenia: My father portrayed the role of Jesus in a play called Hosanna Son of God. As a child, I really believed my father was Jesus. I was about 3 or 4 years old. I remember my father was doing the show at Texas Southern University at Hannah Hall. He would come down the aisle carrying the cross and the soldiers were behind him, actually hitting him as we see Jesus going to the Calvary. As a little girl, I just started screaming, “Don’t hit my dad! Don’t hit my dad!”

Roenia: Everybody thought it was so funny! Because I thought that it was real. From that point on, my dad did different stage plays around the area. And then he said, “Kids, you all are going to be on this play with me.” I didn’t really have a choice, you know? Then at church, we would always have different shows and plays and my dad would always put us in it. My parents would always volunteer us. We would get the longest Easter speeches.

As I was growing up, this is something that I can do, something I was groomed for. When I got into middle school, I started acting in the UIL one-act plays. I was heavily involved in high school.

And then, Prairie View A&M University director C. Lee Turner came to our school and they performed. I said to myself, “I’m going to that school, I’m going to major in Theatre.” Well in 1999, I was a sophomore and I saw a show called God’s Trombones by James Weldon Johnson and C. Lee Turner had his own arrangement of it. We went to the Prairie View A&M campus, we saw that show and I said, “I’m going to be a professional actor and I’m going to go to this school." From there on out, it’s a path I decided to take.

Roenia: No, my father Archie Thompson Sr. is a pastor. My mother Pamela Thompson is an educator and a business woman. But when we were younger, my father did pursue music, the arts and acting.

Roenia: They’re not going to be here tonight because I never invite them to Opening Night. It’s a tradition. If my parents came to opening night, they’ll make me nervous. They’re my number one fans, but I would rather them come to the end of the run. Because I won’t be as nervous.

Theresa: (laughs) I understand. What is it like to have Eileen Morris direct you in an August Wilson play?

Roenia: Having Eileen is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had here at the Ensemble Theatre. Number one, she is the Artistic Director. Her vision can take you to a place of “Wow. I never saw it from that perspective.” She’s very well versed in August Wilson. She does her research, she’s very thorough. But she also gives you artistic freedom to try some things. She’ll give you suggestions, she’s very captivated by your performance.

Not only does she critique, she also helps you to grow as an actress. This is actually my first time being directed by her on the main stage. I’ve been here since 2006. Twelve years later in 2018… you know? I really think that it was worth it. I’ve worked with her in all different kinds of capacities through those years.

But this is the most special because this is something that she is very, very passionate about. Because she’s had the relationship with August Wilson that she’s had. Being able to be in the room with him, being able to be one of the first African American females to complete the 10-play cycle. That to me, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Roenia: The best advice she’s given me is listen to the lines. The lines will tell you what to do.

Theresa: What is the best advice that your father has given you, as far as stage performance?

Roenia: He’s always encouraged my brother and I to where you get up there, you show out. You kill it!

Roenia: You know, that’s something…. my daddy is naturally charismatic. In his cooking, in his preaching, in his teaching, in his nurturing of the family. Even when he does a funeral, it’s always excellent. He’s just been an excellent example. He always tells us, if you’re gonna do it, do it. Go full out.

Roenia: I would have to say S. Epatha Merkerson in Lackawanna Blues. That scene where she says, “Baby, we’re gonna dance” where she rescues the lady from her husband. I have never had a catharsis like that in my life from an actress. It’s really unique because she’s actually the voice for the Ensemble Theatre’s welcome for this season.

Roenia: I think the play is so well written that it speaks life to people. It does not just touch African Americans, it touches people from all different walks of life because they can relate to the different stories that take place in the show. This is a show that I think, the young, the old, different races, people that live an alternative lifestyle, I think they all should come and see it because once you leave the theatre, you will be changed.

Roenia: Definitely, you will be changed because it allows you to see what women and men went through because of their choice.

Roenia: I want them to see a day in the life of a black man. Not a black woman, but a black man. Because sometimes I feel like African-American men are misunderstood. In this play, he explains why he does what he does.

Roenia: It’s going to be a roller coaster ride, honey. If you thought that Astroworld was something, you need to come down to 3535 Main Street to the Ensemble Theatre because we are going to put you on this roller coaster. And we don’t even want you to have on seatbelts. We want you to feel every jolt, every twist, every turn because once the ride stops, you will definitely, definitely be changed.

Anthony August is humbled to be making his debut at the Ensemble Theatre. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Anthony has been on a mission to leave his mark on the world. Some of his credits include Dutchman, A Raisin in the Sun, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and This is Modern Art (The Landing Theatre Company). Recently, Mr. August was named one of the “Seven Young Actors to Watch” by the Houston Press. Anthony will be earning his B A. in Theatre from Texas Southern University.

Anthony: This is actually my second August Wilson play. My first here at the Ensemble Theatre because this is my debut. I’ve done Fences at the Pearland Theatre where I played Cory, the son.

Anthony: The director Miss Eileen J. Morris, she brought in a guy who is an actual stutterer. So, I got to listen to him and observe his mannerisms in which how he tries to control the way he speaks. I watched 30-minute documentaries and videos on stutterers. And I just kinda pull from my own experience and people in my life that have stuttering problems. It’s just an accumulation of different things.

Anthony: The mysticism that he has within the show. He always has this element of some mythical or god-like presence that happens. It’s very subtle but it always come full circle at the end of the show.

Theresa: How is this play different from the first August Wilson play that you performed?

Anthony: For one, the time period. The other play FENCES was n the ‘50s so there’s a 30-year gap.

Anthony: I love it! The director has their vision and just to be able to create within the realm of their vision. At the end of the day, just to be able to create and bring somet6hing to the table. Just to have that collaborative effort is wonderful. The collaboration, not only with her, but also because it’s August Wilson to perform your own character and collaborate with the different people within the show.

Anthony: Oh yes (laughs). It’s not a shot at Pearland because they had a set and everything was wonderful there but it’s a bigger platform.

Anthony: You know, I thought about this question a long time. The real actor / rapper named Tupac Shakur.

Anthony: His lyrics, his life, the good and the bad. His trial by error. Granted, what separates me from Tupac, maybe is a couple of paychecks. His people come from the disruptive Black Panther party in which his mom was heavily involved. My mom struggled from paycheck to paycheck. My mom struggled in her own struggle and it kinda prepared me. She picked me up one day and said, “I want you to be able to do something that in twenty years from now, you’ll be able to say that you are happy to be doing what you’re doing.”

Every day that I wake up, I thank God that I’m able and healthy to be doing what I’m doing. I always say, “Do what you love and love what you dol.”

Anthony: I was 4 years old. Actually, my mom, she was in Vegas when it happened. I was with my grandma. To be able to have him immortalized in pictures, to be able to study him. He has movies and I can study his acting.

Anthony: No, no, no. I’m my own man, I can always be me. But I look at the lessons that he laid out and the flame he tried to spark and create my own type of change. But I’m my own man, I don’t want to be him.

Anthony: I don’t consider myself a thug. He had his own definition of how he wants to live. I’m my own man. You know, my people were Black Panthers in my dad’s side of the family. My grandfather is Allen P. August Sr. My dad is Allen August Jr. My family has a rich history of our own.

Anthony: Just a sense of what it was like to be black. A black artist in the 20s. Just to see that even though you make this great music, that we’re still being pimped. Back then in the 20s and even still in 2018 black artists no matter what medium that you’re performing, you still get pimped. That’s why you got a lot of artists go independent. To see how much the independent scene is working better than being backed by a label.

Anthony: It’s August Wilson! It’s black Shakespeare. If you’ve seen any of his work or if you’ve read any of his work, you know what you’re gonna get. You know? It’s a great story. You’re gonna laugh, you’re gonna cry, you’re gonna question things. I mean, at the end of the day, that is what Art is supposed to do, no matter who’s the playwright.

Ed Muth’s acting credits include Ensemble Theatre: (actor) A Soldier’s Story, (director) Short Eyes, Once on this Island, The Birds. Main Street Theatre: (actor) Enemies, (director) Androcles and the Lion, The Drums of Sweetwater. Mr. Muth has an Associate in Arts Degree from Philadelphia Community College; a Bachelors of Science from Temple University and a Masters in Fine Arts from Northern Illinois University. He has worked with the Ensemble Theatre for the past 25 years and is currently a professor of Theatre Arts at Houston Community College.

Ed: I’ve been doing this quite a while, I’m also a Theatre professor at Houston Community College. I’ve been here since 1978. I just love Houston and I fell into this Acting stuff at the local theatres. And I’ve worked at the Ensemble since about 1980 with George Hawkins originally.

Ed: It was an extraordinary pleasure. He was so motivated, so talented, so clever, so smart, so sensitive, so honest and real. He gave me a great introduction to the Ensemble and to the world of acting here in Houston.

Ed: I believe so, yes, way back then. But this is the second August Wilson play I’ve been in. We did a play called Fences at the college where I work at. But this is the first August Wilson play I’ve been in here at the Ensemble.

Ed: My part is Irvin and Irvin is a record producer. He produces records in Chicago in the late 1920s, 1927. He’s a slick kinda guy and he knows how to make money in a somewhat inappropriate way by using Ma Rainey and her band to do records and then he sells them. I think everybody in the play is out for something for themselves. And Irvin is out to make money, to make a living and in the 1920s things were not as fair as they are today. Mr. Irvin takes advantage of that.

Ed: Yes, I’ve done plays at the Ensemble before as an actor and as a director.

Ed: I guess when I was a little guy, my parents were involved in theatre. But the woman across the street, Mrs. Jackson had a lot of money, was wealthy and she had two daughters and she used to often go to New York. I grew up in Philadelphia. And she took me to see plays when I was little. I had no idea what I was seeing on Broadway, this was back in the 1950s. So, she introduced me to that and one thing led to another and I was in the school play. And then la di da, la di dee, just kinda made things happen.

Ed: Yeah. My parents were very working class. They are working oriented. They thought, you know, you should be a carpenter or a doctor. Not be an actor, that’s silly.

Ed: I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And that’s where I grew up. Then, I went to Temple University. Then, I lived in Chicago for a while. I actually ended up here in the wonderful city of Houston.

Ed: Her quest for excellence is overwhelming. She is tenacious, she is specific with details. She is encouraging in a delightfully pushy way for you to do your best. And even exceed that. And she’s so knowledgeable about August Wilson. I mean, beyond belief. I’ve learned a lot just working on this play about the topic of Mr. Wilson and his ten-cycle play.

Ed: This is an enormous lesson in history. This is a perfect piece of the past to bring us into the present and to realize how far we still have to go.

The other thing that really excited me. There are two or three times when music is played in the play. When that happens, Eileen has directed us and August has written it this way, that’s when the goodness is shared. There are one or two unsympathetic characters in the play. There are one or two flawed characters in the play. But when music is being played and songs are being sung, we certainly all become one. And that was just phenomenal. Although, it’s a tragic piece.

Ed: Oh my God, it’s a heartbreaker. But there are four or five times during the play that music is played and brings everybody together. The magic of music.

Ed: Yes, but even more so in this play. I am just overwhelmed in a wonderful way when that happens.

Ed: Don’t miss this play. It’s a heavy piece but it’s full of soul. It’s full of heart. It’s full of pain. It’s full of joy. It’s like a super salad of theatre, you know, it has all the elements: beautiful set design, lovely costumes.

There’s even some dancing. You know, it’s a perfect combination of all the elements of good theatre. The cast is beyond belief. When I found out I was in the play and found out the other people that are in it, I said, “Oh my God! I better kick it up.”

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is showing from May 10 - June 3, 2018 at the Ensemble Theatre located at 3535 Main Street, Houston Texas 77002 USA. Photo courtesy of The Ensemble Theatre. For more information, click on www.EnsembleHouston.com