On Broadway: Kerry Washington Ready for 'Race'

Although she majored in theater when she attended George Washington University more 10 years ago, Kerry Washington has, for the most part, spent her acting career on the big screen with roles in 'Save the Last Dance,' Spike Lee's 'She Hate Me,' 'Ray, 'I Think I Love My Wife,' and 'The Last King of Scotland.'

Well, the New York City native is about to put her degree to use as she makes her Broadway theater debut in playwright David Mamet's newest play, 'Race,' which also stars Emmy Award winner James Spader, David Alan Grier and Richard Thomas.

Though much of the plot has been mysterious to insiders, the New York Times stated that 'Race' follows "three attorneys, two black and one white, who are offered a chance to defend a white man charged with a crime against a black woman." Mamet has said that the "theme is race and the lies we tell each other on the subject."

Black Voices caught up with the Bronx-born beauty. Here's what she had to say about being on Broadyway.

Can you tell us a little bit about your character? I know it's all very hush, hush.

Kerry Washington: Yes, it is very hush, hush, but I play a lawyer. I hear other people saying other stuff, but I've always been told to just say you're a lawyer -- that's it. That's all I'm going to say. I'm a lawyer named Susan. And the play's about race. What else?

So, what did you do to prepare for his role? I know it's your Broadway debut? How is it going from movies to theater?

KW: The preparation is different. It's a different beast. It's a long time since I've done a run this long. I've never done Broadway. But it's been a long time since I've done a run in the theater. I'm thrilled. It's really, really, really a dream come true for me. Growing up in New York, this is what I've always wanted to do more than anything. I'm happy.

How did you get attached to the project?

KW: I've been missing theater a lot and looking for the right project. So I read a few scripts and met with a few people. I hadn't really found the right project for me. And then the opportunity came along to originate a role in a David Mamet play, and it was like, "Duh. Sounds amazing." I read the play, and it sent my brain spinning, and I thought this is incredible. It's so complicated and rich and layered. And this character, I love this character.

How are you preparing for the everyday task of just being on stage?

KW: Working with a voice coach, trying to take good care of myself. Getting a lot of sleep.

You have a cast here, some whom you've worked with before. Does it make it easier to just get involved?

KW: I knew David [Alan Grier]. David did a day for us on 'Little Man,' the Wayans Brothers movie that I did. And it was the most fun day of any day on set. I told him it was the only day when I almost peed in my pants laughing so hard. And then James and I did a six-episode arc on 'Boston LegalThe Last King of Scotlan.' So we've already even played lawyers together before. It's nice to walk into the room with some history.

We've heard black actresses like Nia Long and Sanaa Lathan asking where are "these roles" for us. You're in that golden group of actresses of this generation.

KW: That's a nice word, golden group.

I'm curious. Listening to you talk this role sounds like one any actress would dream of, but what are the implications of you being an African American actress and being in a David Mamet play? What is the significance of all of that?

KW: I don't know, we'll see. I don't know. I mean, for me, it's not really about that. I am an actor, and I love my job. What makes me love my job is being a part of telling stories, and this is a fun one. It's provocative in the way that David Mamet is and it's just one of those things when I just sat down and I thought I have the opportunity to originate a role in a Mamet play. This is the kind of sh*t you tell your kids about. As an actor, this is a dream come true, so I don't know what the implications are other than I love my job and I get to do it and I'm really happy about that.

David Mamet is not African American, but he's writing for the voices of people who very much are or who obviously identify as such. When you were reading the script, do you feel he understood the authenticity and legitimacy of that? Or the necessity for such?

Yes. You know what was clear to me when I read the play is that these are complicated issues that the play deals with: race, gender, socio-economics, age, the generation divide. And what you have is four different characters who have very different perspectives on all of these issues and fully embody all of these different perspectives. Mamet takes these issues and puts them in a prism to kind of pull it out. So you, as an audience member, get to go, "Whoa! Where do I fit in here?" Who do I agree with? Who do I identify with?" It's interesting. I would say that there are certain things that my character says that I completely identify with as a black woman. There are certain things that the other characters, that the black man in the play, say that I identify with. Or that the white man says in the play that I identify with. One of the things I think we need to understand is where we meet and where we don't and how we differ. It's not always in the place we think it is. It kind of spins all of that to get us to ask those questions.

http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,entry&id=266102&pid=266101&uts=1259783630

http://cdn.channel.aol.com/cs_feed_v1_6/csfeedwrapper.swf

Black Stars on Broadway

Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
On Nov. 17, Kerry Washington made her Broadway debut with David Mamet's newest play 'Race' at New York City's Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The acclaimed actress, who wowed mainstream movie audiences in the Academy Award winning 2005 Ray Charles biopic, said she is "thrilled" about this latest career move. The show also stars James Spader, David Alan Grier and Richard Thomas.

Robert J. Saferstein

Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
Fans of the hit ABC medical drama 'Grey's Anatomy' know that Chandra Wilson has a knack for playing tough broads. This summer, the award-winning actress returns to her theater roots with a role in the legendary Broadway musical, 'Chicago.' From June 8 through July 5, the woman known to many as Dr. Miranda Bailey on the Shonda Rhimes-produced series will take on the celebrated role of reigning cellblock diva Matron "Mama" Morton at Broadway's Ambassador Theatre. The Houston native and three time Emmy Award nominated thespian's previous Broadway credits include 'Caroline, or Change,' 'Avenue Q' and 'On the Town.'

Joan Marcus

Black Stars Light Up the Great White Way
Phylicia Rashad, who warmed millions of TV viewers' hearts in the 1980s as Clair Huxtable on the groundbreaking NBC sitcom 'The Cosby Show,' has taken on a role like none other. Making a triumphant return to Broadway this spring, the Tony Award-winning star of plays such as 'A Raisin in the Sun,' 'Gem of the Ocean' and 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,' exposes an emotional depth and acting range that is unparalleled. In the Pulitzer prize-winning play 'August: Osage County,' Rashad portrays Violet Weston, the pill-popping, acid-tongued, no-holds-barred central figure of a dysfunctional clan experiencing the sudden loss of its patriarch.

Robert J. Saferstein/Jeffrey Richards Associates

Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
After years of toiling on TV shows and films, acclaimed actors Ernie Hudson (of 'Oz' fame) and LaTanya Richardson Jackson (previously seen in 'The Fighting Temptations') made their Broadway debuts in the critically acclaimed revival of the August Wilson play 'Joe Turner's Come And Gone,' which opened at the Belasco Theatre on April 16, 2009. The story is set in a Pittsburgh boarding house circa 1911 and features a colorful cast of characters played by Chad L. Coleman, Roger Robinson, Aunjanue Ellis, Andre Holland, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Arliss Howard, Danai Gurira, Michael Cummings and Amari Rose Leigh.

Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
Hollywood heavyweight Cedric The Entertainer joined Tony Award nominee John Leguizamo and Academy Award nominee Hayley Joel Osment in a November 2008 revival of David Mamet's classic play, 'American Buffalo,' which played a short riun at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway. Following three small-time crooks who wax philosophically about society while conspiring to steal a rare and valuable coin from a neighborhood collector, the Oscar Joyner produced production marked the funnyman's debut on The Great White Way.

Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
'American Idol' Season 1 finalist Tamyra Gray blazed a new trail on Broadway when she revamped the look of lead character Mimi, a drug addicted HIV positive spitfire in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical 'Rent.' It wasn't the first time around the track for the former Georgia pageant queen; she previously starred in the Indian inspired outing, 'Bombay Dreams.'

Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
Academy Award winning film veteran Morgan Freeman made a return to The Great White Way in April 2008. The last time the 'Million Dollar Baby' actor appeared on the Broadway stage before: 1988's 'The Gospel at Colonus.' As Frank Elgin, the Memphis native took on a roll traditionally played by a white actor in the Mike Nichols-directed revival.

Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
Hip-hop superstar Sean "Diddy" Combs won rave reviews as Walter Lee Younger in the 2002 revival of the classic play 'A Raisin in the Sun.'

Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
Sexy 'Soul Food' star Boris Kodjoe stepped up his acting game by filling in for Terrence Howard during a break in production of the sell-out, all-black version of Tennessee Williams' play 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.' Though it was only two weeks, the former fashion model turned pin-up hunk received high marks for taking on the lead role as sexually tormented jock, Brick. He held his own alongside Tony Award winning thespians James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad and Anika Noni Rose.

Black Stars Light Up The Great White Way
'Law & Order' powerhouse S. Epatha Merkerson returned to her theater roots with her critically acclaimed turn in 'Come Back, Little Sheba.'

Categories

Contributors

Other BV Blogs