New Year. New trends.
I’m jumping on the Women Crush Wednesday wagon to scream about my castmate Heather Alicia Simms.
As you probably know (endless social media posts, sorry not sorry), last night was the season premier of Kings of Napa, a new drama on OWNtv that I am thrilled to be a part of (but you’ve got to wait another episode before my character debuts) but but but LAST night was the big debut of the King family. Lady Simms plays the queen of crowns and aunty extraordinaire. Aunt Yvette has a multi million dollar wig empire and some of the best lines scene for scene. She’s got a presence that you literally want to pull up a chair and lean in. All the way in. That’s how I felt when I met her on set. I just wanted to know more about this light force of a being. I really shouldn’t have been surprised to discover she’s got roots in Jamrock. (We know our own) But what I didn’t recognize at the time was I was very familiar with her work.
Over the past few weeks as the Kings of Napa team has been counting down to the premier, there have been clips, and photos and GIFs circulating. The family feels more familiar than ever but something about Aunt Yvette was poking at the ticklish part of my memory. Was she reminding me of one of my own family members?
And then a bolt of remembrance knocked me over. I jumped up this morning and shuffled through my collection of Playbills and bam….
Ms. Heather Alicia Simms was the matriarch of New York’s finest piece of theatrical work in 2019, Fairview by Jackie Sibblies Drury. The playwright deserves a separate ‘crush’ post. Suffice to say, I have never strived to see a show more than I did that one. And I knew nothing about it other than it was by a Black playwright and it was a ‘revolutionary’ theatrical experience. I lined up on THREE separate occasions to score tickets to the SOLD OUT run at Soho Rep. (Yeah, I’m gonna need a separate post for that story.) All I could do was pray that it would resurrect at a larger theatre. As soon as the move to Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn was announced I secured my tickets. Because it is an experience not to be tampered with by too much advance knowledge I will say it absolutely merits its win of the Pulitzer Prize that year. There are no doubt enough spoilers in the vastness of the internet but for those that have experienced this singular event with the original cast, it was once in a lifetime. (or twice because I went again, I couldn’t help myself) The performances were all stellar and indelible. Imagine how I’ve pinched myself upon discovering Aunt Yvette and Beverly are played by the same person. I’ve shifted from wondering if I’d ever get into the audience to sharing screen time. I now have a single degree separation from Jackie Sibblies Drury. Ain’t life a trip!
I love the shrinking degrees of separation, the fabulous twists and turns of the artist life. I can’t wait to see what’s around the bend. Stay tuned!
0 Comments