July 11, 2025 • 36 mins
Jay Ellis & Naturi Naughton On Duke & Roya, Diversity, Naturi’s Rapping Aspirations, + More
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
What's up? It is way up at Angela. Ye, this
is exciting for me because my girl Notry is here
with me and Lewis y period to get the hyphen
aiding I know that's right, all right, and jay Ellis
is here's good man. First of all, I just want
to start this off by saying, because people are like, oh,
they're here together, what's this about? But you're producing a
play Duke and Roya and jay Ellis. You are starring
(00:25):
your first ever Broadway play off. I call it Broadway whatever,
but like whatever, you on stage, you on that stage,
and you are the star of this production. You're a duke,
and then Roya who does an amazing job too. But
I just want to give your koudous. I went to
the opening night, and I know that acting on stage
(00:46):
is so different than being in a movie, being in
a TV series. It is no second chance while you're
up there.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So no, it's amazing. It's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I mean, you know, I was terrified to do it,
and going into it, so many friends of mine who
had been on stage before, we're like, you're gonna love it.
You're gonna love it, like once you get in it,
like you know, it's it's you know, there's there's moments
where you're you know, you're afraid and you realize like, hey,
nobody's gonna call cut.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
You just gotta keep pushing.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Somebody gonna call if somebody phone go go off, somebody
gonna you know, yell in the middle of the scene,
I'll marry you, Jay.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Like.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Somebody actually do that. I'll marry you. Are you serious? Story?
Speaker 3 (01:27):
There's our last preview before opening, and it's the scene
where roya, oh my god kind of rejects Duke's offer.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, probably not. Yeah, I just realized that I just
gave that away. So whatever. Yeah, there's a marriage proposal
that goes awride.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Let's just say that, And yeah, when we yelled out
I'll marry you Jay, not Duke.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
In real life, this is not the character that Listen, Yeah,
marriage proposals going awry.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Mean crazy, but no you he kills it. And for me,
like you said, I'm a co producer. I was just
excited to see people that I know love and respect,
like I've always loved Jay's work, and so the opportunity
to come in as a co producer and not not
be in it was a little It was a little
nerve wrecking for me because I've never done anything on
(02:15):
this side, on the you know, Broadway off Broadway side,
So I was like, how does this even work? But
me and my husband and our company take to entertainment.
We're spreading our wings and learning how to get into
different mediums. And Jay and Stephanie and Noma and Dari
state all are fantastic. Duke and Roya is like epic.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And there's only four characters in this plant does not
feel like it. It just feels like a whole cast.
I don't know what it is. Yeah, you know how
you go see it and you feel, yeah, it's very full,
Like the storyline is full, and there's so much that
happens that it makes you feel like there's other people present,
like when you see what's going on. But the storyline
of Duke and Roya, it's a love story.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
Yes tell tell them yes, yeah, you.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Know, I always say it.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
It feels to me like it's two people who are
they ultimately fine in themselves in each other right, It's
it's I play this rapper who goes on a USO
tour to Afghanistan in like twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Also a player, you were a player.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
He's definitely outside, but you know, he gets there and
he meets Roya, and he meets this woman who's his interpreter.
And at that time in that country, women and still today,
actually women are not allowed to work, women are not
allowed to have jobs, they're not allowed to have independence.
And so she actually sneaks on and off the base
dressed as a man every single day because that's.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Just part of culturally to get her education, to be
able to get.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Her education, to be able to do these things. And anyway,
they start talking and he starts to realize and she
she presents as a woman on the base like once
she's there, right, But but they start talking and as
she's asking questions about where he's from and he's asking
questions about where she's from, they start to realize that, like,
you know, there's a humanity, like that they there's a
(03:59):
shared human but really they start to find themselves and
their own identity through this kind of journey and this
kind of traumatic incident that that happens in that they're
bonded in a way that you know, I think you
root for it to be bonded forever but you.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Got to that love story.
Speaker 5 (04:16):
It's kind of like even in love Jones, they go
through ups and downs and there may be some years
in between where you know. So I love the Duke
and royal love story because it's not like perfectly wrapped
up in a boat, and even you know, the cultural differences,
the the space that the challenges of being in love
in the middle of war torn Kabul and having an
(04:37):
Afghan all of that is so I think well written
by Charles Randolph.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Shout out to our writer.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
When I tell you just the just everything that you
guys like we're saying to each other. It was so
clever and so well delivered.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Funny too, Charles.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Randol having some funny moments and war in Afghanistan?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
I know, how do they do that so well? Actually?
Speaker 1 (05:01):
And so did you learn a lot, both of you
about Afghanistan and the culture, because I learned a lot
from watching that, which I appreciated it. You're being entertained,
but you're also learning I did.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
I know I did as a woman. I knew some
of these, you know, restrictions obviously just from you know,
watching the news and hearing about what's happened in Afghanistan,
but I didn't know what Basha Poche.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Was.
Speaker 5 (05:27):
And just learning that women almost have to, you know,
sometimes dress up as boys or as men to get
an education, to to even go outside, to be able
to speak or publicly just peruse the town, I was like, wait, what,
like that was something I didn't know.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
And by the way, just real quick, that's like that's
a that is a a That's what's so interesting. And again,
where you find like a shared humanity is like Basha
Posh and having to do that women having to do
that in that country is a version of is a
version of like passing, it's a version of code switching.
It's a version of like which we can all find
(06:06):
a way, we can all find our way into having
to be away in a space because we feel like
or we've been told that's the only way we'll be
taken seriously, Well, we can get an opportunity, or we
can get ahead or whatever. And in this case, in
this in Roya's case, it's obviously a bit of a
more extreme, but like the undercurrent of it is something
that we all face in humanity at different times in
our life.
Speaker 5 (06:26):
And that's what makes the story so universal because even
if it's not Bascha Poch for you. It could be passing,
it could be being mixed, it could be being you know,
different backgrounds like the character and Noma's character, she's Gunni
in British black, you know, all these things, but feeling torn.
So I just love that it's such a universal story.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Man. Noma had a moment I won't give it away
here that yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Always, audience, I walk off stage before that scene happens,
and that is the biggest laugh in that entire it, because.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
I wanted you get lots of laughs that.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
One, because that's a big.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Jay.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
How did this even happen for you? Where you decided
this was something that you wanted to do and this
script in particular.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Yeah, you know, I was here last year doing an
event for my book. I had a book that came
out last year and I was here doing an event
and my theater agent was like, hey, I want you
to She was at the event and she had brought
this director and she's like, I want you to meet somebody.
And it was Warren Adams, who is our director on
this play. And Warren and I like, you know, we
break off for a second and we start talking and
you know, towards the end of the night, he comes
(07:38):
back and he's like, hey, do you you have time
to chat while you're in town. I was like, man,
I'm actually working all day tomorrow and then I leave
straight back to LA But I got I could do
coffee or breakfast in the morning. We meet up that morning.
He asked me, would I have to do a play?
And I was like, yeah, I just haven't read anything
that's like, you know, made that's moved me or made
me feel like I need to get up and you know,
say no to a bunch of other work, you know
what I'm saying, and and carve that timeout. And he
(08:00):
asked if he could send me this play, and I
read it that night on the flight back to l A.
I called him the next Yeah, I called him the
next morning. I'm like, bro, I'm in, I'm in. And
for me again, like there's so many things like a
getting to play a rapper was like a.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Hip because the parts where you are a rapper it
is like a concert, like you're performing and were in
the audience like we're throwing our hands up show.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
And for me it was like writer too.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
He was like, yeah, I wrote the wrap just to
be clear.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yea, he did a phenomenal job.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
And you know, it was this thing of like I
got so many old boys who are artists, you know
what I mean, and like just being in a room with.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Us sometime I'm like, man, that's crazy. You really yes,
how you move? Okay, that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
And so like getting to them bring that to Duke,
you know what I mean, It's been a lot of fun.
And then getting to figure out what his sound was
going to be, like, it was a lot of fun.
That was a really dope thing with romve Is. Like
the words were there because he obviously wrote so many
of the lyrics, but then we would go back and
look over stuff and I'd be like, ah.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
But what about this or what about that? And finding
Duke's you know, he is having this moment.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Where he is a little bit of a like a poppy,
bubble gum kind of a rapper in the beginning version. Yeah,
it's a different version. But then you know what you
see in this play as you see the growth. By
the time you get to that last performance of his
hopefully you've seen a growth and you've seen him become
a completely different artist and understand the power of his
words and the power of the star, that the magnitude
(09:29):
of the star that he's been given.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Because the truth is in the beginning and notary. I
know you can attest to this. Yeah, he goes out
to Afghanistan because it's like a press thing. Oh yeah,
you know, you know how it has He's gotta go here,
you really know, because he cares is because this is
great press.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
Yeah, you know, and it's gonna sell albums. I mean,
we've all been an artist before.
Speaker 6 (09:47):
And for those of you who remember, like twenty years back, yeah,
like I can't, but my gosh, people still to this
day because it's be like no more.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Maybe I'm I'm like, you know, check him out now. No,
but we've done karaoke at show US.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I was just thinking about Angela.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
He's karaoke is lit.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Let me tell you it's my game night and her
karaoke because everybody goes.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
I wound up doing a little Kim verse and that one.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Chris and we recorded an album that night.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
We really did. That was just a random thing.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
But anyway, but no, the part that I think is
interesting is he's going over there without the intention of
finding love or even having a identity moment. You know,
all that happens to him is really unexpected, and we all,
you know, go through the motion sometimes as artists or
as you know, creatives, and you're just like, all right,
I got to show up to this thing, get some fans,
(10:42):
do what I gotta do, maybe sell some some records,
or sell a book or sell whatever it is, or
get people to come see my movie. And then this
moment with Roya happens, which I love, how like playful
they are, like that first scene in the whole which
language well you'll see when you see it, but it's
just so simple and the purity of that. And I
(11:05):
was like, see, that's how love hits you. It bites
you in the ears because you don't know what's going
to happen. You could just be at an event and
then this amazing, unpredictable thing happens and that's what. Yeah,
that's what happened to me at the studio. And then
I was like, wait a minute, and now I got
a ring on my thing. So it just goes to
show you stay open to love. For all those out there.
(11:28):
Duke and Roy will inspire I think inspires your your love.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Also maybe if she would have been with it right
away when it changes, because.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
There's an intellectual thing that happens.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And I think that's the thing that really, you know,
when you talk about a guy who's who has it
all and who has access to it all, and in
most rooms, people are trying to get at him right
and get to him and be near him, and this
is you know, maybe not the first time, but it's
definitely the first time where like it punches him in
the face and he's like, okay, so that doesn't work
(12:02):
for you?
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Then what does?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
And then all of a sudden you see this intellectual
side because he's he is much smarter than the mask
that he wears, right, which I find to be the
case with a lot with a lot a lot of
us though a lot of us.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
When it comes to people feel like they have to
dumb things down in order for it to be palatable.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And he's he's much smarter than the mask he wears.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
And she she that's who she's interested in, and that
interests him when he starts talking to her about poetry
and they start talking about you know, different books or
different authors or art like that is the stuff that
makes him go like, oh, you're different, right, And that's
a really fun, a fun thing to explore. I think
there's always physical attraction obviously, but like to intellect to
(12:46):
be able to like sit down and talk with somebody
for life.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
You really think about thirty forty years, eighty seventy years, whatever,
however long somebody a relationship can happen, Like you want
there to be some intellect there. You want to be
able to know that you can have a conversation.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
Yeah, that's longevity.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
How long did it take for you to get it? Like,
for you to feel comfortable enough to be like, I'm
ready for Opening Night hopefully next week.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
He's like, I'm still getting there. How are you feeling now?
Speaker 1 (13:15):
First play? And I know that's exciting and it felt
great when I watched it, but I don't how are
you feeling?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I feel good, you know what I'm saying. Like there's
days where I'm like, man, I'm tired.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
There's days where I'm like, you know, especially like we
we don't have shows on Sundays, so on Monday, I'm like, man,
I'm gonna forget one of these songs, Like I'm gonna
go out there and fully forget yesterday.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I got on yesterday.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
I had this whole moment where we were talking about
a little timing thing in the play and talking about
speeding it up. And I was like, oh, well, if
y'all speed that up, I'm off stage changing in that moment.
And if you speed it up too much, and if
I mess up, if I forget something, if I take
my pants off, if I kick off my shoe, and
like whatever.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Like I might miss the moment that I'm.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Trying to And I got back and I got back
there last night and pulled my pants off. Literally, I
unbuckled my pants and like pulled my pants down.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
I was like, what am I doing? What am I doing?
Speaker 4 (14:09):
Oh my god, are you serious?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
No joke.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Literally, I was pulling his pants down.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
That's gonna be the headline y'all on stage? Come see
Duking Royal for a lettle show, a peep show.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
You know people will run to.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Is this giving you the bug to maybe want to
be back on stage?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Yeah? What you?
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (14:30):
Of course, I mean I'm still obviously an actor performer.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
You can sing, you can like I want.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
I would love to do a musical. I love theater.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
I've always you know, from my hairspray days. It's been
like fifteen years since I was on Broadway, and this
experience it reignited that spirit. Like watching Jay and Stephanie
nor Like do their thing, and I'm like, oh, like
this the process of even rehearsals, Like watching rehearsals because
(15:00):
I would come to their rehearsals and you know, even
even the notes that I would be able to give.
And Warren Adams, you know, our director, he took the
notes and Charles Randolph, right, they actually heard me. It
makes me realize, like, this is what theater is about.
It's really an ever evolving process. So for me as
an actor, I'm like, that's the stuff I want to do.
Like that's why I did my short film that I directed.
(15:21):
I want to be in the process of making something great.
It doesn't have to start out being great, it doesn't
have to be perfect. It's about the process and the journey.
So as an actor, I was like, ooh, all right, y'all,
come on, Jay, what are we doing next? You know,
call me because we I would love to get back on.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Stage because I feel like you're such a natural entertainer
at thank you, you know, it just feels like it
from your karaoke night, I think you saw.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
But no, outside of that thing, but.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Just in general, just everything that I feel like that
you've done.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
You know, you've got a body of work.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Yeah, she's and it's been consistent for so long. That's
why people are still flashing back.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
No, people are still well.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
First of all, people are now just catching up to
power a season like one and two, people people of
all nationalities. I used to think, you know, maybe I
was only limited by like being a black actress.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
Maybe my show is only reaching.
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Black people, but which it's definitely been a cultural thing,
but it's been people of all. Like I went to Africa,
I've been to Europe and they're like Tasha ba missus
ghosts and I'm like, oh so it's amazing ghost No, literally,
they called me that everywhere. I went to South Africa,
so missus and I was like, okay, I guess this
is me.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Sorry, I don't know why the accent.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
But as a performer, thank you for saying that, because
I think every artist just wants good material, and sometimes
people will be like, well, why aren't you doing this,
why aren't you You know, I may not you may
not see me in everything, But when you do see
me in something, it's gonna be good because we want
to be selective. Like your choice in playing Duke was
very selective. I'm sure you have lots of things you
(16:57):
could have done.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Tom Cruise is ready to shoot another you know what
I'm saying, Like, really, yeah, part three? See, that's great.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I also think it's you know, it's challenging yourself because
I think in doing that, then you go back to
the other thing and you've learned something about yourself and
your and your craft that you can bring into the next.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
Film, even in TV and film, like theater to me
makes you a better actor. I did three years in
Hairspray before I booked Notorious, before any film. I realized
like if I didn't do theater, I wouldn't be as
I think quick on my feet. The things that used
to happen, you know, like even TV shows they change
the script or the set or things happen.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
And you have to roll with it.
Speaker 5 (17:38):
If you don't know how to bounce back, you'll be stuck.
So many actors and you know, it's just unfortunate because
acting it's not the same like it used to be.
I think people took it, Like Denzel said, it's stages
in the actors medium we have to remember, like that's
where you become great. And I think that you just
have to keep exercising those muscles, because even I'm sure
(18:00):
even radio, if you don't exercise the muscle, you could
get lax and you can forget those those core fundamentals
that you learned when you first started.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
I just from a week off. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Yeah, I don't know. She's like, I don't even know.
Y'all a my guinea pigs. So try out on us.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
You know. The other thing, too, is I think like
it is.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
I think of it as like what stand up is
for comedians and what touring is.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
For music artists. Yes, it's our You can come find
us in one place.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
We're gonna be here for eleven, thirteen, sixteen, twenty, however long,
whatever the run is, we're going to be here and
we get to share time and space with you every
single night, and we get to entertain you every single night,
and hopefully the world outside disappears for those two hours
while you're in the theater and you laugh with us,
and you mad at us, and you scream it at us,
and you cry with us, and you go through all
(18:50):
the emotions with us, and if we do our job, well,
you've been entertained and you've learned something and you didn't
even realize it and found empathy.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
And I have seen people who look like us on
the stage. I think there's nothing more powerful than that.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Could you imagine? Could you imagine?
Speaker 3 (19:06):
This play is a black American male, a South African
woman who had to leave because of apartheid to the UK,
a Syrian woman, and an Iranian man.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
That's display like, that's not.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Yeah, that's not that's amazing, right, and they created.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
And then creatively, creatively we were written by a black man,
directed by a South African, a black South African man.
Our lighting designers a black woman, sound designers a black
man are our custom designer is Afghani who had to
leave Afghanistan.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
Costas.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah, it's really dope to be able to do something
like that.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
And the production team.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Woman from Jersey.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Our producers are as, our co producers are amazing, like
like Nay gave us all her energy and then we
also got John Legend in and we got Kerry Washington
and like the three of them as co producers have
meant the world to this show.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Do you feel like it's been getting the attention that
it deserves to get, because I know sometimes it's hard
to break through in this particular space because I don't
feel like a lot of us are going to the
theaters like we need to be. And so what's been
the challenges there and like what can we do?
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Oh my god?
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Because I love solutions like things that you see that works.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
Thank you, Angela. This is why see this is why
I love her.
Speaker 5 (20:32):
No, it's true, it's hard to get people out to the theater,
especially in the summer, like Jay said, because it's just
an off season for the theater world, particularly off brow.
So if you're not a musical it can be challenging
if you don't have like you know, I don't know,
it's not spectical exactly. We're not doing you know anyway.
But the point is it's hard. But I do feel
(20:53):
like we're breaking through. Yeah, and I think that we're
getting you know, reviews, coverage, and some people, you know.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Whether the reviews are good or bad.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
If you don't like it, if you thought we should
focus more in the war than you didn't get the
point of the play. So I'm like, okay, whatever, But
I think that we are piercing through and this the
audiences that are it's the people who go on social
media and post like, oh my gosh, just change my life,
or people who are telling their families to come.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
They're coming in groups. But what you can do?
Speaker 5 (21:20):
I think that you know and that's why we have
a discount code because we know you know people are
on budgets. Please go to Lortel dot org and purchase
tickets with our discount code, which is Radio seventy nine,
which especially for this audience. We want to get people
out to the theater. We need your support. We need
people to talk about it tag at Duke and Roya
(21:41):
on social media because you never know, somebody might see
that tag and be like, oh, I'll go see a
play or a date night with this.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
It's a great date night.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
That's a good date Now. I want to say that's
that's what we should. We should do like a theater.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
I think amazing. I remember being like a lot younger,
like twenty years old, and this guy took me to
go see a play and I were like, that's really dope.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
He took me to I was gonna say how'd you
feel about? Oh good?
Speaker 1 (22:05):
I forget the play wasn't that great, but I think
but it was a nice outing like to be able to.
Speaker 5 (22:12):
You know, and it's not just like, oh, we went
to the It is very thoughtful because you will be
influenced by seeing a play.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Yeah, I think, you know, I think awareness is the
biggest thing, right, I think, you know, to a notorious point.
It's summer, you know, we just had a lot for
you know, people out of town, people are traveling, and
I think awareness is the biggest thing. I think, you know,
it's how do you make sure that people know we're here,
but also like that our audience knows that we're here
and that this is that this play and this space
(22:39):
is for them, right men, This is not we're not
asking them to come to something that we're not going
to see themselves.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Like this is specifically for.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
You and we want you here and we want to
experience this with you. And so I think that it's
it's really about you know, we've had really amazing There's
nothing like standing on stage and having all three hundred
people in that theater standing on their fin clapping and
crying and screaming back at you. And you know what
(23:08):
Notri said is like very true. Like we constantly area
I'm tagged like so much every single night with people
who are sharing it with their friends.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
And you realize that, like, oh, even if we didn't have.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
All the marketing in the world, the fact that, like
the word of mouth, which is what our community ultimately
is and has always been, like, the word of mouth
is what has made this show and what will keep
this show going.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
So and we're there at the Lucill Hotel. You know
we opened was.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
It June two weeks ago?
Speaker 5 (23:36):
Now it's been about two weeks and we'll be there
till August twenty third. But we do need people in
the seats to keep the show going. So definitely go
to Duken roya hashtag, shout us out, get your friends.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
It could be a sponsored right date night for somebody
who's listening to this right now, if you'll be up
in my DM and I'll get your date nickets to go.
I ain't going bay to the popcorn and nothing. I
would do that, all right, I have no.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
Get yourself, eat before and after, get your drinks.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
You need a moment of honesty from you. Did you
think about doing a rap album after this.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Four times, I'm still thinking about it. Every single day.
I will say, yeah, yeah, I'm.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Not gonna die. I seen you up there and I
was like, he really think he's a rapper?
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Did you see the swag?
Speaker 2 (24:28):
You should have seen me in the studio.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
So we actually pre recorded all the songs and I
do them live now.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
But originally we pre recorded them because we.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Were like, oh, if my if my mic were to
ever go out or for any reason, if something would happen,
we would always at least have a track going under it.
And we realized that in the rehearsal process, we realized
that that didn't work.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
So I do them all live now. And in the
studio though, I was like I could do.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
This, yeah, hear yourself like that, I.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Could go back. I could go back and do that
like yeah, and it was. It was dope. It was
really really fun. Uh yeah. I think I've always dreamed to.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Have music involved in my life and in my career
in my career, and I've never done that professionally before,
and so I think for me, this was again it
was a huge reason why I was attracted to this
role because I was like, I'm about to go up
there and show nobody dropping. Everybody who walks in there
is like, wait, he's doing that. That's crazy, Like nobody
expects me.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Well, they don't expect that.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
And this is again the actor choosing things that are unexpected.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
And unique every role that you've played.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
I mean, you're charming, You're all that, and you are
that in Duke, but you also have this edginess but suave.
Like when I first saw him, like rhyme, I I
came up to him and her so I was.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
Like, okay, okay, I said much respect.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
I dapped him up because it's not easy the breath
control the billy like I I know, I was like
playing a rapper I had. I thought I was going
to put out a whole after a little Kim I
swore in my heart. I was like, you know, I'm
gonna just switch it up and show him what I
could do. And then I was like, oh, yeah, no,
I'm going to just lay back and but it is
(26:07):
nice to see you step into the musicality of you.
And it's nice because I didn't know Jay plays piano,
you know, I didn't know that he had any musical
so I think it's refreshing as actors, even amongst our
peers to be like, oh, I know you could do that.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
Surprise them.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Maybe you guys, but John Legend would like do something.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
You know, come on, John, write is a song that
would that would be incredible.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
You could do the hook?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
Yes, I can say the hook, just a quick verse, Kendrick.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Lamar and then and then we just you run it.
We got the summer song.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
What were you going to say?
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Nothing?
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Okay? And so now listen. Now, of course we saw
the bally Belly story that you had. Does does that
make you think about what you eat before you get
on stage?
Speaker 2 (26:53):
I don't eat.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
I can't eat my last meal, my last bill. Yeah,
I need to get out of here actually because.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
My last meal is at He's like, I'm sorry, my
last meal is at like three thirty. Yeah, I don't.
And then I won't eatuntil the next morning because what
I realized is I just it could go left. You
know what I'm saying. I just don't experience. You know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
I just don't want I don't want to end up
in that situation at work, you know, because I can't.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Run off.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Because I'm out the loop.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I went to BALI a few years back. Okay, and
I was going to go.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
It's New Year's It's amazing. Just spent a month there,
she did. It's amazing. It's an absolutely amazing place to
go bounce around, very very affordable. Getting there is expensive.
Getting there is expensive. Once you're there.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
It's crazy for me, crazy crazy affordable. But it was
my idea to promote to propose on New Year's. Oh
but everybody.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
We were in the house with a bunch of friends
and everybody got sick.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
We all got bali belly on.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Basically whatever we ate, whatever we ate, whatever we ate,
whatever we ate on the thirtieth, had all of us
sick on the thirty first, So the entire house was
basicallyte in out the bathroom.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
I don't think it's hot.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
It's hot, it's humid, sticky. It wasn't It wasn't a
good situation.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
I got it.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
So what I've realized is in doing this from a
lightnings standpoint too, just because like when I do get
into those performances, like like I had a burger at
the spot around the corner that was like on aacha
shoutout to Bouvet, but it was like a facacha bun
and a blue cheese burger and it was absolutely amazing.
But it was so heavy that when I went into
the show that night, I felt super sluggish, and I
(28:42):
was like, oh, I can't make this mistake.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
So I just realized that, like, oh, I have to be.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Very vigilant about what I eat and when I eat.
But I also had a cookie for breakfast every day
last week.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Oh okay, well that's breakfast.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
You know what I'm saying, I'm trying to get well.
I don't want by bed I go, but I get it.
You do have to be of those things.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
I'm work a lot of liquids. I drink a lot
of liquids, a lot of tea, a lot of water.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
You got to keep your voice and yeah, yeah, that's
a lot. That's a lot on your voice every single day.
It is, you know, well listen, I don't I don't
want to stop you from going to eat, but I
did want to make sure you guys had a chance
to come in.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
So many more things that.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
I would love to talk to both of you about,
so hopefully you guys come back as individuals, just because
there's so many projects and I gotta, you know, commend
you I mean, Jay, you've I think you've done a
great job with having like a variety of different roles
that people would not expect to see you in.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
You know, Yeah, try to keep on talking about body work,
you know, stay on him for a moment, like you've
been out here killing it in every role has been unique.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
I think for me, the gift of getting to do
what we do is that we get to challenge ourselves
and go live in someone else's shoes and someone else's
experience with every single project. And so you know, at
any time, I can push myself, anytime I can feel
a little afraid to be honest with you, Yeah, that's
and I can kind of be and I can kind
of be like, oh, but can I do that? Then
(30:03):
I go, oh, I have that means I have to
do it anytime. I go now, I know I would
kill that. Then I go, that means I've already done it,
you know what I'm saying, And like, I have to
find if I'm doing it it's for another reason because
I've already done that work. And I like the idea
of constantly being afraid and challenge myself and having variety
of work because.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
I think it's also like for me, it's also about like.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
My why right, which is like to break the idea
of a monolith of what black men can do right.
And so in every character I play, if they're different,
then I am showing you a different version of of
someone who looks like me.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
In this world, Come.
Speaker 5 (30:34):
On, multi dimensional black man in here, y'all better get educated.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
This man is too smart?
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Is not? And last we heard, you gotten slapped twice
As Lawrence, I be.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Dodging these New York City streets. You know who's real hot?
These New York is hot. I got slapped twice. I
got slapped at JFK once.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
Are you serious?
Speaker 3 (30:56):
And then what's crazy is I got slapped a year
after the show was over.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
It's all I feel.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Like you redeemed yourself kind of people.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Still And also, what do you mean redeemed himself? She's
the one who Angela, don't do this.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
She's on a couch. I just want to say, you
were like, but he did make I mean he did turn.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
It around, turned it around, because she turned around.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
She turned around, She turned around all the way around.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
You know what I'm saying, Because it's unattractive for somebody
that I'm working throughing all this, I come home, you
on a couch. That is you know what I'm saying,
You're not even trying. That is not appealing. And so
it ain't even about necessarily what you have. It's about
like ambition, Like I don't want to come home and
you just on a couch and I done worked you
know all day?
Speaker 4 (31:41):
Right, Yes, that's true.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
So the redeeming yourself is like, yes, I don't mean
that in a negative way. I just mean I deserve
to get.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
Slam yelling at me to I mean they do the same.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
But but you know what I say, here's what I
here's my thing to that. If you don't have a response,
then I didn't do my job or the material wasn't
what I.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Should have been doing.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Whether you hate it or whether you love it, I'd
rather you be fully polar opposites.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Can you either hate it or you love it. I'm
good with either of those. If you down the middle,
you can leave my job.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Maybe that's what and even for you behind the scenes,
also because I always listen. You know how I feel
you belong always in front of that camera. But I
love to see the moves that you're making behind the scenes.
But it also shows me how the way that you
and your husband two work together to do things. I
love that too, because y'all genuinely like each other too.
I just love each other. You can love each other.
I like each other, but you don't like each other.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
Well, we actually enjoy each other's company. Like you said,
like each other. We do date nights every Friday. Sometimes
people see us out like y'all really do stick to
every Friday night, and we try to you know, have
fun while working obviously, you know, producing projects, doing the
movie I did three three three, Duke and Roy, producing
that different things, that color book. We're we're trying to build,
(32:55):
you know, take to entertainment and at the same time
we're building our legacy. So even as we're family building,
we have a two year old. We got my my
daughter here Hazer they hide to the people, and.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
Zuri turns eight.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
So we have a two year old and eight year old,
and it's just also about Okay, we build the business,
but we got to take care of family and home.
So I think our friendship is what keeps us grounded.
And I love my husband for allowing me to be
different versions of myself, like, yes, he met me.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
I was on power.
Speaker 5 (33:28):
I mean, you know, I was at the height of
like the power world. But I think he always allowed me.
I would be like, I want to direct something, and
he would always affirm that. Or I'll be like, what
if we did this, Like I'm always the person that
has ideas, and he'd be like, just do it, and
I'd be like he's the executor. But I'd be like,
but how, and then he'd be like, just do it,
Like this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna call
(33:48):
this person, We're gonna use your resources. And I never
realized how many resources I had. You know, in this business,
we often are we don't ask, We don't ask.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
I don't want to do about I don't like to
ask anybody for anything.
Speaker 5 (34:02):
Really, girl, you can't ask me for anything anytime seriously, Like.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
I was like, well, it depends on how much because
I'm in between jobs right now.
Speaker 5 (34:12):
But it is true, though, we have to be willing,
like as actors, as people in this business, we don't
know how to ask for help. And if we could
do more of that, we would collaboratively, collaboratively be bigger
and more successful. I think the more we come together,
the more success we can have.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
All right, And I got a new restaurant for you
guys to try for date night, because you know I'm always.
Speaker 4 (34:32):
Oh I feel like you did so Yeah is a
Caribbean Yeah? Oh yeah, tell me too, Yeah, come through.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
I'm the restaurant person.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
We should all haven't found a Caribbean spot here yet.
Speaker 4 (34:43):
Oh what come to? I keep trying to get to
invite you to Brooklyn.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
And right to Jasmine's Caribbean in the city, or that
there Lavender room in Brooklyn. That's my mister. Okay, period,
we gotta go.
Speaker 4 (34:58):
We'll bring Jay, we gotta we gotta get you outside.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
The Simpson by the question, the street, from the back lades.
We got you. We're gonna make you go everywhere the
Simpson Oh.
Speaker 4 (35:07):
Yeah Simpsons, you've been there, right, Okay.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
I over got it. We got a list for you.
Speaker 4 (35:12):
Yes, she's good with the food.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
All right, Well, listen you guys, Thank you so much.
Duke and Royo again, how can people get tickets? Besides
who's gonna DM me? And I'm gonna give away too,
that's it. But there's a code right for people to
get discounts.
Speaker 5 (35:23):
Yes, there is a code. First off, go to Lord
Tel that's l O R T E l dot org
and put in how many tickets you want, but use
our discount code, which is Radio seventy nine. Just story
Radio seventy.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
Nine, and you'll get a discount.
Speaker 5 (35:38):
You can get seventy nine dollars tickets, and you can
actually get even a better discount depending on what seats
because they start from like fifty.
Speaker 4 (35:45):
Dollars and up.
Speaker 5 (35:46):
All the seats are good too, and they're all I
was gonna say. You can sit it's mezzanine, you can
sit in an orchestra. There's no bad seats. So whatever
seat you get, come on through. Support us and make
sure you shout us out after the show.
Speaker 4 (35:58):
At Duke and roya Caps Radio.
Speaker 5 (36:02):
All Caps Radio seventy nine, r A d I oh,
all Caps seventy nine.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
Come check us out that right.
Speaker 5 (36:08):
Well, thank you for having us and just this experience
helps us in so many ways, and I appreciate you
for coming to Opening Night but also taking a step
further by bringing us.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Yeah, no, absolutely, it was amazing. So I'm excited for
Late Night. Whoever's going on a date night on Angela
alone too.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
By the way we want you to.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
We walk was like we want so bring your too, girls,
bring your whole relationship.
Speaker 4 (36:44):
Child.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
Ask me, I've been listening to your asses, and I'm
like these people crazy, Like I'm never leaving my man,
I'll never be out on the I don't want to
be single.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Put me back outside, all right,
What's up? It is way up at Angela. Ye, this
is exciting for me because my girl Notry is here
with me and Lewis y period to get the hyphen
aiding I know that's right, all right, and jay Ellis
is here's good man. First of all, I just want
to start this off by saying, because people are like, oh,
they're here together, what's this about? But you're producing a
play Duke and Roya and jay Ellis. You are starring
(00:25):
your first ever Broadway play off. I call it Broadway whatever,
but like whatever, you on stage, you on that stage,
and you are the star of this production. You're a duke,
and then Roya who does an amazing job too. But
I just want to give your koudous. I went to
the opening night, and I know that acting on stage
(00:46):
is so different than being in a movie, being in
a TV series. It is no second chance while you're
up there.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So no, it's amazing. It's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I mean, you know, I was terrified to do it,
and going into it, so many friends of mine who
had been on stage before, we're like, you're gonna love it.
You're gonna love it, like once you get in it,
like you know, it's it's you know, there's there's moments
where you're you know, you're afraid and you realize like, hey,
nobody's gonna call cut.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
You just gotta keep pushing.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Somebody gonna call if somebody phone go go off, somebody
gonna you know, yell in the middle of the scene,
I'll marry you, Jay.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Like.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Somebody actually do that. I'll marry you. Are you serious? Story?
Speaker 3 (01:27):
There's our last preview before opening, and it's the scene
where roya, oh my god kind of rejects Duke's offer.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, probably not. Yeah, I just realized that I just
gave that away. So whatever. Yeah, there's a marriage proposal
that goes awride.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Let's just say that, And yeah, when we yelled out
I'll marry you Jay, not Duke.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
In real life, this is not the character that Listen, Yeah,
marriage proposals going awry.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Mean crazy, but no you he kills it. And for me,
like you said, I'm a co producer. I was just
excited to see people that I know love and respect,
like I've always loved Jay's work, and so the opportunity
to come in as a co producer and not not
be in it was a little It was a little
nerve wrecking for me because I've never done anything on
(02:15):
this side, on the you know, Broadway off Broadway side,
So I was like, how does this even work? But
me and my husband and our company take to entertainment.
We're spreading our wings and learning how to get into
different mediums. And Jay and Stephanie and Noma and Dari
state all are fantastic. Duke and Roya is like epic.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And there's only four characters in this plant does not
feel like it. It just feels like a whole cast.
I don't know what it is. Yeah, you know how
you go see it and you feel, yeah, it's very full,
Like the storyline is full, and there's so much that
happens that it makes you feel like there's other people present,
like when you see what's going on. But the storyline
of Duke and Roya, it's a love story.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
Yes tell tell them yes, yeah, you.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Know, I always say it.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
It feels to me like it's two people who are
they ultimately fine in themselves in each other right, It's
it's I play this rapper who goes on a USO
tour to Afghanistan in like twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Also a player, you were a player.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
He's definitely outside, but you know, he gets there and
he meets Roya, and he meets this woman who's his interpreter.
And at that time in that country, women and still today,
actually women are not allowed to work, women are not
allowed to have jobs, they're not allowed to have independence.
And so she actually sneaks on and off the base
dressed as a man every single day because that's.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Just part of culturally to get her education, to be
able to get.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Her education, to be able to do these things. And anyway,
they start talking and he starts to realize and she
she presents as a woman on the base like once
she's there, right, But but they start talking and as
she's asking questions about where he's from and he's asking
questions about where she's from, they start to realize that, like,
you know, there's a humanity, like that they there's a
(03:59):
shared human but really they start to find themselves and
their own identity through this kind of journey and this
kind of traumatic incident that that happens in that they're
bonded in a way that you know, I think you
root for it to be bonded forever but you.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Got to that love story.
Speaker 5 (04:16):
It's kind of like even in love Jones, they go
through ups and downs and there may be some years
in between where you know. So I love the Duke
and royal love story because it's not like perfectly wrapped
up in a boat, and even you know, the cultural differences,
the the space that the challenges of being in love
in the middle of war torn Kabul and having an
(04:37):
Afghan all of that is so I think well written
by Charles Randolph.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Shout out to our writer.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
When I tell you just the just everything that you
guys like we're saying to each other. It was so
clever and so well delivered.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Funny too, Charles.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Randol having some funny moments and war in Afghanistan?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
I know, how do they do that so well? Actually?
Speaker 1 (05:01):
And so did you learn a lot, both of you
about Afghanistan and the culture, because I learned a lot
from watching that, which I appreciated it. You're being entertained,
but you're also learning I did.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
I know I did as a woman. I knew some
of these, you know, restrictions obviously just from you know,
watching the news and hearing about what's happened in Afghanistan,
but I didn't know what Basha Poche.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Was.
Speaker 5 (05:27):
And just learning that women almost have to, you know,
sometimes dress up as boys or as men to get
an education, to to even go outside, to be able
to speak or publicly just peruse the town, I was like, wait, what,
like that was something I didn't know.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
And by the way, just real quick, that's like that's
a that is a a That's what's so interesting. And again,
where you find like a shared humanity is like Basha
Posh and having to do that women having to do
that in that country is a version of is a
version of like passing, it's a version of code switching.
It's a version of like which we can all find
(06:06):
a way, we can all find our way into having
to be away in a space because we feel like
or we've been told that's the only way we'll be
taken seriously, Well, we can get an opportunity, or we
can get ahead or whatever. And in this case, in
this in Roya's case, it's obviously a bit of a
more extreme, but like the undercurrent of it is something
that we all face in humanity at different times in
our life.
Speaker 5 (06:26):
And that's what makes the story so universal because even
if it's not Bascha Poch for you. It could be passing,
it could be being mixed, it could be being you know,
different backgrounds like the character and Noma's character, she's Gunni
in British black, you know, all these things, but feeling torn.
So I just love that it's such a universal story.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Man. Noma had a moment I won't give it away
here that yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Always, audience, I walk off stage before that scene happens,
and that is the biggest laugh in that entire it, because.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
I wanted you get lots of laughs that.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
One, because that's a big.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Jay.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
How did this even happen for you? Where you decided
this was something that you wanted to do and this
script in particular.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Yeah, you know, I was here last year doing an
event for my book. I had a book that came
out last year and I was here doing an event
and my theater agent was like, hey, I want you
to She was at the event and she had brought
this director and she's like, I want you to meet somebody.
And it was Warren Adams, who is our director on
this play. And Warren and I like, you know, we
break off for a second and we start talking and
you know, towards the end of the night, he comes
(07:38):
back and he's like, hey, do you you have time
to chat while you're in town. I was like, man,
I'm actually working all day tomorrow and then I leave
straight back to LA But I got I could do
coffee or breakfast in the morning. We meet up that morning.
He asked me, would I have to do a play?
And I was like, yeah, I just haven't read anything
that's like, you know, made that's moved me or made
me feel like I need to get up and you know,
say no to a bunch of other work, you know
what I'm saying, and and carve that timeout. And he
(08:00):
asked if he could send me this play, and I
read it that night on the flight back to l A.
I called him the next Yeah, I called him the
next morning. I'm like, bro, I'm in, I'm in. And
for me again, like there's so many things like a
getting to play a rapper was like a.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Hip because the parts where you are a rapper it
is like a concert, like you're performing and were in
the audience like we're throwing our hands up show.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
And for me it was like writer too.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
He was like, yeah, I wrote the wrap just to
be clear.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yea, he did a phenomenal job.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
And you know, it was this thing of like I
got so many old boys who are artists, you know
what I mean, and like just being in a room with.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Us sometime I'm like, man, that's crazy. You really yes,
how you move? Okay, that's interesting.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
And so like getting to them bring that to Duke,
you know what I mean, It's been a lot of fun.
And then getting to figure out what his sound was
going to be, like, it was a lot of fun.
That was a really dope thing with romve Is. Like
the words were there because he obviously wrote so many
of the lyrics, but then we would go back and
look over stuff and I'd be like, ah.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
But what about this or what about that? And finding
Duke's you know, he is having this moment.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Where he is a little bit of a like a poppy,
bubble gum kind of a rapper in the beginning version. Yeah,
it's a different version. But then you know what you
see in this play as you see the growth. By
the time you get to that last performance of his
hopefully you've seen a growth and you've seen him become
a completely different artist and understand the power of his
words and the power of the star, that the magnitude
(09:29):
of the star that he's been given.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Because the truth is in the beginning and notary. I
know you can attest to this. Yeah, he goes out
to Afghanistan because it's like a press thing. Oh yeah,
you know, you know how it has He's gotta go here,
you really know, because he cares is because this is
great press.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
Yeah, you know, and it's gonna sell albums. I mean,
we've all been an artist before.
Speaker 6 (09:47):
And for those of you who remember, like twenty years back, yeah,
like I can't, but my gosh, people still to this
day because it's be like no more.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Maybe I'm I'm like, you know, check him out now. No,
but we've done karaoke at show US.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
I was just thinking about Angela.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
He's karaoke is lit.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Let me tell you it's my game night and her
karaoke because everybody goes.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
I wound up doing a little Kim verse and that one.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Chris and we recorded an album that night.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
We really did. That was just a random thing.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
But anyway, but no, the part that I think is
interesting is he's going over there without the intention of
finding love or even having a identity moment. You know,
all that happens to him is really unexpected, and we all,
you know, go through the motion sometimes as artists or
as you know, creatives, and you're just like, all right,
I got to show up to this thing, get some fans,
(10:42):
do what I gotta do, maybe sell some some records,
or sell a book or sell whatever it is, or
get people to come see my movie. And then this
moment with Roya happens, which I love, how like playful
they are, like that first scene in the whole which
language well you'll see when you see it, but it's
just so simple and the purity of that. And I
(11:05):
was like, see, that's how love hits you. It bites
you in the ears because you don't know what's going
to happen. You could just be at an event and
then this amazing, unpredictable thing happens and that's what. Yeah,
that's what happened to me at the studio. And then
I was like, wait a minute, and now I got
a ring on my thing. So it just goes to
show you stay open to love. For all those out there.
(11:28):
Duke and Roy will inspire I think inspires your your love.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Also maybe if she would have been with it right
away when it changes, because.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
There's an intellectual thing that happens.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And I think that's the thing that really, you know,
when you talk about a guy who's who has it
all and who has access to it all, and in
most rooms, people are trying to get at him right
and get to him and be near him, and this
is you know, maybe not the first time, but it's
definitely the first time where like it punches him in
the face and he's like, okay, so that doesn't work
(12:02):
for you?
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Then what does?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
And then all of a sudden you see this intellectual
side because he's he is much smarter than the mask
that he wears, right, which I find to be the
case with a lot with a lot a lot of
us though a lot of us.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
When it comes to people feel like they have to
dumb things down in order for it to be palatable.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
And he's he's much smarter than the mask he wears.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
And she she that's who she's interested in, and that
interests him when he starts talking to her about poetry
and they start talking about you know, different books or
different authors or art like that is the stuff that
makes him go like, oh, you're different, right, And that's
a really fun, a fun thing to explore. I think
there's always physical attraction obviously, but like to intellect to
(12:46):
be able to like sit down and talk with somebody
for life.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
You really think about thirty forty years, eighty seventy years, whatever,
however long somebody a relationship can happen, Like you want
there to be some intellect there. You want to be
able to know that you can have a conversation.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
Yeah, that's longevity.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
How long did it take for you to get it? Like,
for you to feel comfortable enough to be like, I'm
ready for Opening Night hopefully next week.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
He's like, I'm still getting there. How are you feeling now?
Speaker 1 (13:15):
First play? And I know that's exciting and it felt
great when I watched it, but I don't how are
you feeling?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I feel good, you know what I'm saying. Like there's
days where I'm like, man, I'm tired.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
There's days where I'm like, you know, especially like we
we don't have shows on Sundays, so on Monday, I'm like, man,
I'm gonna forget one of these songs, Like I'm gonna
go out there and fully forget yesterday.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I got on yesterday.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
I had this whole moment where we were talking about
a little timing thing in the play and talking about
speeding it up. And I was like, oh, well, if
y'all speed that up, I'm off stage changing in that moment.
And if you speed it up too much, and if
I mess up, if I forget something, if I take
my pants off, if I kick off my shoe, and
like whatever.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Like I might miss the moment that I'm.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Trying to And I got back and I got back
there last night and pulled my pants off. Literally, I
unbuckled my pants and like pulled my pants down.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
I was like, what am I doing? What am I doing?
Speaker 4 (14:09):
Oh my god, are you serious?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
No joke.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Literally, I was pulling his pants down.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
That's gonna be the headline y'all on stage? Come see
Duking Royal for a lettle show, a peep show.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
You know people will run to.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Is this giving you the bug to maybe want to
be back on stage?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Yeah? What you?
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (14:30):
Of course, I mean I'm still obviously an actor performer.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
You can sing, you can like I want.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
I would love to do a musical. I love theater.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
I've always you know, from my hairspray days. It's been
like fifteen years since I was on Broadway, and this
experience it reignited that spirit. Like watching Jay and Stephanie
nor Like do their thing, and I'm like, oh, like
this the process of even rehearsals, Like watching rehearsals because
(15:00):
I would come to their rehearsals and you know, even
even the notes that I would be able to give.
And Warren Adams, you know, our director, he took the
notes and Charles Randolph, right, they actually heard me. It
makes me realize, like, this is what theater is about.
It's really an ever evolving process. So for me as
an actor, I'm like, that's the stuff I want to do.
Like that's why I did my short film that I directed.
(15:21):
I want to be in the process of making something great.
It doesn't have to start out being great, it doesn't
have to be perfect. It's about the process and the journey.
So as an actor, I was like, ooh, all right, y'all,
come on, Jay, what are we doing next? You know,
call me because we I would love to get back on.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Stage because I feel like you're such a natural entertainer
at thank you, you know, it just feels like it
from your karaoke night, I think you saw.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
But no, outside of that thing, but.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
Just in general, just everything that I feel like that
you've done.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
You know, you've got a body of work.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Yeah, she's and it's been consistent for so long. That's
why people are still flashing back.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
No, people are still well.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
First of all, people are now just catching up to
power a season like one and two, people people of
all nationalities. I used to think, you know, maybe I
was only limited by like being a black actress.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
Maybe my show is only reaching.
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Black people, but which it's definitely been a cultural thing,
but it's been people of all. Like I went to Africa,
I've been to Europe and they're like Tasha ba missus
ghosts and I'm like, oh so it's amazing ghost No, literally,
they called me that everywhere. I went to South Africa,
so missus and I was like, okay, I guess this
is me.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Sorry, I don't know why the accent.
Speaker 5 (16:35):
But as a performer, thank you for saying that, because
I think every artist just wants good material, and sometimes
people will be like, well, why aren't you doing this,
why aren't you You know, I may not you may
not see me in everything, But when you do see
me in something, it's gonna be good because we want
to be selective. Like your choice in playing Duke was
very selective. I'm sure you have lots of things you
(16:57):
could have done.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Tom Cruise is ready to shoot another you know what
I'm saying, Like, really, yeah, part three? See, that's great.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
I also think it's you know, it's challenging yourself because
I think in doing that, then you go back to
the other thing and you've learned something about yourself and
your and your craft that you can bring into the next.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
Film, even in TV and film, like theater to me
makes you a better actor. I did three years in
Hairspray before I booked Notorious, before any film. I realized
like if I didn't do theater, I wouldn't be as
I think quick on my feet. The things that used
to happen, you know, like even TV shows they change
the script or the set or things happen.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
And you have to roll with it.
Speaker 5 (17:38):
If you don't know how to bounce back, you'll be stuck.
So many actors and you know, it's just unfortunate because
acting it's not the same like it used to be.
I think people took it, Like Denzel said, it's stages
in the actors medium we have to remember, like that's
where you become great. And I think that you just
have to keep exercising those muscles, because even I'm sure
(18:00):
even radio, if you don't exercise the muscle, you could
get lax and you can forget those those core fundamentals
that you learned when you first started.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
I just from a week off. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Yeah, I don't know. She's like, I don't even know.
Y'all a my guinea pigs. So try out on us.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
You know. The other thing, too, is I think like
it is.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
I think of it as like what stand up is
for comedians and what touring is.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
For music artists. Yes, it's our You can come find
us in one place.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
We're gonna be here for eleven, thirteen, sixteen, twenty, however long,
whatever the run is, we're going to be here and
we get to share time and space with you every
single night, and we get to entertain you every single night,
and hopefully the world outside disappears for those two hours
while you're in the theater and you laugh with us,
and you mad at us, and you scream it at us,
and you cry with us, and you go through all
(18:50):
the emotions with us, and if we do our job, well,
you've been entertained and you've learned something and you didn't
even realize it and found empathy.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
And I have seen people who look like us on
the stage. I think there's nothing more powerful than that.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Could you imagine? Could you imagine?
Speaker 3 (19:06):
This play is a black American male, a South African
woman who had to leave because of apartheid to the UK,
a Syrian woman, and an Iranian man.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
That's display like, that's not.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Yeah, that's not that's amazing, right, and they created.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
And then creatively, creatively we were written by a black man,
directed by a South African, a black South African man.
Our lighting designers a black woman, sound designers a black
man are our custom designer is Afghani who had to
leave Afghanistan.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
Costas.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah, it's really dope to be able to do something
like that.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
And the production team.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Woman from Jersey.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Our producers are as, our co producers are amazing, like
like Nay gave us all her energy and then we
also got John Legend in and we got Kerry Washington
and like the three of them as co producers have
meant the world to this show.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Do you feel like it's been getting the attention that
it deserves to get, because I know sometimes it's hard
to break through in this particular space because I don't
feel like a lot of us are going to the
theaters like we need to be. And so what's been
the challenges there and like what can we do?
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Oh my god?
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Because I love solutions like things that you see that works.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
Thank you, Angela. This is why see this is why
I love her.
Speaker 5 (20:32):
No, it's true, it's hard to get people out to the theater,
especially in the summer, like Jay said, because it's just
an off season for the theater world, particularly off brow.
So if you're not a musical it can be challenging
if you don't have like you know, I don't know,
it's not spectical exactly. We're not doing you know anyway.
But the point is it's hard. But I do feel
(20:53):
like we're breaking through. Yeah, and I think that we're
getting you know, reviews, coverage, and some people, you know.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Whether the reviews are good or bad.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
If you don't like it, if you thought we should
focus more in the war than you didn't get the
point of the play. So I'm like, okay, whatever, But
I think that we are piercing through and this the
audiences that are it's the people who go on social
media and post like, oh my gosh, just change my life,
or people who are telling their families to come.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
They're coming in groups. But what you can do?
Speaker 5 (21:20):
I think that you know and that's why we have
a discount code because we know you know people are
on budgets. Please go to Lortel dot org and purchase
tickets with our discount code, which is Radio seventy nine,
which especially for this audience. We want to get people
out to the theater. We need your support. We need
people to talk about it tag at Duke and Roya
(21:41):
on social media because you never know, somebody might see
that tag and be like, oh, I'll go see a
play or a date night with this.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
It's a great date night.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
That's a good date Now. I want to say that's
that's what we should. We should do like a theater.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
I think amazing. I remember being like a lot younger,
like twenty years old, and this guy took me to
go see a play and I were like, that's really dope.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
He took me to I was gonna say how'd you
feel about? Oh good?
Speaker 1 (22:05):
I forget the play wasn't that great, but I think
but it was a nice outing like to be able to.
Speaker 5 (22:12):
You know, and it's not just like, oh, we went
to the It is very thoughtful because you will be
influenced by seeing a play.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Yeah, I think, you know, I think awareness is the
biggest thing, right, I think, you know, to a notorious point.
It's summer, you know, we just had a lot for
you know, people out of town, people are traveling, and
I think awareness is the biggest thing. I think, you know,
it's how do you make sure that people know we're here,
but also like that our audience knows that we're here
and that this is that this play and this space
(22:39):
is for them, right men, This is not we're not
asking them to come to something that we're not going
to see themselves.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Like this is specifically for.
Speaker 3 (22:47):
You and we want you here and we want to
experience this with you. And so I think that it's
it's really about you know, we've had really amazing There's
nothing like standing on stage and having all three hundred
people in that theater standing on their fin clapping and
crying and screaming back at you. And you know what
(23:08):
Notri said is like very true. Like we constantly area
I'm tagged like so much every single night with people
who are sharing it with their friends.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
And you realize that, like, oh, even if we didn't have.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
All the marketing in the world, the fact that, like
the word of mouth, which is what our community ultimately
is and has always been, like, the word of mouth
is what has made this show and what will keep
this show going.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
So and we're there at the Lucill Hotel. You know
we opened was.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
It June two weeks ago?
Speaker 5 (23:36):
Now it's been about two weeks and we'll be there
till August twenty third. But we do need people in
the seats to keep the show going. So definitely go
to Duken roya hashtag, shout us out, get your friends.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
It could be a sponsored right date night for somebody
who's listening to this right now, if you'll be up
in my DM and I'll get your date nickets to go.
I ain't going bay to the popcorn and nothing. I
would do that, all right, I have no.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
Get yourself, eat before and after, get your drinks.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
You need a moment of honesty from you. Did you
think about doing a rap album after this.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Four times, I'm still thinking about it. Every single day.
I will say, yeah, yeah, I'm.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Not gonna die. I seen you up there and I
was like, he really think he's a rapper?
Speaker 4 (24:24):
Did you see the swag?
Speaker 2 (24:28):
You should have seen me in the studio.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
So we actually pre recorded all the songs and I
do them live now.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
But originally we pre recorded them because we.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Were like, oh, if my if my mic were to
ever go out or for any reason, if something would happen,
we would always at least have a track going under it.
And we realized that in the rehearsal process, we realized
that that didn't work.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
So I do them all live now. And in the
studio though, I was like I could do.
Speaker 4 (24:51):
This, yeah, hear yourself like that, I.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Could go back. I could go back and do that
like yeah, and it was. It was dope. It was
really really fun. Uh yeah. I think I've always dreamed to.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Have music involved in my life and in my career
in my career, and I've never done that professionally before,
and so I think for me, this was again it
was a huge reason why I was attracted to this
role because I was like, I'm about to go up
there and show nobody dropping. Everybody who walks in there
is like, wait, he's doing that. That's crazy, Like nobody
expects me.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Well, they don't expect that.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
And this is again the actor choosing things that are unexpected.
Speaker 4 (25:29):
And unique every role that you've played.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
I mean, you're charming, You're all that, and you are
that in Duke, but you also have this edginess but suave.
Like when I first saw him, like rhyme, I I
came up to him and her so I was.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
Like, okay, okay, I said much respect.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
I dapped him up because it's not easy the breath
control the billy like I I know, I was like
playing a rapper I had. I thought I was going
to put out a whole after a little Kim I
swore in my heart. I was like, you know, I'm
gonna just switch it up and show him what I
could do. And then I was like, oh, yeah, no,
I'm going to just lay back and but it is
(26:07):
nice to see you step into the musicality of you.
And it's nice because I didn't know Jay plays piano,
you know, I didn't know that he had any musical
so I think it's refreshing as actors, even amongst our
peers to be like, oh, I know you could do that.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
Surprise them.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Maybe you guys, but John Legend would like do something.
Speaker 5 (26:26):
You know, come on, John, write is a song that
would that would be incredible.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
You could do the hook?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
Yes, I can say the hook, just a quick verse, Kendrick.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Lamar and then and then we just you run it.
We got the summer song.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
What were you going to say?
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Nothing?
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Okay? And so now listen. Now, of course we saw
the bally Belly story that you had. Does does that
make you think about what you eat before you get
on stage?
Speaker 2 (26:53):
I don't eat.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
I can't eat my last meal, my last bill. Yeah,
I need to get out of here actually because.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
My last meal is at He's like, I'm sorry, my
last meal is at like three thirty. Yeah, I don't.
And then I won't eatuntil the next morning because what
I realized is I just it could go left. You
know what I'm saying. I just don't experience. You know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
I just don't want I don't want to end up
in that situation at work, you know, because I can't.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Run off.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Because I'm out the loop.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I went to BALI a few years back. Okay, and
I was going to go.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
It's New Year's It's amazing. Just spent a month there,
she did. It's amazing. It's an absolutely amazing place to
go bounce around, very very affordable. Getting there is expensive.
Getting there is expensive. Once you're there.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
It's crazy for me, crazy crazy affordable. But it was
my idea to promote to propose on New Year's. Oh
but everybody.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
We were in the house with a bunch of friends
and everybody got sick.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
We all got bali belly on.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
Basically whatever we ate, whatever we ate, whatever we ate,
whatever we ate on the thirtieth, had all of us
sick on the thirty first, So the entire house was
basicallyte in out the bathroom.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
I don't think it's hot.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
It's hot, it's humid, sticky. It wasn't It wasn't a
good situation.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
I got it.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
So what I've realized is in doing this from a
lightnings standpoint too, just because like when I do get
into those performances, like like I had a burger at
the spot around the corner that was like on aacha
shoutout to Bouvet, but it was like a facacha bun
and a blue cheese burger and it was absolutely amazing.
But it was so heavy that when I went into
the show that night, I felt super sluggish, and I
(28:42):
was like, oh, I can't make this mistake.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
So I just realized that, like, oh, I have to be.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Very vigilant about what I eat and when I eat.
But I also had a cookie for breakfast every day
last week.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Oh okay, well that's breakfast.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
You know what I'm saying, I'm trying to get well.
I don't want by bed I go, but I get it.
You do have to be of those things.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
I'm work a lot of liquids. I drink a lot
of liquids, a lot of tea, a lot of water.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
You got to keep your voice and yeah, yeah, that's
a lot. That's a lot on your voice every single day.
It is, you know, well listen, I don't I don't
want to stop you from going to eat, but I
did want to make sure you guys had a chance
to come in.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
So many more things that.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
I would love to talk to both of you about,
so hopefully you guys come back as individuals, just because
there's so many projects and I gotta, you know, commend
you I mean, Jay, you've I think you've done a
great job with having like a variety of different roles
that people would not expect to see you in.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
You know, Yeah, try to keep on talking about body work,
you know, stay on him for a moment, like you've
been out here killing it in every role has been unique.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
I think for me, the gift of getting to do
what we do is that we get to challenge ourselves
and go live in someone else's shoes and someone else's
experience with every single project. And so you know, at
any time, I can push myself, anytime I can feel
a little afraid to be honest with you, Yeah, that's
and I can kind of be and I can kind
of be like, oh, but can I do that? Then
(30:03):
I go, oh, I have that means I have to
do it anytime. I go now, I know I would
kill that. Then I go, that means I've already done it,
you know what I'm saying, And like, I have to
find if I'm doing it it's for another reason because
I've already done that work. And I like the idea
of constantly being afraid and challenge myself and having variety
of work because.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
I think it's also like for me, it's also about like.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
My why right, which is like to break the idea
of a monolith of what black men can do right.
And so in every character I play, if they're different,
then I am showing you a different version of of
someone who looks like me.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
In this world, Come.
Speaker 5 (30:34):
On, multi dimensional black man in here, y'all better get educated.
Speaker 4 (30:40):
This man is too smart?
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Is not? And last we heard, you gotten slapped twice
As Lawrence, I be.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Dodging these New York City streets. You know who's real hot?
These New York is hot. I got slapped twice. I
got slapped at JFK once.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
Are you serious?
Speaker 3 (30:56):
And then what's crazy is I got slapped a year
after the show was over.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
It's all I feel.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Like you redeemed yourself kind of people.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Still And also, what do you mean redeemed himself? She's
the one who Angela, don't do this.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
She's on a couch. I just want to say, you
were like, but he did make I mean he did turn.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
It around, turned it around, because she turned around.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
She turned around, She turned around all the way around.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
You know what I'm saying, Because it's unattractive for somebody
that I'm working throughing all this, I come home, you
on a couch. That is you know what I'm saying,
You're not even trying. That is not appealing. And so
it ain't even about necessarily what you have. It's about
like ambition, Like I don't want to come home and
you just on a couch and I done worked you
know all day?
Speaker 4 (31:41):
Right, Yes, that's true.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
So the redeeming yourself is like, yes, I don't mean
that in a negative way. I just mean I deserve
to get.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
Slam yelling at me to I mean they do the same.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
But but you know what I say, here's what I
here's my thing to that. If you don't have a response,
then I didn't do my job or the material wasn't
what I.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Should have been doing.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Whether you hate it or whether you love it, I'd
rather you be fully polar opposites.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Can you either hate it or you love it. I'm
good with either of those. If you down the middle,
you can leave my job.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Maybe that's what and even for you behind the scenes,
also because I always listen. You know how I feel
you belong always in front of that camera. But I
love to see the moves that you're making behind the scenes.
But it also shows me how the way that you
and your husband two work together to do things. I
love that too, because y'all genuinely like each other too.
I just love each other. You can love each other.
I like each other, but you don't like each other.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
Well, we actually enjoy each other's company. Like you said,
like each other. We do date nights every Friday. Sometimes
people see us out like y'all really do stick to
every Friday night, and we try to you know, have
fun while working obviously, you know, producing projects, doing the
movie I did three three three, Duke and Roy, producing
that different things, that color book. We're we're trying to build,
(32:55):
you know, take to entertainment and at the same time
we're building our legacy. So even as we're family building,
we have a two year old. We got my my
daughter here Hazer they hide to the people, and.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
Zuri turns eight.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
So we have a two year old and eight year old,
and it's just also about Okay, we build the business,
but we got to take care of family and home.
So I think our friendship is what keeps us grounded.
And I love my husband for allowing me to be
different versions of myself, like, yes, he met me.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
I was on power.
Speaker 5 (33:28):
I mean, you know, I was at the height of
like the power world. But I think he always allowed me.
I would be like, I want to direct something, and
he would always affirm that. Or I'll be like, what
if we did this, Like I'm always the person that
has ideas, and he'd be like, just do it, and
I'd be like he's the executor. But I'd be like,
but how, and then he'd be like, just do it,
Like this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna call
(33:48):
this person, We're gonna use your resources. And I never
realized how many resources I had. You know, in this business,
we often are we don't ask, We don't ask.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
I don't want to do about I don't like to
ask anybody for anything.
Speaker 5 (34:02):
Really, girl, you can't ask me for anything anytime seriously, Like.
Speaker 4 (34:07):
I was like, well, it depends on how much because
I'm in between jobs right now.
Speaker 5 (34:12):
But it is true, though, we have to be willing,
like as actors, as people in this business, we don't
know how to ask for help. And if we could
do more of that, we would collaboratively, collaboratively be bigger
and more successful. I think the more we come together,
the more success we can have.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
All right, And I got a new restaurant for you
guys to try for date night, because you know I'm always.
Speaker 4 (34:32):
Oh I feel like you did so Yeah is a
Caribbean Yeah? Oh yeah, tell me too, Yeah, come through.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
I'm the restaurant person.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
We should all haven't found a Caribbean spot here yet.
Speaker 4 (34:43):
Oh what come to? I keep trying to get to
invite you to Brooklyn.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
And right to Jasmine's Caribbean in the city, or that
there Lavender room in Brooklyn. That's my mister. Okay, period,
we gotta go.
Speaker 4 (34:58):
We'll bring Jay, we gotta we gotta get you outside.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
The Simpson by the question, the street, from the back lades.
We got you. We're gonna make you go everywhere the
Simpson Oh.
Speaker 4 (35:07):
Yeah Simpsons, you've been there, right, Okay.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
I over got it. We got a list for you.
Speaker 4 (35:12):
Yes, she's good with the food.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
All right, Well, listen you guys, Thank you so much.
Duke and Royo again, how can people get tickets? Besides
who's gonna DM me? And I'm gonna give away too,
that's it. But there's a code right for people to
get discounts.
Speaker 5 (35:23):
Yes, there is a code. First off, go to Lord
Tel that's l O R T E l dot org
and put in how many tickets you want, but use
our discount code, which is Radio seventy nine. Just story
Radio seventy.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
Nine, and you'll get a discount.
Speaker 5 (35:38):
You can get seventy nine dollars tickets, and you can
actually get even a better discount depending on what seats
because they start from like fifty.
Speaker 4 (35:45):
Dollars and up.
Speaker 5 (35:46):
All the seats are good too, and they're all I
was gonna say. You can sit it's mezzanine, you can
sit in an orchestra. There's no bad seats. So whatever
seat you get, come on through. Support us and make
sure you shout us out after the show.
Speaker 4 (35:58):
At Duke and roya Caps Radio.
Speaker 5 (36:02):
All Caps Radio seventy nine, r A d I oh,
all Caps seventy nine.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
Come check us out that right.
Speaker 5 (36:08):
Well, thank you for having us and just this experience
helps us in so many ways, and I appreciate you
for coming to Opening Night but also taking a step
further by bringing us.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Yeah, no, absolutely, it was amazing. So I'm excited for
Late Night. Whoever's going on a date night on Angela
alone too.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
By the way we want you to.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
We walk was like we want so bring your too, girls,
bring your whole relationship.
Speaker 4 (36:44):
Child.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
Ask me, I've been listening to your asses, and I'm
like these people crazy, Like I'm never leaving my man,
I'll never be out on the I don't want to
be single.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Put me back outside, all right,
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