July 30, 2023 • 32 mins
The Bodyguard The Musical featuring Whitney Houston's greatest hits plays Aug 4th-27th at The Anthony Bean Community Theater and will be spectacular! Mr. Bean shares how his passion project comes to life along with how his 50 year journey in art & theater has shaped the New Orleans culture of all ages...also go behind the curtain to find out what it meant for the lead actress to become Rachel Morron, played by Whitney Houston in the original beloved movie.
For tickets go to anthonybeantheater.com or call 504-862-PLAY
For tickets go to anthonybeantheater.com or call 504-862-PLAY
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, this is Up Town Angela. Welcome to the Radio Diva Podcast.
Today we're talking to the director,the icon himself, who now has a
new production of the Bodyguard the Musical, mister Anthony being good morning, morning,
Good morning to you. How areyou miss that's right, that's right,
yes, And we have a brandnew production. And you shared with
(00:21):
me that this is your first productionin seven years for adults adults. Yes,
I've been involved with teens and kids, youth and teens. We've done
what the Lion King did, theWhiz. I've just been involved with children.
And this is my first adult playin seven years. Wow. What
we're excited about it because Whitney Houston, who is an icon, fifteen of
(00:46):
her songs will be performed in thismusical. And mister Bean, why now
the Bodyguard the Musical? Has thissomething that's been in the works for a
minute, and now it was finallyable to happen here in New Orleans.
Actually not, I don't know.I promise you this is the truth.
I'm a very faithful, faith man, very spiritual man. And I was
(01:07):
doing the shows and all, andthen I saw some company was doing The
Bodyguard the Musical and I said,well, we should be doing The Bodyguard
the musical, and I mean tobelieve that was a godsend for me to
do this. It is a popularshow. The music is smashing, she
knocked the beatles off the records,and the number one song in America.
(01:33):
I would always love you, Isaid, we need to do it before
anybody else. That's right, that'sright. So we and not only did
we are we doing it, weblocked out so which means that and no
one in this region can do itbefore. Wow. So Mississippi, Texas
cannot do the Bodyguard until we doit first. And we're gonna bring it
to them as a tour at well, I'm putting it out there in the
(01:55):
universe right now. I told youI'm spiritual man. That's right. We're
talking to Anthony Being of the AnthonyBeing Theater Um, the Community Theater,
and we're getting ready to kick offopening night. The dates are gonna be
August fourth through the twenty seventh.And I want to talk a little bit
more about who's in the play.So, without further ado, our star
(02:20):
of the play Rachel Maron from theoriginal movie. And I'm gonna throw a
d berry under the bus right nowbecause he called her Rockel Moron last week.
But it is Rachel Marin and thatrole is being played by a side
of rone. Good morning, goodmorning, good morning. How do you
feel? Are you ready excited?I feel all of those things. I
(02:42):
feel extremely excited. First off,because this summer just flew by with rehearsals
and you know, just learning allthe songs, learning all of my acting
cues, and just getting everything together. So now that the moment is finally
here, I'm ready to hit thestage. Well, let's talk about you
even getting this role, because itwasn't easy. Mister Bean was not an
(03:05):
easy nut to correct. No,I was not, because I know this
had to be special. I knowwho ever playing Whitney, because people are
gonna remember those songs and remember thewoman, the lady who sung those songs.
So it had to be somebody thatcan just knock it out the ball
park. And we went through quitea few singers in New Orleans, particularly
(03:28):
some of these girls that singing thegospel churches and in them in the morning
time. But Asida came in,it was rough. She came back three
times, Yes, callback, callback, I wasn't really sure. And then
it hit me and said, Okay, it hit me when we were all
in the rehearse at the time,when I know I had to make that
(03:49):
choice. Yeah, and it wasa given Asida should be the character Whitney
play, which is Rachel marriage.Yes, and the body I'm gonna throw
the disclaim around there. Yes,this is a sad Renee who's also my
daughter. But for those who thought, oh, because mister Bean wants to
have Uptown Angela's daughter, and itwas not like that, I did not
know that. No, and Ipromised to God, I told you I'm
(04:12):
gonna spirit your man. So Ikid you not, and God loves the
truth. I did not know thatthis was Uptown And in fact, I
had a very unfavorable idea of youbecause I had you, I had you
mixed up with another Dean. Yougotta tell this story, mister Bean.
Well, first of all, thatwas our first time meeting. That was
the first time when as was inthe running and when she said Uptown Angela
(04:34):
and I kind of like, soyou're the one, and I'm like,
oh Lord, when people said,well, no, no, if you
ren't want to tell a story,and I hope, I hope so,
but my my uh, my nephew'swife died and he well, you know
there was kind of strain in thelast days of her life and uh,
(04:58):
and it was Uptown and Angela thatprevented him from the church. Yeah,
it would and I would assume andthat that was the husband, but you
know it was her family. Stuffget started. It's her family, lady.
Did you share that story with somebodyelse and say, oh, up
Town angel She ain't right. No, I didn't huge, but it was
in the family. And just toprove it, up Town Angela was there.
(05:21):
She said she never had a sisterthat name. And I called my
sister and he said, who wasthe lady that prevented And I'm not gonna
call his name from the church?Said up Down and that's a shame.
I promise you it's the truth.And he was right there. Yes,
I was. I come to findout, and I hope it's not the
(05:42):
other Angela, but it was notup Town. I was so relieved at
that because I had an unfavorable view. I could not because you know,
like mother, like daughter, andit could not because that was cold.
That really was Yeah. But thenthe family paid for the funeral, so
he had didn't didn't have any moneyto do it, so she'd say he's
(06:02):
not entering. Well, thank youfor clearing. My name is ya.
That's a great story. Yes,yes, yes, Anthony Bean the Community
Theater. We're getting ready to kickoffopening night on Friday, August fourth.
The play is going to run weekendsthroughout August um different times and it's a
PM on Fridays when it plays onSaturdays, a Saturday eight pm and Sundays
(06:26):
at three. Yes, Now wealso have a Thursday We're gonna be adding
Thursday from eight o'clock, so allnight performance at eight Sunday matinee at three.
Yes, but definitely something that theydo not want to miss, and
they can get tickets by going tickets. They can call the box office if
you want to order buy phone ata six to play that's eight six two
seven five to nine ELI quote fivezero four of course, or you can
(06:48):
go to the website at www dotAnthony Bean Theater dot com and theaters with
the ears not all r right thefancy way. Yeah, okay, so
www Dot Anthony being Theater dot comand go to the box office and you
can purchase take us. I wantto urge you to get out now on
(07:09):
the purchase because one of the daysand I have to get that date.
I don't know heavy Whitmans sold out. So I want you, guys,
if you want to come and seea wonderful music and if you want to
reminisce about that beautiful single we lost, So Whitney Houston, come on and
support absolutely the Bodyguard, Absolutely musical, the musical and aside of you sing
a few different hits from Whitney,what was your favorite and what was the
(07:30):
moment that you love the most aboutthis play that's coming up. Well,
at first, when I first startedgoing through the rehearsals, All the Man
that I Need was my favorite,and it was just when he got to
that build up and Whitney's just givenher all in that moment. But as
things went on, Run to Youbecame my favorite. Shout out to my
sister like sunshine YEA love that andit's just it's such a powerful moment in
(07:57):
the play. So now run toYou. It's definitely my favorite. And
let me let me just mention thesongs Queen of the Night, Yeah,
so emotional, one moment in time, saving all my love Run to You.
I have nothing. I want todance and the biggest selling song of
(08:18):
all time is what and yes we'reaway hit the one. This is a
little bit of it, so youget a little tag. Yes, look,
we're gonna save it for the playbecause you're not about to put me.
That's one thing we didn't talk aboutwhy I had to keep coming back
to tell that story so real quick, I got the call shout out to
Giselle. She's choreographer, she's thechoreographer for the play, and she reached
(08:43):
out to me via Instagram and shewas like, Hey, we have the
Bodyguard musical with the Anthony Bean Theater. Are you interested because we still don't
have our Rachel Marin And I'm likeokay. And I only had about two
days to prepare. And as youknow, Whitney is like one of the
best vocalist in the whole entire world, so preparing for a Whitney song is
(09:03):
like almost like preparing for like afive k maratherathon. And I'm like,
only have two days to condition myvoice to this. So I instantly shut
down eating like mucus producing foods andproducts. I stopped drinking, I stopped
doing some other things. That wasdamaging too. And I went in and
(09:24):
I called my mom, I talkedto my husband. I'm like, y'all,
I am not vocally ready for this, but something in me felt like
I should show up anyway. Somethingtold me that, you know what,
if it's for you, then everyoneinvolved they'll see the potential and they'll know
that when it's opening night, you'llbe ready. And that's what I did.
But I went there and it wastime to hit the biggest note of
(09:45):
I Will always love you, andit did. It just did not come
out. And I knew it wasn'tgonna come out before that moment. I
want you to know that I've keptme practicing. I'm like, I it's
not gonna come out. And Iwas waiting by the phone to see what
ap and she hit a note thatwas not the note, and mister Me
was like, oh no, it'slike he was counting on me, because
(10:11):
everything up to that point was great. And then he got there and he
called me back. He was like, I'm gonna give you a few days
because she looked alike with yeah,she looked like now the second time she
came, she had this dress andthis hood on. Oh yeah, yeah,
And I said, Oh my god, if she can win it just
for wearing that outfit. She knewwhat she was, I said, but
(10:35):
I got to hear that note againto seal the deal, and she came
better prepared. She hit those notesI would always love you. Everybody know
that song and waiting for that lastbut I do want to plug this in,
like when you get these opportunities.I instantly disciplined myself. It was
(10:56):
like I knew in my spirit thatthere were things that I needed to do
to prepare for that. So that'svery, very important. Like a lot
of people, they just want things, they don't want to put in the
work to actually attain it. ButI hit that bad note, I say,
you know what, I'm gonna comeback stronger. But not only did
I said, I went and didwhat I needed to do to get there.
(11:16):
Yes, she get the homework andmister being something that I noticed because
you know, you've asked me,I've seen, you know, some of
the performances, some of the rehearsals, and you've asked me, you know,
what do you think? And I'mso honest, I'm always gonna tell
you exactly what that is. Butthe one thing, like when I watch
the performances now and the actors now, like it's the perfect cast like you
(11:37):
put together. From Frank who's playedby Jake Wilson. Jake Wilson is the
perfect Frank Farmer, oh my gosh. And even Nikki, you know with
Eliza, you know, Gabby playingNikki and the dynamic that happens there and
what I love about this and Itold this to uside of um, I
(11:58):
saw Wicked the play on Broadway severaltimes. It's one of my favorites.
And what I loved about that playwe get to see a different dynamic.
We get to dig a little deeperinto the dynamic between the battle between Nikki
and Rachel. Absolutely, and Ilove that man. That's right, That's
right, sisters, actors, definitely, But look, I want to see
(12:18):
something. I want to finalize allthis what's coming with the final act of
how she was chosen? And Ihappen to give you problems up town.
Angel. I know you don't wantto say I know your daughters don't want
me to say it. But shecame in and I told her that,
look, she we have a problemwith a love scene. She's uh,
the girl got hang ups. Ineed to release her. She needed to
(12:39):
fall in love with this guy.I need to see it, you know,
sometimes A don'ts. You know,we have this defensive shield up that
would protect us from heartbreaking all ofthat, and I said, I need
to see that to seal the deal. And up town, Angela, you
came and say I got this.I'm gonna work with my daughter. And
I don't know about your experience withheartbreaks, but I've always been a live
(13:01):
She came back, and I haveto owe it to you at least of
the reason why you was chosen,because you were really good in them scenes
and you are the one that helpedit. Well, thank you. So
I want to thank you because youplay if you play a big part in
this too. Yeah, well here'smy thing. You know, I want
to see her win. I wantto see this play when I want to
(13:24):
see you win. And I justfind it. It's so crazy to me
that you've been doing this for fiftyyears and we've just recently crossed paths,
and once I got an understanding forwhat it is that you do for your
vision, for your passion. Thisis everything that you do to touch these
children, um with the acting,and you've had so many success stories um
(13:48):
Buck who just did the right rightthe Katrina babies and the success that he
has and he was one of yourformer students. When the peers that's right,
that's right, absolutely, So youknow, I I absolutely want to
tell you. You know, I'mhere for the long haul. This is
going, but way beyond the bodyguardthe musical. You know, I'm an
advocate for what you do for thiscommunity and so so proud and honor to
(14:13):
be off well, we always weappreciate and I'm saying we because of I
do have a staff, and Ihave kids who who this is their second
home and they don't want to gohome. I noticed that, yeah,
we need a place, and Iprovide that at least a little salt small
segment of the community. We needa place where what they said that that
(14:35):
proverb to say that what is ituh? Something about the Devil's workshop and
idle mind and these kids that oneof the things I have to say,
I even told us to the mayor. One of the things we're as adult
forget is that we forget what it'slike when we were teams. We forget
what it was like when we werechildren and what we need and we need
(15:01):
love, we need attention, Wereally need discipline. But who's going to
discipline the kids? You know you'redoing I'm about to go preaching someone's We
tell the kids don't do this,and they see us doing it. You
know, daddy, where are you? Uh? These boys? These girls?
We need a family unit and thenwe need to get back to that
(15:22):
village thing. Whether absolutely, Andthis is what theater does for these young
kids, and not only make themactors and make them communicate better, but
it actually can use their ability tocommunicate and give them comment problems. Yes,
and it's all problems insecurity, youknow. It builds all that up
and the children love it. Yeah, well I think that's why we have
(15:46):
teams. Yeah, why we havethe kids. And on that note,
you know you you've done so muchto give back to the community. And
when they come there, yes,they feel like they have a safe place
to be. They can be themselves, you know, they can have fun.
And early on in the rehearsals,you know I was coming and I
would bring snacks for everybody, andwe would. You don't just do little
things just to get our mind anymore. You don't do that anymore. Look,
(16:07):
in consistency is an order. I'mdoing what I can to time you
walk to the dumbs and where's thebadge? Well, let listen like like
I said, you know we weyou know what perfect way to segue into
this. We need more support andmore resources. You know, the more
the better. And if someone waslistening now and they wanted to become a
(16:29):
partner, they wanted to you know, be able to donate, how would
they do that? Anthony Bean theaterdot com. You go through that,
go down to the left bottom,you're gonna see donate button. We're also
looking for building a school, abandonedschool. Will send that out into what
the school board. We need aschool because I like I like teachers.
Yes, and and nothing like aschool on Calton Avenue was almost twenty years
(16:51):
there before they turn into a charterschool. They told us to get out
and they turn into a charter school. While we're looking for an abandoned school
so we can claim back up kids. Uh, those kids, majority of
the kids, the black kids thatyou see a NOCA came out in my
program. Oh wow, and thishave been gone off for quite some time.
They know if they auditioned an ABCTkid then't know where they're getting.
(17:12):
Yes, the kids who know thetheater, who knows the stage, and
they're much more advanced than other kids. Yeah, well you don't play,
mister bean. No, I don'tknow. But fifty years in the business,
you can't afford to play. Butyou ain't got your ways long left.
But what I'm saying like, butbut your your your approach and how
(17:33):
the kids respond, how your youknow, your your adult actors and actresses,
how they respond because you you getthe job done, but you have
you have definitely a sense of humor. I wasn't gonna say that, but
they respond to that because they knowI don't play. Yes, yeah,
I get the results and that's thebottom line. That's right. And the
(17:55):
kids are not running the way.If anything, they're signing up for the
program. Yes, so that's athing. Yeah, and that's what how
God blessed me. I know you'resaying, how can you mention God and
talk about cursing about people? Wellwe are, I'm human, But I
get the job done and this iswhat we do. Yes, and it
builds confident for the kids. Andthat's what that's why seven years of working
(18:17):
just with the youth in Neworleans.If I had a choice between working with
youth and adults, don't give methat that that choice, because more than
likely, uh, it would bethe kids to win out because they're like
a sponge, their brain impressionable.Yes, and they want to learn.
Adults you got to deal with hangups and protection defense mechanisms. Yes,
(18:41):
so you got to you know,do more thrown chairs. They're less vulnerable.
Yes, But young people you tellingto be a wicked witch. Now.
They're going right, right, rightright without a moment's second. Like
the kid who did winning the poolthat time. Remember I do I do
remember that? And how often,mister bean, do people just walking off
the streets audition? Because I've beenthere in a few times. People walk
(19:02):
in and I'm like, what's goingon right now? And no phone call,
nothing, They just walk in knowingwho you are and can I can
I say something else too? Theseare black kids we're talking about. They're
urban black kids. And that's abeautiful thing because again and we're finding something
for them to do creatively, andit's something that can stimulate intellectually. Yes,
(19:22):
and they love it and they learnabout August Wilson and Maya Angela,
they learn, they learn more abouttheir history because you know, in today's
time, they're trying to take awayour history. Yes, yes, I
do know, and we teach themthat how where we come from and where
we're going. Now back to thebody Guard, Anthony being for the culture.
(19:44):
Everybody for the culture. By theway, that's that's my thing,
that's my What you called ABCT ismore than theater is called. That's what
I'm talking about. And that's real, that's real. I've seen it.
So aside of AKA Rachel Maron,ad I hope you're listening right now.
Rachel Maron, Yes, I amRachel from now on. Don't call me
anything. I'll tell you you're goingto be surprised to see this lady.
(20:07):
You're going to be surprised. You'regoing to remember Whitney Houston when you take
a look at them. We've beenrehearsing she have a moment. Yes,
you're not going to talk about that, but I don't mind talking about him.
What has been the biggest challenge withyou preparing for this role and once
you've gotten into it, what haveyou seen you know for yourself as far
(20:27):
as growth. Honestly, the biggestchallenge has been getting out of my own
head and getting out of my ownway. That has literally been the biggest
challenge of all of it, becauseat first glance, I'm like, all
of these Whitney songs, I've onlysung one of these out of all of
(20:47):
these, I was like. Butthen as time progressed, I started to
realize it was only me allowing thelimitations that other people put on me that
made me feel like I couldn't doit. A little backstory on you for
folks who don't know. You've beensinging for what over a decade? Yes?
Right? And the first time Igot when that she could actually sing,
because lord knows she did not getthat from her. Mamma. You
(21:11):
were graduating high school from Ethna Carr, same school where Buck went, and
you had to the kids. Wehad a dinner and each graduating scene you
got up and read a letter totheir parents to thank them. And instead
of her reading her letter, misterBean, she started singing a song for
Mama, Mama, you know Ilove you that one and I was like,
(21:33):
what is happening here? Yes?It was like what is yes?
Yes? And that was the beginningof when you started to you know sing,
and you know, she put togethera few songs and would give them
to me and I'd be like,mmmm, that's not right, that's not
it, and look and I'm notgonna lie. It was like terrifying to
me to realize that she wanted todo a career in music, because I
(21:56):
know how that industry is. Iknow how hard it is, and you
have to have thick skin and sometimesyou might be added for ten years before
anybody gets a wind of who youare, you know, and and me
being in the role that I'm in, that also put me in a compromising
position because if she did take off, then it would look like, oh,
she took off because of Uptown Angela, you know what I'm saying.
(22:17):
So it was politics at play andeverything. But she stayed true to it.
You know, she kept perfecting hercraft. She started singing, you
know, with the band, andshe started to perform it on Bourbon and
she did American Idol and was topforty for that. So I knew she
had a gift, you know,Uptown Angela. Now we got to make
it sound like that she's a kid, because people wouldn't think that you got
(22:37):
a groan, I have something toplug. Then we ask how old?
You ask? So here's the thing. I am thirty years old. Yeah,
they remember as downtown. Actually theyremember when she was born kid.
Yeah. Actually we have a showon my thirty first birthday on August twenty
(23:00):
six. So oh yeah, Ididn't. I didn't know. And that's
another thing. I didn't. Youlook so young? Thank you. I'm
gonna keep wearing this long okay,but yeah, so you know, I'm
gonna say I'm gonna keep wearing longhair because that makes me look young.
I was talking. Yeah, Sothat's why I'm saying. People just because
what you're talking about, and peoplethink, well, she's young, she
(23:22):
got a little team playing. No, this girl has a child. That's
right, That's right, that's right. So so yeah, you're you you
what do you see different in yourselfnow since you've been connected to Anthony Bean's
play The Bodyguard the musical. Soyou mentioned earlier that you didn't know that
(23:44):
I could sing until I was ateenager, And really, what I had
to learn and relearn throughout this processis you have to tap into that childlike
place. I'm like, who wasI when I was four or five?
I actually loved singing and dancing.It wasn't good, but I always had
that connection to creativity, and Ifeel that in order to tap into this
(24:07):
role, I have to free myself. I have to go back to that
childlike version of me to be ableto be what I need to be.
Yes. One of the things withthe whole cast, these are all people
in her that's successful. They're rich. I mean, I cannot imagine what
it's like to have so much moneythat you don't have to worry about anything,
(24:30):
right, because Frank was getting whateight thousand a week? Yes,
and you know she's got to bea bigger naire in her role. So
I'd said everybody, I got tohave that rich energy. Yeah, we
have to have everybody like they're richpeople. I don't have it, but
I can imagine, that's right,I can imagine the rest of the cast.
(24:51):
Yes, let's give some props towho's in the Bodyguard the musical.
Do you want to mention who's inthe body Yes, Yes, I definitely
want to start with my SI threeLies the Sunshine. She's playing Nikki,
my sister in the play that Runto You. Yes, I can't wait,
can't wait. We also have playingthe bodyguard Jake Wynn Wilson. He's
(25:11):
playing Frank, love him and alsoplaying Fletcher. We have Carter Williams.
Yes, yes, my little son. We have Carter Williams and Dylan Henderson.
Both are amazing. Yes, andalso a big, big character,
big personality. Tony. I loveTony. Yes security, Yes, playing
(25:33):
my security and playing the Vaney.Also big character. Another big character,
Leonard Xanders. Yes, he isawesome. Yes, playing the Stalker,
the creepy stalker. We have JustinAlexander. I gotta give props to Justin
right now, mister mean, letme tell you something. The stalker is.
And when you hear that, thosewhen those dramatical beats start playing and
(25:55):
he kind of like just appears outof nowhere, he nails it, nails
it big ups Justin. Yes.And he also told me he liked writing.
He's writing too, So you've inspiredhim to do something. He's one
of your students, Yes, he'swhen he grew up in the program.
He wrote the children play that wedid the Summertime, the summer til yea.
So also as my publicist side,the annoying side goals great. I
(26:22):
didn't say that, Dedrike. Hekilled it. And also playing Douglas.
We have is it lou Ryan,that's how we belong, Ryan Giles.
Yes, yes, And playing thecourt assistant is Jonas. Oh yes,
good, he is good. Also, we have to give a shout out
(26:44):
to Michelle the stage man and yeah, she's been doing really good at just
keeping mister Bean check yes, yes, and oh yeah. Shout out to
Elis two. Well, and whatabout your husband, Oh yes, oh
yeah you Gizelle the choreographer who alsoplugged me in nairo And shout out to
my husband Alfred aka Fredo. Hehas been doing the music. And we're
(27:10):
gonna hear some live instruments in thisas well, that's the thing, and
sound effects, so I mean it'sgonna be I mean to put it in
perspective like this play, this musical, The Bodyguard. The musical is nothing
like we've ever experienced before. Nothing, And that's why I say that God
has definitely and this I got tokeep coming back. So we got almost
a family affair, yeah, becausewe got the mama, the mother that's
(27:33):
that's inspiring, the daughter who's andI guess got yeah, Mr Bean was
trying to slide me in there.Yes, that you were and she wouldn't
do it. But yeah, wegot. But I want to thank all
you guys telling you this is gonnabe an event. Yeah, there's gonna
(27:55):
be something that people should see andthey need to experience live. Yeah,
that's right. After that, goto the singer, right a live all
is bread everything in New Orleans.During the Bodyguard the musical, Yeah Swhitney
Houston's greatest hits, fifteen of themthat you will hear in this play.
(28:17):
And mister Bean, I thought youwere joking at first when you said this,
but you said that intermission is acrab dip that they can help the
choke. Yeah, that's a concoctionI created called the auto choke. What
is it at choke? Everything butthe kitchen sing? Okay, but you
can cook though, because you madeyou made food? What costa? And
(28:38):
what was that bread? Oh mygod? My mom and my dad had
a restaurant. He can cook toevery from them. Yeah. Yeah.
And mom had five three boys andshe taught all of us. Said look,
we don't want you to depend onShe used the word no woman.
Okay, no woman to cook foryou. You're gonna cooking. I had
(29:02):
to cut onions and everything that beforethey had the choppers. Yeah, yeah,
before I go to school. IfI wanted next the money, yeah,
I had to cut up season.Yes, so no, I've learned.
I guess the natural way how tocook. So yeah, I enjoy
doing that. Yeah, that's therapeuticfor me. For I need some of
those cookies in my dressing room everynight, every night. Look at it
like Rachel Marin. Yes, Oh, the dressing room is. Oh,
(29:26):
it's it's amazing. We can tellpeople like over at the New Orleans Jazz
Market. Jazz is where The Bodyguard, the musical is gonna be playing the
Anthony Bean Community Theater there, soit's easy to get to. It's a
beautiful setup. On opening night Augustfourth, we're gonna do something really big.
You talked about family aside his daddj Row. It's gonna be DJing
in the front and we're gonna dothe play and then we'll have like a
(29:48):
reception meet and greed for the actorsand the actresses and Mu mister Bean and
if they want to say hi tome whatever, We're gonna take some pictures.
We're gonna have a red carpet,like it's gonna be a really really
big deal, so I would encouragefolks get your tickets early. Yes,
we do anticipate a sellout for this. It's gonna be huge. And the
only African American theater here in ourcity, the Anthony Bean Community Theater.
(30:11):
It's been around fifty plus years.Again, mister Bean, you reference Jesus
and God. I am too.This was divine intervention for us to all
come together. Absolutely well, Idon't know about the fifty claus now.
I said, well, you're gonnabe around a longer time, That's what
I mean. Already I'm on ifI'm on a computer on my phone,
(30:32):
they're gonna lean over me and tryto correct me, like I don't know
how to work a cell phone.Well, I'm not gonna throw in the
fact that you fell out the chaira couple of times. We just hit
help. We hit help, andyour daughter come around and said, you
know, you can do your noteson your phone because we know he keeps
losing the paper. But guess,mister Bean, the younger generation, we
all have something to learn from them, you know. And that's what they're
(30:52):
here for, you know, wantto make life easier for you. But
I can I know about word okay, we're good and power point you got
and I can type, you candillophone number and put you on old and
anwer, but not fifty plus.Okay, I'm I guess I'm going on
(31:14):
you're going on fifty Yeah, butit sounded like I'm anyway, I'm meant
the community, not even your age. We're not even gonna go there.
I don't mind. I'm gonna telleverybody you started sixteen sixteen. So do
the math. Do the math,do the math. Yes, God is
good? Yeah, all the time, and all the time. What God
is good? He man, man, that's the way to wrap up a
(31:37):
podcast. The Anthony Being Community Theateragain. The Bodyguard the Musical, playing
August four through the twenty seventh,every weekend pretty much. You can choose
a date. Go to Anthony beanTheater dot com or call eight six two
play that's five or four eight sixtwo play seven five two nine six two
(32:00):
seven five two nine all right,can't wait? The Bodyguard the Musical.
I'm uptown, Angela. Thank youso much for listening to us on the
Radio Diva podcast and on iHeartRadio.
Hi, this is Up Town Angela. Welcome to the Radio Diva Podcast.
Today we're talking to the director,the icon himself, who now has a
new production of the Bodyguard the Musical, mister Anthony being good morning, morning,
Good morning to you. How areyou miss that's right, that's right,
yes, And we have a brandnew production. And you shared with
(00:21):
me that this is your first productionin seven years for adults adults. Yes,
I've been involved with teens and kids, youth and teens. We've done
what the Lion King did, theWhiz. I've just been involved with children.
And this is my first adult playin seven years. Wow. What
we're excited about it because Whitney Houston, who is an icon, fifteen of
(00:46):
her songs will be performed in thismusical. And mister Bean, why now
the Bodyguard the Musical? Has thissomething that's been in the works for a
minute, and now it was finallyable to happen here in New Orleans.
Actually not, I don't know.I promise you this is the truth.
I'm a very faithful, faith man, very spiritual man. And I was
(01:07):
doing the shows and all, andthen I saw some company was doing The
Bodyguard the Musical and I said,well, we should be doing The Bodyguard
the musical, and I mean tobelieve that was a godsend for me to
do this. It is a popularshow. The music is smashing, she
knocked the beatles off the records,and the number one song in America.
(01:33):
I would always love you, Isaid, we need to do it before
anybody else. That's right, that'sright. So we and not only did
we are we doing it, weblocked out so which means that and no
one in this region can do itbefore. Wow. So Mississippi, Texas
cannot do the Bodyguard until we doit first. And we're gonna bring it
to them as a tour at well, I'm putting it out there in the
(01:55):
universe right now. I told youI'm spiritual man. That's right. We're
talking to Anthony Being of the AnthonyBeing Theater Um, the Community Theater,
and we're getting ready to kick offopening night. The dates are gonna be
August fourth through the twenty seventh.And I want to talk a little bit
more about who's in the play.So, without further ado, our star
(02:20):
of the play Rachel Maron from theoriginal movie. And I'm gonna throw a
d berry under the bus right nowbecause he called her Rockel Moron last week.
But it is Rachel Marin and thatrole is being played by a side
of rone. Good morning, goodmorning, good morning. How do you
feel? Are you ready excited?I feel all of those things. I
(02:42):
feel extremely excited. First off,because this summer just flew by with rehearsals
and you know, just learning allthe songs, learning all of my acting
cues, and just getting everything together. So now that the moment is finally
here, I'm ready to hit thestage. Well, let's talk about you
even getting this role, because itwasn't easy. Mister Bean was not an
(03:05):
easy nut to correct. No,I was not, because I know this
had to be special. I knowwho ever playing Whitney, because people are
gonna remember those songs and remember thewoman, the lady who sung those songs.
So it had to be somebody thatcan just knock it out the ball
park. And we went through quitea few singers in New Orleans, particularly
(03:28):
some of these girls that singing thegospel churches and in them in the morning
time. But Asida came in,it was rough. She came back three
times, Yes, callback, callback, I wasn't really sure. And then
it hit me and said, Okay, it hit me when we were all
in the rehearse at the time,when I know I had to make that
(03:49):
choice. Yeah, and it wasa given Asida should be the character Whitney
play, which is Rachel marriage.Yes, and the body I'm gonna throw
the disclaim around there. Yes,this is a sad Renee who's also my
daughter. But for those who thought, oh, because mister Bean wants to
have Uptown Angela's daughter, and itwas not like that, I did not
know that. No, and Ipromised to God, I told you I'm
(04:12):
gonna spirit your man. So Ikid you not, and God loves the
truth. I did not know thatthis was Uptown And in fact, I
had a very unfavorable idea of youbecause I had you, I had you
mixed up with another Dean. Yougotta tell this story, mister Bean.
Well, first of all, thatwas our first time meeting. That was
the first time when as was inthe running and when she said Uptown Angela
(04:34):
and I kind of like, soyou're the one, and I'm like,
oh Lord, when people said,well, no, no, if you
ren't want to tell a story,and I hope, I hope so,
but my my uh, my nephew'swife died and he well, you know
there was kind of strain in thelast days of her life and uh,
(04:58):
and it was Uptown and Angela thatprevented him from the church. Yeah,
it would and I would assume andthat that was the husband, but you
know it was her family. Stuffget started. It's her family, lady.
Did you share that story with somebodyelse and say, oh, up
Town angel She ain't right. No, I didn't huge, but it was
in the family. And just toprove it, up Town Angela was there.
(05:21):
She said she never had a sisterthat name. And I called my
sister and he said, who wasthe lady that prevented And I'm not gonna
call his name from the church?Said up Down and that's a shame.
I promise you it's the truth.And he was right there. Yes,
I was. I come to findout, and I hope it's not the
(05:42):
other Angela, but it was notup Town. I was so relieved at
that because I had an unfavorable view. I could not because you know,
like mother, like daughter, andit could not because that was cold.
That really was Yeah. But thenthe family paid for the funeral, so
he had didn't didn't have any moneyto do it, so she'd say he's
(06:02):
not entering. Well, thank youfor clearing. My name is ya.
That's a great story. Yes,yes, yes, Anthony Bean the Community
Theater. We're getting ready to kickoffopening night on Friday, August fourth.
The play is going to run weekendsthroughout August um different times and it's a
PM on Fridays when it plays onSaturdays, a Saturday eight pm and Sundays
(06:26):
at three. Yes, Now wealso have a Thursday We're gonna be adding
Thursday from eight o'clock, so allnight performance at eight Sunday matinee at three.
Yes, but definitely something that theydo not want to miss, and
they can get tickets by going tickets. They can call the box office if
you want to order buy phone ata six to play that's eight six two
seven five to nine ELI quote fivezero four of course, or you can
(06:48):
go to the website at www dotAnthony Bean Theater dot com and theaters with
the ears not all r right thefancy way. Yeah, okay, so
www Dot Anthony being Theater dot comand go to the box office and you
can purchase take us. I wantto urge you to get out now on
(07:09):
the purchase because one of the daysand I have to get that date.
I don't know heavy Whitmans sold out. So I want you, guys,
if you want to come and seea wonderful music and if you want to
reminisce about that beautiful single we lost, So Whitney Houston, come on and
support absolutely the Bodyguard, Absolutely musical, the musical and aside of you sing
a few different hits from Whitney,what was your favorite and what was the
(07:30):
moment that you love the most aboutthis play that's coming up. Well,
at first, when I first startedgoing through the rehearsals, All the Man
that I Need was my favorite,and it was just when he got to
that build up and Whitney's just givenher all in that moment. But as
things went on, Run to Youbecame my favorite. Shout out to my
sister like sunshine YEA love that andit's just it's such a powerful moment in
(07:57):
the play. So now run toYou. It's definitely my favorite. And
let me let me just mention thesongs Queen of the Night, Yeah,
so emotional, one moment in time, saving all my love Run to You.
I have nothing. I want todance and the biggest selling song of
(08:18):
all time is what and yes we'reaway hit the one. This is a
little bit of it, so youget a little tag. Yes, look,
we're gonna save it for the playbecause you're not about to put me.
That's one thing we didn't talk aboutwhy I had to keep coming back
to tell that story so real quick, I got the call shout out to
Giselle. She's choreographer, she's thechoreographer for the play, and she reached
(08:43):
out to me via Instagram and shewas like, Hey, we have the
Bodyguard musical with the Anthony Bean Theater. Are you interested because we still don't
have our Rachel Marin And I'm likeokay. And I only had about two
days to prepare. And as youknow, Whitney is like one of the
best vocalist in the whole entire world, so preparing for a Whitney song is
(09:03):
like almost like preparing for like afive k maratherathon. And I'm like,
only have two days to condition myvoice to this. So I instantly shut
down eating like mucus producing foods andproducts. I stopped drinking, I stopped
doing some other things. That wasdamaging too. And I went in and
(09:24):
I called my mom, I talkedto my husband. I'm like, y'all,
I am not vocally ready for this, but something in me felt like
I should show up anyway. Somethingtold me that, you know what,
if it's for you, then everyoneinvolved they'll see the potential and they'll know
that when it's opening night, you'llbe ready. And that's what I did.
But I went there and it wastime to hit the biggest note of
(09:45):
I Will always love you, andit did. It just did not come
out. And I knew it wasn'tgonna come out before that moment. I
want you to know that I've keptme practicing. I'm like, I it's
not gonna come out. And Iwas waiting by the phone to see what
ap and she hit a note thatwas not the note, and mister Me
was like, oh no, it'slike he was counting on me, because
(10:11):
everything up to that point was great. And then he got there and he
called me back. He was like, I'm gonna give you a few days
because she looked alike with yeah,she looked like now the second time she
came, she had this dress andthis hood on. Oh yeah, yeah,
And I said, Oh my god, if she can win it just
for wearing that outfit. She knewwhat she was, I said, but
(10:35):
I got to hear that note againto seal the deal, and she came
better prepared. She hit those notesI would always love you. Everybody know
that song and waiting for that lastbut I do want to plug this in,
like when you get these opportunities.I instantly disciplined myself. It was
(10:56):
like I knew in my spirit thatthere were things that I needed to do
to prepare for that. So that'svery, very important. Like a lot
of people, they just want things, they don't want to put in the
work to actually attain it. ButI hit that bad note, I say,
you know what, I'm gonna comeback stronger. But not only did
I said, I went and didwhat I needed to do to get there.
(11:16):
Yes, she get the homework andmister being something that I noticed because
you know, you've asked me,I've seen, you know, some of
the performances, some of the rehearsals, and you've asked me, you know,
what do you think? And I'mso honest, I'm always gonna tell
you exactly what that is. Butthe one thing, like when I watch
the performances now and the actors now, like it's the perfect cast like you
(11:37):
put together. From Frank who's playedby Jake Wilson. Jake Wilson is the
perfect Frank Farmer, oh my gosh. And even Nikki, you know with
Eliza, you know, Gabby playingNikki and the dynamic that happens there and
what I love about this and Itold this to uside of um, I
(11:58):
saw Wicked the play on Broadway severaltimes. It's one of my favorites.
And what I loved about that playwe get to see a different dynamic.
We get to dig a little deeperinto the dynamic between the battle between Nikki
and Rachel. Absolutely, and Ilove that man. That's right, That's
right, sisters, actors, definitely, But look, I want to see
(12:18):
something. I want to finalize allthis what's coming with the final act of
how she was chosen? And Ihappen to give you problems up town.
Angel. I know you don't wantto say I know your daughters don't want
me to say it. But shecame in and I told her that,
look, she we have a problemwith a love scene. She's uh,
the girl got hang ups. Ineed to release her. She needed to
(12:39):
fall in love with this guy.I need to see it, you know,
sometimes A don'ts. You know,we have this defensive shield up that
would protect us from heartbreaking all ofthat, and I said, I need
to see that to seal the deal. And up town, Angela, you
came and say I got this.I'm gonna work with my daughter. And
I don't know about your experience withheartbreaks, but I've always been a live
(13:01):
She came back, and I haveto owe it to you at least of
the reason why you was chosen,because you were really good in them scenes
and you are the one that helpedit. Well, thank you. So
I want to thank you because youplay if you play a big part in
this too. Yeah, well here'smy thing. You know, I want
to see her win. I wantto see this play when I want to
(13:24):
see you win. And I justfind it. It's so crazy to me
that you've been doing this for fiftyyears and we've just recently crossed paths,
and once I got an understanding forwhat it is that you do for your
vision, for your passion. Thisis everything that you do to touch these
children, um with the acting,and you've had so many success stories um
(13:48):
Buck who just did the right rightthe Katrina babies and the success that he
has and he was one of yourformer students. When the peers that's right,
that's right, absolutely, So youknow, I I absolutely want to
tell you. You know, I'mhere for the long haul. This is
going, but way beyond the bodyguardthe musical. You know, I'm an
advocate for what you do for thiscommunity and so so proud and honor to
(14:13):
be off well, we always weappreciate and I'm saying we because of I
do have a staff, and Ihave kids who who this is their second
home and they don't want to gohome. I noticed that, yeah,
we need a place, and Iprovide that at least a little salt small
segment of the community. We needa place where what they said that that
(14:35):
proverb to say that what is ituh? Something about the Devil's workshop and
idle mind and these kids that oneof the things I have to say,
I even told us to the mayor. One of the things we're as adult
forget is that we forget what it'slike when we were teams. We forget
what it was like when we werechildren and what we need and we need
(15:01):
love, we need attention, Wereally need discipline. But who's going to
discipline the kids? You know you'redoing I'm about to go preaching someone's We
tell the kids don't do this,and they see us doing it. You
know, daddy, where are you? Uh? These boys? These girls?
We need a family unit and thenwe need to get back to that
(15:22):
village thing. Whether absolutely, Andthis is what theater does for these young
kids, and not only make themactors and make them communicate better, but
it actually can use their ability tocommunicate and give them comment problems. Yes,
and it's all problems insecurity, youknow. It builds all that up
and the children love it. Yeah, well I think that's why we have
(15:46):
teams. Yeah, why we havethe kids. And on that note,
you know you you've done so muchto give back to the community. And
when they come there, yes,they feel like they have a safe place
to be. They can be themselves, you know, they can have fun.
And early on in the rehearsals,you know I was coming and I
would bring snacks for everybody, andwe would. You don't just do little
things just to get our mind anymore. You don't do that anymore. Look,
(16:07):
in consistency is an order. I'mdoing what I can to time you
walk to the dumbs and where's thebadge? Well, let listen like like
I said, you know we weyou know what perfect way to segue into
this. We need more support andmore resources. You know, the more
the better. And if someone waslistening now and they wanted to become a
(16:29):
partner, they wanted to you know, be able to donate, how would
they do that? Anthony Bean theaterdot com. You go through that,
go down to the left bottom,you're gonna see donate button. We're also
looking for building a school, abandonedschool. Will send that out into what
the school board. We need aschool because I like I like teachers.
Yes, and and nothing like aschool on Calton Avenue was almost twenty years
(16:51):
there before they turn into a charterschool. They told us to get out
and they turn into a charter school. While we're looking for an abandoned school
so we can claim back up kids. Uh, those kids, majority of
the kids, the black kids thatyou see a NOCA came out in my
program. Oh wow, and thishave been gone off for quite some time.
They know if they auditioned an ABCTkid then't know where they're getting.
(17:12):
Yes, the kids who know thetheater, who knows the stage, and
they're much more advanced than other kids. Yeah, well you don't play,
mister bean. No, I don'tknow. But fifty years in the business,
you can't afford to play. Butyou ain't got your ways long left.
But what I'm saying like, butbut your your your approach and how
(17:33):
the kids respond, how your youknow, your your adult actors and actresses,
how they respond because you you getthe job done, but you have
you have definitely a sense of humor. I wasn't gonna say that, but
they respond to that because they knowI don't play. Yes, yeah,
I get the results and that's thebottom line. That's right. And the
(17:55):
kids are not running the way.If anything, they're signing up for the
program. Yes, so that's athing. Yeah, and that's what how
God blessed me. I know you'resaying, how can you mention God and
talk about cursing about people? Wellwe are, I'm human, But I
get the job done and this iswhat we do. Yes, and it
builds confident for the kids. Andthat's what that's why seven years of working
(18:17):
just with the youth in Neworleans.If I had a choice between working with
youth and adults, don't give methat that that choice, because more than
likely, uh, it would bethe kids to win out because they're like
a sponge, their brain impressionable.Yes, and they want to learn.
Adults you got to deal with hangups and protection defense mechanisms. Yes,
(18:41):
so you got to you know,do more thrown chairs. They're less vulnerable.
Yes, But young people you tellingto be a wicked witch. Now.
They're going right, right, rightright without a moment's second. Like
the kid who did winning the poolthat time. Remember I do I do
remember that? And how often,mister bean, do people just walking off
the streets audition? Because I've beenthere in a few times. People walk
(19:02):
in and I'm like, what's goingon right now? And no phone call,
nothing, They just walk in knowingwho you are and can I can
I say something else too? Theseare black kids we're talking about. They're
urban black kids. And that's abeautiful thing because again and we're finding something
for them to do creatively, andit's something that can stimulate intellectually. Yes,
(19:22):
and they love it and they learnabout August Wilson and Maya Angela,
they learn, they learn more abouttheir history because you know, in today's
time, they're trying to take awayour history. Yes, yes, I
do know, and we teach themthat how where we come from and where
we're going. Now back to thebody Guard, Anthony being for the culture.
(19:44):
Everybody for the culture. By theway, that's that's my thing,
that's my What you called ABCT ismore than theater is called. That's what
I'm talking about. And that's real, that's real. I've seen it.
So aside of AKA Rachel Maron,ad I hope you're listening right now.
Rachel Maron, Yes, I amRachel from now on. Don't call me
anything. I'll tell you you're goingto be surprised to see this lady.
(20:07):
You're going to be surprised. You'regoing to remember Whitney Houston when you take
a look at them. We've beenrehearsing she have a moment. Yes,
you're not going to talk about that, but I don't mind talking about him.
What has been the biggest challenge withyou preparing for this role and once
you've gotten into it, what haveyou seen you know for yourself as far
(20:27):
as growth. Honestly, the biggestchallenge has been getting out of my own
head and getting out of my ownway. That has literally been the biggest
challenge of all of it, becauseat first glance, I'm like, all
of these Whitney songs, I've onlysung one of these out of all of
(20:47):
these, I was like. Butthen as time progressed, I started to
realize it was only me allowing thelimitations that other people put on me that
made me feel like I couldn't doit. A little backstory on you for
folks who don't know. You've beensinging for what over a decade? Yes?
Right? And the first time Igot when that she could actually sing,
because lord knows she did not getthat from her. Mamma. You
(21:11):
were graduating high school from Ethna Carr, same school where Buck went, and
you had to the kids. Wehad a dinner and each graduating scene you
got up and read a letter totheir parents to thank them. And instead
of her reading her letter, misterBean, she started singing a song for
Mama, Mama, you know Ilove you that one and I was like,
(21:33):
what is happening here? Yes?It was like what is yes?
Yes? And that was the beginningof when you started to you know sing,
and you know, she put togethera few songs and would give them
to me and I'd be like,mmmm, that's not right, that's not
it, and look and I'm notgonna lie. It was like terrifying to
me to realize that she wanted todo a career in music, because I
(21:56):
know how that industry is. Iknow how hard it is, and you
have to have thick skin and sometimesyou might be added for ten years before
anybody gets a wind of who youare, you know, and and me
being in the role that I'm in, that also put me in a compromising
position because if she did take off, then it would look like, oh,
she took off because of Uptown Angela, you know what I'm saying.
(22:17):
So it was politics at play andeverything. But she stayed true to it.
You know, she kept perfecting hercraft. She started singing, you
know, with the band, andshe started to perform it on Bourbon and
she did American Idol and was topforty for that. So I knew she
had a gift, you know,Uptown Angela. Now we got to make
it sound like that she's a kid, because people wouldn't think that you got
(22:37):
a groan, I have something toplug. Then we ask how old?
You ask? So here's the thing. I am thirty years old. Yeah,
they remember as downtown. Actually theyremember when she was born kid.
Yeah. Actually we have a showon my thirty first birthday on August twenty
(23:00):
six. So oh yeah, Ididn't. I didn't know. And that's
another thing. I didn't. Youlook so young? Thank you. I'm
gonna keep wearing this long okay,but yeah, so you know, I'm
gonna say I'm gonna keep wearing longhair because that makes me look young.
I was talking. Yeah, Sothat's why I'm saying. People just because
what you're talking about, and peoplethink, well, she's young, she
(23:22):
got a little team playing. No, this girl has a child. That's
right, That's right, that's right. So so yeah, you're you you
what do you see different in yourselfnow since you've been connected to Anthony Bean's
play The Bodyguard the musical. Soyou mentioned earlier that you didn't know that
(23:44):
I could sing until I was ateenager, And really, what I had
to learn and relearn throughout this processis you have to tap into that childlike
place. I'm like, who wasI when I was four or five?
I actually loved singing and dancing.It wasn't good, but I always had
that connection to creativity, and Ifeel that in order to tap into this
(24:07):
role, I have to free myself. I have to go back to that
childlike version of me to be ableto be what I need to be.
Yes. One of the things withthe whole cast, these are all people
in her that's successful. They're rich. I mean, I cannot imagine what
it's like to have so much moneythat you don't have to worry about anything,
(24:30):
right, because Frank was getting whateight thousand a week? Yes,
and you know she's got to bea bigger naire in her role. So
I'd said everybody, I got tohave that rich energy. Yeah, we
have to have everybody like they're richpeople. I don't have it, but
I can imagine, that's right,I can imagine the rest of the cast.
(24:51):
Yes, let's give some props towho's in the Bodyguard the musical.
Do you want to mention who's inthe body Yes, Yes, I definitely
want to start with my SI threeLies the Sunshine. She's playing Nikki,
my sister in the play that Runto You. Yes, I can't wait,
can't wait. We also have playingthe bodyguard Jake Wynn Wilson. He's
(25:11):
playing Frank, love him and alsoplaying Fletcher. We have Carter Williams.
Yes, yes, my little son. We have Carter Williams and Dylan Henderson.
Both are amazing. Yes, andalso a big, big character,
big personality. Tony. I loveTony. Yes security, Yes, playing
(25:33):
my security and playing the Vaney.Also big character. Another big character,
Leonard Xanders. Yes, he isawesome. Yes, playing the Stalker,
the creepy stalker. We have JustinAlexander. I gotta give props to Justin
right now, mister mean, letme tell you something. The stalker is.
And when you hear that, thosewhen those dramatical beats start playing and
(25:55):
he kind of like just appears outof nowhere, he nails it, nails
it big ups Justin. Yes.And he also told me he liked writing.
He's writing too, So you've inspiredhim to do something. He's one
of your students, Yes, he'swhen he grew up in the program.
He wrote the children play that wedid the Summertime, the summer til yea.
So also as my publicist side,the annoying side goals great. I
(26:22):
didn't say that, Dedrike. Hekilled it. And also playing Douglas.
We have is it lou Ryan,that's how we belong, Ryan Giles.
Yes, yes, And playing thecourt assistant is Jonas. Oh yes,
good, he is good. Also, we have to give a shout out
(26:44):
to Michelle the stage man and yeah, she's been doing really good at just
keeping mister Bean check yes, yes, and oh yeah. Shout out to
Elis two. Well, and whatabout your husband, Oh yes, oh
yeah you Gizelle the choreographer who alsoplugged me in nairo And shout out to
my husband Alfred aka Fredo. Hehas been doing the music. And we're
(27:10):
gonna hear some live instruments in thisas well, that's the thing, and
sound effects, so I mean it'sgonna be I mean to put it in
perspective like this play, this musical, The Bodyguard. The musical is nothing
like we've ever experienced before. Nothing, And that's why I say that God
has definitely and this I got tokeep coming back. So we got almost
a family affair, yeah, becausewe got the mama, the mother that's
(27:33):
that's inspiring, the daughter who's andI guess got yeah, Mr Bean was
trying to slide me in there.Yes, that you were and she wouldn't
do it. But yeah, wegot. But I want to thank all
you guys telling you this is gonnabe an event. Yeah, there's gonna
(27:55):
be something that people should see andthey need to experience live. Yeah,
that's right. After that, goto the singer, right a live all
is bread everything in New Orleans.During the Bodyguard the musical, Yeah Swhitney
Houston's greatest hits, fifteen of themthat you will hear in this play.
(28:17):
And mister Bean, I thought youwere joking at first when you said this,
but you said that intermission is acrab dip that they can help the
choke. Yeah, that's a concoctionI created called the auto choke. What
is it at choke? Everything butthe kitchen sing? Okay, but you
can cook though, because you madeyou made food? What costa? And
(28:38):
what was that bread? Oh mygod? My mom and my dad had
a restaurant. He can cook toevery from them. Yeah. Yeah.
And mom had five three boys andshe taught all of us. Said look,
we don't want you to depend onShe used the word no woman.
Okay, no woman to cook foryou. You're gonna cooking. I had
(29:02):
to cut onions and everything that beforethey had the choppers. Yeah, yeah,
before I go to school. IfI wanted next the money, yeah,
I had to cut up season.Yes, so no, I've learned.
I guess the natural way how tocook. So yeah, I enjoy
doing that. Yeah, that's therapeuticfor me. For I need some of
those cookies in my dressing room everynight, every night. Look at it
like Rachel Marin. Yes, Oh, the dressing room is. Oh,
(29:26):
it's it's amazing. We can tellpeople like over at the New Orleans Jazz
Market. Jazz is where The Bodyguard, the musical is gonna be playing the
Anthony Bean Community Theater there, soit's easy to get to. It's a
beautiful setup. On opening night Augustfourth, we're gonna do something really big.
You talked about family aside his daddj Row. It's gonna be DJing
in the front and we're gonna dothe play and then we'll have like a
(29:48):
reception meet and greed for the actorsand the actresses and Mu mister Bean and
if they want to say hi tome whatever, We're gonna take some pictures.
We're gonna have a red carpet,like it's gonna be a really really
big deal, so I would encouragefolks get your tickets early. Yes,
we do anticipate a sellout for this. It's gonna be huge. And the
only African American theater here in ourcity, the Anthony Bean Community Theater.
(30:11):
It's been around fifty plus years.Again, mister Bean, you reference Jesus
and God. I am too.This was divine intervention for us to all
come together. Absolutely well, Idon't know about the fifty claus now.
I said, well, you're gonnabe around a longer time, That's what
I mean. Already I'm on ifI'm on a computer on my phone,
(30:32):
they're gonna lean over me and tryto correct me, like I don't know
how to work a cell phone.Well, I'm not gonna throw in the
fact that you fell out the chaira couple of times. We just hit
help. We hit help, andyour daughter come around and said, you
know, you can do your noteson your phone because we know he keeps
losing the paper. But guess,mister Bean, the younger generation, we
all have something to learn from them, you know. And that's what they're
(30:52):
here for, you know, wantto make life easier for you. But
I can I know about word okay, we're good and power point you got
and I can type, you candillophone number and put you on old and
anwer, but not fifty plus.Okay, I'm I guess I'm going on
(31:14):
you're going on fifty Yeah, butit sounded like I'm anyway, I'm meant
the community, not even your age. We're not even gonna go there.
I don't mind. I'm gonna telleverybody you started sixteen sixteen. So do
the math. Do the math,do the math. Yes, God is
good? Yeah, all the time, and all the time. What God
is good? He man, man, that's the way to wrap up a
(31:37):
podcast. The Anthony Being Community Theateragain. The Bodyguard the Musical, playing
August four through the twenty seventh,every weekend pretty much. You can choose
a date. Go to Anthony beanTheater dot com or call eight six two
play that's five or four eight sixtwo play seven five two nine six two
(32:00):
seven five two nine all right,can't wait? The Bodyguard the Musical.
I'm uptown, Angela. Thank youso much for listening to us on the
Radio Diva podcast and on iHeartRadio.
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