March 26, 2011

Hello followers, there's so much going on today, as I'm climbing the rough side of the mountain. I'm pleased and honored to say that my one man stage production entitled "I Just Want To Tell Somebody", based on my autobiography of the same title, wasn't performed at The Shakespere, it was performed at The Wooley Mamouth Theater, on Feb.  28, 2011  . It was funded by The DC, Comm. on Arts and Humanities, as part of their Black History Month celebration.  It was AWESOME. The audience responses are posted on my fbook wall. I had a great time doing it, and I want to say thanks to all that made it happen. I will be producing the production again in July 2011, at Studio W. in NE for only 4 fews. Only 8 performances before it goes to NYC off Broadway.  I'm also editing my 1st documentary entitled "Preserving Ledroit Park" , A Historic Community in Wash. DC, with DCTV . I just got connected with another editor, so I'm planning to have it completed in the next few weeks. In my next post I'll begin to delve into our historic legacy and the contributions we contributed to the developement of American entertainment and culture. So please come back. You'll be glad you did.
Ronald Smokey Stevens

Update

I haven't posted a new entry in a few weeks because I'm in rehearsal for my one man stage production entitled, " I JUST WANT TO TELL SOMEBODY", it's based on my published autobiography of the same title. We're scheduled to open at The Shakepere Theater in Feb 2011 in Wash. DC. I'll be posting historical information on entertainment history very soon...I'm sure you'll find it fascinating.....come back , and post comments ....
Smokey Stevens

Then Cab said to me

As I mentioned, I asked Cab., if he really knew the Smokey, that he talks about in his song. He was sitting in front of his mirror at his dressing room table, he slowly turned to look at me with a sinister, smug smile . He knew I asked because my name was Smokey too.  ,  He looked at me as if he recognized in me, some familiar attribute that me, and the Smokey, he knew shared. Then he looked me up an down, and said, " yeah I knew that motha f......I whooped his ass...and I'll whoop  your asss too, as he slowly got up out of his chair. Now c'mon....c'mon ...."   with his dukes up in a boxing stance. You think you bad don't you ?  Yeah he thought he was bad too....c'mon.   I,  as I began laughing,   . said naw...man...you got the best hand . I threw my hands up in submission, and said..." I don't want no trouble" . I know what I'm gonna do though....I'mma tell Honi Coles to kick your ass...we both burst out laughing, and he said "shitttt...I'm the only one kickin ass....around here ....I said ,  ok..ok.. we'll see, we both laughed, then he said " yeah you think Lydia is "Minnie" don't you ...? I been watchin you   , since you almost dropped her...you ain't gon never get her now....he then burst out laughing  as the music for the second act began , and " the call to places for the top of act two", ,rang over the backstage intercom. He threw on his brim, gave me five,  and me, and the legendary ,Cab Calloway. tipped out the dressing room. We kicked the bobo from then  until our production of BBS closed.
Ronald Smokey Stevens

Me and Cab Calloway...cont

OK....since I last blogged, a blessing or answered prayer, has been bestowed upon me.  My one man stage production, based on my autobiography, entitled " I JUST WANT TO TELL SOMEBODY", is being produced and scheduled to open at The Shakespere Theater,  in Wash DC, during Black History Month , Feb 2011,  This has brought about a great amount of glee....and joy..for me , and Carol Mumin, the co-producer, and script writer. Dreams are the seeds to reality, and this dream is coming true for all of us involved, who dared to dream. Enough of that ....
Picking up where I left off, ....so ..at the musical bridge,, I pulled her up to me, we hit a pose, she slowly spins around me, and continues the dance to "Sophiscated Ladies" . We had done this to perfection in all the rehearsals as well as all the performances.....But.....on this particular night....as theater goes....when I lifted her on my shoulder and reached for her right hand, as she sat upon my shoulder, before she fell backwards, my hand got caught in her costumes sleeve, preventing me from grabing her arm , and supporting her ,as she fell backwards.  When she fell backwards, and because I didn't have her, I had to just ,GRAB HER, to prevent her from falling on her head. In doing so, she was caught ,by me, upside down-, with he legs flying  everywhere...it was AWEFUL... I eased her to a position where she could finally get her footing, and awkwardly, stand. Once on her feet, she quickly picked up where she was supposed to be, in the choreography. As I exited stage right, I was destraught, embarrassed, humiliated, all I could say to myself was..." oh. no..oh..no..I almost dropped the prima ballerina, of the Dance Theater of Harlem, the most beautiful women in the world...I  kept  saying ...oh no...it wasn't my fault...my arm got caught in her costume.....it was't my fault.." But I knew, she knew, it wasn't my fault.  Then Cab angrily came up to me and said.." what's wrong wit you motha f....almost dropping that girl"...He had been stand offish all the time up until now,,,I tried to explain that my hand got caught in her costumes,   he said "agh...agh , waved me off , and walked away...That was insult to injury.   I was totally embarressed. All I could do was drop my head in shame.. Then Cab came back...seeing my humilation...laughing , and said.." GOTCHA...DIDN'T.... I.?  ",  he began laughing, then  he turned, fixed his brim,,,popped his collar,,and strutted away in his Cab Calloway...ese...style.. Then Lydia came off stage as the song came to it's concluson. She saw me devastated, and immediately began to comfort me, as if..nothing had happened at all. I just kept apologizing, and she said.. dismissing it,,man come on...forget it,.... then she said ..."you look like you need a drink...let me buy you a drink after the show". Cab and Lydia, began to laugh at my embaressment. Then they both began to console me. Cab started putting up his dukes, edging me on  to spar with him, saying.." c'mon sucka...c'mon sucka...you suppose to be a man....c'mon and get a piece of this,,," as he moved  around, feigning to throw a punch....He and Lydia laughed some more , then he whispered in my ear. " you ain't gon never get her Now ",  he laughed,  and almost missing  his entrance cue,  he ran on stage. From that moment on , me and Cab Calloway, were cool,,, I then began to go to his dressing room , like I did  Honi Coles;s room,...to talk to him and ask him questions about the past . My name  being Smokey.....I asked him if he really knew a bloke named Smokey....that he talks about in his classic tune "Minnie the Moocher".. For those of you that don't know...These are the  lyrics in the second verse: ...." she messed around with a bloke named Smokey,,,she loved him even though he was cokey....he took her down, to Chinatown,  and showed her how to kick, the gong around....hi...de....hi...de....hi....de...hi"......He then said to me ...... ...to be cont. in my next blog....... I'll see you  soon...............Ronald Smokey Stevens

Me and Cab Calloway

It was suggested to me as I developed this blog,  that I should do a blog on each one of the legendary performers that I had the opportunity to work with in BBS. I'm not going to do them all, but I am lastly going to share with you my  experience working with this legendary band leader, and showman ,.Cab Calloway  Again do your own research on this musical legend  Suffice it to say , Cab Calloway's Band starred at The Cotton Club, along with Duke Ellington's Band in the 30's. Cab also went on to star in many films throughout his career, as well as record many  classic tunes.   I was cast in a regional production of BBS at The PaperMill Theater in New Jersey. Cab was also starring in this production , playing the role of "John Sage" ,the role that Avon Long created and starred in BBS on Broadway. Avon wasn't interested  or wasn't available for this production, however Cab Calloway was. The prima ballerina from The Dance Theater in Harlem, Lydia Abarca, was also cast as one of the dancers,  by ,Billy Wilson,  when he found out she was interested  and available. Cab Calloway was a star most of his career, and he was kind of stand offish. After meeting Honi Coles and other contemporaries of his, I thought that Cab would be just as friendly, but he wasn't,...at first....This is how we came to click...and kick the bo-bo,,,.
 Lydia Abarca,  and I,  danced  to Duke Ellington's song "Sophisticated Ladies", in the production as a duo.,( I can't spell the french term :"par-day-dua", look it up...lol..)   She was dressed as a sophisticated lady, in a glitterung , silver jump suit, with baggy arms , with white puffs on the end of the sleeves... and I... in a tuxedo. The choreography required me to go under her, and lift her. on my right shoulder, grab her right hand,  as she fell backwards , landed on one leg, and sled down into a split. I.. still holding her hand, spun her around, and pulled her up to me,...right as the song hit the musical bridge.    come back.... and,  in my next post,  i'll  tell you what happened.......Ronald Smokey Stevens

a history of entertainmnet in America...con't

In my 1st blog I mentioned Honi Coles , and I talked about our relationship, and how he impacted my life. I won't attempt to rewrite his bio here, instead I want to tell you how we met. In 1976, a national touring company of BBS was formed. I was cast in this production as the swing dancer. I drove to NY from DC to audition for the company , when I learned they were casting. I , along with many others, auditioned as dancers . Many were let go.. and I, and a few others . were ask to stay, and sing. When my time came , I asked the pianist , if he knew the Shaeffer beer song. He said yeah, and started playing. I eased on stage and began to sing the commercial song,    but,    I also incorporated some of the choreography that we had just been taught. When the producers, Billy Wilson, the choreographer, and the rest of the casting group, recognized the song, they fell out laughing......and applauded when I finished. .....I got the job.... The swing dancer is responsible for covering   ALL  the male dance choreography in the show. Honi was also cast as in the production as The Time Man. In our 4th week of rehearsal on the Friday, before our Tuesday opening in Chicago, we had a full run thru. At the conclusion of the run-thru, we were given notes. Notes, are the criticisms, given by the director and the choreographer after a run-thru. Billy Wilson was not happy.  He got on the principals, or the stars, especially hard. They weren't "clean" as he expressed it. Keep in mind that all the people he was criticizing were all in their 60's, and had never studied ballet in their lives. These elder statesmen and women of the industry came up in another time, when improvational dancing determined the measure of your skills. The balletic turns in the chorography were causing them problems. They recieved some blistering criticism. We broke for lunch. After I had changed into my street clothes, the gentleman playing The Time Man, came up to me in the hallway and said.." Hey Smoke...(that's what he called me) I want to ask you somethin..can you show me how to do that turn in the finale?  I said sure...now mind you, this is my 1st b'way show, I didn't know who he was, I did know that he was smooth, elegant and graceful. I don't know why he approached me. I wasn't even going to be on stage when the show opened, because I was the swing. Anyway I said sure, let's go in the rehearsal room. I said, ok...what you need to do, so that you don;t fall off your turn, is to spot,,,let your head whip around and your body will follow. Then I demonstrated a single piroette turn, and finished. I said ,spot...pick a place or object, whip your head and finish ,looking at the same spot or object. He tried it once, then he did it again and it was perfect. He did a single piroette first, and then he tried a double , he sort of fell out of it, but , he concluded it with some tap steps, but he knew , and I knew , that he had the turn.  After doing it successfully 4 or 5 more times, he said,"give me five" , and said..."you my man..you stick with me" , and that's how the legend "Charles Honi Coles",  and I became friends It was then that he introduced me to all his buddies in "The Copesetics". Mr Cookie. first, then Stump, Mr, Brownie, and. in Philadelphia, he introduced me to John W Bubbles, before he died, In every city we went, everybody knew Honi Coles, and it was fascinating meeting his friends and sharing quality time together as we toured the country in "BUBBLING BROWN SUGAR"
Ronald Smokey Stevens

a history of entertainment in america

 Before I take you back to the 1840's and discuss how entertainment in America began, In my first blog I mentioned the names of the legendary performers that I performed with in "BUBBLING BROWN SUGAR", my first Broadway musical. In case you're not familiar with this production, it paid a tribute to Harlem in it;s heyday of the 1920's,  the music of Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller., the comedy of  Miller & Lyles,  Bert Williams and others of the period.  If you've never heard of AVON LONG.., or Charles Honi Coles, here's a little info on them. Avon Long was one of the first, male solo. artist, that performed at the famous  COTTON CLUB  in  NYC. There he danced and performed his song "Brown Girl" to the segregated audiences. He had a wonderful career, and was also featured in "Roots", as the older "Chicken George", as well as many other great performance In  BBS he recreated Bert Williams historic pantomime of a poker game and sang Bert William's song "Nobody", always to tremendous applause. As a result of seeing Avon perform this, I recreated it myself, in "Rollin on the TOBA", as well as in  my  first short film entitled "Know When To Hold Em", which I shot will studying at The Community Film Workshop of Chicago in the mid 1980's.    In my next blog , Ill tell you about  Charles Honi Coles
Ronald Smokey Stevens