Opening Night Pics: Broadway’s The Trip to Bountifulby Wilson Morales
April 24, 2013
Last night, Blackfilm.com attended the Broadway revival of Horton Foote’s classic play, The Trip to Bountiful; which also marks the return of Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award-winning actress Cicely Tyson to the stage.
Directed by Michael Wilson, the cast also includes Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding, Jr, Emmy Award nominee and recording star Vanessa Williams, Tony Award nominee Condola Rashad and Tom Wopat.
Playing at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, ‘Bountiful’ is produced by Front Row Productions pioneers Stephen Byrd and Alia Jones Harvey. Also included among the producing team are Kevin Liles, Marvet Britto, Tyson and Kimberly Chandler.
The Trip to Bountiful, tells the story of Carrie Watts (Cicely Tyson), who is trapped in a cramped Houston apartment with her soft-spoken son (Cuba Gooding Jr) and out-spoken daughter-in-law (Vanessa Williams), dreaming of a return to her home in the small Gulf Coast town of Bountiful, where she grew up and raised her family. Fearing that she’s an imposition and chafing under her daughter-in-law’s watchful eye, she steals away with her latest pension check and heads home in the journey of a lifetime. The result is an unforgettable play about the idea of home and its power to sustain us.
Among the notables in attendance besides the cast were designer Chris Benz, opera singer, Jessye Norman, Kevin Liles, Marvet Britto, New York Knicks player Tyson Chandler and wife Kimberly Chandler, Lynn Kendall Thomas, Isiah Thomas, Rev. Al Sharpton, fashion designer B. Michael, Jekyl & Hyde actress and singer Deborah Cox, Ahmad Rashad, Tamara Tunie and Gregory Gregory Generet, Lois Smith, Kate Mulgrew, singer Estelle, Suzanne de Passe, Charles Randolph-Wright, Andre De Sheilds, singer Venus Adore, Elizabeth Ashley, LaChanze, and Michael Urie.
Blackfilm.com caught up with cast members Tyson, Gooding Jr., and Rashad as they spoke about how being on stage and doing this play.
How does it feel to be back on Broadway?
Cicely Tyson: The audience has been tremendous. Tonight was our 28th performance since previews, but our first opening.
Why is this character so special to you?
CT: Because she’s a representation of every elder that put a thumb print on my being. I never knew my maternal or paternal grandparents, but when we young and my mother worked, we had a woman who took care of us we called Nana. This is for Nana and all of the other elders that have been in my life. My tribute is to them.
The play is about going home. What does home mean to you?
CT: Home is a place that gives me comfort, peace, and joy, which is what my character is looking for. She had it in her youth and she wanted it back. She didn’t have it when she was with her daughter-in-law in the move to the city.
Why do theater and why this play?
Cuba Gooding, Jr: As a young actor in high school, I started on stage, doing Shakespeare film festivals and whatnot, and was snatched off the stage and started doing television and eventually film. This was always to be the end game. This is where I wanted to get back to. When I heard Ms. Cicely Tyson was returning back to Broadway and there were offering something to me to be in it with her, I was like, “This is a dream come true.” Then I read the play and read Horton Foote’s words and the way that he deals with relationships and characters, I knew it was the right thing to do.
How doing theater different from films?
CGj: It’s the same but it’s more intense. There’s more research and there’s more time that’s taken. You get to live the character whereas in film, everyday is something different.
What’s special about working with this cast?
Condola Rashad: Cicely Tyson is one of the greatest teachers that I have ever encountered. It’s not even in a teacher-student setting. I learned so much from her and from all of them. I feel like the rookie in the crew and I like that because I can watch how everyone got to where they are and I’m inspired by that. This is such a human story and if you want to be moved by someone who just wants to go home, it’s moving in that way.
Having done a lot of theater work within the last five years, are you getting the hang of it?
CR: You never get the hang of it. It’s a different show every time. As an actor, I feel it’s best to stay fresh. It’s always new.
