Continued…

…“I want to consult with the Rabbis.” I loved that.

Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews wrote a beautiful show. I didn’t have my hands in this one like I had on Motown – every word and every note was theirs. My job was to guide them to find the story they wanted to tell, if I could, and to focus on letting it emerge. Dick and I had slightly different roles on this project, his was more comprehensive; but our collaboration was just as fruitful and gratifying as it had been before. And that cast!

Nicolette Robinson singing her huge, surprising note in the finale to act one, and the audience screaming for her; the calm, quiet strength of Tyrone Davis, Jr. as his Ugandan teenager character acknowledges the humanity in a gay mentor; the pure, grounded joy of Jamar Williams; Kristolyn Lloyd’s mastery over an audience; the spellbinding power of Michael Luyowe’s voice, whether singing or speaking; and just about every moment Adeola Role was on stage. These were moments of transcendent beauty that I will carry with me always. When Jeremy Pope stood in for Griffin Matthews as Griffin, Dick and I turned to each other in the seats at 2nd Stage Theater and said to each other at the same time, “That’s a star.” Among many calls we got wrong, that was one we got right.