Interview: Maurice Emmanuel Parent tells of Front Porch Arts Collective's HOLIDAY FEAST Where Sitcoms are on the Menu

For the second straight year, Front Porch Arts Collective, Boston’s leading Black theater company, is presenting a “Holiday Feast” of staged readings of Christmas episodes from classic Black sitcoms, at Central Square Theater, December 12–14.

The four television comedies, which aired between 1977 and 1992, featured this year are “Amen,” “A Different World,” “Family Matters,” and “The Jeffersons.” Directed by Jackie Davis of Trinity Rep, the cast will include Christa Brown, Taalib T.J. DiBinga-Robinson, Shani Ferrell, Janelle Grace, Jonathan Kitt, Malik Mitchell, Rick Park, Jada Saintlouis, Stephen B. Spencer, Daniel Washington, Karimah Williams, Kandyce Whittingham, Renee E. Yancey, and Oliver Rizzo.

Front Porch Arts Collective’s co-founder and co-artistic director Maurice Emmanuel Parent will also be on hand to read George Jefferson in “The Jeffersons” and Deacon Ernest Frye in “Amen,” two roles made famous by television legend Sherman Hemsley, as well as two smaller roles in “A Different World.”

A full time Professor of the Practice in the Tufts Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, the Washington, D.C., native is also one of the most in-demand actors on the Boston theater scene today.

In just the past decade or so, Parent has appeared in “The Scottsboro Boys” and “Strange Loop” at SpeakEasy Stage, “Edward II” for Actors’ Shakespeare Project, where he is a resident-company member, “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Skeleton Crew,” and “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” at The Huntington, “Angels In America: Millenium Approaches” at Central Square Theater, and “Into the Woods” and “Mr. Parent” at Lyric Stage Boston.

Parent – who co-founded The Porch with co-artistic director Dawn M. Simmons – was in his office at Tufts recently when he took a telephone call to discuss “Holiday Feast.”

Tell me about “Holiday Feast” and how the idea for it came about?

It’s a staged reading, with the actors reading from scripts on music stands, designed to evoke the comedy and nostalgia of these classic sitcoms. The idea for this show came from a 2017 staged reading The Porch did in what we called “The God’s Closet Reading Series” of Marcus Gardley plays. I leaned over to Dawn and said that one of the actresses reminded me of Jackée Harry, because she was giving a Sandra-esque reading that was very reminiscent of Jackée’s character on “227.” It was then that Dawn and I said to each other that we should do staged readings of sitcoms.

Is there a common thread that runs through the episodes?

There are several, the first, of course, being that they’re all holiday-themed and each is 20 minutes long. The readings are of episodes where you’re expected to know these characters already. And with some, you’ll know them well. When it comes to “Family Matters” and Urkel, played so memorably by Jaleel White, the set-up and structure will be very familiar, too. Some of the jokes in these shows haven’t aged well, but these episodes are still hilarious and completely family friendly.

What gives these staged readings their appeal?

They work because they bring the writing forward, which demonstrates why these shows are still so funny and why watching them can feel like you’re visiting old friends. With these readings, you can really focus on the language and the nostalgia for earlier times.

How is it to work with Jackie Davis as a director?

It’s wonderful because, while she has long been a colleague, this is her first time working with The Porch. Jackie understands theatricality and knows these shows well. She’s added movement, too, so I’ll get to do my Sherman Hemsley strut.

Besides learning his patented George Jefferson walk, what other research did you do in order to evoke Hemsley?

I looked at old clips of Sherman in his TV roles on “The Jeffersons” and “Amen,” and in the 1970 Broadway musical “Purlie.” I grew up watching “Amen,” which was one of my favorite shows, so I’m familiar with how great Sherman was in that show, especially in scenes with Anna Marie Horsford, who played his daughter and is one of the most underrated actresses of her time.

I understand that the December 13 performance will have some special elements. Tell me about that?

That night, we're hosting a pre-performance reception and fundraiser featuring a talk with WGBH Radio’s Callie Crossley about her impressive collection of Black Santas. December 13 is my birthday, too, so it’s going to be a very special evening.

Photo captions: Dawn M. Simmons and Maurice Emmanuel Parent at the 2023 “Holiday Feast,” courtesy of JMKPR.

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