BWW Interviews: Alric Davis, Artistic Director of The Bayou Theatre Company Talks The Real of PASSING STRANGE

The Bayou Theatre Company (BTC) continues its 2015-2016 season with PASSING STRANGE. The musical theater Bildungsroman and rock opera roman à clef-sorta-written by mononymous musician Stew, follows anonymous character Youth, a post-adolescent black-American man from South Central Los Angeles, on his search for The Real. Through its uniqueness and wit, the show earned a Broadway run, a Tony Award, and a Spike Lee joint. (The filmmaking great released a documentary of the Broadway musical in 2009, also titled PASSING STRANGE.)

This isn't your mama's South Central LA coming-of-age story. Unlike the "urban" youths of John Singleton's 1991 film and coming-of-age tale exemplar BOYZ N THE HOOD, the well-to-do Youth travels across Europe from city to city encountering the requisite amount of drugs, sex, and rock and roll to rebel against his mother, not the machine.

I talk to BTC Artistic Director Alric Davis, who directs the company's upcoming production of PASSING STRANGE. While, as a current Musical Theater major at Howard University, Davis is nearer in age to Youth than most directors, he is nearly an old pro. He co-founded The Bayou Theatre Company and just last year directed the mammoth August Wilson play FENCES. Before then, he was a regular at the TUTS Tommy Tune Awards and Stages Repertory Theatre. Davis talks The BTC's place in the Houston theater community, the joys and fears of directing the unconventional musical and, of course, The Real.

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How did The Bayou Theatre Company (BTC) come about?

In the summer of 2013, my friends and I were fresh from graduating from G.W. Carver Magnet High School. Under the leadership of Roshunda Jones, we were blessed to do some groundbreaking, amazing theater at peak points of our lives. Theatre that struck up conversations and challenged ideas while also entertaining and showcasing our strengths. After graduating from Carver, I realized that kind of Theatre didn't really exist in Houston. And if it did, it wasn't accessible for people like me. With Trey Morgan and Yesha [Benjamin], I sought out to make theater less intimidating and more entertaining.

Sometimes the best way to do that is to include young performers, that way young audiences can see their friends and the story can be more relatable. Since then we've started gaining support from parents and teachers and reaching a wider audience, people who are interested in who we are and what we're about.

What do you mean by "people like me?"

Well, quite frankly, I mean young, black people who stayed where I stayed. With the exception of the occasional field trip to the Hobby Center, we didn't really have access to theater. There wasn't a theater in the Northwest Houston area, and if there was, we must not have known too much about it. Things are better now, Carver has collaborated with Ensemble Theatre and Stages Repertory Theatre (my favorite) has performed their educational touring version of ROMEO AND JULIET there as well. But before then, we were just considered "the little train that could."

With that said, what gap do you see yourself filling in the Houston theater community?

The Bayou Theatre Company is a young, multicultural theater company focused on exposing people to theater. What makes us different is our approach to theater. Sometimes it can be intimidating. I've heard people say it's "only for rich people", or it's "boring", so we've fought hard to stop those stigmas. We've created opportunities for student discounts and talkbacks to emphasize the importance of the arts in schools. We've sought to make our theater fun, but thought-provoking, just as it was when we were younger.

Why and how did you choose PASSING STRANGE to be a part of this season?

We wanted to produce a musical that was amazing but well within our means. We also wanted something that was relatively new. We found PASSING STRANGE from watching the Spike Lee film of the Broadway production. It was perfect because it was small but smart. The music was diverse and dynamic and the show had cast flexibility. It has a message that can speak to our audiences and it had never been seen in Houston before.

What directorial approach have you taken?

My approach has focused on ensemble building and physicality. We've done exercises, had dialogues, seen rock concerts. I think if the cast members trust each other, they can trust themselves to tell the story the best way they can. As far as physicality, I think it's the easiest way to relate to a character. By literally stepping in someone else's shoes, you can further understand how they feel and see the world.

What has been challenging for you in this piece? Or exciting?

It has been both exciting and challenging! Every day holds it own challenge, but the biggest thing I'm charged with is how to make this story as clear as possible. How do I convey the story's messages so that its universal and relatable to everyone? How do I get our target audience to be receptive to the story with its use of sex and drugs? Those are things that are on my plate only for me to eat and digest! So things have been interesting to say the least, but I've enjoyed it and I'm up for the task!

What is The Real to you?

I think it's love. We all need it, crave it. Some try to front like they don't, some run from it, but we are all built to love. It may not come in the way we want it, but it's always there. Youth is on this crazy journey searching for something he had all along with his Mother. The world is screaming at him "only love is real," but he's blinded by ambition. So I hope this show can help audiences realize that love is so important. Especially with the state our world is in, we have to allow space for love.

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Performances of The Bayou Theatre Company's PASSING STRANGE are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, August 6 - Saturday, August 8 at Frenetic Theater, 5102 Navigation Blvd. General admission is $15. For tickets and more information, call 832-649-2096 or visit www.bayoutheatrecompany.org.

Photos courtesy of The Bayou Theatre Company

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