Interview: Brynn Williams Talks FREEDOM RIDERS Musical and Experience Talking With the Original Riders
By: Stephi Wild Aug. 04, 2017
Freedom Riders; The Civil Rights Musical is currently running at The New York Musical Festival, through August 5.
The show tells the true story of activists who boldly challenged the legality and optics of the Jim Crow South by riding buses in mixed groups. It features Civil Rights icons Diane Nash, John Seigenthaler, John Lewis, Congress of Racial Equality's original 13 riders, and other fearless activists of the Civil Rights Movement. FREEDOM RIDERS is a soaring portrait of the fearless voices of the Movement who used nonviolent direct action to initiate change.
Brynn Williams, who plays the "force" Diane Nash, recently chatted with BroadwayWorld about her experiences working on the show, in addition to what is was like getting to talk to Nash herself! Check out the full interview below.
How is Freedom Riders going?
It's been great! It's an amazing experience, I did it last year and it was a beta event last year and this year it's a full production, so we have an extra week of rehearsal, we have so many new people added to the creative team, we have a more focused cast with characters that are more developed. It's just a better flushed out show and I think it's going to read anybody who comes to see it who saw it last year that it's been fine-tuned and refined. I couldn't be more proud of our entire cast and all of the hard work we put into this.
Can you talk a bit about the woman you play? Who is she, what is she like?
I play Diane Nash and she is a force. In the show she is described as the wind, and truly that is the best way that I can think to put it. She was voted by the other freedom riders to stay behind and not go on the buses, to stay and keep things going, to be that point of contact, to find more volunteers, to help them get out of sticky situations from where she was. She's just that strong presence. She's so amazing, we actually were able to speak to her and she has such a calm demeanor and a calm presence that's beautiful. It's beautiful and strong and powerful in a way that you wouldn't necessarily expect form someone who's put in that position at such a young age, she was maybe 19. She handled it with such grace and she was right up there with Martin Luther King and talking to Robert Kennedy and she's not intimidated. She looks at what she has to do and she accepts it because it's the right thing to do and because there's an injustice and she wants to fix it.
What is it like for you as an actor to play someone who is that iconic, and such a force like you said?
It is terrifying. It is the most terrifying thing I have ever done in my acting career. This is my first time that I am playing someone who is not only a real person, but who is still alive. There's an added pressure to make the role my own but still stay true to who she is and all of the things that she did. There are people who know her, she still has a lot of meetings and things, like we want her to come see the show and she's like "I don't know if my schedule will allow it, I'll try my hardest." She has not given up. So it's an honor, it's amazing, but there is that added pressure to do her justice because she is such an amazing woman and not just for that time, for any time. She is such a force and so there's a different mindset that I have to go into to tap into that kind of focused power. And it's terrifying and exciting and I couldn't be more proud that I get to play her and couldn't be happier that they chose me.
What was it like to talk to her? Can you tell me a bit about what she said to you?
She said a lot of amazing things. She was talking a lot about the other riders and she was talking about some of the things that she went through, some of her experiences. One of the questions I asked her was is there somebody who stands out to you, a freedom rider that just for any reason whatsoever stands out? She said there is no one person that comes to her mind because they all did it together. There is no one person who is the reason that they succeeded. They all did it together as a unit and as a community, they were all involved in the process. I think that's something so beautiful, here she is organizing and orchestrating and keeping things on track and she did all of this. She doesn't downplay her role but she doesn't elevate herself to a different level either. She says "we all did this together, everybody played a different role, and each role is as important as the last." She said that if there were some people who were scared or maybe not the best people to do the rides then they would find other things for them to do. They would be in charge of making the phone calls. So it was just fascinating that she looked at everyone's strengths and put them where they were best suited so they all did it together. It speaks to the cast as well, what we try to mimic in the show. I just love her so much, I could sit and listen to her talk about anything for days on end. Just, wake up, listen to Ms. Nash speak, go home, sleep, get up and do the same thing all over again. She's so amazing.
Did she give you any advice on how to play her or is she just letting you do your thing?
She kind of let us do our thing. She's just very proud of everything. She's proud of what she's done, she's proud of what young people are doing today, and she's the coolest person in the world. The advice to play her comes from watching interviews and video clips from when she was younger and in the midst of the freedom rides. So in a way she's given me advice because I've watched her when she was actually in the middle of it, and that helped so so much.
Did you get to speak with any of the other riders? How exactly did that come about?
Our writers, I have no idea how, but they were just like "hey before rehearsal we're going to speak to Diane Nash." I think we've spoken to Diane Nash, Jim Zwerg, and Charles Person. All three of them were just phenomenal. Jim Zwerg and Charles Person were both on the buses and Mr. Zwerg was one of the riders who got beaten and the things that these people have survived are just unthinkable, unimaginable. Not only did they set out to do something with nonviolence, they actually did it, they succeeded, they never once broke their vow or went against their morals. They did it. They came up with a code, they stuck to the code. I wish I could talk to every single freedom rider and hear about all of their experiences, it's fascinating.
What was something that really stood out that any of them said or talked about?
One thing that was really fascinating was that they all have the same mindset. They all said "we did this together, this was a group effort, this was a unit, this was a community." They didn't single out any one person or try to act like their role was the one thing that exceeded everyone else. They all worked together on it. To have three different people who had different roles in the rides, and they all say there was no one person, it just shows exactly how they were all on the same page. They were on the same page 60 years ago and they're still on the same page today.
Do they all stay in touch with each other, do they hang out?
I don't know! They're all elders and spread out across the country. Like, Diane Nash is still fighting for injustices and trying to right wrongs. So these aren't people who got old and now sit in their rocking chairs all day. They're still very much fighting for freedoms.
Did any of them talk about the current political climate, and how there's still a lot to fight for?
A little bit. Diane Nash said that she's proud that the young people today still have that drive, that desire to make things right. She also said that the world hasn't changed, things that happen today with police brutality and things of that nature, they aren't new occurrences. What's new is the ability to document it and to see it, share it, post it, have it go viral. So she touched on it a little bit but just saying to keep going, keep trying to make a different, fight for change.
After talking to them, did anything change about your approach to the material?
Definitely. After speaking with Diane Nash I was able to get a better sense of the calm person that she is. How she thinks about every single one of her words, everything she does is very calculated, so that nothing can be misconstrued because they had to be in that time. If anyone thought they were rowdy they would get arrested or beaten or worse, they would get killed. So there was no room for error. You can hear that in her voice. I think she still carries that today. She makes sure that there is no error. That lifted calm way of speaking is something that I was able to pick up just from hearing her voice. It's different reading the script, reading the scenes, reading what happens in the musical, that's different than hearing someone who is still alive saying, like Jim Zwerg said that when mobs would attack, it was a known thing that the mobs would first go after the white men, then the black men, and then the white women and the black women. It was in that order. All of that information, is different reading it on the page and saying "wow this is a crazy story," and hearing it from someone's mouth saying that this actually happened.
So obviously this was a huge movement in its time, why do you think it's important for this story to still be told all of these years later?
What's most important is not forgetting that it happened. Not treating it like a history that becomes a legend that becomes a myth. Remembering that this is a very real thing and remembering that it is still going on today. Keeping stories relevant by showing them, by exposing them to the world, different generations, different groups, different classes, just exposure is the best way to keep it relevant.
Is there anything else you would like to share about the show?
We actually had two freedom riders watch our run through today! We were in costume, just in the rehearsal space, going through the show, singing through and saying our lines. Watching the looks on their faces was heartbreaking and inspiring. Seeing that this isn't a story to them, these are people who were there. They're watching the retelling of their own story. It puts it into perspective. When I do the show now, it's not for me. It's to share the story who come to see the show, but it's mostly for the people who were there. For the people who aren't Martin Luther King, who are not Robert Kennedy. It's for the people who history doesn't acknowledge as much but they were there, they experience beatings and segregation and getting coffee poured on them, and getting put in prison and max security prison for riding a bus. The freedom rides weren't to desegregate the buses, the buses were already legally desegregated. It was to make sure that the south was following the laws. Some places were, some places weren't. I'm just in such a daze because that just hit me today. This story isn't for me, I'm not telling it for me. If other people who see it take things away from it, that's great, that's a bonus. But my goal is to serve justice to the people who were there, the people who were still with us today and who have passed on, who are as much a part of the movement as any of the people in our history books.
Brynn Williams' credits include: Broadway: Bye Bye Birdie (Ursula), 13 (Cassie), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Betty-Lou Who), In My Life, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Off-Broadway: David Bowie's "Lazarus". Regional Theater: Bruce Hornsby's"SCKBSTD" (Jill). Television/Film: Naked Brother's Band (Ohio Teen), Between the Lions (Ruby), Finky's Kitchen ("Runaway" Singer). Other Appearances: The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Pittsburgh Steelers National Anthem singer, Pittsburgh Steelers 75th Anniversary (Soloist), Good Morning America, NY Mets National Anthem Singer.
For more information about Freedom Riders, or to purchase tickets, click here.
Freedom Riders production photo credit: Blue Fairy Photography
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