Brenda Braxton
Okay, it's apparent in Chicago that you're a singing- dancing maniac. How long has this been going on?
[Laughs.] Like a maniac?! Well, my first Broadway show was in 1976, in the black Guys & Dolls. But I've been dancing since I was three.
Something you've always wanted to do?
Ever since I came out of the womb.
Was your family supportive?
They were behind me 100%. Especially my mother. She'd wanted to be an artist, but her mother wouldn't let her. Cause back in those days, you had to have some kind of career as a secretary or nurse. So my mother swore if her kids showed some kind of artistic ability she'd let them persue it. As long as I kept my grades up, she said, I could keep dancing.
You've been Velma for two years now?
Two years next week, yes—that I've been in and out of either the Broadway or road company.
Really?!
I suspect the movie's popularity has reflected well on the show's attendance. So how do you reconcile Velma for folks groomed on Catherine Zeta-Jones?
That's a wise decision on Walter Bobbie's part, especially after the film. Cause even if the movie gets audiences in, once you start “All That Jazz,” it's like—Welcome to our version of Chicago!
Speaking of great shows, you were in the original cast of Dreamgirls.
Debacle?
Obviously, worth it. Were you aware that you were in the midst of creating a masterpiece?
Not at all. I mean, we had a feeling that, "Hmm...this could be good." But not to the extend that it really is now. I mean, today you just say "Dreamgirls" and everybody screams!
You co-directed and choreographed the Actors' Fund benefit of Dreamgirls. How was revisiting that material for you?
Is directing and choreographing something you'd like to pursue?
Jerry Zaks?
George C. Wolfe?
Michael Bennett?
Seth Rudetsky?
And now a performer, Peter Allen?
Yeah, what happened with Legs Diamond?
Played at the gorgeous old Mark Hellinger. Now it's the Times Square Church. Be honest, don't you want it back?
Along with your considerable theater awards, you've received some prestigious honors from leading African-American instituions like the NAACP, the National Council of Negro Women and the Martin Luther King Jr “Living a Dream Award. So, I wondered if you had any thoughts about this year's Oscars?
Well, afterwards, Roger Ebert was saying, that with two major acting awards going to African-Americans this year—similar to 2002, when Denzel Washington and Halle Berry won—"that the story is," he said, "that it's not a story any more."
They were discussing how things had changed, and that now black people winning Oscars “wasn't as big a deal.”
Do you show them backstage?
That's so cool. It must bring you a lot of joy?
Nope.
[Laughs.] Well, no, cause I didn't want to see it while I was doing the show.
Well, when I first started doing the show I hadn't even seen it on [the revival] yet, cause we were still doing Smokey Joe's Cafe. So my whole thing was, "Am I going to be as good as Bebe Neuwirth?" That was my first question/worry/angst. But then [Chicago's director] Walter Bobbie came in and said, "Brenda, we hired you to be you." And that kind of turned everything around for me. Because it's true. No matter how hard I try, I won't be Bebe, I won't be Catherine Zeta. But what I think what I bring to it is a whole new thing. And I kind of figure that by the end of the show, whoever had doubts, I think they love me. Still, sometimes I look out into the audience during "All That Jazz" and think, "Ooooo, they're in shock right now, aren't they?" Because it's a black woman comin' out of that hole. [Laughs.] "That's not Catherine Zeta!"
That's right. That's right. And the show is so great, it works no matter what.
For the whole four years! From day one of rehearsals, through the whole debacle in Boston, then…
Well, Michael [Bennett] just could not figure out the second act, especially the top of the second act. It changed so many times. We were there for six weeks. Then we stayed another three.
Magical. Just to hear that cowbell at the top of the show... you get chills. It was the same in rehearsals with Lillias [White] and Audra [McDonald] cause everyone was just so happy to be doing Dreamgirls--and because everyone knows it so well, everyone just fell into place. And I'm so sorry that they're not going to try to do a full Broadway revival before they do the movie, which Jerry Mitchell and I were slated to do. Cause we were ready to do it. Then they said, “No, we're not doing it.” Which is so unfortunate, cause like Chicago, that Dreamgirls material just lives.
Directing, yes. Not so much a choreographer. I only did the choreography for Dreamgirls because I remembered the original, and was able to re-create it, giving everyone some background.
Okay... [Laughs].
Hmmm... let's see. "Jerry's a good time."
"Crazy as cat shit. But a genius!"
[Long pause.] "I wished I had worked with him more."
[Laughs.] "He wants to be me!"
Ohhhh, I loved Peter. Couldn't act his way out of a wet paper bag. But I Ioved him.
Well, there really were some ingenious little nuggets in there. But the whole show kind of changed direction right in the middle, and we just didn't have enough preview time. Then the sets started crashing into each other. And they started to fire people. Then they put me in the position of the fired person. And though Peter was such an incredible performer, you just couldn't believe him as this straight guy. You know? But he was always wonderful to me, tried to include me in everything. See, Peter wanted me to be a character in the show, having an African-American woman be one of [Legs's] conquests. But we just didn't have enough time to make the writing fit the idea. So you had this black woman who stepped out. And who was funny. And was a surprise! But kind of like the show as a whole... I don't know, it just sort of died.
Oh, yes, yes. I don't know what the thought pattern behind that was ... [Laughs] But, oh my God, yes, I want it back.
Well, I didn't see them, cause we had a show that night. I was so happy they had Chris Rock hosting, though. And I hear he did a good job!
It's not a story anymore?
Well, it is a big deal. We still have a long way to go. Honestly, I don't think a lot of African-Americans watch the awards shows because it's just been so—for lack of a better word—wrong. And even with Chris Rock being the host, people are like, "Hmm, okay, it's still a white awards show." Maybe now that Jamie Fox and Morgan Freeman have won, people will start going, "Oh, okay. Maybe they're trying to be a little more fair now, so maybe we'll start watching it." But it's still not there yet. See, cause... we don't know if it's real yet. If it's true yet. Cause maybe they'll just go, "Well, we'll let this happen this year. But then we're gonna go right back to what we were doing." You know? So, it's going to take some time to see if this is really changing.
Yeah. They're wonderful. Mostly girls from twelve to eighteen. But when I was doing Smokey Joe's, I had some as young as six! They're from different areas in the city—Queens, the Bronx. And I tell them I was brought up in the Bronx, and was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I teach them how important it is to have a dream. And go after that dream. To respect yourself, and not to let anyone disrespect you.
Yeah, on a tour. Cause then they get to see how we have a lot of women working in, what you'd call, "non-traditional" jobs. It's important for them to see those jobs too. Because they always see us on stage and go, "Wow, that's fabulous! But I could never do that!" So you say, "Well, you may not be able to do that but look what's going on backstage... you could be an electrician!"
Oh, yeah. They do. I wish I could do more. Truth is, I'm more nervous before one of those seminars than I am before an opening night of a show! Because kids, you know, they're honest. They don't take no shit. They always come in these hard-assed girls, like "I don't need to be here." But once I get in there and start talking to them—and see that first girl crack a smile—I go, okay, I'm good now.