The Garrett Morris Interview
By Rick Brown

Saturday Night Alum Garrett Morris speaks his mind about Katrina, SNL, race, the entertainment industry, religion, Shadowbox Cabaret…whatever crosses his mind!!!

Naked Sunfish – I hear you are from New Orleans.

Garrett Morris – Yes I was born and raised in New Orleans…went to Booker T. Washington High School and Dillard University.

Naked Sunfish – Do you still have family there?

Garrett Morris – Yes I do but since Katrina a lot of family have moved to different parts of the country. One or two houses were lost and one of my aunts might be moving back soon but most of my family is in either Georgia or Texas or Oklahoma…something like that.

N.S.– Do they plan on going back?

G.M. – I haven’t polled everybody. Some plan to go back some do-n’t.

N.S. – You’ve been there?

G.M. – Not since Katrina I haven’t been there. I plan to go in a couple of months. I’ve been pretty busy out here. But I’m in contact with my aunt every day. I know what’s going on down there. FEMA has stopped paying. Looks like you can get some money for an Iraqi War any time you want.

Laughter

G.M. - UH OH what’s that! Was that somebody about to criticize the government about that thing they started?

N.S. – It’s okay with me. Priorities are pretty screwed up right now.

G.M. – It does seem…you know…I’m…nobody’d be making fun if they were over there in Iraq…maybe they’d be getting the money they need. With all due respect Louisiana tradition I must say…we use the word “politics” in regard to what goes on in the city of New Orleans…you use the word loosely. And I don’t know if you heard that lately there’s been a scandal about how much money has been ripped off.

N.S. – Yeah.

G.M. - Including a SEX CHANGE! Huh? Explain THAT to me man! I mean wait a minute! Now HOW…do you…get the money from FEMA…what do you write on the application? What do you write to FEMA to get the money for a sex change? What do you SAY on it? How did that guy…I mean it’s AMAZING!!!!! Anyway…that’s Louisiana! THAT’S LOUISIANA!!!

Laughter

N.S. – I read that you were trained at the Julliard School of Music.

G.M. – Actually I studied with a teacher who was in fact one of Julliard’s teachers. When I was at Dillard when I did my undergraduate work…my degree is in voice and composition. And when I studied at Dillard his book was the Bible. So when I went to New York…I was then working as a singer for Harry Belafonte. I also was keeping up with my vocal studies so I looked for him. So I didn’t matriculate in Julliard…I studied with this Julliard teacher while I planned to go to the Manhattan School of Music and I got one semester in when I got the job with Harry Belafonte and I haven’t looked back.

N.S. – So was music your first love?

G.M. – See I was born and raised the son of a Baptist minister who was a man who preached. So basically that was acting. He also sang during his sermons. He was also the choir director…and he wrote. So basically I had a multi theater mentality most of my life. I did want to do some great things in music but I always thought I would be a writer. My career has included not only singing but also composing and arranging. I’ve also written a couple plays. So I took my grandfather as a sort of prototype. It was kind of my renaissance. And once you’re in the business you realize you can’t really rely on just one thing. You need to know how to act if you’re a singer. I knew I couldn’t dance so I learned to act. But I’ve always been into a multi-faceted approach to the theater. Now I KNOW you didn’t want that long drawn out answer!!

Laughter

N.S. – Did you do stand up?

G.M. – No…you see my first ten years I was with Harry Belafonte and meanwhile I also taught. P.S. #71. I was a schoolteacher too. I taught in prisons for two years. At Comstock Maximum Security Prison had a rehabilitation program that included a music teacher. Ha. Ha. Ha! For those murderers!!!

Laughter

G.M. - And I taught at a minimum security facility…meanwhile I wrote couple plays that were produced off Broadway…me and Bill Duke did it. And oh by the way the play had Obba Babatunde…do you know who that is? He’s a very fine actor and is well known right now but obviously he is not known in O-HI-O!

Laughter

G.M. – So by the time Saturday Night Live came along I’d been in the business 17 years. I had some kind of decent reputation in the business but of course my NATIONAL reputation came from being “discovered” after 17 years in the business by Lorne Michaels. Even then I was originally hired as a writer. But I was a playwright who knew how to write for a couple hours but I had no idea how to write for two minutes and I don’t think I ever mastered that. Then some negative stuff came up that I don’t want to talk about and people involved…some people said I couldn’t write. Actually I have to agree with them because at this point I hadn’t produced a thing. It wasn’t that I couldn’t write it was just that I had trouble reigning in…Saturday Night Live was revolutionary in that it was doing some thing for 15 seconds…30 seconds…a minute…this man was having trouble getting my ideas into that space. Then Lorne saw a movie I did called “Cooley High” and that’s when he asked me to audition for the Not Ready for Prime Time Players and basically that’s how I became a member on the show.

N.S. – How would you compare the show now with the original version?

G.M. – You know…I get asked that question all the time and I’m not one to want to render any opinion. I’m sure some have never seen us who were born 15 years ago that will probably give some lip service respect to the first 5 years of the show…but maybe some people only know Eddie (Murphy)…some people only know Billy Crystal…some people only know…um…um…what’s his name? Will…uh…

N.S. – Will Farrell

G.M. – Will Farrell…who is a great talent.

N.S. – But the show was a lot less “promotion oriented” in your day.

G.M. – Wait…I’m not through now!!! I’m not through!! It reminds me of what’s generally happening in politics in that it veers more towards being accepted by a larger number of people. As opposed to the first 5 years we were unknown and our whole thing was in fact we were radical. That’s what brought the attention. And then SCTV and Mad TV have really gone to where we were or should be. In that way…I’m not talking about the actors in it…there seems to be a general policy of being a little skittish about turning off what I call the “WAM” phenomenon…the white adult male phenomenon.

Laughter

G.M. - There’s also the BAM…black adult males and LAM…Latin adult male phenomenons, etc, etc, etc. But everyone’s in with the white phenomenon and don’t realize this is really a multi-phenomenon nation and there’s a lot of gold in them unexplored or undiscovered demographic hills. There’s a lot to be said by the multi racial assortment of people who come together because of mutual interests that transcends their racial or cultural differences. I maintain that sex can be that…comedy can be that…and topical news can be that. And the major networks don’t even know. There is nothing like that…. nothing for blacks…nothing for Latinos…nothing for Middle easterners…nothing for Asians. There are all kinds of possibilities. There was a time when there were inventive producers like Norman Lear. If he were 25 today I could see him cooking up a show with some kind of an Israeli racist or an Iraqi racist and figure out how to make that work in comedy…how to make that funny. That’s what he did with Archie Bunker. You don’t see anybody with ideas like that on NBC or ABC or CBS. They’ve got the market cornered. They can do whatever they want, really. Maybe it is like you have a lot of people who are very talented but who do not have a lot of history. Ninety day wonders out of Harvard or Yale, who have what I would call a kind of pseudo European background, very smart in administration not history. For instance now…I’ve got you! The movies that they do, cater to the concept that if you present something besides the accepted myth, there is going to be a problem but that may not be solved. Let me say for instance, Mel Gibson and Jesus, I never saw it but I would say it was really Epiphonegistic…that’s my word. That his thing with the Epiphonegistic…in terms of the violence that now we know that was attended to Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. But as a black man, who has dealt with again and again a racism towards non- whites from a Christian thing that actually, that the Bible said that Jesus had brown skin and hair like lambs wool, if in fact the past few hundred years, the Europeans and Christians have been worshiping a brown skinned God, it is quite possible that a whole lot of things that came out of racism might not have happened. If you do a movie nowadays and don’t do it with a blonde white Swede doing Jesus, nobody is going to go see it. Everybody knows the guy was born in North Africa, come on you know. Unless this guy…Mary is a fly in the ointment, because Joseph was his father, so Jesus came out of a brown skin women. So in entertainment, if you want to do a movie with say a Blair Underwood doing Jesus, you can’t do it and expect our Western Christians to support it. They will not do it, even though they know Mary was a dark skinned woman! If you don’t do movies with Mary as a white lady they will not support it. So what I am saying is that there has to be something at the production level, I don’t think it is impossible and I am not saying people should not go on making Blond Swede Jesus for a million years, but it should also be possible to do him in other ways in a democracy.

N.S. -I agree.

continued below...

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"Untitled"
by Donna Maria Distel

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Blank Sight
by John Bennett

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Pass the Tanning Butter
(And Watch Out for That Dump Truck!!)

By Rick Brown

Ordinarily I would call this daybreak. But since I’ve been awake since 3:30 a.m. it’s not the same feeling. Driving up to drop the dog off at my brother and sister in law’s last night was the usual 2-hour tedium that is the drive from Columbus to Cleveland. But hey ... we’re going to an island I cannot even remember the name of! And that’s a good thing.

Usually there’s background music in an airport. Not today. Herman’s Hermit’s “Something Good” ... a song written by the great Carol King (I remember everything vividly ... at least before 1977!) is swirling in my head ... heard it in the car on the way here. A few years ago I saw a more than reasonable facsimile of the Hermits ... with Peter Noone (the original singer ( ... and I really pissed him off by getting the band’s lineup wrong in my Naked Sunfish review.) Infighting with his old drummer ... some such thing. It could be a worse song chiming away in my fatigued brain ... like “Sugar, Sugar”. Still ... I wish Yvonne would get here with a cup of hot joe and a fatty muffin to take the edge off ... both sleep wise and ... ”somethin’ tells me I’m into somethin’ good ... oh yeah ... somethin’ tells me I’m into somethin’..”
continued...

Bruce Springsteen & the Seeger Sessions Band
May 30, 2006
Germain Amphitheater
Columbus, Ohio
* * * * *
By Rick Brown

I often comment in conversations to people who “don’t get” Bruce Springsteen that I myself “didn’t get” the man until I saw his place in the lineage of American music history and tradition. It’s not until the listener sees Bruce’s connection to icons such as Woody Guthrie ... or in this case with the release of “We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions” ... longtime traditionalist folk troubadour Pete Seeger ... his rightful place in the American music tapestry. Just as characters like Crazy Janie or Wendy struggle to find their place in this world in Springsteen’s own songs, Bruce takes centuries old working class heroes and makes them seem like old friends ... neighbors ... people who work hard, do right and love each other.

I have NEVER experienced a concert like this.

Firstly, if you had told me a major rock star could perform American standards I sang as a boy in grade school music class in front of more then 3000 adoring fans ... all standing and singing along ... I would have laughed out loud. But there we all were proudly exalting lyrics such as “When John Henry was a little baby ... ” or “I got a mule and her name is Sal. Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal.” Few have the charisma and insight to pull this off.

Secondly, the experience goes much deeper than a sing a long. Mr. Springsteen was almost innocuous at times, fronting a 17-member band that included fiddlers, a sousaphone player, steel pedal guitar, washboard and at nights end, an actual kitchen sink. His acoustic guitar was not mixed out front and other musician at times more than helped with vocals. The stars on this night were the songs themselves. Like Wendy’s strapping her hands across my engines in “Born to Run”, Bruce embraced these American parables and offered them as a gift of our heritage in the context of hope. And hope is something America hasn’t had a dialogue about in way too long.

Drawing from a myriad of influences including folk, Texas swing, Dixieland, boogie woogie, et al, The Sessions Band gave us a history lesson of not just musical chronology, but of all that brings us together as a people ... as Americans. And contrary to the political discourse of the past half decade there was no mention of Jesus. “O Mary Don’t You Weep”, “Pay Me My Money Down”, “We Shall Overcome”, these songs made the audience feel connected to our past, our hard working American ethos, of genuine family love and most importantly a humble aspiration of American pride. And believe me ... it has been quite some time since this writer felt proud to be an American and felt hopeful about the human condition. “Jacob’s Ladder” ... a song I remember singing in Vacation Bible School as a child ... was at once an unconditional, accepting, joyous celebration of faith in something bigger than all of us ... a power that can bring us all together in a most personal and private way. What a refreshing diversion from the religiously ideological din of the 21st Century.

Springsteen’s tour began at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival before embarking nationally. And Bruce made more than one pointed reference to how this city represented America as a whole. He did not shy away from casting dispersions on President Bush for not having the insight, fortitude and compassion to have this same epiphany. A somber, respectful “When The Saints Go Marching In” made us all see the tragic metaphor ... and how America has let itself down ... failed ourselves in the caring values we talk incessantly about.

I realize this doesn’t read much like a review of a rock concert. I certainly do not apologize for that. This was an experience like none I have ever witnessed. For an evening I felt hope again ... as an American who grew up working class and believed we could make this land great for the greatest numbers of people. I believed that again. Professor Springsteen let the songs tell the stories themselves. And these stories are all about ... us together ... us collectively. Us ... as America

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So why did I have so much fun at “Best of Shadowbox 2006”? Was it because there was a “virgin” in my party and it gave me “new eyes”? Maybe. Or was it Tom Cardinal’s exuberant tour of the newly refurbished balcony (which was all the buzz). Yeah ... that’s part of it. Was it because the audience was arguably the best I’ve been a part of in this performance space? Most definitely ... that certainly helped enormously. But the biggest reason is this:

The Shadowbox performers genuinely seemed to be enjoying themselves. Really. I’ve seen all these sketches ... some of them twice before. But the pace ... the enthusiasm ... the timing ... the sum was of all this results in the material having a vibrancy that may not have been there in previous shows

Take the opening skit, “Le Blind Date”. Jimmy Mak and Amy Lay play a couple meeting at a restaurant for a blind date. They are served by French waiter Adam Fouth. I didn’t care for this much the first time I saw it what with its “booger joke” and the old “spinach in the teeth” routine. But this time around the actors made the characters funny. And time worn sight gags can be hilarious when the characters performing them are inherently humorous in and of themselves. It’s the old adage “it’s not what she said per se ... but the way she said it.” Anyone who has ever tried explaining why they thought something was funny knows this. I still chuckle visualizing Fouth’s goofy walk and outlandish attempt at a French accent.

Amy Lay takes the enthusiasm in several directions in “Best of ... 06”. Anyone who has seen her “not so innocent” little girl in Shannon’s Movie Reviews knows the one woman sketch is a multi-leveled gut buster ... albeit brief. This time around she gives an interesting and hilarious perspective to both “Titanic” and”Spiderman”. Ms. Lay’s delightful Shannon could charm the pants off of Governor Bob Taft! (Not that she ... or anyone else for that matter ... would want to.)

Ms. Lay shifts gears in “Bustin’ a Move” playing a demure, modest girl with a hidden desire to be an exotic dancer. Shadowbox veteran Julie Klein ... who returning from a stint at Shadowbox Cabaret in Covington, Kentucky recently ... told me she felt “glad to be home” ... portrays an ex-stripper turned teacher named Busty who has suffered a broken hip. Add effeminate Stephan (a nimble Jimmy Mak) to Lay’s shy Donna, a “volunteer” from the audience and giggly sex kitten Misty (Katy Psenicka) and you have a delightfully bawdy burlesque! Ms. Psenicka, a fine actress and choreographer in her own right, possess a real talent for shimmying her northern assets ... if you get my drift. This woman could make a Hooters Girl blush. The volunteer from the audience however ... did not.

Ms. Psenicka and Ms. Klein combine their talents as snotty, upper crust, inebriated society women in “Maureen and Buffy”. This sketch also benefits from better timing, a swifter dialogue and a “let’s have fun with it” approach. The catty comments and faux friendliness of these two skilled actors is fall down funny.

And this is what David Whitehouse does a lot ... fall down ... and be funny. Teaming up with Jimmy Mak in “Jason’s Scary Stories” Whitehouse acts out Jason’s “flashlight in the face” telling of a preposterous yet simple tale of a misunderstanding between neighbors involving a can of red paint, a hockey mask, and a chainsaw in need of fuel. Once again the playfulness of the actors made this seem like I was watching it for the very first time.

All the other sketches flow well too. And the show seamlessly glides from skit to song to video. Shadowbox has certainly learned how to use all the tools available them to keep the visuals, sounds, dances, et al to give “Best of ... 06” a cohesiveness that keeps the audience enthralled. One possible exception might be “Snow What?” ... a sketch with a cast of thousands. Maybe it only appears that way to me because almost everyone onstage is playing a child. A spoof on Disney’s “Snow White” I found this perhaps a hair too anarchistic. Then again ... I find most children’s plays to be such so I’m probably nitpicking here.

Musically the show is quite strong. With a house band like BillWho? how could it not be? Jennifer Hahn’s haunting rendition of “Strange Face of Love” climaxes when joined onstage by guitarist (and husband) Matthew Hahn. The pairs’ performance together is nothing short of poignantly dynamic. Riveting as well is Steve Guyer singing U2’s “End of the World” accompanied by a splendidly accentuating dance choreographed by Ms. Psenicka. And Mary Randle belts out “Limelight” as no one but her can do. Julie Klein’s version of Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” is ... well ... simply amazing.

Rivaling Katy Psenicka’s “shimmying” northern pleasantries is Storm Woods’ down south booty shakin’ during “Baby Got Back”. David Whitehouse may be “fronting” this musical number but it is Ms. Storm’s gyrating backside that holds most everyone’s attention. I’m surprised Whitehouse didn’t fall down ... or maybe he did and I was looking at ... uh ... something else.

The grand finale comes with Julie Klein reclaiming the stage and commanding our attention as Ringmaster during Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s “Karn Evil”. Soon the entire cabaret is filled with jugglers (Jimmy Mak and Jim Andes), a contortionist (Amy Lay ... is there anything this woman can’t do?), Monkey Boy (J T Walker), Gymnasts (Scott Candler and Storm Woods), Stilt Lady (Christina Connor), Trapeze (Katy Psenicka) and much, much more. This is quite a delirious finish to a wonderfully entertaining show. Both visually stimulating and musically grand, this is a perfect crowd pleasing finale and it brought the house down. If you have never been to Shadowbox Cabaret this is the performance to begin with. What I know is I had a lot of fun. The people who came with me had a lot of fun. The audience had fun. And I do believe ... despite how much work is involved ... the troupe known as Shadowbox Cabaret had some fun themselves. And it showed.

“Best of Shadowbox 2006” runs until August 26th. For more information go to www.shadowboxcabaret.com